: The Son's Father
2.
In my book, a scene this awkward was practically a dramatic showdown from hell.
I instinctively took my son's hand.
After all, my son getting into a fight that brought my police-officer ex into the picture was already the stuff of a bad soap opera.
But the real kicker was—
This police officer ex was my son's biological father.
Aiden Thorne.
Thankfully, I have strong genes; my son takes after me in the looks department.
Otherwise, I'd be terrified of a dramatic father-son reunion playing out right here and now.
The woman with the wavy hair lit up when she saw the police, as if she'd just found her savior. She immediately rushed over to plead her case.
"I barely touched him! This kid is vicious..."
The words tumbled out of her mouth like machine-gun fire, a chaotic mix of accusations and self-pity.
It was a textbook case of the guilty party playing the victim.
The officers behind Aiden Thorne were getting headaches from her screeching, taking turns trying to get her to calm down.
Aiden Thorne, however, merely let his detached gaze flicker over my son and me.
Then, a smirk touched his lips. "He gets his fighting skills from you."
'What a joke. Was he just trying to pin this on me?'
I bristled at the accusation and retorted without thinking, "Oh, I can't take all the credit. He gets half of it from you."
The once-chaotic Westbridge Police Department fell instantly silent.
Not a sound could be heard.
Dozens of eyes swiveled in unison to stare at me.
I felt their stares like needles on my back.
'My mouth really does fly ahead while my brain scrambles to catch up.'
I forced myself to backpedal. "Um... what I meant was, his fighting skills are only half as good as yours, Officer."
The woman's voice shot up an octave. "If your son had half the fighting skills of a cop, I'd be dead on the floor right now!"
*Tsk.*
'Did they only teach her hyperbole in elementary school?'
'I know exactly what my son is capable of.'
'And he wouldn't do that unless he was pushed to his absolute limit!'
Aiden Thorne calmly pulled up the surveillance footage.
His voice was neutral, neither cold nor warm, but it was enough to make the woman fall silent instantly.
"The footage shows you laid a hand on the child first."
It had started as a simple squabble between kids.
While I was at work, my son had gone out to play in our complex and gotten into an argument with another kid over a slide.
But the wavy-haired woman, determined to back her own son up, marched over and slapped my boy without a second thought.
Of course, my son isn't the type to take things lying down.
When she wasn't looking, he launched himself at her, grabbing onto her arm and unleashing a flurry of scratches and bites.
For a moment, she couldn't push him off.
Seeing this, the other people there had hurriedly called the police.
And that's what led to the scene I'd walked in on.
I just never expected...
that my son would end up right in Aiden Thorne's hands.