My Son (2 page)

“
Max” she had said quietly.

“How old is he” he
had again asked as Kelly had once more answered, her voice softer looking at the picture of her beloved boy

“11 months”

Marc had muttered something incoherently under his breath before swinging around to face her, his dark eyes blazing brighter than she had ever thought would be possible

“Where is he
?” he had barked out with barely contained rage, as Kelly had stepped back, a flicker of fear now entering her eyes he had noted with some small satisfaction.

“Where is my
son?”

“I told you” she
had cried back at him “he isn’t here and I don’t know when he’ll be back” glaring back at him with as much courage as she could muster, her trembling hands which were now wrapped protectively around herself giving her away.

“Is that his birth certificate” he
had demanded, grabbing it from her fingers before she could stop him.

“
It’s a copy” she had responded although aware that he was now intently reading the document, shock filling his handsome features before, again he had sworn angrily under his breath before waving the document before her

“Why?” he demanded “why did she never tell me”

Kelly had finally found the courage to stand up to him

“You knew” she
had cried back, her face shining with the anger she had always held for him

“But you just left her to bring him up on her own”

Marc De Santo had stared back at her in disbelief

“I never knew.  Do you think I would leave my son
” he had looked around her flat again “…..here” he had said with no attempt to conceal his contempt

Kelly didn’t know what to say.  She hated t
his man so much.  How dare he look down on her and the home she lived in, and how dare he look at her as though she was dirt under his feet.

“Get out of my house” she
had whispered angrily

“Not without my son” he
had snarled back, holding her angry gaze with his own.

“I have legal guardianship” she
had yelled “And you don’t even know if he is your son yet”

Marc
had looked back at the picture, a look of disbelief in his eyes

However, glaring at her
once more he had moved back down the hall to her doorway, pulling open the door before looking back at her

“I will be back Miss Brown and next time I will be coming for my son”

before slamming the door behind him

As the door
had closed with a loud bang, the sound had seemed to knock the wind from Kelly, who from standing rigid, bravely holding up her chin in defiance, had visibly crumbled, falling slowly to her knees, her shoulders slumping forward and the tears filling her lovely eyes.

Oh God she
had thought, please don’t take Max from me … not Max, tears now streaming unchecked down her face.  Looking up at the picture of the small child she had so lovingly painted, her heart had beaten so fast with the panic which now swamped her at the thought of losing her little boy. 

Right from his birth it had been Kelly who
had looked after him, as although she had loved her son, Trudy had never been overly maternal.  She had been happy to let her cousin bring her son up while she continued to live her life the way she always had, attending parties with her many boyfriends.  Naturally outgoing and beautiful, people, especially men had been attracted to Trudy and she in turn had enjoyed their attention.  However, a rule Kelly had stuck to rigidly was that no men where ever allowed to stay over in the flat, which resulted in many nights and often whole days in which she was left to raise little Max on her own.  Kelly had never blamed or judged her cousin for the way she lived her live, but had been thankful for the joy that Max had brought into her world, especially at such a dark period in her life. 

Kelly had
thought back to the day he had been born, remembering how she had fallen in love with the small vulnerable baby the minute Trudy had delivered him with Kelly there to hold her hand.  She had cursed Marc De Santo for the way he had thrown her dear friend and cousin aside and ignored the fact that she was carrying his child.

At least that was what she had thought.  From his reaction only moments ago a flicker of doubt
had dented that long held anger towards him.  Surely he wouldn’t bother to pretend to her that he had not known about Max.  Men like Marc De Santo didn’t care what people like her thought.  They were too rich and powerful to have to live like the rest of the mere mortals, as what he wanted he got.  She had felt the vice like fear grip her heart realising that right now he wanted Max, and with that the tears once more had began to fall

Kelly had spent the
rest of the day in a blind panic.  Having safely ensured that Max stayed with her friend that evening on the pretext that she was not well, she had first talked on the phone with her lawyer and then met with him in person to talk about Max and Marc.

“But
Trudy’s will clearly said that she wanted me to bring him up” she had cried as her lawyer had kindly sat her down pushing a warm cup of tea into her trembling fingers

Mr Grace,
who although appeared so outwardly gently, was a formidable man in the courts, and was not one who believed in sugar coating the truth, and with a deep sigh he had faced her

“Kelly
....I don’t know what to tell you.  If Marc De Santo is Max’s biological father then he has more rights to his son that you do”

Kelly’s
look of shock and fear driving him to add in a more kindly voice

“But he has to prove he is the biological father first”

Kelly had grabbed onto this small glimmer of hope

“
Yes. yes….maybe he isn’t Max's father after all” she had said hopefully.  However, in her mind she had once more seen the picture of Marc standing beside Max’s picture and in her heart of hearts she knew that he was.

Placing the untouched tea back on the desk she
had put her head into her hands and whispered tremulously “Please Mr Grace, Max is all I have.  There must be something I can do.  He hasn’t supported Max - he didn’t even care about him until Trudy died”

Mr Grace
had spoken gently

“Are you so sure that he knew Kelly” he
had asked softly

Kelly
had remained silent.  Trudy had told her that Marc didn’t want to know, but in just that one meeting with the man she had had this belief shaken.  Had he known she felt sure that he would have demanded that he kept his son, not allowing him to grow up in such a place as they were living.  Kelly had once more grown angry at the way he had put down her home, the house that she and Danny had so lovingly restored, before….  She had pushed the memories to the side with a bitter twist of her mouth.  How dare he insult her lovely home, not everybody could afford to live in penthouse suites or designer villas, her mouth setting angrily.  If there was one thing that Max had always known then it was love.  Her home was full of love and Max had never known anything else, something she doubted that Marc De Santo was capable of.

On returning home she
had walked around her flat wringing her hands and waiting for his return but he never had and when by tea time the next day he had still not returned Kelly had allowed her friend to bring Max home.

As they were
once more left alone Kelly had hugged the small child kissing him on his fat cheeks.  She had looked into his gorgeous eyes and was momentarily reminded of another set of eyes that had looked at her with such scorn.  Tickling the little boy much to his delight, she had said gently

“Y
ou would never look at me like that, would you my darling” however, the small child had just looked back at her sweetly with laughing eyes. 

Realising that she had not
seen or heard any more from him in 2 days, Kelly had begun to hope that Marc De Santo had changed his mind, perhaps he had only wanted to make sure that she was not trying to get money from him.  Yes that was it she had thought to herself a sense of relief washing over her – he just didn’t want to have to pay her off, reminded of his words

“If you are trying to get money
...”

This was enough to change
Kelly’s mood, as she had reproached herself for her panic realising that Marc De Santo was not a man who wanted to be saddled with a baby, a child would never fit into his life style she had assured herself once more smiling.

For the rest of the evening she
had bathed and played with the small boy who had giggled and coo-d contentedly in her arms, before finally she had put him into his cot before collapsing onto her own bed.  The previous night she had not slept with sheer fear of losing her beloved Max and now exhausted she had quickly fallen into a deep sleep.

Coming around groggily Kelly
had taken a moment to register what had awakened her before realising that the door bell was ringing.  Still half asleep she had pulled herself out of bed standing at the door before she had really had time to wake up.

Carefully she
had opened it, her befuddled mind wondering what the post man was bringing her as she had peered out, her eyes still heavy with sleep.  Seeing him standing there had woken her quickly, the surge of fear that crashed through her body freezing her to the spot as Mark De Santo had stood on the doorstep as darkly handsome as ever.

“Is he in now” the man before her
had said, before pushing the door open further, not waiting for an invite as he had marched purposefully into her flat

As he
had moved closer to the room the sleeping child laid, Kelly had regained the use of her legs and in panic ran ahead of him blocking the door to the child’s room with her body, her arms outstretched.

“Please, please” she
whispered “don’t”

A
bout to push past her Marc had looked down at her face and hesitated, shocked to see the panic in her eyes

“H
e is my son” he had said more softly seeing as Kelly had looked imploringly at him “no….please…….you’ll frighten him”

This
had the effect of stopping him in his tracks as he had looked from the door of the room to the woman who stood using her small body as a barrier to try to keep him from entering, like a mother protecting her child from danger he thought to himself.   He was once again hit with just how beautiful she was despite the fact that her hair which hung around her face and shoulders was mused up from sleep.  She wore no make-up yet her skin seemed to radiate a natural warm glow and looking deeply into her eyes he had once again thought how a man could get lost in those large blue eyes, eyes which were now so full of fear and panic.

He
had stepped back, watching as her body had relax a little.

“I don’t want to frighten him” he
had said slowly “but I am not leaving here without seeing him”

Kelly had
nodded in submission and slowly he had turned and moved into the room he presumed correctly to be the kitchen, as Kelly had followed relieved that he had not entered Max’s room.

For several seconds they
had both stood silently in the kitchen, Kelly still trying to catch her breath from the emotional turmoil, while he had seemed cool and totally in control of his emotions as he had sat on one of the bar stools which had been pushed under the worktop. 

Kelly had flicked her eyes over him seeing that
he was that day dressed casually in jeans and a polo shirt sporting some designer logo which she had instantly recognised.  The top seemed to accentuate the contours of his lean body and flatness of his stomach and despite the panic she felt Kelly had felt the prickle of awareness at his presence.  Having him so close stirred something deep within her, and she could easily understand why women would fall at his feet, as he effortlessly exuded a raw sexual power which she had pushed to the back of her mind.  Yes she could see how he could attract all those women, like moths to a candle she had thought sadly, only Trudy had been the one to be burnt

To break the silence in which she
had suddenly become aware of him watching her she had began to move around the kitchen filling the kettle and laying out 2 cups.

“Would you like tea or coffee” she
had asked as politely as she could aware that her voice was still shaking

With
a lifting of his eyebrow he asked for coffee black with no sugar and she had busied herself preparing the two drinks

After slidin
g the cup across to him Kelly had become aware of the fact that she was not dressed but was still wearing her silken pyjamas which left very little to the imagination.  Colouring a little she had put down her cup and mumbled something about dressing.  Marc had seemed uninterested, but she had stood savaging her lip for a few seconds before turning to him and worriedly looking at Max’s room asking for assurance that he would not wake up the small boy still sleeping peacefully inside.  He had frowned “I said I would wait” was the irritated reply he had thrown at her and with a last worried look she had left to quickly dress.