Uncomfortable situation.

Belinda's POV

I see the two men standing there as if they have no purpose in life. I do not know what they want because I no longer need them. I don't even know why they interfered in my life. I look at Chase and Nick Bradley with a question in my eyes. 

"Can I help you two gentlemen with something else? Mr. Bradley, you can call my office to schedule an appointment. Mr. Stone has my office number. Now, if you will excuse me, I am having a date with my son," I say, my voice is not very warm. My voice is as cold as a winter breeze. 

"Mommy, why does this man look so much like me? Is he my daddy?" Connor asks. I love my son. However, at this moment, I can put a sock in his mouth to make him stay quiet. I wish he has remained silent because I can see the questions in Chase's eyes. 

"Honey, sometimes strangers look like each other. You do not have a father. I am the only parent that you have," I say.

"Mommy, we have the same eyes. You told me that there are not many people with eyes like mine. I think he is my daddy, and you don't want to tell me. You are afraid that I will leave you and go with him, but I will not because he smokes," Connor says. Sometimes I wonder why my child must be so clever for his age. No other child would have noticed something like that. They would have believed what their mother said. They would not ask as many questions as Connor does.

"I was wondering that myself. Connor, I promise you I will never smoke again. Only your mother knows if I am your father. We will have to convince her to tell us," Chase says. 

"If you promise never to smoke again, you can be my daddy. Is he my daddy, Mommy?" Connor asks again, and I don't know what to say because I wouldn't say I like to lie to my son. 

"Honey, you have to understand something. There is a difference between having a father and someone that happens to ... um," I say, not knowing how to explain the bees and the birds to my son. He is so too young for that.

"What, Mommy, what are you trying to say?" Connor asks.

"I don't know how to explain it to you. You are so too young to understand what is going on here. Mr. Stone is not your father. You don't have a father because I chose that you don't. I am your Mommy, honey. And you only need to me. You do not need a father. You know how they're all orphans in the world. They don't have a mommy or a daddy. Well, you are like half an orphan. You only have a mommy, and you do not need a daddy. We are happy as we are, aren't we, honey?" I ask. I do not know how to explain all of this to my son. That is only four years old. My son looks at me with clever little eyes, and I know he's about to say something I will regret later.

"So you are saying this man is my dad, but you don't want him to be my dad, Mommy. Don't you think I should have a choice? If I want to know my daddy, don't you think I should be allowed to?" Connor asks. Damn, the bloody Internet is always on. My son is getting too clever for his age. I do not know what to say. This is difficult for me.

"Honey, Mommy knows what is best for you. I'm just trying to protect you. I do not want you to get hurt. Do you understand what Mommy is saying?" I ask.

"Mommy, he already promised he will not smoke again, and I will keep him to that promise. If you are my father, Sir, do you love my Mommy?" Connor asks Chase. This time I have a look of "Bingo" on my face. It is now Chase's time to explain. I know Connor will make an excellent attorney one day.

"Let me explain it to you this way. I think your mother is very attractive. I can fall in love with her if she gives me a chance. However, I do not think she wants to give me a chance because she thinks I will not be good for you two," Chase says, looking at me to counter it. I smile. He has forgotten one thing. I am a lawyer.

"Do you see why Mommy doesn't want him to be part of our life because he's jumping around questions? If he were honest, he would tell you that he does not love me because he does not know me. How long have we been gone from this city? There's one thing that you must remember, my baby. Since you were born, we have never been to this city. If he cared about you, wouldn't he come and look for you? A man that is for a woman will never leave her side. I want you to remember that when you fall in love one day," I say. I'm turning this whole thing around. I'm turning it into a life lesson for my son as well. I don't want him to be like his father, that does not even know that he had his son because he did not care about what happened to the woman after he slept with her. Chase glares at me, and Nick starts laughing. 

"You might as well give up, bro. You cannot win against a woman. Especially not an attorney like her," Nick laughs. 

"Shut up. How do any of you know what I feel? Who says I do not care about her? Have I ever been fooling around since I have been with her? Be honest, Nick. When was the last time that I took a woman home?" Chase asks. Well, I did not expect that. Nick comes to my help, and I cannot help but smile when he answers.

"To be honest, bro, you never took a woman home. You always took them to hotel rooms or other places, but never to your house. Sorry, but I cannot lie for you. But I must admit that the last time you took a woman to any room, hotel room, or whatever was about five years ago. Ohh. Shit, sorry, Belinda, I tried to help you, but I fucked up," Nick says.

"Swearing is bad. He should not swear like that, Sir. I'm glad you are not my father. If I had a father that cussed like that, I would have never accepted him," Connor, my little brat says. I'm starting to think he is on his father's side in this and not mine. It looks like he wants his father to be with us forever, and I will not allow this. I have to stop this. I have to think about something so he will not like his father as much as he does now. It seems he has already decided and will allow his father into his life. I know I cannot stop him because it is my child's life, and whether he wants to know his father is his decision. I can only try to convince him not to want his father in his life. Will it be fair to my son, though? I cannot help but think I cannot think for him. He's four years old. I know you're still very young, but do I have a right to intervene in his life and take away his privilege to know his father? I do not know what to think, and I do not know what to say. I will have to leave this in the hands of my son.

"Mommy, I don't want you to worry. I will always love you first. I will never leave you. If you don't want me to have anything to do with my daddy, I will not. I know you love me the most in the world. I love you, Mommy," Connor says. I cannot do this to my son. I cannot didn't choose between his father and me. I'm not going to put him under any pressure, and I will allow him to see this man that is only a sperm donor if he wants to. In my eyes, Chase had nothing to do with my son. In my eyes, he's only a sperm donor. He's not my son's father. However, I cannot let my son believe that there are men like Chase in this world that do not give a damn about the woman that they sleep with but only about the results afterward. He wanted to become a part of my son's life, but he didn't even care to call me after we slept together to ensure I was not pregnant. However, can I blame him because we did use protection? How was he supposed to know that my son would be born because of a one-night stand we had together and we used protection?

"Honey, Mommy will not stop you from seeing your daddy if you want to. If you are willing to give him a chance, so am I," I say.

"Mr, are you willing to marry my mommy? If you are going to marry her, I may consider thinking about seeing you. I'm still not sure you are my daddy. I always dreamed about a daddy that will love my mommy and me," Connor says, and I choke on my coffee again. I do not want this man in my life. I do not want him to even think about marrying me. I am happy being single with my child, living alone in an apartment where we can do whatever we want. I do not need a man, and I am sure Connor doesn't need a father. However, his friends in school are also making fun of him for not having a father. 

"Conner, it takes two people to fall in love. There are many children out there that live with one parent but Cow and visit the other. I will never take you away from your mommy. But I want to visit you and you to come and see me. Perhaps your mommy and I would get together if we were all meant to be together. One cannot force love. I will be there for you. And I promise you. I will not let you down. However, I cannot promise you that your mother will fall in love with me. I do not mind marrying her, but do you want us to be together if we do not love each other and will make each other miserable?" Chase asks. I do not know why this man is not a lawyer. He is freaking good at it. I am too emotionally involved in this case to step back and take perspective. It is my son, for crying out loud! I'm not thinking rationally about my son because he is the only person in this world I care about. 

"You might as well take a seat and eat with us. Since you are here and you are not coming anywhere soon. You might as well stay and eat with us. I'm not happy about what happened today, and I'm not excited about my son finding out that you are his father in this way. There's nothing I can do about it right now. And I am not planning on giving you any custody rights. You will see him when I decide it is the right time. And you will comply with my rules. You will not have women in your house with our son visiting you. I do not want him to learn your ways of living. Do you understand me? If you teach him anything wrong, I will take him away from you, and you will never see him again. I want my son to respect women. I do not want him to be like you," I say when Connor returns to the playing area. One of the children called him, and he went back to play. I feel like I can talk straight to Chase right now. 

"I understand, but I'm not the man you had fun with a few years ago. I have grown up. I've matured as you have. I know you had it more difficult than me because you had a son, and I didn't know about him. May I ask you one question? Why didn't you ever tell me about him? And why didn't you try to catch me like other women would do?" Chase asks me. I laugh. 

"Didn't we agree that we didn't want any relationship? I still don't want a relationship. I am happy being on my own. I am a strong woman. I don't need a man. I don't need to catch a man. I may not be like the woman you know, but let me tell you one thing. I will never be like them. I am an independent woman. And I would like to stay that way," I say.