The Perfect Timing

Chapter Three

He doesn't even notice Isabelle at first, but she makes a cooing noise, and then his gaze settles on her.

I hold my breath and stand up, my knees feeling like they'll give out at any second. My mom must notice because she takes Izzy from me to hold her in her arms, Cameron looking utterly confused.

Izzy turns her head, and Cam looks at her face. I can see him do the mental math in his head before his eyes narrow, his jaw clenches, and tears spring to his eyes.

Nobody can say a word. We all lied to him. They kept Izzy a secret for me, but Cameron has every right to be mad at them too.

His posture has grown rigid, his fists clenched at his sides. He's furious, and I can do nothing but stand here like an idiot. There are so many things to say, but I don't know where to start. Especially in front of my family.

He looks from me to Izzy, his eyes narrowing again before he swipes a tear from his cheek. "What's her name?" He asks through gritted teeth.

"Cameron..." I start, but he holds his hand up to silence me.

"What... is... her... name?" He asks slowly, and for the first time, I'm genuinely scared of him.

"Isabelle," I whisper.

"After my mom?" He chokes out, and I nod. He stands there speechless for another minute or so before he finally says, "If you'll all excuse me I just need a few minutes."

He throws open the door and leaves, and I can do nothing but swipe endlessly at the tears pouring down my cheeks.

"Go after him," my mom says. "We've got Izzy, right Ethan?"

"Yeah," he says. "Go ahead. We'll be fine."

I quickly nod and race out after him. He didn't get far. He stopped near a bench a few feet down the hallway, his hands above his head on the wall as he breathes heavily.

"Cameron," I choke out. "I am so sorry. I wanted to-"

"Don't," he warns. "Maddie, you need to go back inside with your family because I am fucking pissed right now."

"I know you're mad. You have every reason to be upset with me, but-"

"THERE ARE NO BUTS!" He erupts and storms over to get right in my face. "We have a fucking daughter! A daughter I knew nothing about until five seconds ago! There is no fucking excuse you can give me right now Maddie. NONE!"

I break down into a sob now and take a step back from him. His reaction is warranted. I'm not upset that he's yelling. In my dreams, I pictured this conversation going smoothly, but in reality, this is how I knew it would go. It's the reason I've been dreading it so much.

"You're right," I say. "There is no excuse for keeping her from you. You have every right to be angry with me."

"You're damn right I do," he sneers. "If I had known then I wouldn't have-"

"Wouldn't have what? You wouldn't have chosen to be with Katie? I found out the day before you ended things with me, Cam. Why would I have told you? I would have trapped you."

"Trapped me?" He laughs in disbelief. "Regardless of whether or not I chose to stay with you Maddie, I deserved to know!"

He runs his hands over his face out of frustration before he looks at me again. "Look, we have a lot to talk about, but this isn't the time or the place to do it. Your family is waiting, and what we need to talk about is going to take longer than ten minutes. We won't accomplish anything tonight."

"But how are we going to talk about it..." I trail off. "This isn't something we can discuss over the phone, and you have to leave to go back to LA I'm assuming, right?"