"You know that you're going to have so many ladies after you... I'd bet on it." I tell Teddy as he pulls at my hair, lying on my chest.
I found a small pond on the outskirts of the town, not too far from the small battered house we stay in.
I needed some time alone with him, no Zara or Jane. Just the two of us.
I'm still new to this whole dad scene, pretending I know what I'm doing when I'm changing his nappy or trying to feed him apple sauce, only to spit it back at me.
Zara usually tries to intervene but I stop her, needing to learn something about parenting.
The little shit is aggressively happy too, the amount of slaps to the face I've survived is more than I ever received from my own dad.
You could be the scariest bastard in the world, but if your kid messes with you, you take that shit like a boss.
We are lying on the grass with the sun hitting us. Teddy is crawling now and trying to keep an eye on him at all times and plan a reverse kidnapping is driving me insane.
I've had a constant headache for weeks, listening to Grace and Finn bickering about shit I don't care about.
Zara also flipped the switch earlier by telling me she didn't want me to go, to stay with her and let them play out their rescue mission.
If I do that then the chances of us getting out of here will be slim. Unless I strangle Thomas' mum until tells us the way to the exit.
The idea is enticing.
I'd do it.
That's option two, but she just wants her son back and to get back to whatever the fuck she was doing.
Something I can't seem to shake from my mind is fucking Thomas, his orders against Teddy.
Would he have gone through with it? To kill a newborn kid.
I don't even want to know.
I'll be sure to give him more than a left hook when I see him, that's for sure.
I huff, covering my eyes from the sun while I try to think of a way to make Zara understand.
So, because I'm going to help get the kid back, Zara took the huff and now won't speak to me.
I tried all the mushy shit for all of five minutes before I told her to go fuck. I picked up Teddy, grabbed a blanket and walked until we came to the pond.
"Never get into a relationship, pal. It will do your head in." I huffed, rubbing a hand down my face and blow out a puff of air. As if he could understand me, he giggled and pulled a face. "Knew you were a mini-me." I laughed along with him.
I could see me doing this on the outside, walking around with all these spawns to carry on my name. Zara still by my side until we turn grey and wrinkled to fuck.
I'd still give her a pounding.
"Will we go see mummy?" I lift Teddy above me, pretending he's flying until we get back to the shabby house.
I wonder if Zara is out her mood yet? I pushed the door open and walked in.
She's still pissed.
I got glared at, ignored and then moaned at because she couldn't find me.
I might love this annoying human but my fucking god it's taking me everything not to shove my dick in her mouth to shut her up.
Jane tells me that the other two are preparing to leave, waiting for me to get ready.
"You're still going?" Zara asked me, hand on her hip and screwing her face up. "I said to you I didn't want you to."
"I hardly have a choice, Zara." I shrug, "I need to."
"Bullshit." She storms out the house, slamming the door behind her.
I roll my eyes and bulge them at Jane, who is tight-lipped.
She is holding Teddy, wiping away his sauced up face. "She's just worried, Theo. She doesn't trust those two, especially her dad." She motions out the front window.
"What else am I supposed to fucking do? Zara needs to see it from my side and stop acting like a stupid little shit."
I can see the gears ticking, she's about to lose her shit at me.
"Theo..."
She shakes her head. "I know I always say about your language, but there is a baby here now who picks up on everything. Do you want his first word to be a profanity?" She cocks a brow.
Would he be the son of Theo if he didn't?
Ah fucking fuck, told you I'm shit at this parenting stuff.
"I'm going to pack." I ignore her, ruffling Teddy's curls and lifting a black backpack I found days prior.
So this is going to take at least a week for me to travel, set up a plan, execute the fucking plan and try, somehow, get away without losing my life.
Sounds like a piece of piss, easy, harmless and downright fucking stupid.
Grace's plan to free her son, get us all out of here without freeing my dad from his man-made prison is going to be a hard job. The idea of having Zara in the mix made my blood run cold, so I refused that she took part and told her to stay back with Jane and our son.
I hope the stubborn bitch comes back before I leave or it's going to eat me alive.
I need my full concentration on this mission. My dad's men are heavily armed, trained and some of them are so lost in his messed up programme, they'll kill without blinking.
I keep looking out the window, looking for Zara as I pack all the stolen clothes I've found over the past few weeks of getting here.
No sign of her.
Come on, babe. Don't do this. I say to myself, not accepting that the chances of me not coming back would leave Zara with a memory she will regret.
I needed a reassuring embrace off her, to tell me I'm doing the right thing for our son and to stay safe.
But, she's not fucking here.
I zip my bag up harshly, throwing it down on the ground and pace the room for god knows how long, waiting.
Nothing.
"Theo, they're outside," Jane called up to me. She really is like a mum.
"Right." I bite my bottom lip, looking out the window once more and pushing myself out the room, down the wooden stairway to Jane standing with Teddy.
"You look after everyone, buddy." I ruffle his hair again and he smiles, holding his arms out to me and I lift him to an embrace, rubbing my hand on his back.
Shit, this is shit.
Why can she not just let us leave without a fucking agreement?
She's using me and my fear of saving my son to get her own way, and I'll be fucking damned if she fucks me over.
I will kill her, without blinking, if she tries to mess with me.
My heart twists in my chest and tears brim at my eyes when I try hand Teddy back to Jane, his hands instantly stretched out to me and balling his eyes out, screaming for me. "I'm sorry, pal." I turn, slowly closing the door behind me.
Wow, that hit different and I'll struggle to not think about that feeling.
"About time." Grace snaps and I give her the middle finger, looking around to see if she appears, nothing.
Zara's dad is fixing his bag to his back and tightening his water bottle, bobbing his head to indicate us to leave.
I don't want to.
I don't want to leave my son.
I don't want this to be my last time ever seeing him.
And, I don't want to leave without kissing my girl, potentially for the last time.
I know this is basically a suicide mission and it's making my stomach turn.
Why can't I be back at Zara's house, knuckle deep in her while she moaned my name?
Why can't I be sitting at the top of the tree with her, her back to my chest while we watched the sunrise?
Why can't I just have a normal fucking happy life with my family?
Fuck... I'd happily go back to dealing with Thomas chasing after her as my only issue.
Fuck.
We are halfway out of the town now. I've given up looking over my shoulder and stayed silent as they discussed the plan.
Scouting the areas, counting the enemy, baiting someone to gain access, grabbing the kid somehow and killing my dad along with Thomas.
Sounds like a perfect disaster to me.
Although, she has yet to tell me how the fuck she is getting us out of this prison.
"So... Grace." I roll her name on my tongue. "Once we do this and get your kid out, how do we leave here? What is your plan for us to get out here?"
She stops abruptly and gives me a stern look, Zara's dad keeps walking. "Turn around." She smirks.
And I do.
I see Zara sprinting to me, I instantly start toward her as she erratically and breathlessly launching into my arms, wrapping around my waist, hands grabbing my face and kissing me all over.
I drop my bag out my hand, holding her against me while she cried.
"I don't want you to go." She sobbed into my neck and I turn to see those two nodding at me and Grace gives me the two minutes sign.
"I don't have a choice, Zara. I can get us out of here." I grab her face, "Imagine being free and understand why I need to go." Holding my forehead to hers.
"Theo... let's move." Her dad yells over, still walking away.
I reckon I will be slicing his throat in his sleep at some point.
"I love you." She continued to shake in my arms and I set her on her feet. "I get it." She nods, head falling on my chest.
"I need to go now. Go back and help Jane with Teddy, keep busy until I'm back. Ok?" She nods and I kiss her forehead. "Fuck, I love you, Zara. Both of you." I let her go, holding her hand and dropping it, turning around and not looking back to her.
"Promise you will come back." She yells after me, but I screw my face and keep walking.
I won't lie.
Just keep walking, Theo.
I can hear her muffled cries still, even after walking for nearly ten minutes.
-OLD VERSION-UNEDITED