“His name is Zeke,” I say. My heart floods with warmth just thinking about my son. I love him more than anything, anyone. It pains me to be apart from him right now.
“Did you give him up for adoption?” Luca asks.
It’s a fair question. I’ve never mentioned Zeke to Luca or to anyone at Evergreen. Not even my best friend, Kensley, knows about my son.
While I live on campus because of my scholarship, I had to choose between my education and raising my son at home with my parents and getting a job straight out of high school.
The decision was made for me.
Just like every decision since I got pregnant. I have to put my son first, my family first, and myself a solid second or even third.
“No, he lives with my parents,” I say.
Luca pushes his chair from the table and gets up, walking away in a huff.
“Luca!” I call after him.
“Let him go,” Dante growls. “We’re not done.”
I hate watching him walk off, even more so knowing that he’s hurting and I’m the reason for his pain.
I did intend to tell him, but it’s not a conversation that just comes up when you’re studying together, as friends.
Our relationship has barely scratched the surface.
I have to let Luca walk off the anger. What other choice do I have right now?
If I could wish him to come back, sit down, listen as I explain everything, it would be so much easier. But his footsteps disappear over the marble flooring, and I no longer can hear him in the distance.
“What do you want to know?” I ask, turning my attention back to Luca’s father, staring at Dante pointedly.
Since he dug up my past, there must be some reason he decided to expose it.
“For starters, when were you going to tell us you have a child?” Nikki asks. “You’re intending to marry my son; did you not think this is important information that, at the very least, he should have?” Her voice rises, and I recognize why she’s upset.
But the engagement wasn’t born out of love; it was out of need and survival.
“Zeke doesn’t live with me.”
“Obviously,” Dante says, rolling his eyes. “You live on campus. We’ve established that Zeke lives with your parents. Does he believe them to be his parents? Did you relinquish your parental rights to your parents?”
It’s a lot of questions, and I reach for my water glass, feeling parched.
“My parents are helping me raise Zeke.”
“Seems more like they’re raising him for you,” Dante quips.
It’s a gut punch, and I take it, because maybe I do deserve it. Every day that I’m not with Zeke, I feel guilty.
“My education is important to both of my parents. They want me to be able to take care of Zeke on my own after I graduate.”
“So, his biological father isn’t in the picture?” Nikki asks. “The birth certificate didn’t list a father.”
“He relinquished his paternal rights,” I say. “He has no involvement with Zeke and never will.”
Dante and Nikki exchange a glance. I’m not sure what they’re thinking.
The table is momentarily quiet. Moreno and Paige sit farther away, and Nova is seated next to me, but apparently, I’ve left her speechless as well. I’m glad Moreno isn’t butting in, but at the same time, I feel like I’m left alone to defend my actions, which happen to be none of their business.
