Father & Son: Book two of the Jensen Family Series (10 page)

Helen greeted him with a smile, a large
mug of tea and the promise of breakfast once he had put his bag in the spare
room between Gavin and Luke’s rooms.

The door to Carmen’s bedroom was still
closed and guessing that she had worked the previous evening, he left her to
sleep and made his way back down the stairs.

Putting a plate containing a full English
breakfast in front of him, Helen turned to seven month old Gavin, happily
slapping his hands on the tray of his highchair as he waited for his own
breakfast. Luke was sitting on a grown up chair equipped with a booster seat
beside him, making a delightful mess with his boiled egg and soldiers.

“Thanks Helen.” Paul murmured and,
avoiding Luke’s eggy fingers liberated the brown sauce from the centre of the
table.

“That’s ok.” She replied over her shoulder
as she shovelled baby cereal into his sons’ mouth.

“You know, I could do that.” He offered.

“You can feed him at lunchtime if you
insist. You’ve had a long journey after an early start so just relax for a bit
and enjoy your breakfast.”

The conversation between the two adults
had finally caught Gavin’s attention making him dodge the spoon Helen tried
repeatedly to push into his mouth as he stilled and stared at the man across
the table.

Engrossed in a muddled conversation with
Luke as he tried to wipe egg from his fingers, Paul didn’t at first notice that
Helen had moved to the sink and Gavin sat stock still until Luke slipped from
the table and toddled off into the adjoining room.

“I guess he’s finished.” Paul stated
looking to where Helen had been sitting. “Erm, why is he staring at me?” He
asked, his eyes not leaving his sons.

“Oh,” Helen turned from the washing up to
lean back against the sink, regarding father and son, “He does that. He’s quite
intense but you’re lucky, he usually starts screaming, he must like you.”

“It’s seriously unnerving.” Paul sat back,
still holding his sons gaze. “He looks like me.” He observed.

“Yes he does, he looks an awful lot like
you, he has Carmen’s eyes though, colour wise I mean, they aren’t as dark as
yours but they are the same shape as yours. He has the temper though, but
honestly, how could he fail to have it? You and Carmen are both fiery and it
would appear he has inherited a healthy dose of both your personalities.”

“Does he cry a lot?”

“No, hardly at all actually but you’d know
that if you’d bothered to come and see him sooner.”

Paul bristled at that statement, “I’ve been
busy Helen. I have a business to run.”

“I do know that but it would seem your out
of work activities have kept you more than a little distracted.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He scowled
at her and folded his arms defensively across his chest.

“You haven’t exactly been a wall flower
now have you Paul. Your exploits or should I say conquests have had enough
publicity for all and sundry to see.”

“I don’t have any ties, I’m single, have
been since Carmen called it quits so I fail to see who I spend time with
matters to you.”

“It matters because Carmen sees it and is
hurt by it.”

“Then perhaps she shouldn’t have kicked me
out.”

“Perhaps she shouldn’t have but she still
has feelings for you, you probably never stopped to give that a moments
consideration did you?”

Paul paused before snapping off an answer.
He didn’t want this; he had wanted this visit to be pleasant and fun even
though he was sure there would be moments of awkwardness. Helen was right; he
hadn’t considered Carmen’s feelings when he had been playing up to the press
for publicity and perhaps he should have handled it with a little more
maturity.

“Sadly, I didn’t. I will from now on.” He
admitted.

“No one expects you to be a monk but a
little diplomacy wouldn’t hurt.”

“Ok, I appreciate you pointing it out to
me.” He glanced back at Gavin who was still staring at him. “Doesn’t he blink?”

Looking back at the infant, Helen smiled,
“Looks like he’s filling his nappy that requires a lot of concentration when
you’re seven months old.”

“Terrific, I’ll remember that.” Paul
watched as Gavin’s little cheeks began to redden and then he shot backwards,
coming to his feet and just managing to catch his chair as his son’s first bout
of projectile vomiting barely missed him. “Oh my God, that’s disgusting.” He managed
to get out before the dry heaving started.

“It’s ok, this sort of thing happens.”
Helen jumped forward to pull Gavin out of the highchair.

Paul waved her away, “I’ve got this.” He
spluttered between trying not to vomit himself. He plucked his son out of the
highchair and held him at arms length, a fresh bout of dry heaving shaking his
frame as the smell hit him and the sight of partly digested baby food began to
drip onto the floor. “I have to learn to deal with this stuff sometime.”

Helen had grabbed a cot sheet from the
ironing pile and wrapped it around the dripping child, “Take him upstairs and
strip him off, I’ll start the bath running.” She swept from the room, calling
to her own son, figuring the two boys may as well bathe together.

The sound of boyish giggles and deep
masculine laughter woke Carmen. Wrapping her dressing gown tightly around her,
she shuffled to the family bathroom to find the two small boys, the walls and
most of the carpet covered in bubbles, the volume of which was increasing steadily
even as Paul, amidst laughter, crawled on his hands and knees around the floor
in a vain attempt to keep the bubble over flow to a minimum.

Rather than being annoyed at being woken
and the mess, Carmen found herself smiling at the sight of the two clearly very
happy little boys as they, or rather Luke, launched yet more soapy bubblieness
over the side of the bath at Paul.

His clothing had become damp as more and
more bubbles settled on him, his jeans were clinging to his thighs making
crawling forward difficult but he couldn’t help laughing. Luke had a
mischievous grin on his face as he clapped his hands causing yet more suds to
float into the air. Gavin’s dirty laugh filled the air as Luke’s projectile
landed on Paul’s head.

Carmen stepped forward and grasped Luke’s
hands as he went to clap them again. Pursing her lips, she blew gently, making
the soap teeter on the edge of his nose much to her own sons delight as he
giggled and splashed in heightened amusement.

Sitting back on his haunches and wiping
the soap from his face before resting his hands on his thighs, Paul looked up
at her and she could see he was trying to gauge her mood. She was in fact, glad
to have been woken; she had slept for far too long and had a lot to do today.
Paul’s presence would be a huge help as it meant she didn’t have to drag a
pushchair and a reigned Luke around the shops with her.

She smiled at him as she perched on the
edge of the bath and continued the game of flicking bubbles. “You look like you
need some dry clothes.”

Paul looked down at his t-shirt and jeans,
“Yeah, I’ll change in a bit. Sorry if we woke you up. Things got a little out
of hand.”

“It’s ok. I needed to get up. How are
you?” she asked but she could see for herself how awkward things had become
between them.

“I’m good. You?”

“I’m very well.” She paused. “This is
awkward.”

He let out a soft laugh, “Yeah.” He
agreed. “Are you working tonight?”

“No, I only do Monday to Friday.”

“Oh, ok. Erm, if I can persuade Helen to
babysit, do you want to go for a meal or to the cinema or something?” He asked.

“A meal would be nice, we do need to
talk.”
“I know. Do you think you could book a table? I’m not too sure where is a good
place to eat around here.”

“Alright.” She agreed. Standing, she bent
to gather Gavin into a towel and addressed him over her shoulder, “Do you think
you can get Luke dried and dressed?”

Coming to his feet, he took another towel
from the rail and plucked the youngster from the bath, rubbing him dry as he
squirmed to be free.

“I have a few things I need to get done
today, you could come with me or, if you prefer, you can spend the day with
Gavin on your own, the second option does come with a hefty side of Luke as
well though.”

“I’d like to spend some time with both
boys if you are sure that’s ok.” He admitted.

“Ok, I’ll write down everything you need
to know and then I’ll leave you to it.” She left the bathroom to dress Gavin
while Paul took Luke to his own room and did the same.

A somewhat frazzled Paul greeted her on
her return from shopping but both boys had been fed and seemed content to sit
and play with the oversized building bricks, Luke busily building a large brick
square while Gavin happily threw bricks in his direction.

Checking that Paul was happy to look after
the boys while she changed, she left him to it and headed upstairs.

Settling both boys into their chairs at
the kitchen table, Paul helped Helen dish up their evening meal then sat to
assist his son eat it.

“Thanks for looking after Gavin tonight
Helen.” He spoke to her as he fed his son. “I can put him to bed before we
leave if it makes things easier.”

While she was aware that Paul was making a
great effort at being amenable, Helen couldn’t help but think he had an
ulterior motive. Spurned in matters of the heart herself by a man she had loved
deeply, she was all too sensitive to the games they played and although Paul
was still young, he most definitely was a player and she didn’t want her best
friend to be hurt yet again.

“Just what is it you hope to achieve here
Paul?” she asked and watched in mild satisfaction as his shoulders stiffened.

He turned his chair sideways so that he
could see her and still feed Gavin. “I hope to achieve something that isn’t
awkward every time I visit as well as actually lay down some ground rules about
when I get to see my son.” He scowled at her “I appreciate everything you do
with him Helen and I’m sure Carmen does too but whatever happens between her
and I is none of your business and I can’t see why you would choose to put
yourself in the middle.”

“I don’t want to see her get hurt again.”

“It wasn’t my intention to ever hurt her;
she played a very big part in that, she ended it, she told me to leave and not
once in any of it did either of you consider my feelings. I may not show them,
I’ve learnt not to, living with my father, that’s a skill you learn very
quickly to avoid a beating but I do have feelings and I was hurt by what she
did. My motive here isn’t revenge for that, it’s just to achieve a sense of
unity where raising our son is concerned, whether or not that evolves into
something more between Carmen and I remains to be seen.”

“So you would happily put yourself into a
relationship with someone ten years older than you for the foreseeable future?”
Helen pushed.

“If you mean in the sense of raising a
child together then yes but if you mean a full time, monogamous relationship,
probably not.” He replied honestly. “I’m not ready for that and even if I was,
I doubt Carmen would be the one I would commit myself to.”

Helen gasped, truly shocked by that last
statement. “You’re quite happy to use her then?”

“I won’t do anything she doesn’t want me
to but equally, I won’t be pushed out of my son’s life over a difference of
opinion. I pay the bills and a healthy sum of maintenance as well as any
incidentals where Gavin and the house are concerned. I won’t have him or Carmen
wanting for anything but I won’t allow myself to be pushed into something I
don’t want. I’m sorry of that doesn’t appease your sense of right and wrong
Helen but I’m not here to satisfy your needs now am I?”

“You’re a pig.” She spat.

Paul shrugged and stood, removing the bowl
from the high chair and his sons grasp, “I’ve been called worse.” He shot back
at her while walking from the room.

He had to admit, the evening they spent at
the restaurant was immensely pleasurable, despite Helen’s attempt to dampen his
mood, he found he was feeling more than amiable and conversation between them
flowed freely. There were no barbed comments or cautious looks and it was
almost as if they were a happy couple out on a date night.

His mood was further buoyed by Carmen’s
acceptance of his requests of more time with Gavin. With his heart hammering in
his chest, he began on his more demanding requests, hoping that she would
continue to be agreeable and not cause a scene, pleasantly surprised when she
agreed to let him take the boy home with him sometimes to enable him to spend
time with his Grandparents, Uncle and Aunt.

Grasping the bull by the horns and on a
deeply drawn breath, he jumped in with both feet and asked to be able to take
Gavin to the family villa in Spain, his breath hitching when she hesitated. She
initially resisted letting Paul take him but only while he was so young. He
heaved a sigh of relief that she hadn’t outright refused but agreed to re-visit
this conversation at a later date.