Love Over Everything — Chapter 33

Naomi cleared the table and washed the dishes while Tyler showed Chris the rest of his toys.

She occupied herself by getting some chores done, giving both father and son time to bond. She knew She and Christopher had things to discuss because he would be going back to Florida at some point. She prayed Tyler does not cry his eyes out the day he was going to leave.

Later in the day, Chris and Tyler cuddled on the sofa to watch cartoons. Naomi served them cookies and drinks.

Halfway through, she noticed Tyler was feeling sleepy. It was a few minutes past his nap time.

She sat beside him. “It’s time for your nap, Ty.”

He shook his head, “I don’t want to sleep mama; I want to stay with my Daddy.” He was afraid by the time he woke up, his Daddy would be nowhere to be found.

She looked at Chris for help.

“Mommy is right buddy, it’s time for your nap; don’t worry I’ll be here when you wake up, I promise.”

“Okay Daddy, please can you tuck me in?”

“Sure.”

Tyler kissed his mother’s cheek before Chris took him to his bedroom for his nap.

……………

Naomi started to get nervous, Tyler was about to take a nap so she will be left alone with Christopher.

About ten minutes had passed without any sign of Christopher coming out of Tyler’s room so she assumed he was going to take a nap with his son.

She sighed in defeat because she was hoping they could talk things out while Tyler was asleep.

Naomi settled on the coffee table with her laptop, pen, and paper to continue where she left off yesterday on planning Tyler’s party.

Christopher eventually came out of Tyler’s room knowing he couldn't avoid Naomi forever. He made his way to the kitchen for a bottle of water before taking a seat beside Naomi on the coffee table.

“I thought you were already taking a nap with Tyler.” She said shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

“I wanted to but I figured out we still have to talk.” He said and Naomi nodded in understanding.

“I would like to know what happened during and after your pregnancy.” He spoke.

“It was hard to move on after I sent you out of my life and then when I discovered I was pregnant I almost fell into depression.”

Her voice broke as she tried to hold back tears. “It was really hard for me, I lost almost everything. You know, I had modelling contracts to fulfil and of course, I couldn’t do my part because of the baby. I had to compensate like six different brands for breach on my part so let’s say I kind of went broke.”

“You remember the fashion house I was building at that time?” She asked and he nodded.

“I had to stop working on it for a while. I realized I was almost getting broke so I had to prioritize my spending since I would not be working when I start showing.”

“For the first three months of my pregnancy, I worked my ass off just to earn what I’ve lost and saved for the future. Luis and Linda wanted to help but I refused, maybe because I was stubborn or because I was just used to being independent.”

“If I had asked my parents for money, they would have given me more than I asked for but they weren’t even aware of my situation. I was scared to come clean to them about my pregnancy. I avoided every family gathering and visits, hiding under the excuse of work.”

“My parents were heartbroken when they found out about my pregnancy. I hid it from them for seven months. Mom thought she had failed me as a mother which was why I couldn’t confide in her that I was carrying her grandchild. It was a very sad reunion but they never judged me. Mom insisted I move back to the mansion with them so she would take care of me. She and Dad had no idea you are Tyler’s father. No matter how much they persuaded me to tell them about you, I didn’t give in.”

“Staying with my parents kind of helped, I went back to work three months after Tyler was born, my mom looked after him while I was working and I bought this house and moved in a few days to Tyler’s first birthday.”

“I was devastated when I heard about your wedding with Vivian. I know I was the one who pushed you away but I was hoping that you would come back and fight for me. I concluded that you didn’t care about me so there was no point telling you I was pregnant. A few months later, Luis informed me that the two of you had separated, he told me the reason and I practically broke down. It was such a painful thing on the part of Vivian to do and you, an innocent guy, had to suffer for everything. I was ashamed and disappointed in myself for not believing you when you told me she forced herself on you. Hence, I didn’t have the mind to face you and tell you about Tyler.”

“I swear I tried to as time went by but I chickened out. I tried to avoid your parents at my Daddy’s party because I wanted you to be the first to know about Tyler. Talking about it over the phone wouldn’t be okay so I was planning to come down to Florida in a week to break the news to you.”

“I’m sorry Chris.” She whispered. “I’m sorry for keeping Tyler away from you. No amount of excuses I give can justify my reason for not informing you about Tyler because you had a right to know. Please forgive me; I cannot stand you being mad at me.”

By the time she finished talking, she was sobbing uncontrollably. It hurt Chris to see her in that situation. He closed the gap between them and hugged her.

“I’m s... Sorry.” She continued to cry in his chest.

“It’s okay Naomi. Please stop crying, I don’t like seeing you this way.”

She ignored him as she continued to cry harder in his chest. This was probably the first contact they were making since he arrived at her house. She had missed him terribly. Most nights, she cried herself to bed just because she missed the hell out of him, she missed being in his arms. He was the only man that made her happy and treated her like a Queen. If only she had believed him at first they might have gotten married by now and given Tyler two younger siblings.

Christopher pulled away from the hug and wiped her tears with his thumb.

“You hurt me Naomi and I think what hurts the more was me discovering the truth from my parents.”

“I almost did not believe my parents when they told me about Tyler because I thought if you were pregnant with my child you would have told me.”

“Tyler is an amazing kid; you raised him well.”

“Does that mean you’re no longer mad at me.” She asked with puffy eyes. He could see another round of tears building up in her eyes.

“I know you’re hurt but please understand that I’m hurt too. I’m sorry for everything, I cannot stand you not talking to me the way we used to. I know you still care about me, Chris. You carried me to the sofa and covered me with a blanket when you could have just left me on the floor.”

“I miss you, Christopher.”

She waited a while for him to say something but he didn’t. She searched his face for any reaction, it was just plain and then she concluded he no longer felt anything for her.

“Oh God, I’m just an idiot.” She stood to her feet. “How can I expect you to feel the same way about me after four years. You probably don’t even like me again. I’m sorry for taking this conversation far.” She started to make her way to her room.

“Naomi, wait.” Christopher ran after her. He was lucky to squeeze his way in before she could slam the door against his face.

He cupped her wet face in his hands and slammed his lips against hers. It took a while for Naomi to respond to the kiss because she wasn’t expecting it. She responded to the kiss which was full of dominance, passion, and love. They were out of breath so they pulled away.

Christopher rested his forehead against hers while they caught their breath. “I miss you too. I missed your touch, your kiss, your voice, your smile, I missed the feel of me in you, I miss everything about you, Naomi. No day passed by without me thinking about you. I thought I lost you when Vivian came between us. Now that destiny has given us another chance I promise not to let you go. You’re all that matters to me. You, Tyler and Zoe are my life.”

She rested her head on his chest. “Thank you.”

He lifted her head from his chest so he could look into her eyes. “No more crying unless they are tears of joy.” He warned.

She bit her lip and nodded.

They made their way to the sofa in Naomi’s room to continue where they left off.

“How is She?”

“Zoe.” He asked and she nodded.

“She’s fine. She’s amazing but can be a handful at times. She and I have had many conversations about Tyler since she couldn’t stop talking about him. I can’t wait to tell her about Tyler being her brother and I can’t wait to tell her about you.”

“I hope she will warm up to me, ” Naomi whispered.

He took her hands in his “You would be surprised about that.” He assured.

“How is it like sharing custody with Vivian? Luis said she’s lucky you didn’t press charges against her or take the baby away from her.”

Chris let out a sigh.

“Vivian’s family is almost as rich as my family, we both have connections all over and I’m sure her parents will do anything to ensure their daughter escapes sentence or any form of imprisonment.”

“Topics like that are what the media would be after and I honestly do not want to go through that.”

“After the divorce, she apologized repeatedly and mostly begged me not to take Zoe away from her but my mom wanted me to get full custody of Zoe.”

“I considered so many factors, putting Zoe as my number one priority. I don’t know if I would be able to sleep at night knowing Vivian was pregnant with my child who was an innocent person and I put her in prison.”

“We had a serious talk a few days after she gave birth to Zoe. We worked out how we were going to each spend time with Zoe and I made her understand that she was under probation. If she does anything that I didn’t like, I won’t hesitate to get full custody.”

“She promised about being a good mother and all of that and I’m glad she has been fulfilling her promise.”

“I wanted Zoe to have some sort of relationship with her mother even though it was just a tiny bond.”

“Zoe was not conceived in the best way thinkable but I cannot imagine life without her. She’s just so adorable not to fall in love with.”

“Let’s not talk about Vivian anymore. You,Ty and Zoe, are my present and future and it’s you guys I want to talk about.”

“How far have you gone in planning Tyler’s party?”

“I’m halfway through it. I have a meeting with a friend this evening. She’s assisting me in planning the party; she owns a restaurant so she’s in charge of the food and cake. She asked me to come with Tyler so he could taste a few cakes to see what he likes best.”

“You’ll come with us, right?” She asked hopefully.

He smiled “Of course I will.”

“So I assume the party will be in here.”

“Yes, we will use the backyard.”

“Will your parents and Susan be chanced to come to the party?” She asked.

“I don’t know about my parents but I’m sure Susan will not miss her nephew’s party for anything in the world. But I’ll extend the invite to my parents.”

“I hope they take it easy on me.”

He caressed her face, “You have nothing to worry about.”

She leaned against his touch. “So that means you’ll be leaving for Florida soon.”

“Yes, I’ll leave on Sunday evening and will be back with Zoe on Thursday in time for Tyler’s party.”

“Don’t worry about anything. I’ll work out something and we will be able to spend more time together.”

He closed the gap between them, kissed her plump lips before pulling her into a hug. “Thank you for everything, thank you for giving me a mini-me, thank you for being strong for yourself and Tyler when I wasn’t in the picture, the thought of you being with another man is unbearable; thank you for refusing other men.”

Naomi smiled at him, “How did you know I refused other men?”

“You’re a beautiful woman Naomi, no man will pass you by without taking another glance at you. I think motherhood made you more beautiful. You’re curvier than the last time I saw you and I love you for who you are.”

She blushed, “I think you spoiled me for other men; It was either you or no one else. Besides, I didn’t have time to start from scratch with other men, I was always busy taking care of Tyler and hoping this day would come.” She kissed him.