I froze for a moment, feeling slightly uncomfortable. “Noah, you know that I’m not your mother, right? I mean, I do love you, sweetheart, but I’m not your mommy.”
“But you can be,” Noah said, giving me a sweet innocent smile.
I felt my heart melt at the sight, but I also felt a thrill of fear that made me take pause. What was I doing? Noah wasn’t just any kid…he was my nephew, and I was pretending to have no real connection to him. How could I explain all this to Jake? He would never believe that my intentions were sincere from the start.
I knew I had to tell Jake the truth. I had let too much time pass already. My future with Jake and Noah was on shaky ground because of the way I’d started things.
I thought back to the last day I’d seen and spoken to Daphne. Her eyes had been hard and passionate and angry.
“How dare you think you have any real place in my life?” she had demanded. “How dare you feel you can advise me about anything?”
“I’m your sister.”
“You’re my father’s bastard,” she snapped at me. “That doesn’t make you my sister.”
I bit back my hurt. “Daphne—”
“I know he’s living with you and your mother, Kristen,” she had screamed at me. “He’s back with you and the home wrecker, isn’t he?”
“You know that’s not my choice,” I had pleaded with her. “I didn’t want him to come back, but—”
“Sure, blame your mother,” Daphne spat. “In the end, you’re just like her. You’re a liar and a home wrecker, too.”
She had walked away, and I had never seen her again.
I looked down at Noah and kissed him gently on the forehead. He was tired, so I was easily able to put him to bed. I watched him as he slept, and I felt defeated and miserable all of a sudden. Had Daphne been right? Was I just a different version of my mother? Was I a liar and a home wrecker, too?
I walked out of Noah’s room and headed to the living room. I was staring at Daphne’s picture when Jake called.
“How’s everything?” he asked.
“Everything’s fine,” I said distractedly. “He’s sleeping now.”
“Did he manage to eat anything?”
“A few crackers and some lemonade.”
“You actually managed to convince him?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, you really are something special.”
“No, I’m not,” I said insistently.
Jake seemed to sense that something was not quite right. “Are you okay?” he asked. “Don’t tell me you’ve caught whatever Noah has.”
“No,” I replied. “I’m just…tired, that’s all.”
“I’m sorry, that’s my fault,” he said apologetically. “I’m overworking you.”
“No, that’s not it.”
“You handling everything in the office and babysitting my kid to boot…”
“It’s the least I can do,” I blurted out.
Jake paused for a moment. “What do you mean, ‘it’s the least you can do?’”