Five Boys, One Girl

Chapter 5 - Looking like his Daddy

Chapter 5

Will POV

After Allie stormed off this morning dragging Rosie after her I was slightly confused. She looked really mad but I quickly relax when I walk into my first lesson and Allie has calmed down. The rest of the day passes in jokes and Allie sits with us at lunch. Rosie has some club or something so isn’t there. Allie gets a text and quickly replies before putting her phone away with a conflicted look on her face.

‘Everything okay?’ I ask and she looks at me sharply,

‘Yeah, of course.’ I give her a doubtful look but let it go. The boys and I are walking to the parking lot at the end of the day and I notice Allie is looking around, as if she is searching for someone. We approach the car which is parked at the end of the row, I frown when I see a car has parked behind us, effectively blocking us in. A woman leans against the car and I think I can see a small child standing behind her. I frown in confusion as Allie relaxes and then hurries over to the woman with the rest of us following behind in confusion. Allie and the woman hug and when they pull away the woman seems to freeze as she sees us.

‘Oh, these are… my friends.’ Allie says hesitantly, the woman’s gaze flickers over us all and she nods,

‘Yeah okay.’ The woman, who is actually only about two or three years older than us then moves and I can do nothing but stare in shock.

Standing there is a little boy, but it’s not that which has my jaw on the floor. It’s that the little boy, looks exactly like Allie. Jason has gone slightly pale, both of the twins have wide eyes and open mouths and I am probably a mix of both. I look back at the child,

‘Allie,’ The little child says and toddles a few steps over to Allie who bends down with a smile and then lifts the child easily into her arms,

‘Hey little man, you okay?’ He nods and snuggles into Allie’s arms who embraces him and then turns to look at the woman.

‘I’ll text you later, when and where to pick him up. Let me know if it’s going to be you or David picking him up.’

‘Will do.’ She says and nods at us once before she gets in her car and walks away. Allie walks over to us with the boy in her arms and looks at us each in turn,

‘You’re catching flies.’ She says weakly and Hunter and Hayden recover first.

‘Um. What’s this little guy’s name?’ Hunter asks with a genuine smile. Allie nudges the little boy who looks out from her neck where he was hiding his face.

‘Bobby.’ He says softly and Hayden smiles at him.

‘I like that name, I’m Hayden, this is Hunter, and he is Jason. The one on the end is Will.’ He gestures at us in turn and the little boy nods and then hides his face again.

‘Um Allie, we were going to ask if you wanted to come back to our house for a bit. The offer still stands.’ Hunter asks. Allie is silent for a moment,

‘If it’s okay then that might be nice.’ Hunter nods and we all pile into the car. The little boy on Allie’s lap as she holds him tightly. The conversation is slightly awkward and Jason and I don’t speak at all. Is the little boy her son? And if so, why is he with another woman? Where is his dad? There are plenty of questions but somehow I feel like if I asked Allie would probably punch me so I stay silent. We reach the house and Chance’s bike is missing so I presume he has gone out. We go inside and crowd around the centre island in the kitchen. Allie and Bobby sit next to each other with Jason next to Allie, while the twins and I lean against the counter on the other side.

‘Hey baby, do you want something to eat or drink?’ She asks him softly and he looks up from playing with his hands,

‘I’m hungry.’ I have to admit; this child is well developed bearing in mind he doesn’t look older than about 2.

‘Okay, what do you want to eat?’ She asks and he looks up for a second,

‘Biscuit.’ She smiles,

‘Okay baby.’ She turns to Hunter but he is already grabbing a bag of cookies and a bag of biscuits out of the cupboard. He opens both and sets them in front of the little boy who looks between them.

‘Which one?’ He asks and we all look at him in confusion but Allie seems to understand.

‘You can have either baby, and you can have more than one.’ She looks up at Hunter for conformation and he nods wordlessly. Neither Jason or I have said anything yet. The boys grabs a cookie and starts to eat it. We all watch him as he munches happily,

‘He looks like you.’ Jason suddenly says and I know that it is the wrong thing to say by the way Allie’s eyes seem to grow distant and pain fills them.

‘No he doesn’t.’ She whispers and we stare at her in shock, a blind person could see they were related.

‘I look like Daddy.’ The boy suddenly says and all heads snap towards him while Allie just looks pained and looks down at the counter,

‘Mummy says I look like daddy, do I Allie?’ Silence falls as we watch one tear fall from her eye as she looks at this innocent boy,

‘Yes, honey. More and more every single day.’ He nods happily and continues to eat his cookie but no attention is on him. We are all staring at Allie who rests her head in her hands. One thing for sure, something happened and Allie is hurting. Who is the boy’s mother and if it’s not Allie then who was it because he sure looks like her. Allie’s phone rings about half an hour later and she pulls it out,

‘Hello?’

‘Yeah, he is here.’

‘Sure, the address is…’ Here she reals off my address while we all stay quiet, there is a pause as we all wait for Allie to say something else.

‘Okay David, see you in a minute.’ She hangs up and puts the phone away,

‘Someone is coming to pick Bobby up.’ We nod wordlessly and Bobby looks up,

‘Is Uncy Davy coming?’ He asks and I think I see a small smile on Allie’s face.

‘Yes sweetie.’ Not a minute later the bell rings and Allie lifts the little boy up and walks to the door. I hear voices but I can’t make them out and suddenly I hear a voice that sounds distinctly feminine say,

‘He shouldn’t have to goddamn it.’ I am up and standing in the hallway within seconds. A man stands at the doorway and his gaze flicks to me in surprise before he turns to Allie,

‘I know Al, maybe one day he will understand and I hope he kills that bastard for you.’ Allie sighs,

‘Language.’ I think the man smiles but I can’t be sure,

‘See you Al.’ She says goodbye and shuts the door softly. She takes a deep breath and turns round.