Chapter 4 A paternity test ( Clarity's POV)

" You scared mummy, don't do that again okay." I whispered into his skin as I kissed his cheek.

" I'm sorry mummy." He apologized as he wiped the tears I didn't know were already pooling in my eyes.

" That's fine, everything is fine as long as you're fine." I told him with a smile as I hugged him to myself again. Now to think of what I would say to all the prying eyes watching my son and I.

" I'm sorry for all that drama." I apologized to Bonnie with an embarrassed smile on my face.

" It's fine, it's any other loving mother would do for her child." She replied making me feel more relaxed. I tried as much as possible not to make eye contact with the orange guy and window man else I'd feel the embarrassment wash over me again.

" I'm sorry." Claude apologized to Bonnie as he finally looked up at the other people in the room, a look of shock crossed all their faces before they masked it, Bonnie with a smile and the other two with their look of indifference but I didn't think anything to it

" Don't be my boy, it's fine. Would you let granny to hold you?" She asked instead and to my surprise he nodded in agreement. Claude would never let anyone pick him up except nanny Vidalia and I, even Ralph wasn't allowed to touch his hands but here he was, clinging on to Bonnie and surprising both his nanny and I.

" What's your name?" Bonnie asked as she scooped him from the bed where I had left him into her arms.

" Claude." He replied in monotone and I smiled.

" He doesn't say a lot, he loves to stick to fewer words." Nanny Vidalia said with a smile on her face and Bonnie's eyes widened.

"That is the polar opposite of his mother; you are quite the chippy one." She remarked.

"Exactly," I responded before continuing. "The only thing he inherited from me is a similar birthmark and waking up grumpy."

" He also good with computers and a wiz in mathematics even at a tender age, just like his mom." Nanny Vidalia defended, trying to reduce my baby daddy's points.

" But there's no telling if his dad too was a genius at two." I said with a smile that caused Bonnie to laugh.

Where is his father, then? Bonnie asked innocently and the smile on my face began to ache. I was usually open about my baby daddy's whereabouts because it was an open secret; most people here knew that despite being engaged, I went ahead and slept with another man, becoming pregnant in the process, and as a result, the family broke off the engagement with my family. It was the scandal of the century and my dad had paid a heavy sum for the news to be removed from the internet, I was even disowned by my dad but it was all worth it for the joy I felt with this little one in my life.

" You don't have to say it if you don't want to." Bonnie stated that when she observed my hesitation, I hurriedly glanced at Claude to measure his reaction, but he was now fast asleep in Bonnie's arms.

"It is okay; it is not like it is a secret."

"I suggest that if you are uncomfortable, you do not have to express it."

"It is alright," I said, noticing that every single eye in the room was on me. "I was at a party with my boyfriend and one of my female friends when I got drugged. At the time, I was alone; my boyfriend had already gone for the night, and my friend had left me to grab more drinks. Left to my own means, I stumbled back to his room but I think I clicked the wrong room number because I woke up in an unfamiliar room with a man whose back looked far too broad to belong to my boyfriend." I concluded as I leaned into my chair.

" Oh, my love, you must have been devastated." Bonnie asked sounding mad on my behalf.

" Ohh well not as much as when I found out I was pregnant." I laughed while shaking my head. "But he is the only one who keeps me sane, and I am glad I kept him." I came to a conclusion as I felt nanny Vidalia's palm massaging my knee in a 'you did well' fashion.

" How old is he? " Window man asked as he walked over to a sleeping Claude to touch his hair.

"He will be three in two months time." I said as I observed him smoothing his hair.

"I have an emergency at the office, but I will be back before you are discharged." He explained to Bonnie as he removed his fingers from Claude's hair.

" It was a joy meeting you, Vidalia." He greeted with a smile and I could swear nanny Vidalia swooned because even I did, the man was just too beautiful. " Miss Carter." He called, and I caught myself bracing myself for what was to follow; as lovely as he was, he could still be the Devil. "I will see you around." He added softer than he did earlier and I feared he must have caught me trembling the first time.

" Sure." I replied not even bothering to as why on earth he and I would be seeing each other after now and just like that he was out of the room.

"I will see you in the evening, mother." Orange peel greeted, " nanny Vidalia " he called as he smiled at her too and I wondered if they had bonded when I was panicking over Claude.

" Sebastian," he murmured when he approached me, holding out his hand for me to accept. "But Bastian is what my friends call me." He continued as I eventually clasped his hands in mine.

" It was a pleasure meeting you Bastian." I replied with a small smile.

" And you too Clair." He responded with what could be considered his new moniker for me, and my smile grew.

******

It had been two days since we visited Bonnie though we'd both been communicating over the phone, she had been discharged that day and had even suggested a Meetup ( with Claude and not me) it turns out they had bonded a lot with each other and even Claude wouldn't let a day go by without insisting I call Bonnie. This was one of those times, Claude was on a video call with Bonnie while I was working in my study. A mail from an unknown address suddenly popped up on my screen and I decided to check it out and it read

'Dear Clarity,

The document below will be of interest to you and we should meet up for a discussion after viewing them.'

And there was a document attached to it. I clicked on the document to see what it was that would have been of interest to me and there it was, a paternity test , one of the least things I could ever have thought of seeing.

I reread the document over and over again until I think my eyes fell off, " 99.9%, you have got to be kidding me, but who the hell was Leonard?"

I wondered aloud.

" What happened to Leonard?" I heard Bonnie say and I realized that Claude had moved in beside me. I closed the laptop before picking him up and placing him on my lap. Taking the tablet from him, I placed it on my study table so that way Bonnie would see us both.

"Clarity my darling, I heard you mention Leonard, is he the one that you're picking?" Bonnie asked with a cheeky smile on her face.

" I don't understand your question." I replied confused.

" Ohhh, you don't have to be shy around me dear but sebastian would have been a better choice though, Leo can be emotionally distant at times." She said and that's when it hit me, Leonard was her son and precisely the window guy. I knew it was weird when he had touched Claude's hair and it turns out I was right, he was getting a DNA sample.