His Second Chance

Part 9

October 2017, Paris

“Here daddy, this is our house!” Jamie yelled excitedly as he pulled his dad’s hand while his mum opened the door to their tiny apartment.

In a way, Julianna felt ashamed. She knew Niall was used to all the luxuries he gets for being a famous singer.Her tiny apartment was a huge contrast to the swanky hotel rooms One Direction stays in and the massive houses they buy for themselves and their families.

Although Julianna hadn’t kept tabs on Niall for a long time, she knew he was still very successful. She’s unintentionally seen his name on French tabloids and magazines. One Direction definitely did well for the past few years. Despite other artists of their generation becoming obsolete, their fanbase still remained strong and intact.

“Come in! Come in!” Jamie jumped enthusiastically as he showed his dad around the house. He held his dad’s hand tightly as if he didn’t want to ever let go. Niall didn’t mind, he never really realized until he held his son that he didn’t want to let go either.

“This is where we eat!”

“This is our tiny play place!”

“I’ll show you my room!”

“This is where my Superman sleeps!”

Jamie explained almost the purpose of every single nook and corner of their tiny apartment to his dad in mixed French and English and mispronounced words. He couldn’t help but feel so excited to learn everything about this kid. He was too adorable, he was so sweet, and so cute, and he was his.

In between all the introductions to every toy he has ever owned and every furniturethat could be found in their place, Niall kept sneaking glances at Julianna who was busy cooking.

He couldn’t help but think how beautiful she was. Even earlier when he saw her again for the first time. She looked almost ethereal riding her bike. She almost looked like a local Parisian with her skirt flowing behind her and the sunset perfectly hitting her face. He felt like a stalker staring at Julianna, and he couldn’t help but remember the times when they were together, when he could just allow himself to stare at her face all day. When he could just touch her face, hold her hand, and steal kisses, and just be with her.

Niall desperately wanted to talk to Julianna. He wanted to apologize, but he understood that she wasn’t ready to talk to him yet.She’s never actually directly said anything to him from the time they saw each other, she never even glanced at his direction and he couldn’t help but feel that Julianna was ignoring him.

‘Well of course she is avoiding you, you dumb idiot, you’ve been missing in your son’s life for four years!’

But he also couldn’t help but blame her for not telling him. It’s not entirely his fault that he hadn’t been around, if he only knew the truth, he could have stayed. Why is everything so conflicting?

Julianna busied herself in the kitchen, but she didn’t really need to do much. Fridays usually meant leftovers, so she only needed to reheat the food from last night. But she couldn’t face Niall yet. She was still so mad. The first time she saw him after a really long time, she couldn’t say anything. She wasn’t ready. It was like the huge hole in her chest that she thought has been healing for the past few years suddenly opened again. It was as if, her stomach dropped and everything inside her was falling out and her throat was being burned at the same time.

She thought she’s always known what to tell him. She had the perfect plan of telling him to back off from her and her son’s life.Her and Jamiehave been living in their own tiny little planet, with their tiny rules and little ways of showing each other their love. Jamie was an affectionate kid, and despite knowing that he was also Niall’s son, Julianna wanted to be selfish, and not share him to his father. Jamie didn’t need to get his heart broken by his dad like Julianna did. She always believed that Niall chose fame over her, and she didn’t want to expose Jamie to that kind of heartbreak.