Chapter 4
One month later.
"Melinda go get the door!" Lori called from inside when the knocks were growing louder on the door.
"Okay Mother," Melinda responded. She made her way down the stairs and toward the door.
The knocks kept on coming. "I'm coming, I'm coming. Have some patience." Melinda said, shaking her head.
"Who is it?" She asked but there was no response.
When she opened the door, she was shocked to see the face of the man she had been with that night, the man who had gathered her child. She knew it was him from his dark eyes and his piercing gaze.
she hadn't seen in over nine months and even at that, she started getting flashes of memories from that particular night. The man who had fathered her child was standing on her doorstep, she didn't know how to feel about that, was she to be elated or push him away? She had no idea but the lingering question that was on her mind was how he had discovered who she was and found her house.
"Hello, Melinda," he said, his voice smooth and confident. "I've come to talk to you about our baby."
Melinda's brows furrowed as she stepped out of the house and onto the porch, she closed the door gently behind her and ran her eyes over his body.
"Who the hell are you?!" Melinda shot at him, feigning ignorance over his identity.
"I refuse to believe that you've suddenly forgotten me, Melinda," Derek replied.
"What are you doing here and how do you know my name?" Melinda asked, folding her arms across her chest. She felt herself melting under his intense gaze but she tried not to show it.
Melinda's heart sank as she spoke She never hoped that she never thought she would her path was going to cross with this man's but now he was here, demanding A conversation about their child. She steeled herself, knowing that she had to be strong for the sake of her sanity.
"My name is Derek and how I know your name is a conversation for another day."
"You have no right to be here," she said, her voice shaking slightly. "I don't want you anywhere near my child."
Derek smirked. "Oh, come on, Melinda. Don't you think your child deserves to know his father?"
Melinda was taken by the surprise that he knew the gender of their baby.
"You know it's a boy?" She quizzed.
"If course I do. I'm his father"
"Wait, hold on for just a second, how did you know that I had a child, have you been stalking me?!" Melinda questioned, airing her surprise.
"I wouldn't call it stalking if I were you, I was just looking out for you and my child," Derek responded calmly as he continued to hold Melinda's gaze.
"Looking out for me! How ridiculous is that?" Melinda blurted out. "I wasn't even expecting to get pregnant and then when I took in, you were nowhere to be found, I took responsibility and carried the child for months only for you to show up here and spill trash?"
Melinda's anger was starting to simmer above the surface.
"You're not his father," Melinda let out, her voice growing stronger. "You never wanted anything to do with him, and you're not going to start now."
Derek's smirk turned Into a scowl. "Are you going to have our child grow up without knowing who his father is?" He said. "You can come live with us if you want." He added.
Melinda's heart was racing, but she knew she had to stand her ground. "You can't just show up after all this time and expect to be welcomed into my child's life," she said. "Where were you the all time I was pregnant unh?"
"I was busy..."
"Can you even listen to yourself?" Melinda retorted.
"Now listen to me good. We were both drunk that night and things got out of hand and then we accidentally made love..."
"Accidentally..." Derek replied with a smirk on his face. "Do you really think that it was an accident? Melinda, you were literally begging for me to make you c*m and you call that an accident." He said and his smile grew wider
"You disgusting pig!" Melinda let out, clenching her teeth in disgust.
She was about to make her way inside when Derek held her by the arm and pulled her close to him till their faces were almost touching. Melinda could feel Derek's hot breath against her lips, reminding her about the night. She yanked her hand away from him and backed away.
"Don't you dare lay your hands on me, you jerk!" Melinda said angrily.
"I think you've overstayed your welcome, you can leave here now," Melinda said to him
"I'm not going to leave unless you show me my son."
"You're not his father so leave here now."
Derek's expression darkened, and his eyes narrowed Into slits. "You think you can stop me?" he asked, his voice low and threatening. "You think you can keep me away from my own child?"
Melinda's stomach turned to ice. She had never imagined things would turn out this way, and she was afraid of what he might do. "I will do everything in my power to keep you away from my child," she said, trying to sound strong. "You have no claim on him."
"You're wrong about that," Derek said, his voice a dangerous whisper. "I have a claim on my child, whether you like it or not And I'll fight you for it if I have to." With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Melinda trembling in the doorway. She felt shaken to her core, and she wasn't sure what to do next. Why was he suddenly here and asking after the child? He hadn't seemed like he cared back then so why now? Melinda was deeply puzzled as she closed the door and walked back into the house.
"I heard you shouting, Melinda. Who was that?" Her mother said when she saw Melinda walk inside.
"It's just one of my exes, Mother. He says he wants me back so I asked him to leave."
"Which of them, love?" Lori asked.
"It was uhm, Donald." Melinda lied and made her way to the couch to sit on it.
"That fool! What does he want here after dumping you?"
Melinda heaved heavily before she looked at her mother's angry expression and averted her gaze. "He says that he was sorry for what he did to me and that he wants me back."
"That idiot, after getting another woman pregnant and marrying her, he has the guts to show up here!" Lori said and Melinda felt her heart sink. She and Donald hadn't spoken in years and she knew that he was still happily married wherever he was and it only added to her dismay.
"That cheating bstrd doesn't deserve you," Lori added.
"I know, Mother," Melinda said, trying to hide her concern.
"Just make sure you let me go when next he comes here so I can give him a piece of mind and chase him out of here with a large stick."
"I will, Mother," Melinda replied while her eyes were still trained on the floor.
After a moment of awkward silence, Lori Finally said.
"What did the doctor say about my grandson?" Lori asked and the question caught Melinda off guard.
"What?" She asked back.
"My grandson. What did the doctor say about him?" Lori repeated.
"Oh..." Melinda tried to come up with the perfect lie. "The doctor said he's doing okay. I was able to clear the bill."
"You did? How?" Lori asked with a surprised look etched on her features.
"A good Samaritan did." She responded.
"Ohh, bless his sweet soul," Lori said excitedly, clamping her hands together.
"Yeah," Melinda responded indifferently as she walked up to her room.
She stopped in front of the room and placed her hands and head on the door. Her insides were in turmoil. She stayed in that position for a long while before she opened the door and walked inside.
She went straight to her bed and sat down on it. She buried her head in her hands and stayed in that position for another ten minutes, then after a while, she fell back onto the bed with her legs and arms spread apart.
She was unsettled, but she didn't know if it was because Derek had shown up at her door with accurate claims that he was the father of her child and threatened to have the child by all means or because she had handed the child over to a man she barely knew just to save the life of the child.
"Oh dear, lord, I'm so confused right now, what am I going to do." She said stood up from the bed and began pacing the room. She heard her phone chiming so she reached for it and to her greatest surprise, there was a text message from a user named Derek!