8. Fear of losing you

Reese POV

After that memorable morning, I truly saw that Elliot was trying to change. He took Sammy to the park, spending more time with him, trying to build those family memories we had lost. Watching them together, running across the grass, playing ball, warmed my heart in a way I hadn't felt in years. It was as if, for the first time in a long time, we were being a real family.

The day was going so well, full of laughter and small moments of happiness, that I almost forgot our recent problems. But then, during our impromptu picnic in the park, Sammy said something that brought me back to reality.

“Mom, I'm not going to eat all my cookie. I want to save a piece for Jennifer,” he said with an innocence that broke my heart, showing how much he missed that woman.

“Why do you insist on that, sweetie?” I asked with a smile, running my hand over his head, trying to hide my discomfort.

“Jen loves cookies,” the boy answered while eating.

“Wow! Incredible how Sammy already likes Jennifer so much. She really is good with kids,” Elliot commented with a relaxed chuckle.

I swallowed hard. “Even so,” I said. “I don’t think she would mind if you didn't bring a snack for her, my love.”

Sammy pouted at my words. “But she must be hungry too, mom. Why didn't she come with us to the park? She's all alone back at home!”

“Because we decided to spend the day as a family, Sammy,” I replied.

But the boy barely listened to me, turning to his father. “Can we bring Jennifer next time we come to the park, dad?”

I felt a lump in my throat. I hated hearing my son speak of Jennifer with so much affection. Likewise, I looked at Elliot, hoping he would share my discomfort, but he just smiled at Sammy and answered naturally, “Of course, son. Next time we go out as a family, we’ll bring Jennifer along.”

“Yay! That would be great, she loves sweets,” Sammy commented, smiling like the sun, while my heart broke.

Those words deeply bothered me. “It's not necessary for Jennifer to come with us on family outings, Elliot. She's not part of our family,” I said, trying to sound firm, but my voice betrayed my irritation.

Sammy looked at me with sad eyes. “But Jen is my friend. I want her to be part of the family,” he said with shining eyes, and I saw how he was getting attached to Jennifer. The sadness in his gaze made me shiver with fear as if I were foreseeing an inevitable shake-up.

But I smiled quickly, petting him. “Oh, my boy. I don't know why you’re like this, you miss a friend, right? But don't worry, okay?” I put my hand on my stomach, still smiling broadly. “Mommy will give you more than a friend, a sibling! And you'll have so much fun with him,” I said.

“What?” Elliot was looking at me now, totally confused. “Are you pregnant?”

No, I wasn't pregnant. I mean, except for last night, my husband hadn't touched me in a long time. But now we had resumed our intimate life, right? So, I could expect that soon I would be pregnant. I conveyed this thought to Elliot, shrugging.

“Probably, who knows? At least this way, our son won't be so attached to the idea of this new... friend he's creating in his head,” I said, referring to Jennifer Durham and the attachment Sammy was developing to her.

Elliot sighed heavily, reprimanding me with his look. “Reese, you have to stop acting like this. Sammy is just a child. He's not at fault for getting attached to her. We can't punish him for that.”

I knew he was right, but the idea of Jennifer becoming part of our family moments made me sick. I felt a bit ashamed after his words, inventing the idea of a new child to chase away that fixation my son was having on that woman felt like desperation, but I also couldn't ignore that I felt terribly threatened.

“As you said, Sammy is only 4 years old. We, as parents, will know who are the right people to be around him,” I insisted, however.

“What did you mean by that?” Elliot asked, already frowning, starting to get irritated. “Are you saying Jennifer isn't the right person to be around our son?”

I wanted to respond arrogantly after hearing that question, but I held back because I didn't want my son to witness this. But it was an enormous outrage for him to ask something like that, knowing that Jennifer Durham was literally his lover currently living in our house, and they had once had plans to get married.

What did he expect me to do? Ignore all this ignorance and pretend everything was fine just because he said we would try to fix our family? Whenever Jennifer was around, I wouldn't be happy, so the only solution here was for him to keep that woman far away from me and my son.

But I sighed and put a smile on my face. “I know she's your friend, gets along well with Sammy, and might have good intentions now, but, dear, I just don't think it's right for her to be so close to us after everything that's happened,” I said gently.

Elliot sighed again, closing the book he had been engrossed in, lying on the picnic blanket moments before. “Just give it some time, Reese,” he said. “Jen is going through a delicate situation with her family right now. And after the accident, well, things got complicated. She was once very special to me, so it would be ungrateful of me to abandon her right now when she needs it the most. Please, understand this.”

Gosh, what did he mean by that? Did she have to stay longer at our house? Why was he saying he owed her something just because she was special in his life in the past?

I had a lot to say, but still, I didn't want to prolong the discussion in front of Sammy. We packed up the picnic things in silence, and we returned home with palpable tension in the air.