Someone Unexpected(27)

He looked as gorgeous as ever as he stood in my doorway, taking my breath away.



"Hi." It was a simple word but the way he said it made the butterflies flutter like crazy in my belly.



"Hi Sebastian, come on in."



We both got comfortable on the couch and I looked at him and lightly  touched his knee. "Thank you again for buying my mom's ticket, you  didn't have to send her back first class but I'm sure she really enjoyed  it. That was very generous of you."



"It was no problem at all Elena, I was happy to do it. I take it she made it back safely?"



"Yes, she did."



Good." He looked down at the floor, wringing his hands and I could see  that he was nervous and then he raised cautious eyes to mine. "I want to  tell you about Sophia and my son."



My heart was beating out of my chest, but I didn't know why because this was what I had been waiting for.



"Okay." I clasped my hands together trying to calm the pounding in my chest.



"The reason Sophia and I broke up is because she slept with Spencer  while we were dating which you already know. I found out that they had  been sleeping together for nearly the entire time we were together and  that was the end for us. A month after we broke up she told me she was  pregnant but didn't know if the baby was mine or Spencer's so we ended  doing a paternity test and it turned out that Jaden is my son."



To say I was shocked was understatement. So many thoughts flooded my  mind and I didn't know where to begin with my questions so I started  with the easiest one first.         

     



 



"Jaden. You broke the first name starting with an "S" thing."



He looked a little confused and then gave a half-hearted smile as what I meant by that dawned on him. "Yes, I did."



"I don't even know what to say about that Sebastian, that story is  awful. The only good thing that came out of it is Jaden. Speaking of  Jaden, why didn't you tell me about him, why did I have to find out  about him the way I did?"



He let out a long sigh, releasing tension from his body and looked at me  with sad eyes. "I'm really sorry that you found out that way Elena, I  didn't want that to happen. I was going to tell you everything last  Saturday when we went out to dinner but you surprised me a day early.  Sophia and I have been involved in a brutal custody battle, I want Jaden  here with me and she wants to keep Jaden in Paris with her, and my  lawyers said it would be best to appear as if I was single until after  everything was settled. I go there every other weekend to see him and  during the trip last week he was more upset than normal and did not want  me to leave, so I told him he could come home with me. Sophia wouldn't  let me take him by myself, since technically my weekend was over, so  that's why she was there also. I could tell by the look on your face  that you thought so much more was going on, but I promise you there is  nothing going on between Sophia and me besides raising our son and  trying to keep his life as normal as possible."



"How old is he?"



"He just turned three last month."



It was all so much to take in. I knew when I saw that little boy and he  yelled ‘daddy' to Sebastian that he was his son, but it didn't really  become real until just that moment when he told me everything. Bitter  custody battle? Conniving ex-girlfriend? Three-year-old son? It was a  lot and I wasn't sure that I could handle it or that I even wanted to  get involved with him now that I knew that he had all of this extra  stuff. I could feel myself shutting off from him, my feelings becoming  numb as I thought about everything he had just told me.



"Elena, I know this is a lot to take in but you have to believe me that I  was going to tell you all about this on Saturday. I didn't want to tell  you sooner than that because, to be honest, I didn't want to scare you  away. I know it may seem like Sophia is trying to paint a picture that  we are a family, but it is not true. We have a trial date set in a  couple of months and we should hopefully have some resolution with our  custody case."



"Was Sophia staying at your house when I saw her last week? Because she  looked pretty at home holding your son's hand on your front stairs."



"Yes, but she was staying in a guest room because Jaden did not want her to leave."



Jaden didn't want her to leave. So what was going to happen when daddy  got a new girlfriend? Would Jaden always get his way? None of this was  sitting well with me. I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration  and then looked at him.



"Sebastian, this all seems just a little bit too complicated for me  right now, and it would probably be best if you sorted out your personal  stuff before you tried to build a relationship with someone."



He had kind of a panicked look on his face as he reached out and grabbed my hand, his eyes searching mine.



"Please don't say that Elena, I really want things to work out with us  and plans are already in motion to get this custody case settled once  and for all."



"It sounds to me like your son wants to have his mommy and daddy under  the same roof, and both of you are giving him what he wants which is  what you should do. He is, after all, your child. I just think there is  going to be a huge problem when he realizes that the two of you will not  be together and then you'll have a whole other layer of issues to deal  with to help him get through it. I just don't know that dating right now  is the best thing for you or me. Let me ask you something, do you stay  with Sophia in her house when you go to Paris for your visits every  other weekend?"



"Yes, but I stay on a separate floor and I have very little interaction  with her. I tried to stay in a hotel and Jaden had a fit. He couldn't  sleep so I decided the best thing was for him to feel safe and secure,  so I stayed in his house so that he could be in his room."         

     



 



"I had a feeling you would say something like that. You see, that's what  I'm talking about, he has control right now and neither of you can  really have your own life yet."



"It won't be like this forever Elena, I promise you. As soon as we get  custody sorted out we will be making different arrangements and Jaden  will just have to learn to live with it. As he gets older, it will be  easier for him to understand why we are not together."



"Yeah, as he gets older, but right now it seems to be a big problem for  him and your first priority should be making sure that he is okay."



"It is and he will be okay. Sophia and I have never been together  full-time around him so when we went to see a therapist they explained  that it's a phase he is going through. I didn't understand why all of a  sudden he wanted both of us together, I thought maybe he saw something  to make him think that something would happen to one of us. But the  therapist assured us that this is temporary and we should continue to  make Jaden feel secure and loved. That is what we are doing. I don't  want you to think that there is not room in my life for you, because  there is."



I hesitated and then look at him slowly shaking my head. "I don't know  Sebastian, your life seems to be pretty complicated right now and it  seems to me that you need to figure some things out before we can move  on."



He looked at me, studying me for a couple of minutes not saying anything, and then he caught me off guard.



"Do you want to be with me? Because I want to be with you Elena. I have  known that since I first saw you. I have never met someone who is more  perfect for me in every way than you are. You make me happy, you make me  smile, I think about you constantly and I want to be with you every  minute of every day. I don't want you to think that I don't have room in  my life for you, that's just not true."



I didn't know how to answer that because on one hand, of course I wanted  to be with him, but on the other hand he had just dropped a pretty big  bomb on me and I didn't quite know how to deal with it. If we ended up  together that would mean I would become a stepmother and I wasn't sure  that I was ready for that kind of responsibility. I had huge plans for  my life and having kids was something I wanted to do later, after I  opened my hotel.



"Sebastian, I think it would be best if we took some time apart so that  you can take care of your personal stuff. You have a lot going on and to  be honest with you I'm not sure I can handle it all."



"Elena, please don't say that. Don't give up on us before we've had a chance to really get started."



"I'm sorry but I really think we should just keep this relationship professional for now, that will be best for everyone."



"What do you mean by ‘for now'?"



"I'm not sure, Sebastian, but at least for a couple of months until you've had a chance to sort everything out."