Chapter 19
19
Peter
T his was the very definition of torture, having to watch Katy take care of my—in my mind our—son and not be able to do anything. I couldn’t walk over and touch her. I couldn’t walk over and hold her in my arms. And I most definitely couldn’t walk over there and kiss her. No matter how much my body, my soul cried out to do those very things. To do so would ruin everything. Not only would I lose my job, possibly my freedom, but I’d also lose Katy for not respecting her wishes, her boundaries. And that wasn’t something I was willing to do. I might have been an idiot for years, but now that I’d stopped denying my feelings and recognized my mistakes, I wasn’t about to make them again.
So, despite how difficult it was, I pushed all thoughts of Katy and Liam to the side, trusting she’d let me know if anything changed with his condition, and focused on teaching. The first class of the semester tended to be boring, focusing on the syllabus and review. For most people, discussing the various literary terms we’d already covered was the height of mind- numbing boredom, but I’d discovered a way to get the students involved and somewhat excited. My methods weren’t the same for every class, but I knew the students in this one. Some I’d never taught before, like Katy, but many of them had been in my class before or were like Katy and had been taught by Dr. Stone before she retired. Most of this group were signed up for my AP class next semester so I knew they knew their stuff.
“Now class, we’re going to play a little game. I’m going to name a literary term. The student I choose will have to give an example using a piece of literature that we haven’t studied in class. And while we might not have all read the same the same things, challenging the claim is permitted which means the person who gave the answer must pull out a valid example of the term from the work cited and make their case as to why it applies. No one can use the same example.” As the noise level rose at my instructions, I held up my hands to quiet them. “And please try to remember that my son, who isn’t feeling well, is sleeping.”
A hand shot up into the air.
“Yes, Hannah?”
She glanced back a Katy, giving her a sly look that had my nerves endings standing up before turning back to face me, wearing an innocent smile that didn’t fool me. “Mr. Evans, is it true that you adopted your son from a teenage mom to spare her from social ridicule because that’s what everyone’s saying?”
I didn’t have to glance at Katy to know how she’d gone rigid in her seat. Comments and rumours like this had been something that’d crossed my mind, but since Katy had been a cheerleader last year, wearing her small uniform, and doing acrobatic feats right up until the end of school, I’d dismissed them, thinking our students were smarter than this. Clearly, I’d been wrong. And once again, I’d made a choice—this time the correct one for my son—and still ended up hurting Katy. Fuck me.
I leaned back, resting my ass on the edge of my desk and stared out at my students. “Not that this is anyone’s business since it deals with my private life but let me dispel the rumours. And feel free to correct your fellow students when you hear them spouting such nonsense. I’d like to remind you of our no-tolerance for bullying policies. And if you think that we’re joking, that we won’t take action, I’d like to remind you all what happened at our Fall Harvest Dance last year.” I waited, glaring, until the students before me sobered up, understanding the gravity of what I’d just said and was about to say. “Liam is my biological son. His birth mother is someone I had a very brief encounter with before Jarrod, and later Jason, and I became official. He’s the result of what happens when you don’t use protection. So let this all be an example to you. If you’re having sex, you need to be prepared to be a parent.”
“And his mom?” a voice called out. I had my suspicions as to who asked, but I let it slide. This was my chance to hopefully make things better for Katy.
“Someone who doesn’t live in Voyageur Bay. And someone who won’t ever be in his life because she wasn’t ready to be a parent. Katy is watching him because, as my next-door neighbour and with all her babysitting experience, she helped us when he first arrived.” I clapped my hands together and stood. “Now, let’s get on with the game.”
I wasn’t stupid and knew this wouldn’t be the end, that it would take a little time to for this issue to die down, but it would. And hopefully it wouldn’t cause any lasting damage to Katy’s reputation.
By the time the bell rang, signifying the end of the school day, I was wiped, ready for bed, and it still wasn’t over. Liam was supposed to still be in daycare until Jarrod arrived to pick him up as I had a staff meeting, I needed to attend. What the fuck was I going to do?
The students left the classroom, leaving Katy and the new guy, Ethan—who’d been the one to wait with Katy at the party until Jarrod and I were able to get to her—at the back where Katy was feeding Liam his bottle. He’d woken up towards the end of class, but she’d pulled what looked like a baby facecloth from a Ziplock bag and let him suck on the cloth, keeping him quiet for almost twenty minutes before deciding to feed him.
I made my way over to her and slumped into a seat in front of her. “Do you think he’s okay to go back to daycare? I have a staff meeting and since it’s the day one meeting, I don’t know how long it’ll be. Jarrod’s supposed to pick him up in an hour when his meeting is finished.”
Katy took the bottle from his mouth and deftly shifted him so that she could burp him. She was such a natural with him that watching her with him was like a shot to gut every time. She should have been his mother. Not Debbie. And as much as I loved my son, looking at him was a constant reminder of my failures, of my mistakes. Not that I’d ever let him know that or feel it in my actions because now that he was in my life, I was never giving him up. It was just something I’d learn to live with.
“Do you think you’d be done before mom has to work?”
I shrugged. “I should be, but I can’t guarantee it. Normally, it’s the one on Friday that’s the longest because we must finalize student numbers and classes by early the following week. Why?”
“If we didn’t want to move the car seat base, I could just drive your car home, and you could bring mom’s home when you’re done.” Liam let out a loud burp that had us chuckling. “Such a loud noise from you, Little Man. Does that make your tummy feel better?” He grinned up at her as he tried to put his fingers in her mouth. She was a vision. A masterpiece. A modern Madonna and I doubted that anything could take my gaze from her when she was like this, but that didn’t stop the universe from trying.
“Oh, there you are Peter. I was looking for you at the daycare, wanting to spend some time with you and your darling son, but they said you and him weren’t there.” Ashley pouted as she sashayed into my classroom, totally ignoring Katy and Ethan with her display of unprofessionalism. Even if I welcomed her advances—which I didn’t—or had her involved in my son’s life—which she wasn’t since I’d never even shown him to her—walking into my classroom and intimating that there was some type of relationship between us was crossing the line.
I pushed myself to my feet, standing so I could block some of Ashley’s view of Katy and Liam. “Only parents or those on the approved list are to be in the daycare, Ms. Williams. So, unless you have a child there, you’re not allowed to be there.”
Her pout deepened as she stepped into my personal space, pressing her finger against my chest. “Don’t be like that Peter. You know I just want to get to know your son since I absolutely adore babies.”
I wanted to step back, but that would put her that much closer to Katy and Liam. And that wasn’t about to happen. Instead, I brushed her hand away before shoving my hands in the front pockets of my dress pants. “You might adore babies, but I get to control who has access and when they have access to my son.” I spun around, putting my back to her as I gazed down at Katy. I wanted to get her and my son out of this classroom and out of Ashley’s presence without delay. But I also didn’t want to let Ashley know what was happening. I could only hope that Katy understood my cryptic statements. “I’ll let Jarrod and Jason know what’s happening. The seat is probably where it was left.”
She nodded and began to stand as I gathered her books together. If need be, I’d bring home her school stuff. Anything to get her out of the classroom before anything else could be said.
The echo of footsteps in the hall grew louder. Fuck me. What else can go wrong? But this time, the footsteps heralded help in the form of Greg. His gaze darted around the room, taking in Ashley’s presence, Katy, Liam, and Ethan. A flash of understanding crossed his eyes before he schooled his expression into the casual indifference he usually sported when dealing with Ashley. “There you are Ms. Williams; I was looking for you.”
Over my shoulder I watched as Ashley spun, pout fading into a smile of seduction. “Were you, Greg?—”
“Mr. Taylor.”
But she ignored his admonishment and carried on, “I’m flattered. What do you need me for?”
As he talked to her about something, I quickly withdrew my car keys from my pocket as I leaned down towards Katy. “Take these. And I’ll see you later, okay?”
Proving once again how well Katy knew me, she exchanged my keys for hers. “You will. I’ll make supper for everyone and invite mom over.”
“That’s fine. I can’t wait.” I glanced up at Ethan. He’d proven numerous times that he’d help and protect Katy so even if I hated calling on him again, pushing them closer together, I wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t be alone until she left school. “Watch them, please.”
“Of course. You don’t have to ask.” He picked up her school bag and the diaper bag as Katy stood, covering Liam so he wouldn’t be seen.
I kept Katy between us, blocking her from Ashley as I led them towards the door. As soon as she stepped outside the classroom, I closed the door, spinning back to face Ashley. What she was doing had to stop. I didn’t want to make an official complaint because she was a good teacher. But this sexual harassment had to stop.
“We. Need. To. Talk.” Each word was punctuated with a step towards her and Greg, but if I had any illusions of her understanding and stopping her behaviour, it was stripped away by her look of glee darting between Greg and I as she licked her lips. Fuck. Save me from conniving women.