Slowly Drowning (Under Construction)

Chapter 4

I woke up and turned around wanting to see Jaden's face. Jaden wasn't anywhere in the room. I got up and checked the bathroom. He wasn't there either. I heard stuff moving around in the kitchen. I grab the pocket knife from the nightstand drawer. I softly step into the kitchen and see Jaden attempting to cook something.

"What the hell?!"

Jaden drops the flour and measuring cup into a bowl. "Oh. Hey. I was trying to make a German Chocolate cake. I saw how much it meant to you."

I start to help him clean up. "Do you need me to help?"

"Yeah." He admits.

"So where are we in this?" I look down at the recipe.

"I was measuring the flour."

"How many cups?"

"Well, two cups plus the actual measuring cup."

"Okay. We need to take out the measuring cup and add one cup of sugar." He starts to add the sugar to the wet ingredients. I grab his wrist. "No. Add it to the dry ingredients."

"Oh. That makes sense now."

"Have you ever cooked before?"

"No. Josie always cooked with Jackie. She said that guy's shouldn't know how to cook. That it wasn't right." He starts to mock her voice. "Guy's should go and work, while women shop, cook, clean, and care for the kids."

"Well, I'm here and I'll help you learn. What happened to the other cake."

He gives me a guilty look. "I ate it."

"Jaden." I chuckle. "Let's mix it and put it in the oven."

We put it into the oven and walk into the living room. Jaden sits on the couch and turns on the TV. Some movie was playing that neither of us knew. He shut it off, walked onto the kitchen, and intently looked at the cake through the glass window on the stove.

"Jaden. The cake isn't going anywhere."

"You don't know that. I mean I made it. It could grow legs."

"Jaden come up to the bedroom."

"Why? We can't really do anything."

"Jaden! That's not what I meant."

"Sorry. It's just I want me to be the biological father of August. He won't respect me. He'll only respect you and Brad." His voice was bitter.

I rest my hands on his cheeks. "No. Baby you will be the biological father in his eyes. You will be the only father he'll ever know. I don't want him to have anything to do with Brad and he won't."

Jaden leans in and kisses me. That was all he had to do for me to understand. I stop and walk into the garage. I walk over to the backseat of my Porsche and pull out a piece of printed paper. I hand it to Jaden.

"This says that you can put my name on the birth certificate! So I will be his only father." He is so happy he starts to shake. "W-where did you get this?"

"I went to the courthouse today and asked. The lady said I could put the prefered father's name on the paper if his is present at the time of the birth and if we are married or engaged."

There's a knock at the door. Jaden walks over to the door. I follow him. When he opens the door, there's a tall skinny man and a bulky man in suits. They both have suitcases beside them. They look up from their white smartphones and stick them in their pockets.

"Is this the Rayne and Jaden Fucillo residence?" They both ask.

"Yes." Jaden says shakily.

"Good. May we speak with Rayne?"