25. Scarlett
25
SCARLETT
M y heart fluttered as Nick laid out the truth. Ethan sat so attentively, staring up with his wide blue eyes fixed on his father's face. Nick seemed nervous too, though probably not as much as me. He was probably more excited than anything. Over the past two months since we reconciled, we'd really started talking about our future, about what our family would look like. While Nick hadn't said he wanted to marry me, I knew we were headed that direction.
It felt like we were climbing Mt. Everest though. Every single challenge we faced made me more exhausted. I'd been weary and worrying about Ethan for months. I knew we had a surgery looming in our future and it didn't look promising for Ethan to get to start his second-grade year how he wanted, by playing soccer. The last thing we needed for him was a setback. If the meds didn't help control things in his heart, he'd never be stable enough for the type of surgery he needed, and Nick told me doing it under an emergency situation was very risky.
"So you're my dad then?" Ethan asked, and he climbed onto my lap, leaning away from Nick apprehensively. I'd let Nick take the lead because I knew I'd just cry. I felt tears welling up several times and blinked them back as he told Ethan the truth.
"Yes, that's what I'm saying." Nick was calm and patient with Ethan, and I felt nauseous over the whole thing. This would've been so much easier if the town hadn't gone nuts over Marjorie Whitman's gossip show. I found myself wanting to blame Nellie's outburst, but I couldn't when I knew it was my secret and I should've never kept it.
Ethan looked to me then back to Nick. "But other kids live with their dads, and you don't live with me. And why didn't you come to any of my birthday parties or Christmas?" Ethan's questions were very valid but there was no way to explain to a child why I had done what I did, why I never told either of them.
"Well, sometimes—" Nick started but I cut him off.
"Ethan, I know you have lots of questions, but I think right now we just need to focus on the fact that Nick is here now. You don't have to call him Daddy if you don't want to. We can just take time getting to know each other and later when you feel comfortable, I can answer all your questions." I hoped my positive misdirection could sate his curiosity, because while he looked a bit frustrated or scared over the announcement, he sounded more curious than anything.
"Alright, Mommy." Ethan looked back to Nick and said, "I like Dr. Nick…Does this mean he will live with us?" That question shocked me, and when I glanced at Nick I saw hope in his eyes.
I chuckled and sighed. "Someday he might live with us. Right now, let's enjoy the beach." I reached into my bag and pulled out a packet of fruit snacks and opened them for him. He seemed content enough to have a snack and I was relieved the hard part was over.
I sucked in a deep breath and checked the time on my phone. Sunlight was starting to fade for the day, and I was getting tired. When I looked back up at Nick, his eyes were elsewhere, staring off into the distance. He looked frustrated or nervous, and I followed his line of sight to where I saw a woman in a bright red bikini sitting on a beach blanket. It was the same woman I'd seen at his office that day, the one he told me was his ex and with whom he had no relationship or interaction.
"Nick," I said softly, even as I noticed her stand up and dust herself off.
"Mmm," he grunted, and I couldn't help but wonder why he was staring at her. It was one thing for us to randomly be on the same beach at the lake at exactly the same time; he didn't have to stare. It only made me more insecure that something was really going on between them that he wasn't telling me about.
"Look, Mommy," Ethan blurted out, and he held his fruit-shaped gummy snack in front of my face. I tried to look around him, to study the expression on Nick's face, but Ethan was insistent that I look at his snack. I frowned and glanced at the snack to see it had a funny bulge in it.
"Yeah, buddy, that's weird." I felt numb and a bit sick to my stomach again. "Nick," I said again, nervously. I noticed the woman was approaching us and Nick seemed to get more bothered by the second. He ran a hand through his hair; then he sat a bit straighter. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought he was trying to look better, puff his chest out. I hated feeling insecure like this.
I looked at the woman, whose name I now remembered was Fiona. Even her name was prettier than mine. She wasn't thick like me either; her frame was spindly with curves exactly where they were supposed to be. I never thought of my body as unattractive or not sexy. I always had confidence in my thick curves and full chest. But I knew what a lot of men liked. Fiona was it.
"Nicky!" she squealed happily. She acted like she'd only just seen him but it was all fake. I'd seen her staring at him from across the beach too.
Only when I heard a low growl rumble up out of Nick's chest did I start to relax. "Fiona."
"Oh, don't play. You call me, Fifi," she joked, and I gritted my teeth.
"Sounds like a dog's name," Ethan said, and I had to hide my snicker behind my hand. Kids were brutally honest.
Fiona scowled and huffed, then turned to Nick with an even wider fake smile. "It's so funny that you're here. I had no idea we'd run into each other." She plumped her tits, readjusting the skimpy bathing suit top. She was clearly trying to get Nick to look at her chest, and his eyes stayed fixed on her face, which made me more relieved.
"Yes, well I'm sure your father told you where I'd be. I had to turn down his invitation for dinner. I'm here with my amazingly beautiful girlfriend, Scarlett, and my son, Ethan." Nick's hand reached out and rested on my knee and I had never felt more confident in my life. It banished every trace of insecurity. She might have had a figure for a magazine cover, but I had Nick's heart.
"Hmm," she hummed, and her eyes did a scan of my body and lingered on Ethan for a moment. "Well isn't that nice." I was shocked at how her tone shifted on a dime and the ricochet expression I got was hateful. "I was hoping we could chat."
"Sorry, Fiona…I'm quite busy. But anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Scarlett…" He turned to Ethan. "Buddy, do you want to go run and play?"
"No, I want Mommy. But Fifi can go play." Again my son made me chuckle and I pictured Fiona playing fetch on the beach like a good little girl.
"It was nice to meet you, Fiona," I said and she huffed again. Her scowl as she walked away was priceless and only then did Ethan stand up. He kissed me on the cheek and straightened.
"I'll be right back. I want to rinse my hands." He wiggled his fingers in front of me and ran off, and seconds later, Nick was pulling me against his body for a kiss.
"Did I detect a hint of jealousy in your eyes, Ms. Moore?" His kiss was greedy and hungry.
"Did you really call her Fifi?" I burst out laughing so hard it ruined the kiss and Nick started tickling me.
"You've never done anything dumb when you were young and foolish?" he asked, pinning me down. I wrestled away from him, still laughing, and got to my feet.
"Last one in the water's a rotten egg!" I called, and I tossed my hat on the blanket before racing off toward the shore.
Things between me and Nick were going to work out. I had such a good feeling about it. What I didn't feel good about was why this woman had suddenly decided she had to have Nick and how she could so brazenly flirt with him right in front of me and Ethan. That part scared me.