Kimber props her arms on the table with a thud. “So, who’s the unlucky man who got to father…” she waves her hand dismissively in Ari’s direction, where she sits on Cameron’s lap. “This?”
I clench my fists, my panic being overshadowed by a growing anger. “This,” I say, motioning to Ari. “Is my daughter, and you can say what ever you want to me, but don’t you dare say anything about her.”
“Why so defensive, Hayls?” Kimber taunts. “I just asked who your ‘baby daddy’ is,” she pauses. “Unless you don’t know who he is.”
“Why don’t you just shut the fuck up?” Hannah snaps. The diner goes quiet but it doesn’t stop her from continuing. “You weren’t even invited, so why don’t you just throw yourself out with the rest of the trash out back?”
Kimber has the audacity to look affronted and throws a scowl in Hannah’s direction. “Somebody get me a leash, the dog is loose.”
Hannah’s mouth drops open. She looks ready to fly across the table and strangle the life out of Kimber’s body. If only.
“Hannah,” I say, reigning in my anger. “It’s not worth it.”
I reach my arms out to Ari and this time she comes willingly. I turn around to leave when Kimber says, “I’d also be ashamed if I were you.”
Turning to face her, I stand taller and straighten my shoulders. “Excuse me?”
She rolls her eyes. “You heard me. I said I’d also be ashamed if I were you.”
“Of what?” I ask. “Having a child?”
“Among other things.”
“Enough,” Kyle growls. “Stop, Kimber. Now.”
It’s the first time anyone else has said anything and I wasn’t expecting it to be Kyle. But now that Kimber has opened that door, he has no choice. Kimber bristles and beside her Rachel looks uncomfortable. Noah fidgets with a napkin and when I risk a glance at Cameron, he's looking away from me. But I see the way his jaw ticks. He's angry. But with whom?
“Hayley, I think you need to go. Take Ari home,” Cameron says.
“No Hayley, don’t go. We were just starting to catch up,” Kimber intercedes. “You were going to tell us who little Ari belongs to.”
That’s it. There’s no way I can walk away and let her have the last word. We’re not in high school anymore and I’m not about to allow her the chance to sneer at Ari with disgust.
“She belongs to me, what else matters?”
“Oh it doesn’t, but I’m just curious if her father only slept with you because he did know about your sex tape or because he didn’t know about it.”
And there it is. The proverbial ‘skeleton in my closet.’ Hannah gasps, Noah chokes on his soda, and Cameron’s expression remains, to my surprise, eerily impassive. My throat starts closing up and my eyes start to burn. I look down at Ari and humiliation is the last thing I feel when her eyes connect with mine. No matter what, I can never regret her. It was one night, one stupid decision, and yet, it leads me to the most precious of consequences. Her.
Cameron’s voice breaks through the deafening silence that has suddenly fallen around me. “Is it true?”
I meet his cold gaze and square my shoulders. “Yes,” I choke out, barely keeping my weary emotions at bay. Cameron and I aren’t together anymore, so what does it matter now? “It was my senior year of high school.”
Hannah stands and jumps over the back of the booth. She comes to my side and in this moment I can’t be more grateful for her support. She already knows everything, so this is of no surprise to her.
I hand Ari over to Hannah. “Please take her to the car, I’ll be there in a minute.”
Hannah walks away and Ari waves at Cam from over Hannah’s shoulder. “Bye Cam. Wuv you.”
Cameron waves. “Bye Princess. I love you too,” he whispers. My heart sputters and I feel the ache deep within my bones. Minutes pass and they feel like hours. My stomach is in knots and this has proven to be too much to deal with a second time. So I make a choice - now that’s out in the open, I can let it go and leave the shame, and indignity that I’ve carried for so long in the past, where it belongs.
“How old is she?” Kyle asks abruptly.
“Two and a half,” I reply.
He thinks on it for a minute, and I can hear him trying to figure it out. “But that means…”
“She was born eight weeks early, in July 2012.”
He swallows hard, recalculating it in his head. “She’s mine,” he states with a shaky voice. “Fuck me, she’s mine.”
I nod, “Yes.”
Kyle starts to speak but I beat him to it. “I forgive you,” I tell Kimber. “I know why you did it.”
“Did what?”
“Recorded that video of me and Kyle. I know why you did it. And I forgive you.” Her face drops, realization making it’s way into her eyes.
Having had enough of this conversation, I turn my back on them and walk out the diner quickly, fumbling with my keys when I get to my car. Hannah is leaning against the back passenger door, holding Ari.
“Hayley!” I don’t need to turn around to know its Cameron. I could be a deaf mute and still know that voice. Without looking at Hannah, I ask her to get Ari into her car seat. I keep my back to Cameron, hoping he’ll get the hint that I don’t want to talk.
“You lied to me,” he says angrily. “You told me Ari’s father wasn’t in the picture. Why?” He’s talking about Kyle, which I find odd considering what he’s just found out about my past.
I spin around and my words come out rushed, thick with indignation. “I told you he wasn’t in the picture, and he isn’t.”
“You didn’t tell me he has no fucking idea that she even exists!” he snaps.
I step closer, until his heaving chest brushes against mine. “It was never about you. It was about Ari, and protecting het from my past, and my mistakes. I wish I could tell you that I regret not telling you, but I don’t. And what does it matter to you now anyway? You’ve clearly moved on.”
Cameron’s jaw does that ticking thing again and he knits his brows in what I can only interpret as confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“You and Rachel. She told me you started calling her after your dad died, which is why you never responded to my calls or texts.”
Cameron’s face twists as rage creeps across his stoic features. “She said what?”
I sigh. “I’m tired Cameron, and I need to get Ari home. I really think you need to talk to Rachel about this.”
“But I’m asking you, Buttercup.” Cameron recognizes his mistake, calling me Buttercup, but his tone is soft and takes on a hint of that caressing quality that still makes my insides go all gooey.
“Why is it so important?”
“Because I fucking miss you, and I’m trying to figure all this shit out. I wanted to talk to you after dad’s memorial service, but you couldn’t get away from me fast enough.”
“I miss you too,” I whisper, looking down. “But I can’t do this right now, Cam. Please. I’ve had as much as I can handle for one night.”