He Came Knocking with a Baby in Tow Chapter 06
When Echo was at school, he never stayed quiet.Â
Every time I picked up my phone during breaks, I’dÂ
see these long voice messages from him.Â
In that soft little kid voice, telling me about hisÂ
kindergarten day.Â
“Mommy, today kindergarten breakfast wasÂ
spaghetti. Echo didn’t like it. Anna’s noodlesÂ
are better.”Â
“Mia brought me strawberry cake her mom madeÂ
today. It was so sweet. She said next time she’llÂ
invite you too.”Â
“Today the assistant uncle picked me up fromÂ
school again. Everyone else has their mom or dadÂ
pick them up. Echo’s a little jealous of them.”Â
“Mommy, if you could pick me up from school too,Â
that’d be great.”Â
Hearing that, my heart ached.Â
I replied to them one by one.Â
“Anna says she misses you. Next time you come,Â
she’ll make you cookies.”Â
“Tell Mommy thank you for Mia.”Â
“After Mommy finishes this show, I’ll go to LondonÂ
to pick you up from school, okay? Don’t be sad.Â
Mommy wants to pick you up too.”Â
Every time Echo came over, Lucas would drive himÂ
himself.Â
That went on for half a month.Â
And he’d hang around the show all the time whenÂ
he had nothing to do.Â
He was so free that even Echo thought somethingÂ
was wrong.Â
He quietly tugged at him and asked: “Dad, are youÂ
going bankrupt?”Â
Lucas had nothing to say. Before he could speak,Â
Echo went on: “Dad, I think you really don’t have aÂ
chance. If you go bankrupt, then you’ll be old andÂ
broke and bad–tempered. You definitely can’t beatÂ
Uncle Alex.”Â
Lucas had nothing to say, just huffed angrily.Â
But then he thought about it and asked Echo: “DoÂ
you want Dad and Mommy to be together?”Â
Echo was quiet for a second, nodded, then shookÂ
his head.Â
“Mommy’s not happy when she’s with you, soÂ
maybe not.”Â
“What, do you want Alex to be your new dad?”Â
Echo thought about it again, squatted downÂ
dejectedly, and shook his head: “I don’t think soÂ
either.”Â
“Mia said, if I get a new dad and Mommy has aÂ
new baby, she won’t love me as much.”Â
“I don’t want Mommy to not love me.”Â
“But I don’t want Mommy to be unhappy either.”Â
The show ended in late December. After itÂ
finished, I went to London.Â
Lucas just checked out of work entirely andÂ
dumped Echo off at my place.Â
As soon as we walked in, Echo’s eyes lit up:Â
“Mommy, is this our home?”Â
That night after his bath, Echo climbed onto myÂ
bed: “Mommy, Echo’s so happy~”Â
I patted his head: “Mommy’s happy too.”Â
As soon as I said that, the doorbell rang.Â
I got up and looked through the peephole. I thought it was Anna and Maria, but it was Lucas.Â
Confused, I opened the door, and he just walkedÂ
right in like he owned the place.Â
I stood there, stunned: “Aren’t you at theÂ
company?”Â
He looked at me and smiled: “I came to spendÂ
Christmas with you.”Â
I didn’t know what to say.Â
I just gave a flat “Oh.”Â
He put the hot food on the table and went to the wine cabinet to open a bottle of red wine.Â
I laughed at him acting like he owned the place: “You’re pretty bold, aren’t you?”Â
He was opening the wine and looked at me: “We had a kid together. Why be polite? Even if you don’t care about old times, you gotta feel bad for meÂ
flying all the way from the company to spend Christmas with you, right?”Â
I clicked my tongue: “How did I never notice howÂ
thick your skin was before?”Â
That night, we talked about so much of the past.Â
We drank and got a little drunk.Â
Two grown adults, a man and a woman alone in a room–after drinking, things happened.Â
When I woke up the next morning, I kicked LucasÂ
right off the bed.Â
“Aren’t you ashamed? You’re old enough to be sneaking into people’s beds.”Â
Lucas slowly stood up, the corner of his mouthÂ
tugging up in a cheeky smile: “You were the one who kissed me first. Don’t try to flip it on me.”Â
I huffed and kicked him in the leg: “Get up, changeÂ
the sheets.”Â
He said “Oh.”Â
In the bathroom, I took a nice long shower.Â
I thought about it, and it turned out I was the one who made the first move.Â
But I didn’t think it was a big deal. I’m thirty. It’sÂ
normal to have needs.Â
Besides, Lucas had kept his body in great shape.Â
all these years.Â
I didn’t care, but Lucas did.Â
He showed up at my place every day, trying to get my attention.Â
And being all cheeky, asking me if I needed him toÂ
wait on me.Â
I just told him to get lost, cold as ice.Â
The older he got, the thicker his skin got.Â
Lucas had somehow started thinking that all my yelling and kicking was just my way of showingÂ
affection.

