Fruit Parfait: Chapter 1.4

I stared at Charlotte, not sure how to react. "...Son? Charlotte, what are you talking about? Bennett is Dub's-"

"Zane, I'm not crazy. Come outside and I'll explain."

"From the moment Bennett was born, I knew there was something up with him."

"He had these unnatural orange eyes, unlike anything I had ever seen before. Then the hair grew in, and I was sure I had been wrong. He has your family's strange genes, Zane. Benny isn't Dub's baby - he's yours."

She smiled at me like the way she used to, and she suddenly looked years younger. It was almost like we were back in high school, standing on her front porch after prom ended...


No. She cheated on me... Things could never be the same between us. But...this was Charlotte, and suddenly I had a son.

"This is...great!" I said quietly. I looked at her son - my son - with his little thumb in his mouth and couldn't help but crack a smile. "But...how are we going to tell Dub?"


"Tell Dub? What do you mean?"


"Well, he's kind of-"

"Tell me what?" Dub stood in the doorway, his eyes on Bennett.

Charlotte's mouth opened and closed as she tried to find the right words. She was clearly shocked to see Dub here. "Um, Bennett's...not your baby. I got genetic tests done and-"

"What? But...of course he's my baby. There has to have been some mistake!"

"There is no mistake, Dub," Charlotte said through gritted teeth. "And frankly, I'm glad he has a father better than you."

Dub turned on me. "So what, now that Bennett's supposedly your son she just gets to stop by here whenever she wants? Is she staying the night now?"

"I-I don't know! I don't know what's going on, I don't know what's going to happen next..."

"Zane," Charlotte said quietly, not meeting my eyes. "I got kicked out of my apartment today. I couldn't pay the bills."

"But... What happened with your writing? I thought you almost had a book finished?"

"I couldn't finish it. I gave up again."

"Well, I don't know, I guess you could maybe stay the night, but there's nowhere for the baby to sleep..."

"I have a crib in the trunk of the taxi. I had to sell all my other furniture so I could pay off my debt, but I kept that. Please, Zane, let me stay. Let Bennett stay."

"This is bull," Dub growled. "Why did you kick me out? I could have helped you! I had a job in Riverview, I could have provided for the both of us."

"The people you worked for did nothing but hurt others. I wasn't going to let my child grow up in a house where the only working adult was a criminal."

Dub didn't reply.

"Look, guys, we can work this out in the morning," I said. "It's 1 AM; why don't we all just get some sleep. Charlotte, set up your crib somewhere. You two can stay for a little while until you figure things out. We have an extra single bed for you, Charlotte, and...Dub and I will take the double." I sighed.

"Thank you," Charlotte whispered.

That night, I watched as Charlotte put her baby - my baby - to bed. And even though the crib didn't match the rest of my lime green house, it was a beautiful sight.

...

The next few days were a blur of repetition and quiet observation.

I worked. I know, I look pretty heroic in this picture. It only took me a day to put out the tiny fire.

When I wasn't working, I was brushing up on my guitar skills. The funny thing was, the more I played, the worse I sounded... Or maybe my ears were just plugged from the smoke.

But hey, I managed to pick up a fan or two around the workplace. Or well, she was watching me play at least... I think... Or maybe she was just passing by...

And when I got home every day, I found Charlotte with Bennett - teaching him to walk, playing with him, tickling him. I wanted to have a relationship like that with my son, but something kept me from asking Charlotte. Maybe I was still mad at her for cheating on me, and that was why I couldn't talk to her. Or maybe I was over it all, and I was afraid of moving forward.

By the third night, I had earned enough money to buy a replacement stove. I decided to have another go at mac and cheese; salad after boring salad was seriously beginning to get on my nerves. Who cares if mac and cheese isn't green? I could become a pro chef and make all these super awesome dishes for dinner... Mmm, my mouth watered just thinking of all the food.

Okay, so I used a box mix. But hey, pro chefs have to start somewhere.

I worked my magic on the food.

It looked pretty delicious in the bowl. Stirrin' noodles and cheddar, stirrin' noodles and cheddar... Hey, I could have made a song out of that.

Please don't erupt into flames this time...

SUCCESS!

That night, Charlotte and I shared the mac and cheese together. Dub was nowhere to be found, and according to Charlotte he had been gone the whole day... His absence made the food taste that much better.

"You're a great cook, you know," Charlotte said. "Better than I am."

"Watching you burn water in cooking class was a pretty funny sight."

Charlotte flicked a noodle at me. "Shut up! You can't burn water, I just boiled it for too long."

"Oh, I beg to differ. That water was one hundred percent burned."

As I collected the plates to go wash the dishes, Charlotte stood up and cleared her throat.

"Um, Zane... Do you want to teach Bennett how to talk? It's just, he won't respond when I try to get him to say something, and Dub couldn't get him to say a word either, so maybe you could try..."

My eyes widened. "O-Of course!" I glanced over at my son, sitting in his crib sucking on this thumb. Maybe...if I taught him how to talk...we'd be able to bond and make up for all the time he didn't know me.

I picked him up cautiously, having never held a baby before and not wanting to drop him. I set him down on the floor and sat down, Charlotte beside me.

I looked around the room, trying to think up a word. "Can you say...green?"

Bennett stared blankly off into the distance.

I tried boy, orange, cheese, and house but to no avail. Why won't the kid say anything?!

It was quite frustrating. I now understood why Charlotte had asked me to teach him.

Then, an idea popped into my head. The word shouldn't have made any difference - I mean, either the kid wanted to talk or he didn't - but I had to try.

"Can you say...daddy?"

Benny giggled. "Da...ddy!"

Charlotte gasped and threw her arms around me. "Oh my gosh... I can't believe it!"

I smiled and closed my eyes, lingering in the moment. My life had changed drastically over the past few days... But maybe it had been for the better.

Yet beneath the layer of warmth and happiness, there was a strange, unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach. I almost felt like I was being watched... Or maybe I was only imagining it.

~

Zane's bonding with his son now! <3 And hey... He might even be healing old wounds with Charlotte. (Hint hint...) But Dub is up to something, and it's nothing good... You'll find out soon enough. ;)

I had a heck of a time getting the pictures for this chapter. My game kept getting stuck lagging, so I'd have to force quit and restart and get caught up to the right time of day. Right now I'm actually two days behind in-game from where the story's at, since I had to keep quitting. I'm kind of happy though - I'll be able to get in some photo-free simming with this family. It does get kind of annoying having to stop constantly to take pictures when something happens, but hey - it's worth it. :)

So far this summer, this blog has been my only writing outlet. I've hit a creative rock with my novel (similar to writer's block, except I can still write but with no passion or style or creativity), so I've set that aside for awhile to give myself a break and come up with new ideas. This blog is the only thing keeping me sane! Arg, I want to write my novel so badly but every time I try to I get stumped and frustrated. Good thing I have Zane's story. :)

By the way, for anyone who's wondering, Meet the Parfaits will be updated to add Bennett when he reaches young adulthood.

Leave your feedback in the comments! Another chapter down, and many more to unfold... Let the fun begin. ;D

-Siminoid