8! Because I'm Here To Stay!

MABEL

Jason Hoss….I looked at my…. what am I supposed to call him?

Ex-Son, former Son, supposed Son. A lot words before the actual one. But at the end the word son is always going to come up.

Because at the end of the end we both thought we were mother and son for a couple of months. Even though he didn't give me the chance to shower him with a lot of love.

“No, no, no,” I quickly pointed to another boy, hopefully she doesn't know the child or his mother.

“Oh, you had me thinking wildly for a while,” she said, chuckling and I smiled. If only she knew.

“So that's Jason Hoss?” I asked her, looking at Jason as he played.

“Yes, son of Ethan Hoss, a billionaire and CEO of Hoss's Industry. He is also the grandson of Claire Hoss, longtime Fashion designer, CEO and Editor-in-chief of Claire's Fashion Magazine,” she listed the Hoss enterprise like she was going to win a gold medal for having know such information.

“Wow, you really know them well,” I said, unimpressed.

“There is no body in New York that doesn't know them,” she said, staring at her daughter and back at Jason.

Wow, already trying to get a piece of that Hoss wealth. Pathetic.

“What about his mother?” I asked her and she scoffed.

“You mean the slut who was just after Ethan's money and when she couldn't get it, wanted Jason all for herself,” she said and sighed.

“What a evil woman,” I said to her.

“Yeah, you got that right,” she said. “And when she couldn't get Jason as well, she left without a word.”

I could feel the tears gathering in my eyes but I kept firm. I won't let the lies of Ethan and his family get to me.

Especially when the lies are being told by a person worst than a fan girl.

“But thankfully Hailey stepped up,” she said, waving to her daughter again.

“Who?” I pretended not to know who that was.

“A long time friend and lover of Ethan,” she said and I scoffed silently. “She returned from overseas,took over the care of Jason, and six months after the ex-wife left they got married.”

Wow, six months! Hailey didn't waste anytime digging her heels into Ethan huh.

I forced a smile, though my chest was tight.

Six months. That was all it took for Ethan to replace me. For them to paint me as some greedy woman who walked away from her own child.

I wanted to scream the truth right there, to tell this woman she was feeding on lies, but what good would it do? People only believe the story that makes them feel important, the story that lets them gossip over coffee.

My eyes went back to Jason. His laugh echoed, and my heart squeezed. He still had that little dimple on his left cheek. The one I kissed every night.

“Are you okay?” the woman asked, pulling me back.

I nodded quickly. “Yeah, just thinking.”

She shrugged and went back to watching her daughter.

I couldn’t stay here any longer. My hands were trembling, my throat burning from holding back the tears. I turned and walked away, each step heavy like I was dragging chains.

Outside, the air was cold, biting, but it cleared my head a little.

Hailey. Ethan. Claire. All of them.

They had stolen my name, my place, my son.

But they wouldn’t win forever. As I turned my back about to leave, a heavy cry echoed inside the playground.

I turned around to see all the children who were on the swing down on the floor wincing in pain.

All the mothers rushed to their children including the woman standing beside me. But I didn't see Hailey rush to Jason.

I tightened my hands in a fist as I waited for Hailey to rush to Jason and calm him down. His cry was among the loudest.

“Come on,” I whispered as I began restless. “Screw this,” I said almost immediately and rushed towards Jason.

Jason was sitting on the ground, tears rolling down his cheeks, his tiny hands clutching his knee.

No one came to him. Not Hailey. Not Ethan. Not even a nanny.

My heart broke. Every part of me screamed to run faster.

I knelt in front of him. “Jason,” I whispered, my voice shaking.

He looked up at me with those big blue eyes. Eyes that once looked at me like I was his whole world.

For a second, I thought he remembered. That dimple flickered when his lips trembled.

“It’s okay, baby, I’ve got you,” I said, brushing dirt off his face. I pulled him into my arms, holding him the way I used to. His small body melted against mine like it belonged there.

His sobs slowed, his cries softening as he buried his face in my shoulder. The sound of his breathing calmed me, and I realized my tears had started falling too.

“Mabel!”

That voice. Cold, sharp, and full of venom. I didn't need to be told who it was.

I looked up to see Hailey marching toward me, her perfect hair bouncing, her lips curled into a fake smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“What are you doing with my son?” she snapped.

I held Jason tighter, anger burning in my chest. He was once my son too.

Jason whimpered at her tone and clung to me tighter, his small fingers gripping the fabric of my coat.

For a moment, silence hung between us, broken only by Jason’s sniffles. I held him, shocked and surprised.

When he was a little baby he never let me hold him for too long. His wails will be so loud and Claire would have no choice but to take him away from me.

Mothers nearby slowed their movements, eyes darting toward us, sensing the tension.

“I asked you a question,” Hailey repeated, louder this time, drawing more attention.

I slowly stood, Jason still in my arms. I looked straight into her eyes and said, voice steady, “I was comforting a child who was crying. Something you should have done.”

Gasps came from a few women nearby. Hailey’s face darkened, her jaw tightening as if I had slapped her in public.

Jason whimpered again, pressing his face into my neck. Hailey had a shocked expression, watching Jason as he clung to me.

“Where were you?” I asked her. “Or her?” I pointed at the woman who had a diaper bag on her shoulder.

I recognized it because I bought it when I was pregnant. She didn't have the decency to change the things I bought with my money.

“Get my child away from her,” she said to the nanny who was fidgeting beside her.

The nanny walked up to me and stretched her hands to carry Jason, but he struggled and my body felt heavy to release him.

But I knew I had to. There were already too many eyes on us already.

Jason and the nanny walked away while Hailey walked towards me.

“You just made a huge mistake, coming back here,” she said and I smirked.

“Did I though,” I said with a smile. “because only someone who is scared will say something like that.”

“I'm not scared of you,” she blurted out.

“Oh, baby, you should be scared. Because I'm here to stay.”