by Sian Ceinwen
“I hate being in a different city to you,” Sebastian said quietly. “I feel like I’m missing out on so much.”
“I know, but we knew our situation was less than ideal when we decided to do this, Sebastian. I’ll try and involve you more, okay?” Lita said, and he nodded. “As we told our families, we’re just making the best out of this, and I think we’re doing a pretty good job so far.
“When I first found out, I couldn’t imagine raising your baby.” Sebastian stiffened as she said it. “Now, I can’t imagine not raising your baby. When I met you, I saw you as Sebastian Fox, the world’s most arrogant asshole. Now, you’re Seb, the father of my baby. Supportive, caring, and wonderful. Thank you for letting me into your life, Sebastian, I know you don’t let many people in, and I’m honored you deemed me worthy.”
Sebastian shook his head, then looked away before saying softly, “You say that as though there was ever any doubt. You’re so much better than me, Lita. Harrison was right the night we met; you are too good for me. That plays on my mind a lot. You’re smarter than me, you’re nicer than me—hell, you’re even better at pool than I am. It’s scary for me because I keep waiting for you to realize it and I keep expecting you to tell me to fuck off.”
Lita was completely shocked when he said this. It was so different from the image he presented to the world. The confident, arrogant man who slept with any woman he wanted. The man who stood on stage in front of thousands of people with confidence exuding from every fiber of his being.
“Sebastian Fox”—Lita put her palm on his cheek and turned his face to hers—“I promise I will never do that, and I keep my promises, always. No matter what happens in life, you will always be this baby’s father. Even if I find a man here in Seattle, get married, and have kids with him, you will be this baby’s father. Nobody can ever take that away from you, and I wouldn’t let them.
“I will never tell you to fuck off because I want my child to know their father, especially since I know how much you already love them. You’ve done nothing but be supportive and amazing to me since we decided to continue the pregnancy. Heck, probably since that day with Cooper. Oh, shit. Slightly off-topic, but is he going to be at the wedding?” Lita asked darkly.
“Ah, yeah, he will be. I’ll make sure he stays away from you, princess.” Sebastian hugged her.
“Thanks. Look, we’ve probably said enough for now. You and I are going to be a family, together with our baby, no matter how unconventional it is, that’s all that matters. Everything else is just stuff.” Lita smiled at him.
The conversation moved on to her current workload. Then, later, they had a room-service dinner before they went back to bed for more sex. Lita was lying in Sebastian’s arms that night when she realized Heather was right—they did have a relationship together, it just wasn’t traditional. It wasn’t the relationship Lita wanted for herself with a romantic partner, but it didn’t make it any less valid.
Even though they weren’t in that kind of romantic relationship, she cared for Sebastian more than she’d cared for any of her previous boyfriends because he was going to be the father of her child. Theirs was a bond deeper than any love she’d felt before.
16
LEVEL 16 – Discovery
Your baby is the size of a duct tape cardboard roll.
Sebastian had left an hour ago. Lita was looking around the hotel room to make sure she hadn’t left anything behind. They’d decided Lita should wait a while after Sebastian left so all of the paparazzi would have time to disperse before she tried to leave. Lita had called an Uber to take her home, and it should be arriving in about ten minutes.
They’d spent the morning cuddling and having sex, talking about the logistics of her going to Chicago for the wedding. Daryl had been sent out to get a tape measure, and Sebastian had helped her take actual measurements for Heather.
Lita still couldn’t believe Heather had agreed to make her a dress. Her designs were absolutely stunning, and she couldn’t wait to see what Heather made for her. It was insane she was even going to the wedding. Lita realized she hadn’t told Becky, so she pulled out her phone and sent her a text.
Guess who’s going to Gabriel and Ariana’s wedding…
She picked up her bag and made her way out of the room to the elevator as Becky replied.
Are you shitting me? He’s taking you to their wedding?
Lita smiled, then dropped her next bombshell.
Heather’s going to make me a dress to wear.
As she pressed the button to call the elevator, her phone started ringing.
“You can’t be serious!” Becky exclaimed.
“Yup, I am. He asked me this morning. Then, when I said I didn’t have anything to wear, he asked Heather if she’d make a dress for me,” Lita told her.
“Can we revisit the whole ‘Sebastian is in love with you’ thing?” Becky asked. “Because he’s taking you to a wedding and is organizing a custom-made designer dress for you to wear to it. I’m just saying.”
Lita rolled her eyes as she got into the elevator. There was a couple in there with two suitcases and they’d already pressed the button for the lobby. “Hang on a second, Becky, I’m in the elevator.”
“No worries, I’m just chilling and reading Reddit,” she said.
When the elevator got to the lobby, Lita got out and said, “Okay, so he’s not in love with me, but we did talk a bit about that. You and Heather are right, Sebastian does love me, but it’s the same way I love him. We are having a baby together, and we enjoy each other’s company. We have our own lives and live in separate cities.”
Lita dropped her room key in the quick-check-out box before continuing.
“It’s hard to explain how the baby has bonded us so strongly, but that’s what’s behind what you guys are seeing. We have this beautiful thing that means so much to both of us, and we share that—just us. No one else in the world is a part of it. Hang on, let me just check on my Uber.”
She switched to the app and saw her Uber was only one minute away.
“Okay, where were we?” she asked.
“I guess I can kind of see what you’re saying. It all just seems like a fairytale. You meet your favorite rock star, and he falls for you, and you’re having a baby together,” Becky said as Lita made her way to the hotel entrance and walked outside.
Lita laughed, “Yeah, but you’re wrong, Becky. Sebastian wasn’t my favorite rock star, Hayden was. And he hasn’t fallen for me; we’re just having a baby together.”
She put her hand on her bump and smiled as she said it, then saw her Uber waiting for her and walked over to it.
“Excuse me!” someone called out just as she reached the car.
Lita looked back instinctively, then froze as she realized with horror there were a few people still here with cameras. She’d been so distracted talking to Becky she hadn’t noticed.
“What’s your name?” one person asked her.
“Did you just say Sebastian Fox is your baby’s father?” another called.
They started to come toward her, and Lita was finally spurred into action. She opened the door to the Uber and got into it quickly, throwing her weekend bag onto the seat next to her.
“Please leave quickly. Please.” Lita started crying as she put on her seatbelt. The call with Becky was still connected, and Lita picked the phone up and put it to her ear. “Are you still there, Becky?”
“Yeah, I’m here, Lita. Shit, was that paparazzi?” Becky asked.
“I think so. Fuck, I wasn’t paying attention, and I just walked the fuck out of the hotel while talking about how Sebastian Fox is the father of my baby. I’m so fucking stupid.” She kept crying.
“Are you on your way home now?” Becky sounded worried.
“Yeah, I am,” Lita said.
“I’ll meet you there. It’ll be okay; just breathe. You might want to tell Seb what happened, so he knows,” Becky told her.
“He should be getting on a plane back to C
hicago any minute now, though,” Lita said.
“He’ll still want to know,” Becky said. “I’m leaving now to come to your place.”
As she said this, call waiting came through on Lita’s phone. She pulled it away from her ear and looked at the screen to see the words ‘Baby Daddy’ on it. She wasn’t expecting to hear from him until he landed in Chicago, so she assumed he already knew what had happened.
“He’s calling me now. I’ll see you at my place,” Lita said, then pressed the button to answer Sebastian’s call. “Seb?”
“Are you okay, princess?” he asked her.
“No. I’m sorry, Seb. I fucked up. I was talking to Becky, and I didn’t even look to see if it was clear. I walked out, and I even fucking said you were having a baby with me,” Lita cried.
“What the fuck? Why would you tell them that?” He seemed confused.
“No, I didn’t tell them. I was on the phone to Becky, and we were talking, and I said it to her as part of our conversation, but they heard, and they knew and…fuck. How do you know?” Lita asked him.
“I got shown a picture of you by a reporter about a minute ago by some asshole paparazzi who had it on his phone and asked me if you were having my baby. I’m not going back to Chicago tonight, I can’t believe I don’t know your address, but can you send it to me? I’ll come to your place right now, if that’s okay?” Sebastian asked.
“Is that a good idea? Don’t you have to get back to Chicago?”
“No. I don’t have anything on at the moment, and you’re more important right now, Lita. Can I come over?” he asked.
“Sure, I’ll text you my address,” Lita sighed. “I’m sorry, Seb.”
“Look, it was only a matter of time, princess. If you think about it, they probably would’ve gotten photos of you at the wedding anyway. I’ll see you soon, try not to stress; it’s not good for the baby,” Sebastian said.
Lita laughed. “You know you just said the only thing which might force me to calm down, right?”
“Yes, I know.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll see you soon, princess.”
Lita texted her address to him, then opened Reddit on her phone. By the time she got home, the top thread in the Cruise Control subreddit was already a picture of her. She could see the upvotes, awards, and comments flying in. In the picture, Lita had her phone to her ear, one hand was on her bump, and she was smiling. Well, if the whole world was going to see a picture of you, at least you’d want it to be a flattering one.
The top comment on the post was a link to the picture of her and Becky leaving the hotel in Chicago. You could always count on Redditors to put two and two together quickly. The comments below were all about trying to figure out who exactly she was. A few people thought Becky must be with Hayden, and Lita was amused. Okay, so sometimes, Redditors put two and two together but came up with five.
Her Uber arrived at her apartment, and she thanked her driver before getting out and making her way inside. Becky arrived shortly after that and let herself into Lita’s apartment.
“Are you okay, Lita?” she asked straight away and hugged Lita when she shook her head.
“Sebastian’s on his way,” Lita told her.
“Really? You spoke to him before he got on his plane, I guess?” Becky asked.
“Yeah, a reporter at the airport showed him the pic of me; that’s why he was calling. I feel so sick. Have you looked at Reddit?” Lita wrinkled her nose.
“I have,” Becky admitted. “They’re going hard. Sit down, let me get you a drink or something to eat.”
“Thanks,” Lita said, even though she wasn’t hungry. “I could do with a glass of water.”
She flopped down on the sofa. She just wanted to curl into a ball and cry. Even though she’d known this was an inevitability, it was still disconcerting to see her picture online and having people gossiping about her.
“Here you go,” Becky said as she returned to the room and handed the glass of water to Lita. She looked at the phone in Lita’s hand and said, “Give me that. Don’t read that shit.”
Lita rolled her eyes but handed her phone over, and Becky placed it on the coffee table in front of her, just out of reach. They talked for a while before Lita’s phone lit up with a text from Sebastian.
I’m here.
“Seb’s here. Can you let him in?” Lita asked. She didn’t have the strength to get up and do it herself.
Lita couldn’t resist opening the Reddit app and looking at it again the second Becky was gone. The top thread in the Cruise Control subreddit was still the picture of her from earlier, but the next thread down from it was about all the women Sebastian had slept with in the time she had obviously been pregnant.
Lita had accepted their relationship for what it was, but it was still humiliating to see it laid out like that. Someone had collated all of the threads and pictures of Sebastian with other women since the night they’d met in a helpful timeline for everyone to see. Lita couldn’t stop herself from looking through them. There were gaps where he’d seen her, and a sick part of Lita wanted to post and fill them in so it could be completely accurate.
Sebastian sat on the sofa next to her and put his arms around her to hug her tightly. Lita hadn’t even noticed him and Becky enter the room. She melted into his embrace and gave way to a fresh set of tears. They sat there for a few minutes in silence.
Eventually, Sebastian looked down at Lita’s phone, which was sitting in her lap and currently displayed a picture of him and a thin, blonde woman at a nightclub.
“What the hell is that?”
“This, Sebastian?” Lita laughed bitterly. “This is a timeline of all the women you’ve slept with since we met. Isn’t that lovely? I’m fine with our arrangement, but I won’t lie, it’s kind of humiliating to have people worldwide reading about all the women you’ve slept with since me.”
“I was kind of hoping you wouldn’t see that thread,” Becky sighed.
Sebastian picked up her phone and started scrolling through the post. “Holy shit.”
“Yeah, you get a lot of action, Sebastian,” Becky said, and there was a cool tone to her words.
“I didn’t sleep with all those women,” Sebastian said slowly.
“But I bet you slept with a lot of them,” Becky bit back at him.
Lita sat up, out of Sebastian’s embrace, and looked at Becky. “Chill, dude. Sebastian can sleep with whomever he wants. You know this, we’ve talked about it on numerous occasions.”
“Yeah, but did you know it was that many?” She looked incredulous.
“Well, no, because Heather was wrong the first time we talked, apparently,” Lita said with a wry grin. “It doesn’t matter, because it doesn’t change what we agreed to. Sebastian has never told me about any of the other women he’s slept with. From the looks of that timeline, he has never slept with another woman when we’ve been in the same city either. That was our agreement.”
Becky breathed heavily for a moment before she glared at Sebastian. “You’re disgusting. I hope you know that.”
“Thanks, Becky, I’m aware,” Sebastian said quietly.
“Stop.” Lita glared back at Becky as she took Sebastian’s hand in hers and linked their fingers together. “Sebastian is not disgusting. He can sleep with whomever he wants; there is nothing wrong with that.”
“Well, you’ve certainly changed your tune,” Becky snapped. “That’s not what you used to say before Chicago.”
“That’s a low blow, Rebecca. You’re saying that to try and hurt Sebastian, and it’s not fair. Yes, I had a terrible opinion of him before we met. Yes, he has slept with other women––”
“A lot of other women,” Becky interrupted her.
“Whatever. The number of women is irrelevant. It’s not like I said, ‘I’m cool with only X number of women.’ No, that was not our deal. I don’t understand why you’re suddenly being like this. We’ve talked about this, and you knew Sebastian was sleeping with other women t
his whole time; it’s not like this is news to anybody.” Lita shrugged.
“Maybe because I didn’t realize how many women. It’s gross. I know when he’s been here with you, some of those times, he literally slept with another woman right before coming to see you. He was with someone else on Friday night. He must have gotten off the phone with you, then gone straight to fuck another woman. How are you okay with this? Do you have no self-respect, Lolita?” Becky shook her head.
Lita saw red. She’d never been this angry at Becky in her life. “Stop being so fucking judgmental. I’m a grown-ass adult and completely and utterly capable of choosing whom I want to sleep with. I’ve told you, repeatedly, what my boundaries are within the context of my relationship with Sebastian. He has respected those boundaries.
“I don’t give a flying fuck about the other women he’s slept with. Nor should you. He probably couldn’t tell you half of their names on pain of death. Do you know whose name he knows? Mine. He calls me. He texts me. He comes to see me. He gives a fucking shit about me and our baby. We’re going to be a family together, no matter how unconventional it is. None of those women on that list is the mother of his child. I am.
“I have plenty of self-respect, Rebecca. If Sebastian treated me in any way I did not think was appropriate, I would not hesitate to put him in his place, you know that. You know I’ve done it in the past. If you’re going to continue to be rude to both me and Sebastian, then you should probably go home now, and I’ll see you some other time.”
There was a heavy silence as Becky glared at them both. “You’re choosing him over me?”
“No, Becky.” Lita sighed. “I just want you to stop being cruel to Sebastian. To stop raking him over the coals when he doesn’t deserve it.”
“Yes, I do,” Sebastian said, and Lita whipped her head around to look at him.
“No, you don’t, Seb.” Lita shook her head. “You haven’t broken any of your promises to me.”
