CAKE

One Hundred Twenty-Six

Kathryn

The sound of crying forces me awake. I jumped out of bed, slightly ignoring that Mateo was no longer in bed with me as I rushed to the sound of my son crying. When I get to his crib in the living room, I find my dark-skinned boyfriend holding the baby while shushing him, to no avail.

Chuckling, I place my hand on my hip and watch the two for a few seconds. Ever since I gave birth, Antonio has been very adamant about expressing who his favorite parent was. Anytime he was left alone with Mateo, he'd burst out crying until I entered the room. One small glance at the boy and he'd start smiling at me.

He wouldn't eat when Mateo tried to feed him, he always spat at him, and the list went on. Antonio didn't like Mateo and I couldn't understand why.

"Are you torturing the poor baby?" I question.

Just the sound of my voice alone relaxes the light-skinned baby. I smile at the dark-haired child. "You love mama, don't you?" I question as I make my way over.

Mateo frowns as I take Antonio from his hands. The baby smiles the second his dark eyes land on my face. My smile grows as he reaches his little stubby fingers out to grab my hair as he had been doing for the past few days. "You are so adorable," I coo, absolutely in love with the child in my hands.

"To you. He hates me," Mateo groans and I swear I almost saw Antonio glare at him. Chuckling, I turn to the dark-skinned Latino man. "He'll probably love you the older he gets, you never know."

The man sighs before heading into the kitchen. When he comes back out, he has Antonio's bottle. "What time did you want to leave?" he questions, eyes on me curiously.

Humming, I smile as Antonio sticks his little slimy tongue out, coating his lips. "Uh... at noon? Did you tell your mom that we wanted to come by? I really really don't want to go over there but... she's your mother which makes her family," I groan.

He smiles softly. "I'm sorry, she can be... a lot to deal with."

"I swear the moment she says something negative about Antonio or our relationship, I'm cutting her out of my life and his. There's only so much I can take. But I refuse to allow someone like her to be his grandmother and not accept me or us or him," I spit sternly.

Just the thought of her saying something bad makes me annoyed.

"Okay," Mateo mutters. 

Letting out a breath, I try to think about something other than Mateo's mother. "What if Casey shows up?" he questions. 

I groan internally, wishing there was a way for me to get away from that name. Hell, if my entire life wasn't stationed here, I would move back to Utah to escape her altogether. Or somewhere new. California was probably out of the question, that place has been infected with her presence as is. I'd risk bumping into her many friends there.  

Inhaling and exhaling, I glance at my boyfriend, remembering he asked a question. I hum, not entirely sure of the answer myself. I was still upset with the woman and for a pretty petty reason, I didn't want her to meet my son despite a piece of me dying to introduce the two. 

The truth is Casey is very important to me and I'll always want her in my life and I wanted her to be a part of Antonio's life. But she crossed a line and there's probably no returning from that. It was easy to forgive her for leaving but getting upset with me over something so minuscule hurt me deeply.

I shrug my shoulders at the man, "I don't know Mateo. I've invited her sister, best friend, niece, and mother... it would be pretty weird if I got upset that she would show up. I don't know..." I exhale.