“I need to tell you something before you see him,” he says, frantic.
“Where is Aiden?”
“He’s inside, but there’s something you need to know.”
“What? Tell me.” I scream, pounding my fists into his chest. “Is Aiden inside? Is he alive?”
My mother loses her patience and steps in. “Stella. Go. I’ll handle him.”
“No,” Jerrod shouts, panic flaring. “She needs to hear this. Now. Before she goes in.”
I laugh—sharp and hysterical. “Hear what? Another threat? Another lie? You’re done, Jerrod. You get no more of my time.” I shove him.
“Aiden was never my son.”
I stop cold. His words don’t make any sense.
“What do you mean?”
His voice cracks. “We never slept together that night. When you were drunk. I lied.”
My breath punches out of me like I’ve been hit. The past rearranges itself in my mind, pieces snapping into place with a sickening clarity.
“No,” I whisper. “But—you told me?—”
“I told you because I didn’t want you going back to Eli,” he admits, eyes shining with tears. “I saw how you looked at him. Even after you broke up. And when you told me you were pregnant, I panicked. I wanted you. I wanted… everything, and I couldn’t stand the idea of losing you to him.”
I stagger back, shaking my head. “You let me believe that you were his father for years.”
“I know.” His shoulders sag, voice shattering. “And I hate myself for it. But tonight, watching Eli save a boy—who wasn’t my son—if Aiden had died not knowing hisrealfather…”
I snap. “You—you fucker!” The words rip out of me as I hit him again, and again. He doesn’t defend himself. Just takes everything I unleash upon him. “You stupid, foolish, tiny little man!”
“I know,” he says, voice breaking. “I deserve this. All of it. But I have a baby on the way now with my wife. Finally, my own child. If anything happened to it, I’d want it to know who its father really was. I’m sorry. I just can’t live with the lie anymore.”
Grief crashes through me. Rage. Relief. Betrayal. All of it tangled together until I can’t see straight. My world suddenly splits in two, between who I was before and who I get to be now.
“How could you? You were my friend. You helped my family through a tough time. But you stole my life,” I sob. “And Aiden’s. And you stole years Eli can never get back.”
“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I won’t interfere anymore, I swear it.”
“You’ve wasted enough of my time. I’m done listening to you.”
I pause.
“I need to get to my son.And hisrealfather.”
The words feel strange on my tongue.
And utterly right.
Aiden is proppedup in a hospital bed, color in his cheeks, wires attached. When he sees me, he lights up—bright and alive—and I cry harder than I thought possible.
“Mom!”
I’m at his side in seconds, kissing his hair, his forehead, his hands. “Oh my God. I’m here, baby.”
“I’m okay,” he says quickly. “They said it’s just a concussion. Coach Eli saved me.”
