THIN ICE |BOOK I |BWWM|

•ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 30•

•SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA•

Andres' POV

".... and they laughed and sang all night long. The end."

Nicky giggled and patted my arm,"Tell me another story Uncle Andres."

My heart twinged at the title. I'd known for a while that Nicolai was mine, but telling Julia -getting it out in the open- it made it really real.

"Alright, let me think..."

My storytelling process was interrupted by a squeak of the door as Julia returned.

"I didn't call him." Julia announced while meekly coming into the room.

I kept quiet despite my smart remarks trying to slip from my tongue. 

"Mommy, can I have some jello?"

"Sure baby, blue or green?"

"Greeeeeen!" Nicolai cheered.

"Alright, coming right up!" She spun on her toes, going back out.

"Julia."

I hopped up from the thick hospital mattress and followed her out, closing the door behind me. Julia put some distance between her and I as we walked down the hall towards the nurse's station.

"What? More secrets to tell?" She sneered keeping her attention straight ahead. 

"Look I didn't mean for it to come out like that, but can you try to see where I'm coming from?"

"You know, maybe if I had the luxury of having a boyfriend that didn't kill my father or having a man that actually wanted to claim my child then maybe, just maybe, I could see where you're coming from."

I stopped in my tracks briefly before following Julia closely,"How could you say I didn't want to claim Nicky? I love him."

"Then why wait?" -she whirled around, almost sending us crashing into each other- "And don't say it's because you didn't want to stress me out."

"I-I don't have answer to that."

"I deserve an answer, Andres."

My chest rose and fell as I took a few steps back, "I guess I was scared. Especially for Nicolai. I don't want him knowing what his dad does and I don't want him in this life. I've seen what it does to the women involved, imagine Nicky."

"Hm..touching. You know who else was scared? Me and Nick. Because we thought we were in this alone. We could've been a family, but instead you chose to watch me live in fear of a man you don't have the balls to stand up to."

She stomped towards the last corner leading to the nurses station and I remained hot on her heels, grabbing her wrist.

"Questo è sufficiente, Julia." (That's enough Julia)

She jerked away and pierced me with her unforgiving glare.

"Olivia was right, we're not your family, we're your Hail Mary to a clear conscience veiled as a charity case. Do what you want, but leave me and Nicky out of it."