Dalliance | Paul Lahote

━ ONE: MORNING BLUES

❝ 𝑊𝘩𝑒𝑛 𝑦𝑜𝑢'𝑟𝑒 𝑠𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑜 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑤𝑎𝑦, 𝑡𝘩𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑏𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒. ❞

— ᴺᴱᴵᴸ ᴳᴬᴵᴸᴹᴬᴺ

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EVANGELINE WAS NOT a morning person.

That made the fact that her son was an early bird, waking up almost at the crack of dawn every morning, a challenge. She supposed it was a trait from the other side of the parental tree that created Oliver, or just a mutation that afflicted the small four-year-old, because in all the years Evangeline had known Paul Lahote, he never seemed like the type to rejoice in waking up with the sun.

The dark-haired boy was currently jumping on her bed, possessing the energy only a child could have, while she laid under the covers, awake but not quite willing to leave the comfort of her bed yet.

"Mommy, when is Uncle Cas going to get here?" Oliver asked eagerly, his emerald green eyes shining with excitement.

"Soon sweetie, when he does, we'll head to Auntie Stella's place." The woman answered, but she could see that the information he was waiting for had yet to be said. "And then we're all going to the beach so you can play in the sand." Evangeline completed, her words making Oliver squeal excitedly.

Evangeline reached her hand towards him, pulling the small boy to lay beside her so she could cuddle him. A giggle escaped Oliver, who didn't wait to pull the covers up so he could be under them as well, almost instantly getting on top of his mother, hugging her in a koala like fashion.

The two laid idly for a while, Evangeline stroking the raven strands that sprouted out of her son's head. She couldn't stop her mind from wandering, the lack of any sort of distraction making it impossible to keep out the thoughts that had been haunting her for the last few days. Ever since her father died and surprisingly left all his possessions to her, she was forced to return to Forks to deal with the ramifications of that revelation. She supposed her stepmother wasn't all that pleased with what her husband's will determined, but Evangeline had yet to see the woman since coming back to her home town, as she apparently went on a last-minute trip to deal with her grief, leaving Evangeline and Oliver alone in the big house that was once her home.

Evangeline was nervous to be back after so many years, but not because of the family she'd left behind, well, not hers anyway. The main cause of worry for the brunette was her son's father.

She wasn't proud of this, but Evangeline never told him about the baby. She thought about it countless times, even once going as far as stop by his house in a feat of bravery that lasted a great five minutes, before she lost her nerve and quickly left. The thing was, Paul was not what could be considered father material, especially considering that she was a fling and he didn't even remember her.