Chapter Eleven #2
What if a baby was exactly what he needed? What if holding their child would finally prove he could protect what mattered? What if getting Heavenly pregnant cemented their bond so completely that nothing could tear them apart?
When the plane touched down with a gentle bump, Seth’s throat tightened. He’d missed Beck and Heavenly, but today…coming home felt as if he was being frog-marched toward a cliff.
An hour later, Seth pulled his SUV into the driveway and killed the engine. The house looked exactly the same—warm and welcoming in the late afternoon sun. A respite under the California sky.
He grabbed his bag from the trunk and headed for the door, key in hand.
Before he could unlock it, the slab swung open. Heavenly stood in the portal, her stare clinging to him. But she didn’t throw herself into his arms. Her expression was surprisingly unreadable, her posture tense. Was she upset because he hadn’t called last night?
“Welcome home.” Her voice shook.
Shit. She was upset. Fresh guilt threatened him. He should have shoved down his freakout long enough to call them yesterday, reassure her.
“It’s good to be home.” He stepped into the foyer and set down his bag before he swept her into his arms and planted a soft kiss on her mouth. This was what he’d needed. “Angel… God, I missed you.”
Beck appeared in the doorway behind her. “Glad you’re back. How was the flight?”
His expression was too careful.
Seth’s gut clenched. “Long. The whole trip was. I’m just happy to be home with you two. Everything okay? You both seem—”
“We should talk.”
Seth’s stomach did a free fall to his toes. Something was wrong. Heavenly kept glancing at Beck, and the surgeon’s usual confidence seemed strained.
Alarm bells went off in his head. “What’s going on? Are you pregnant?”
Heavenly shook her head. “It’s too early to know.”
Beck led him through the house and into the family room, all but shoving him into an armchair. “Sit down. We need to tell you something.”
“And we didn’t think this was something we should say over the phone,” Heavenly whispered.
His panic shot up ten notches before movement outside the sliding glass doors caught Seth’s eye. Someone was in the pool—a man. No, a teenager, his body long and lean as he cut through the water with easy strokes. Whose kid was swimming in their pool?
Seth was trying to piece it together when the teen hauled himself onto the deck and grabbed a towel.
The harsh afternoon sunlight caught blond hair and obscured his face.
His fluid movements were like an athlete’s, and his posture seemed familiar.
Awareness pricked Seth, a realization just beyond his grasp.
The teenager toweled off, then loped toward the house, ducking under the shade of the patio cover.
Then Seth got a good look at the kid’s face.
And his whole world tilted off its axis.
He froze, tingling from head to toe, his head spinning with shock.
“What the…” Unconsciously, he stood, mouth agape as his vision narrowed to the figure opening the sliding door.
The kid stepped inside and swaggered toward him, stare full of challenge. The closer he strode, the more undeniable the resemblance. Same height, same build, same green eyes, same stubborn jawline.
Seth felt as if he was looking in a mirror from sixteen years ago.
Holy shit, is this kid…mine?
“So I finally get to meet the infamous Seth Cooper?” The teen shot him a cynical brow.
Forcing himself to breathe, Seth raked a hand through his hair. “Yeah. What is… I don’t…” He sighed. “Goddamn it, who are you?”
“Hudson.” He lifted his chin defiantly, as if that name should mean something.
It didn’t. Seth sucked in a rough breath, blinking as Hudson stood there.
“Are you…” The question stuck in his throat. He cleared it and tried again. “Shit. Are you my…son?”
“I’m sure as fuck not your daughter.”
Seth ignored Hudson’s snide delivery and gaped.
His son.
In an instant, everything he knew about his life crumbled. The room slanted, spun, turning his whole world upside down.
Fuck me.
He glanced at Heavenly, who looked pensive.
Then he darted a stare at Beck, who nodded. “He’s yours.”
No shit.
When? Who? How? A strobe of reckless teenage memories crashed through his brain. But Seth had done more partying and fucking around than he could remember, especially in this shocked moment.
“Who…who is your mother?” he managed to croak out.
“How many girls were you banging at fifteen?”
More than he should have been. “Answer me.”
“Laura Clarke.”
Seth felt the color drain from his face as memories of Laura dive-bombed his brain.
He’d never forgotten the stunning girl he’d worked with in the Catskills the summer he’d turned fifteen.
She’d been nothing like the prepubescent girls who’d gone to his school.
Laura had been a woman…lush breasts, curvy hips, pert ass, and a bawdy sense of humor.
He remembered the daring twinkle in her blue eyes, her throaty laughter, her shameless flirting, and the intense thunderstorm the fateful night they’d shared shelter—and passion.
The walls of the past closed in around him. Seth began to sweat.
“Jesus, you don’t even remember her,” Hudson accused.
“I do. You’re…sixteen, right?”
“As of April twentieth.” Hudson pinned Seth with a long stare before he snorted. “Fuck. It’s all over your face. You had no idea I existed, did you?”
“None. If I had, I would have been in your life from day one.”
Hudson huffed. “Right… What kind of dad would you have been at fifteen?”
“Maybe shitty, but I wouldn’t have been absent.” Jesus christ, he couldn’t believe he was talking to his son. “So…where’s your mom? Is she okay? Does she know you’re here?”
“Yeah. When I flew out yesterday—”
“From Connecticut,” Beck broke in. “Without parental knowledge or consent.”
“Seriously?” Seth exploded.
“I’m fine. He made me call.” Hudson pointed to Beck. “Mom knows I’m safe. She talked to Heavenly, too. It’s cool.”
Seth stared at this angry, hurting boy who’d jetted alone across the country to find him. “Why did you come?”
“To meet my sperm donor. Why else?”
Seth heard his pain under the snark. The kid felt neglected, abandoned. Of course he was pissed. And Seth had a mountain of questions, but those were for Laura. Later.
“You want to know your father,” Seth shot back, voice far steadier than he felt.
“No, I just came to tell you what I think of you.”
“Bullshit. You were brave enough to find me, so why won’t you be brave enough to be honest?”
“Fuck you.” Hudson looked away.
“Fuck your attitude. What do you want to know?” Seth challenged. “Ask me anything. I’m an open book.”
The kid stood there, staring. They were at an impasse. Seth half expected him to storm out, maybe for good. Instead, he shoved his hands on his hips. “How did you meet my mom? Her old letters didn’t say.”
“I used to spend summers in the Catskills with my grandparents. I met your mom working as a busboy at a swanky restaurant in one of the resorts.” He could still picture it—the elegant dining room, the mountain views, Laura moving between tables with easy grace.
“She was a waitress. I was fifteen, but I…told her I was heading to college in the fall, not my sophomore year of high school. When she learned the truth…” He trailed off, remembering Laura’s fury when she’d confronted him.
“She stopped talking to me. Within a few weeks, she was gone. I had no idea she was pregnant.”
Hudson shifted uncomfortably. “She never talked about you. I had to dig up your name in her old stuff. How did you two…you know? How did I happen?”
Seth’s thoughts drifted back. “We’d been flirting back and forth for a few weeks.
One night the manager got sick and left Laura with the keys to lock up.
By the time we finished cleaning, it was late.
I didn’t want to wake up my grandparents to give me a ride, so Laura offered to drive me home.
But a massive storm hit. Lightning, thunder, hail, tornado threat—the works.
We took shelter in the basement storage area that doubled as the manager’s crash-pad. The power went out.”
Seth glanced at Beck and Heavenly, both of whom were listening intently.
“I, um…found some candles, and we hunkered down to wait out the storm. We were both soaked and…” He met Hudson’s eyes.
“One thing led to another. We fooled around a few more times after that, but then Laura found out how old I really was from our manager. Wasn’t long after that she quit without saying goodbye. I never saw her again.”
But even as he said it, Seth reeled. What did Hudson’s existence mean for his future with Beck and Heavenly? How was he going to tell his mother? His brothers?
Christ, he could barely handle the thought of having another baby, and now he had a teenage son who clearly had years of built-up resentment.
“That sounds like Mom. She’s…not much for confrontations.”
As far as Seth remembered, that tracked. “I need to talk to her. Give me your phone.”
Hudson hesitated, then handed it over with a soft curse.
“Stay here.”
“Should I bark like a dog, too?”
“Watch your fucking mouth,” Beck growled as Seth stepped onto the patio.
The kid’s attitude was a problem he’d have to deal with later. Now, he dialed Laura’s number, his heart hammering. She answered on the first ring.
“Hudson? Are you coming home—”
“Laura? It’s Seth Cooper.”
Silence. He could feel her shock. “Oh, my god.”
“Our son is sitting in my living room. You never told me.”
“What was I supposed to say? You were fifteen. You couldn’t support him. What were you going to do, drop out of high school to be his dad?” Her voice cracked.
She had him there.
“I haven’t been fifteen for a long time.”
She sighed. “You’re right. I tried looking you up nine years ago, thinking you’d be an adult and that you might want to know about Hudson. But you were married with a baby on the way. I didn’t want to blow up your life.”
Seth’s stomach clenched. “They both died that December. Explosion.”