The Final Choice

3

"Hey Baby, did you have a good night?" I asked him. It was a Friday night, so the place he worked, The Pizza Tavern, usually got pretty busy. 

"I did. A couple of drunks started to fight, but Adam broke it up pretty quickly. I came out of the kitchen to watch," he replied. He had a smile on his face that only a boy watching others fight would. 

"You should stay away from that crap," I sighed. "I did. I was on the other side of the room. It was funny. One dude cracked another one over the head with a pool stick. They were too drunk to do any real damage to each other though," he laughed.

I smiled at the sound of his laughter and nodded. "Next time, record it and send it to me, so I can laugh too." His smile grew wider, as he shook his head at me. "And you wonder where I get it from," he replied. 

I laughed and stood up to give him a hug. He was taller than me now, by a couple of inches. He wasn't going to be super tall. About 5'9" or 5'10". 

He was a very handsome boy though. His shaggy blonde hair was cut shorter now, subtly hanging just over the tops of his bright blue eyes. His chest had widened and filled out, giving him a more manly appearance.

 He wasn't that skinny little boy anymore and it scared me. 

 "I put you a plate up. It's on the table. I made your favorite," I said, letting him go. "Tacos?" he asked, excitedly, giving me a small glimpse of the young boy that had grown up on me. I nodded and laughed when he laughed towards the kitchen.

I loved that boy with my entire heart. He made my life worth living. 

It was weird that his first job was at a tavern, where they served alcohol, and people went there to play pool and dance on the weekends. He worked in the kitchen though, and had nothing to do with that side of the place, usually.

I had been terrified of him being able to drive and go off on his own, or with his friends, because I remembered what I had been doing at his age. I didn't want any of that for him. 

I didn't have to worry though. He wasn't me and he wasn't Will. If he went out on the weekends, it was either to Denise's place or to a movie or something with friends. That was a rare occasion though, because he worked every night, except Sunday and Monday. 

If he went out, I could easily check on him, if I needed to too, from the app on my phone. I had it because it would alert me if he, God forbid, got into an accident or anything. Surprisingly, I didn't use it to spy on him. 

Instead, I gave him the trust that he had earned. I didn't snoop through his phone or any of that. I didn't feel the need too, and for that, I was thankful.

He still didn't have much to do with Will, but he did go see him the day after Christmas and Thanksgiving. He always smiled and took pictures with him, and never said anything hurtful to Will. 

It was like he was putting on an act and went back to not caring, once the time was over. 

Will liked to blame me when Ben didn't contact him. I tried to explain that I let it be Ben's choice and that he was a busy kid, but it didn't matter. Will had it in his head that I was trying to keep Ben from him, or brainwashing him into thinking that Will was this horrible person.

He was a horrible person, but I tried to never talk about him negatively in front of Ben. I let him make his own choices on what he thought of his so-called father. I was still upset that Will's name was on his damn adoption papers. 

My relationship with Will was still just as toxic. I still saw him all the time, but it didn't bother me as much as it used too. It had been 5 years since I had finally gotten the strength to leave him.