Antidote

Chapter 19.

The sound of incessant ringing forced me to open my eyes, but unlike what I assumed, it was still dark out. I can tell the ringing isn't coming from my phone because when the sound is on, Hayden's phone announces all of his callers. "Hayden," I whisper his name not wanting to wake Naomi who's fast asleep between the two of us.

Her mother dropped her off last night earlier than the time they usually had arranged and instead of sleeping in her bed she came straight to Hayden's room and fell asleep. When Hayden asked Una about dropping her off early she only said it was urgent. Is the unknown caller Una or someone calling about her?

"Hmm," His response is mumbled. He hasn't moved or opened his eyes yet. He must be in deep sleep to not hear his own phone ringing.

"Your phone."

"What?"

"Your phone is ringing nonstop, it's from an unknown number," I inform him.

"It's probably my father." He groans and turns on the opposite side not even bothering to touch his phone. And for the sake of my sanity, those were probably the worst words he could have said to me.

A myriad of questions immediately attacks my mind the moment I heard that word. His father? Why is he calling him? I have to force myself not to overthink a situation like this but memories of what happened the last time give me unpleasant flashes from the past. Wesley was kidnapped by his own father in an attempt to forcibly get Hayden to take over his company. Has he come up with a new way to blackmail Hayden into signing the contract?

In order to avoid answering his phone to interrogate Damon I put his phone on silent and turn in the opposite direction. In the year Hayden and I were together he craved his dad's acceptance and love but as he opened his heart to real love and opened his eyes to his father's malicious behavior that feeling for him went away. He spent his entire life chasing after his father only for him to want no parts of him.

Though I know I should be asleep, I idly wonder if Hayden ever desires to have a relationship with him again. Does he want Naomi to know her grandparents? Has he introduced them before? Does either of his parents know that he has a daughter? Would he ever willingly put them in her life? My hand rubs over my slightly protruding belly as I ask myself how will I be able to protect them from their grandfather. I have a strong feeling that the way he was with Hayden is the way he'll be even to his grandchildren. The only reasonable and safe choice is to keep him out of their lives. And that's probably exactly why Hayden is avoiding his dad's calls.

To force my mind off of that soulless man, I close my eyes envisioning the life I've always dreamed of for myself and Hayden. In a couple of months, these dreams will become into our reality and I pray they're better than anything I could ever hope for.

"Alice," A small voice sounds as tiny hands push at my shoulder, waking me from my sleep. "I'm hungry Alice." She whined.

"Okay," I mumble, my eyelids heavy as I force them open. She does this every morning and I can still say I'm never going to get used to being awake before my alarm can go off. My alarm has always been set to 8:30 but in the past weeks that I've been living here, its use has become redundant. Every morning, without fail, Naomi wakes up between the hours of 8:00 and 8:15, to tell the both of us that she's hungry or has to use the toilet or that she wants to play. I like to think of this as practice, being here with Hayden and Naomi gives me a glimpse of what life is going to be like with another child in the picture.