Chapter 22: Taylor

       As soon as Jake walked into the suite, Newt jumped up from his spot on the ground and ran over to him, wrapping his arms around his legs. "Hiya, Jake!" 

       Jake closed the door and picked up Newt. "So, I see how this works. When your dad is here, then you pretend to like me."

       "What? No, I do love you, Jakey," Newt said. "I told you two days ago when Daddy wasn't around."

       "He really does love you," I said. "Like I told you, he's just a drama queen."

       "King," Newt corrected.

       "Sorry, drama king," I said. "I thought you were having dinner with the others."

       "I was, but Logan was being too lovey-dovey with Infinity, so Flynn, Lilly, and I left," Jake said. "Besides, it is my favorite little boy's birthday today, so I wanted to come here instead of watching my brother being gross."

       "I'm your favorite little boy?" Newt asked.

       "I think he's only saying that because you're the only little boy he knows," I said.

       Newt gasped. "Jakey! I thought you loved me!"

       "I do love you," Jake said. "And I'm not saying that because you're the only little boy I know. I'm kind of obligated to love you because your dad is my boyfriend."

       "That's rude," Newt said. "Daddy, Jakey is being mean to me."

       Jake rolled his eyes and set Newt on the ground. "Hey, how about I go buy you a cookie as a birthday present? Because I honestly didn't buy you a present."

       "See, Daddy? Jakey is still mean to me," Newt said. "He didn't buy me a present."

       "Probably because I'm poor," Jake said. "School costs a lot of money. So, you want a cookie or not?"

       "Yes, please," Newt said.

       I stood up from the couch. "I'll come too." 

       The three of us headed to the lounge with Jake carrying Newt. Munro was there and when he saw the three of us, he walked over. "Okay, two things," he said before looking at Jake. "One, did your brother go through with proposing?"

       "Yeah, finally," Jake said. "He was going to chicken out again, so I had to convince him to go through with it. He just didn't go on one knee because the idea of it was what was freaking him out the most. Flynn was ready to slap Logan when he found out Logan wasn't going to go through it again."

       "What's the second thing?" I asked.

       Munro sighed and looked at me. "I kind of saw someone check in today that I'm pretty sure you're not going to be happy to see."

       "Who?" 

       "Eva."

       I didn't reply for a while. "E-Eva?"

       "Eva?" Jake asked. "Why does that name sound familiar?"

       I didn't really want to remind Jake who Eva was in front of Newt. I mean, Newt was over two years old when Eva left him with me and he was devastated. It took him a while to get used to me being the one to raise him, especially because there was no contact from her whatsoever.

       "Wait....Oh, I remember," Jake said.

       "Did she see you?" I asked.

       "Yeah," Munro said. "I flipped her off and she glared at me. Oh, and she wasn't alone. She was with Keegan."

       I raised my eyebrows. "What? Is it drama king and queen takeover day?"

       "Who are you talking about?" Newt asked.

       "I'll tell you later," I said. "Now how about those cookies Jake promised?"

       "Yeah, I'll...." Jake stopped when he reached into his pocket. "Yeah, I forgot my wallet in the suite."

       "I'll go get it while you wait in the line because it looks pretty long," I said. I then kissed his cheek before walking upstairs back to the suite.

       While I was walking in the hallway where my suite was, I ended up bumping into someone who just walked out of their suite.

       Eva.

       Just great.

       "Taylor?!" Eva said, her eyes wide. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

       "Oh, you know, just on vacation with my friends and my son," I said. "We've been here for the past few days, if you must know."

       "Newt's here?"

       "Well, considering he is my son and he lives with me, I would say so, yes."

       "How is he?"

       "Why do you care?" I asked. "You left him with me when he was two. He was so confused as to why he couldn't see you again or talk to you."

       "I do care about him," Eva said. "I just....I wasn't ready to be a mom."

       "Oh, so you were ready for the two years that you raised him, but suddenly, you weren't ready?" I asked. "Yeah, that makes total sense."

       Keegan then walked out of the suite Eva was just in. When he saw me, he glared at me. "Taylor," he said.

       "Keegan. I've got to say, I'm not really surprised you two ended up together. You two are perfect for each other."

       "I'm going to take that as a compliment," Eva said. It really wasn't one. "So, where's Newt?"

       "Again, why do you care? You could have at least visited him once or even video-chatted him. But, nope. You didn't want any contact with him or me."

        "Oh, get over it," Keegan said. "She made her choice."

        "You want me to get over it?" I asked. "Obviously, you didn't see the way he cried every night because he missed his mom. You weren't there when he refused to talk to me, his own dad, because he hadn't met me or even seen what I looked like before he was left with me. It took him weeks to finally stop crying at night. You're telling me to forget all of that? Just because Eva didn't want to be a mom anymore?"

       "Things were just getting really hectic with my acting career taking off," Eva said.

       "Yeah, and things were hectic for me trying to get enough money to pay bills and food," I said. "Now, it's harder while I'm raising a toddler."

        "You can always give him up for adoption," Eva said.

        "Unbelievable," I said. "I love Newt, and I wouldn't give him up for anything. I don't care if I almost got kicked out of my apartment a twice because I couldn't pay rent. I don't care that I can barely afford daycare for him. I am never giving him up."

       "Okay, okay, that was wrong for me to say," Eva said. "I'm sorry. Can I at least see him? It is his birthday after all."

       "Oh, you remembered?"

       "Very funny."

       "Are you sure it's a good idea to see him? You know, after I made it very clear about how devastated he was for you to leave him."

       "Come on, I'm sure he'll be happy to see me," Eva said. "So, where is he?"

       "He's currently with my boyfriend," I said.

       "You're....gay?" Eva asked. I opened my mouth to reply, but she continued talking. "Then why did you sleep with me that one time?"

       "Probably because there's this thing called be bisexual," I said. "Whoa. Mind blown. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to head to my suite. Please don't....don't approach Newt. I really don't think he'll be happy to see you."

       "Of course he will, I'm his mom."

       I wasn't even going to bother anymore. I walked into my suite and grabbed Jake's wallet before heading back to the lounge. I was really hoping Eva and Keegan were back in their dorm, but they weren't. I saw them in the lounge, probably trying to see if they can see Newt.

       I sighed and walked over to Jake and Newt, who were almost at the front of the line. "Here," I said, handing Jake his wallet.

       "Why do you look irritated?" Jake asked as he took his wallet.

       "Because I just so happened to run into Eva," I said. "I'm even more fed up with her. She's in the lounge with her boyfriend and will probably come here sooner or later."

       "Is that who's walking over right now?" Jake asked, so I looked over and sure enough, they were walking over.

       "I told you not to approach," I said once they were by us.

       "I can see my son if I want," Eva said before looking at Newt, who was still being held by Jake. "Hey, Newt. Remember me?"

        Newt's bottom lip started quivering and he wrapped his arms around Jake's shoulder and dug his face in his shoulder. "No! Go away!"

       "Ooh, I believe he has spoken," I said.

       Eva glared at me before holding out her arms towards Newt. "Come on, Newt. I just want to hold you for a bit."

       Newt looked at Eva and swatted her hands away. "No! I want Jakey!"

       "Jakey?" Eva asked.

       "It's Jake, my boyfriend here," I said.

       "Isn't he....a little young to be your boyfriend?" Eva asked.

       "No," I said. "He's only five years younger than me."

       "Oh, only five years," Eva said.

       "Can you just leave?" I asked. "Newt obviously doesn't want to see you."

       "Fine," Eva said, looking a tiny bit hurt. "Happy birthday, Newt." She then walked away with Keegan.

       "Me no like Mommy," Newt said, his lip still quivering and tears forming around his eyes. "She left me."

       "I know," I said, taking Newt from Jake. "But Jake and I both love you a lot."

       Newt smiled a bit and wiped his tears away. "I love you too, Daddy and Jakey."

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Okay, this is really making me want to write the third book of the Death by Death series where Jake and Taylor's relationship begins. If only I can figure out WHAT TO FREAKING WRITE FOR SURVIVING ON MY OWN TERMS. .-.

So I'm not sure if I'll even get through every character having a POV. cx That's too much and this will be ending soon. cx Oh, and I again need suggestions for actors, this time for Kamille and Darby. I'm not sure if they'll get a POV, but I want someone for them just in case.