Love Over Everything — Chapter 35

“Mommy, hurry, I want to go hug Grandma and Grandpa, ” Tyler whined for Naomi to unbuckle him from his car seat. As soon as she unbuckled him and placed him on his feet, he ran into the mansion.

Christopher chuckled, “I guess they are all like that. Zoe gets very excited whenever she’s allowed to spend time with my parents.”

“It’s really crazy how excited he is and how nervous I am.”

He closed the gap between them. “I can stay in the car and wait for you.”

Naomi shook her head “I want you to come with me. Besides, I’m sure Tyler has started telling them about you.”

“They are your parents and I’m sure they will understand. Whatever it is, I’ll be there for you.” He assured.

He intertwined his hands with hers and they walked into the mansion side by side.

From the entrance, they could hear Tyler’s voice. He was talking to his grandparents about the type of cake he chose for his superhero birthday party.

Naomi traced Tyler’s voice to the second living room. Her parents, Anna and Roland were seated, listening to Tyler who was standing before them describing his birthday cake.

Tyler noticed his parents’ presence and he smiled. He walked up to Christopher and did the introduction.“Grandma, Grandpa, meet my Daddy.”

“Oh heavens, ” Anna replied in shock as she placed her hand on her chest.

Roland could not believe what he was looking at. For confirmation, he picked up his glasses that were on a nearby table, put it on but nothing changed. He was looking at the adult version of Tyler.

Naomi squatted towards Tyler “Ty, can you tell Rose to give you some cookies? She should be in the kitchen.”

“Okay, mama.” He said and went in search of Rose, the housekeeper.

“Good day Ma’am, Nice to meet you, Sir.” Chris greeted Naomi’s parents who did not reply because they were in shock.

Naomi guided Chris to a couch opposite her parents, they took their seats.

“Chris...Christopher Smith?” Anna asked.

“Yes, I am Christopher Smith.” He replied.

“No wonder Julius went pale when I showed him Tyler’s picture on my birthday, ” Roland said more to himself.

“But darling, why didn’t you tell us Chris was Tyler’s father?” Anna, Naomi’s mother asked.

Naomi did not know what response to give her parents. Things between She and Christopher have been quite complicated. She did not know where to start.

Even though her parents did not make it to Chris and Vivian’s wedding, they were aware he got married, they were aware of his divorce and they were also aware he had a child. What surprised them was the fact that Naomi did not say anything while these events were happening.

No matter how much they pressured Naomi into telling them who Tyler’s father was, she wouldn’t give in. They expected Tyler’s father to be anyone else except Christopher. It has been very long since her parents set their eyes on Chris, when he was 9 to be exact.

Christopher noticed Naomi was in conflict with herself as she kept on looking down at her hands. He placed his hands on hers and decided to answer her parents.

“It’s a long story, Mr and Mrs Smith. Naomi and I met when at the charity event my parents hosted four years ago. One thing led to another, we made love and Tyler was conceived that night.”

“I never believed in what they call love at first sight until I met your daughter. We were planning on taking things to the next step before Vivian came into the picture.”

“As at the time we separated, Naomi and I had no idea she was pregnant. If we did, I would not have married Vivian.”

“Naomi is not to be blamed for anything, I was the one who was not wise enough to make the right decision by fighting for the woman I love.”

“She told me all that she went through during and after the pregnancy; Thank you for being there for Naomi and Tyler. She did an amazing job in raising Tyler and I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

“I knew something was not right when you came back from that charity event four years ago, ” Anna said.

“Your brother knew all these while that Chris was Tyler’s father, right?” Anna asked Naomi.

She was afraid she would break into tears if she opened her mouth so she replied to her mom with a nod.

“You and Luis are truly something else. You guys keep secrets from us as if we don’t exist.” Anna said.

Naomi was trying hard not to cry. She had always been her parents favourite. She and her mom were best friends but everything crumbled during her breakup with Connor after which she decided to start keeping to herself.

She remembered the tears in her mom’s eyes when Anna saw her for the first time since her pregnancy; she was seven months pregnant with Tyler then. Anna felt like she had failed as a mother since her daughter did not trust her enough to tell her she was pregnant.

“So what next?” Roland asked Chris. “I assume your parents are already aware of Tyler too”

“Yes, they are aware. I want to spend as much time as I can with Naomi and Tyler to make up for the lost time. I know I have a life in Miami but I promise to find a way to make it work. Naomi is my life, I lost her once and I don’t want to lose her again.”

Anna and her husband looked at each other before they turned to Tyler’s parents.

“I won’t say I regret sending Naomi over to represent Roland and me at the event because without her going there we would not be blessed with Tyler. Tyler is the best thing that has happened to me in a while. At least he is the only one that doesn’t keep secrets from us.” Anna said.

“Just take care of my daughter and my grandson or you will have me to deal with, ” Roland warned and Christopher nodded.

Anna approached Naomi, sat by her side and made her daughter look at her. Just like she predicted, Naomi’s eyes were filled with tears.

“There’s nothing to worry about my love, I’m no longer mad at you. Though I still feel a little hurt, I’ll be fine. Promise me there will be no more secrets between us. I want things to go back the way they were before your breakup with Connor. I know you have Maddie and Linda but your father and I will always be here to listen to you, okay?”

“I promise, no more secrets, ” Naomi whispered and Anna pulled her into a motherly hug.

“I think I have to talk to Luis, he’s the one influencing you to be secretive, ” Roland said.

Naomi chuckled, “No dad, Luis knew about everything incidentally and I made him promise not to tell the two of you.”

“Okay, enough of the secret talk. I think dinner is ready and you guys are staying for dinner.” Anna said to Naomi and Chris, leaving no room for argument.

••••••••••••••••••••••

Naomi smiled as she looked at Tyler who was fast asleep on his bed. “He’s just so impossible. Even though you woke him up on time from his nap, he still slept late.”

Chris wrapped his arms around her from behind and kissed her cheek. “He was enjoying our company, that’s why he refused to go to bed early.”

“He has been happier since you came. Thank you.” She whispered.

“I can say the same about me too. He is so perfect; Thank you for giving me an amazing Son.”

Naomi giggled, “It takes two to make a baby you know?”

“I know, but you deserve more credit than I do.”

They both kissed Ty on his forehead before walking out of his room and gently shutting the door behind them.

“So, what should we do?” She asked him as soon as they were out of Tyler’s room. It was almost 11 pm.

“Anything, I’m all yours.”

She led him to her room where they cuddled on her bed.

“Thank you for standing up for me in front of my parents.”

“It’s nothing Naomi, I’ll do it again if I have to.”

“So you said we will discuss paying for Tyler’s party when we get home.”

Naomi groaned and sat up. “I thought you would have forgotten about that.”

He smirked, “Unfortunately, I haven’t. So may I do the honours of paying for everything relating to our son’s birthday party?”

“No.” She answered immediately.

“Why?” he frowned.

“Because it’s unfair to let you pay all. We are going to split it,50/50”

“85/15” Christopher proposed. “I’ll pay the 85, you will pay the 15%, ” She said.

“No, it’s going to be the other way around. I’ll pay the most and you will pay less.”

Naomi sighed, “Fine, just pay it all.”

He stole a kiss from her “Thank you.”

“Did you talk to Zoe today?” She asked, concerned.

“I usually pick her up from her mom’s place for the weekend but since I’m not in town, she gets to spend the weekend with my parents. I texted my mom earlier, She said Zoe is fine but she misses me a lot.”

Naomi’s heart went out to the little girl.

“How is she coping with spending the weekdays with Vivian and the weekends with you. Have she asked you why she has to switch houses?”

“Zoe is an understanding child, she asked me why her mom and I are not together like her friends’ parents are and I told her it’s because her mom and I don’t love each other. I promised her Vivian and I love her so much and we will always be there for her.

“Even though she gets to stay with me on weekends, I do see her on weekdays, I attend her school activities, and sometimes I pick her up from school and we spend the rest of the day together.”

“I can’t wait to meet her, I hope she will like me as much as she likes her brother, ” Naomi said.

Christopher smiled. “You’ll be surprised.