Ripe: A Stepbrother Pregnancy Romance (3 page)

“Isaiah, we have to run to the store,” Elise said in a voice that made it clear that she was less than thrilled.

Isaiah, on the other hand, began jumping up and down and clapping his hands with about as much enthusiasm as a child on Christmas morning. Elise would never understand why he loved going to the grocery store so much. It wasn't like he ever got any of the pricey items he requested, but that didn't stop him from hoping.

Elise quickly changed out of her work clothes and into a more comfortable outfit before grabbing Isaiah's hand and heading back out the front door.

“Can I get these?” Isaiah questioned. He held up two bags of sour gummy worms, giving his mother his best doe-eyes. “
Pleaaasse?
”

“No way Jose,” Elise said, taking the candy from him and placing it back on the shelf where it belonged. The look on his face made her feel bad, but she was on a tight budget and his behavior made it clear to her that he definitely didn’t need any more sugar than he'd already consumed.

“But I never tried them before,” Isaiah said, sticking out his bottom lip as he pouted.

“Well you can’t miss what you never had, now can you?” Elisa said, ushering him down the aisle. “Come on. Let’s get a frozen lasagna for dinner.”

“But we just had that!” Isaiah turned up his nose and crossed his arms as Elise paused in front of the row of freezers.

Elise sighed. Isaiah was right. She'd fed him leftover lasagna earlier that week, but it was just so convenient. It wasn’t the healthiest option, that was for sure, but it worked in a pinch.

After taking another look at Isaiah’s face, Elise led him over to the deli area to grab a rotisserie chicken and a few sides.

Elise finally got to experience the rare luxury of sitting down later that evening. Isaiah was enjoying some television time before bed, so she took the opportunity to stretch out on the sofa and rest her eyes.

A few minutes later, Isaiah stood up and loomed over his mother. “Mommy?”

“Hm?”

“What happened to my daddy anyway?”

Elise sighed and opened one eye to look at him. “What’s with all this talk about your dad?” When Isaiah didn’t respond, she continued, trying her best to mask the irritation in her tone. “I don’t know what happened to him honey. I really don’t.”

“But you must!”

“Isaiah…” Elise sat up and rubbed her temples, changing the subject. “You only have ten more minutes of TV before it’s time for bed. I suggest you don’t waste them.”

Isaiah hesitated before plopping back down in front of the television set when his cartoon came back from commercial.

Elise leaned back and cursed under her breath. She knew it would only be a matter of time before Isaiah came asking about the man who'd contributed half his DNA, but she'd hoped it wouldn’t come so soon. He was only six. There was no way he could understand the full blow of Jesse’s abandonment.

Elise barely even understood it herself. Jesse walking out on her was one thing, but him walking out on their unborn son? That was about as low as he could get.

One thing was for certain though.

She never wanted her son to know what it felt like not to be wanted.

Chapter Five

Elise was convinced that there was some sinister force working to cheat her out of time. As soon as she fell asleep, her alarm clock buzzed and the clock flashed six a.m. She let out a low groan as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted. No, that was an understatement. What she really needed was a vacation, but her job didn’t offer it for lower scale employees, and she definitely couldn’t afford to take any time off without pay.

“Mommy, I can’t find my other shoe,” Isaiah announced as he entered Elise's bedroom with only one on. “Can you find it?”

Elise's looked at the tattered sneaker with disdain. They were from Salvation Army and it showed. Isaiah was in desperate need of a new pair, but she couldn’t afford to buy him ones he’d just end up growing out of a month or two later. These would have to do for now.

“Sure honey,” Elise said, steering her son in the direction of the television while she went to hunt down his other shoe. This was more or less their daily routine. Isaiah woke up at the crack of dawn and got dressed, proceeding to eat his cereal and watch cartoons while Elise showered and got ready for the day.

Finding the shoe took Elise longer than she anticipated, however, and by the time she made it to Deanna’s house she was running at least twenty minutes behind schedule. That meant she'd have no extra time to blow on small talk. After pulling into the driveway, she dashed Isaiah up the front steps and rang the doorbell, planting a quick peck on his cheek and pushing him inside the house.

“Elise,” Deanna spoke up. “I saw you on channel six last night. It was a segment about your firm winning some malpractice case against a hospital that withheld treatment from a kid with leukemia. Why didn’t you tell me you were involved with that? I’m so proud of you. Your mom would be too.”

The mention of her mother made Elise flinch. Breast cancer had taken her away less than a year ago, and the wound was still very much an open one. “Aw, well thank you, but all I did was finalize the documents,” Elise said, feeling rude as she backed towards her car. “I’m sorry to take off so quickly but I’m running late!”

“No worries,” Deanna said, waving goodbye to her and turning her attention to Isaiah.

The rest of the morning went by relatively quickly. After lunch, Deanna took Isaiah on their usual walk to the beach and sat down on a blanket as she watched him run up to the other young children playing near the water. Mostly she just kept to herself and read, never bothering to converse with the other mothers—mostly because she wasn’t one herself. It didn’t matter that Isaiah felt like her son. There was a hierarchy to these sorts of things and she knew it. No matter how much time she spent with him, she was still just his babysitter.

“Excuse me,” a deep voice spoke up from above Deanna, temporarily blocking her view of the sun. “Do you mind if I sit?”

Deanna looked up from her book, coming face to face with a ridiculously attractive man with chiseled features and breathtaking blue eyes. He looked pretty harmless, but one could never really be sure.

“Uh...sure,” Deanna said in a cautious tone, turning her attention back to Isaiah as the man spread out his towel beside her and took a seat.

“Thanks,” he said, removing his sandals and digging his feet into the sand. “You can’t really be a guy alone at a beach full of kids. Everyone looks at you weird.”

“Any of them yours?” Deanna questioned, nodding to the children splashing in the water and getting right to the point. “Otherwise, maybe they should.”

“Nah,” the man said. “I was supposed to be meeting someone here, but it looks like I got stood up.”

“Oh.” Deanna’s demeanor softened at the realization that he wasn't some kind of pervert. “A girl?”

“Yeah.”

Deanna nodded, keeping an eye on Isaiah in case she needed to come to his rescue. There was a little boy about his age vying for his attention with a Frisbee, but he had his sights set on a cute biracial girl building a sandcastle.

“What about you?” the man questioned, following her gaze. “One of them yours?”

“I’m here with my nephew. He’s the one in the green shorts with the Sharks on them.”

“Cute kid.”

Deanna hoped he was just being polite. “What about you?” she questioned, suddenly on edge again. “Got any kids?”

The man nodded. “A son about your nephew’s age. I’ve never met him though.”

Deanna raised an eyebrow. “Really?” she questioned, feeling rude as soon as she heard her tone of voice. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“Nah, it’s alright,” the man said with a shrug. “It’s my fault. I fucked it up with his mother.”

“I’m sorry,” Deanna said, genuinely meaning it. “Do you at least know where he lives?”

“Uh.” The man rubbed his neck and swallowed hard, keeping his eyes steadied on the water. “I have some idea, I think.”

Before Deanna could answer, Isaiah ran over to them screaming at the top of his lungs about some kid pushing him into the water. It was a reality made evident by the fact that he was dripping wet.

“He did it!” Isaiah yelled, pointing a chubby finger at no one in particular. “He wouldn’t pass the Frisbee and when I told him to, he pushed me in!”

Deanna tried her best to calm him down, but her efforts were futile. “Come on,” she finally said, grabbing the wailing child by the arm. “Let’s get you home. It’s time for your nap.”

Deanna glanced over her shoulder when she felt someone staring at her as she walked away. The man was watching her and Isaiah intently, and she quickened her pace, making a point of taking a different route home.

Chapter Six

When Elise called to say that she'd have to work a little later than usual that night, Deanna realized that she’d have to feed Isaiah dinner and she knew she'd have to make a quick run to the grocery store. She was trying out a new vegan-friendly diet in order to shed a few pounds in time for summer, and there was absolutely nothing in her house that a young child wouldn't turn their nose up at. Elise always thought ahead and packed Isaiah’s lunches and snacks, so it was never something she had to worry about until now.

When Deanna announced to Isaiah that they were going to the store, he jumped up and down and immediately began informing her of all the foods he liked to eat. Not so surprisingly, they also happened to be all the same things Elise never let him get.

Deanna glanced over at Isaiah as she shopped, pushing the cart from aisle to aisle. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but she had this unsettling feeling that they were being watched. When she stopped for gas, she noticed an expensive car pulling in behind her, and the same one appeared when she was trying to find a spot in the grocery store parking lot.

Pushing her paranoia aside, Deanna continued checking items off her list before heading to the front of the store to check out.

“Good afternoon,” she said to the chubby-faced cashier who began to ring up her groceries. “If you could double bag them using paper bags, that would be great.”

“Can’t,” the teen said. “We’re not allowed to do that anymore. My manager said the paper bags are too expensive. Would plastic work?”

Deanna sighed but she didn’t protest the point. She simply nodded, accepting her bags and walking out of the store. Of course, it came as no surprise that as soon as she got to her car, the bottom of one tore and her canned goods went rolling across the pavement in at least five different directions.

Just as Deanna bent to pick up a can, her hand brushed up against a much larger one. She recognized the man right away as the same one she'd spoken to at the beach earlier that afternoon.

“What are you doing here?” she asked as he handed her each can. “Look, it's obvious that you're following me.”

“Following?” The man smirked and raised an eyebrow, glancing back and fourth between Deanna and Isaiah as she pulled him in closer to her side. “Don't flatter yourself, sweetheart. I was just leaving. I was literally just getting in my car when I saw your bag break.”

“Right.” Deanna narrowed her eyes at him, glancing across the parking lot at a black SUV with its door half open. It was the same car she thought had been following her earlier. “Well thanks for the help, but we need to be going now.”

“Listen,” the man spoke up, letting Deanna know that he was still behind her. “I was just going to—”

“Don’t,” Deanna threatened, swiveling around to face him. She took some comfort in the fact that it was broad daylight, and that they weren’t the only two people in the parking lot. Whoever this guy was, there was no way he would be stupid enough to try anything here. “If you come even one step closer, I swear to god I’ll call the police.”