Military Secret *ON HOLD*

Chapter 6

Slightly shorter chapter my demons!

Aaron's POV

This is so not going to end well...

I can't believe she told my mother, then proceeded to leave the room to 'use the bathroom.' By the look on my mother's face that morphed from blank to plain, bold fury, I was in deep shit. I glanced to my father, only to find him angrier than my mother. I glanced at my sister who looked nervous and guilty, never one to be able to hide her emotions and who wore her heart on her sleeve. I didn't want her to be here when we had this conversation, seeing as she already has a poor relationship with my father.

"Well," my mother questioned with a scowl on her usually cheerful face, "Were you ever going to tell us about your son, or were you going to keep him hidden?" I had only ever seen my mother filled with this much animosity twice, once at me after catching me with a woman in my bed as a teen and the second time her anger was directed towards my father after he had been caught smoking a cigar even though he claimed he had quit years ago. My mother was always very patient and kind, never rankled by even the most disastrous situations.

She looked towards my sister, "Did you know anything about this? By the look on your face you knew from the time that wretched woman fell pregnant, didn't you?" I could see the tears welling in my little sister's eyes and it was killing me.

"Mom, while she did know, I refused to let her tell you. Everytime I pick him up from her house, she always questions if I was ever going to tell you. I was scared of how you and Father would react if I told you I had a child without being married. And I know it's upsetting and shocking, however, Kelly agreed that I should be the one to reveal the news to you. Plus-"

"Enough!" my father bellowed, his voice shutting me up instantly and ending my rambling. "You should have told us as soon as you found out. Whether we heard it from you or Kelly, we should have been told. You know that your mother has been asking for grandchildren for years now. She was excited. To find out that you have been hiding our own flesh and blood, I'm surprised she hasn't burst into tears yet. She has been looking forward to little one from the both of you since you were little, no matter where they came from. I am thoroughly disappointed in you, Aaron. You were raised better than that." The tone in my father's voice was enough for me to be ashamed. I could hear quiet sobs coming from across the table, knowing that Kelly was much more ashamed and disappointed in us than I was.

"I was going to tell you after my marriage. I wasn't going to keep him hidden forever, just until I had someone else at my side to defend my son as well as I could," my voice was void of any emotion. I looked towards my father, the honesty in my showing in my eyes. It wasn't far from the truth. I was going to tell them after I had a wife, but I also didn't think that I would be getting married this soon.

"That's enough for now. We can talk about this at a different time. Now tell us about him. What is his name? When's his birthday? What does he look like? What kind of personality does he have?" I knew that my mother was still furious with us, me more so than Kelly, but the calming tone in her voice gave me the indication that she was more excited at the moment than angry.

"No, we need to continue talking about why you-," my father was cut short by the clipped tone in my mother's tone.

"Matt."

"Fine. Continue."

I took a deep breath, readying myself to tell what I've been fearing to do since I found out that I would be a dad. "His name is Benjamin Jack Tate. His birthday is May 15th and I always take him to the beach. He has curly blonde hair and my eyes, yet he's taller than any other boy his age. Honestly, Mom, he reminds me of you. Intelligent, cheerful, modest, patient. But I can already tell he's going to be like me and that worries me to no end. I don't want him going around and playing with girls the way I do. I'm glad he and Taylor get along though. I'm hoping that she'll provide Ben with a motherly figure."