Forever My Love Ch. 04

"I need daddy." He cried even more.

"I know." He reassured with a smile. "But stop crying. I'll help you find him."

The child sniffled and looked up at Ben, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"What's your name?"

"A-Angelo..." He stuttered. He could tell the boy was scared.

"My name is Ben and I am your friend." He smiled, slowly rubbing the boy's tears. "I am sad seeing you cry like this. Your father is probably also looking for you and we're gonna find him together. Did you come with him to the park?" He asked lovingly with a smile. "Do you know where he is?"

"I-I don't know... I-I am scared."

Ben smiled even more. "Scared of what, baby?"

"He... he said he's gonna lock me up in the room and... and he's gonna take my papa away." His voice quivered.

He began crying again and Ben tried his possible best to calm him down but he couldn't. He was worried the boy was gonna get sick if he continued crying. He took him in his arms and sat him on his lap, wrapping his arms tightly around him. The child hugged him but continued crying. Ben knew he had to do something to stop him from crying.

"Hey, listen, I have something for you but only if you stop crying."

The boy stopped crying and looked at him.

"Do you like chocolates?" The boy nodded abruptly. "Okay, if you stop crying, I'll give you lots and lots of chocolates. But you're gonna have to promise that you won't cry ever again. I'll find your father and you'll be with him. No one will take you away from him ever again, okay?"

The boy nodded excitedly. Ben helped clean his face and felt his heart get warm when the boy smiled. He took out a bar of chocolate and gave it to him. He kept his arm around the boy, providing a sense of security and warmth. As the child ate the chocolate with a smile on his face, Ben felt the most peace he'd ever felt in six years.

His heart beat so calmly and his joy overflowed as he looked at the child. He had memories of his daughter and tears in his eyes but those were tears of joy. He was happy and he couldn't understand why that was the case. The boy was very handsome and probably the same age his dead daughter would have been.

"Do you like it?" He chuckled happily.

The boy nodded without saying a word. Ben stayed with him, watching him as he ate his chocolate. He messed up his face but Ben cleaned him up. He started walking around the park with the boy in his arms, trying to see if he could locate his parents but there was no one that knew the boy. Ben was starting to get worried. He wanted to go to the police but he thought he'd wait a little longer. Maybe someone was gonna show up looking for him.

Ben bought the boy some food. He talked to him, told him stories but as seconds turned into minutes and minutes into hours, Ben started getting worried and he knew that the boy too was getting distressed. He was starting sob, crying for his father. He knelt down before the beside the boy and gently wrapped his arms around him, pulling him into a comforting embrace.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, sweetheart. I am here."

The boy clung to him and his cries subsided as he found solace in Ben's embrace.

"I know you're feeling upset right now and I understand." He whispered. "I'm right here and I won't leave you alone. I'll be with you, I promise."

Ben began to sway gently from side to side, cradling Michael in his arms. The rhythmic motion seemed to work as he felt the boy calm down. He knew what he needed to do. He took a nervous breathe and began singing.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray...."

As he sang that song, memories began flooding his head. He remembered singing that song every night when he was pregnant six years. Surprisingly, this time, with those memories in his head, there was minimal pain. He had no idea why he felt so at peace with that child.

"...you'll never know, dear, how much I love you, please don't take my sunshine away..."

He repeated the chorus a few more times, his voice tender and loving. He gazed into his eyes, conveying comfort and security with his presence. He sat on the bench with the boy lying on his lap as he played with his hair. He was starting to get worried but he didn't wanna show the boy that.

"I miss papa."

"It's alright, sweetie. We'll find him together. Just close your eyes and when you open them, you'll be with him."

Michael's face brightened up a bit and he closed his eyes. Ben took a deep breath and tried to get rid of his nerves. He had to find a way to take the child to his father otherwise, he was pretty sure that they were worried sick. He got the bag the child had been carrying and started going through in order to find anything that could give him a clue.

'Maybe I should go to the police. We'll find his parents faster.' He thought.

What was he gonna do?

****

The atmosphere in the living was tense and everyone was looking like they had a funeral, especially Jim. He was nervous as fuck because he was the one that had lost the child in the first place. He kept asking himself questions because the teacher had told him that Michael had been on his way to meet him. So, what had happened, he thought?

Amber's heart was on her sleeves. Each time her phone rang, her heart skipped a beat. She glanced at it anxiously before picking it up. But as usual, there was no good news. She had gone to the school, checked the surrounding areas but there was no news. She had come back home hoping to find him but that wasn't the case.

"Where is he?"

Everyone felt their hearts hammer in their chest when they heard David's impatient voice. They saw him entering the house together with Isaac. Both of them looked like they hadn't slept in weeks.

"Baby...." Jim sobbed, rushing towards him. He wrapped his arms around his waist and just sobbed on his chest. "...our Michael is not home. He is missing?"

"What?" He gasped, blood draining from his skin.

His breath came in shallow gasps, chest rising and falling rapidly as if the weight of his fear threatened to suffocate him. Tears built in his eyes, gripping Jim's arms. He looked into his eyes and shook his head.

"What? Why? How? When did this happen? And why am I knowing about this so late?"

"I had gone to pick him up and the teacher told me he was on his way." He said in between sobs. "But he didn't come out. I waited, I swear, I waited and I looked for him, but nothing."

David's hands trembled, and he clutched his chest, trying to steady his breathing. His imaginations began running wild as vivid pictures of danger and despair began painting in his mind.

"David!" Claudia shook her head. "I'm so scared just thinking that our little boy is out there all alone and it's getting dark." But David didn't hear any word she said as he was so far gone in his imagination. "What if something happened to him? What if he's hurt? We need to find him, please."

"My little boy!" David quivered. "Where's my little boy?"

"We couldn't contact you and we had no idea where your meeting was held." Amber said abruptly, wiping her tears. "That's why we sent Isaac to find you. We've already called the police and they are on the case. They told us to stay at home in case of anything."

"I need to find him." David said as he began splinting towards the exits feeling like his legs were on fire. "I need to bring him home."

"David!"

"I'll go with him." Isaac said as he began running after him.

David didn't care about anything but finding his child. He came out of the mansion like the hounds of hell were after him, rushing to the car. But as soon as he had stepped out, he stopped in his tracks and just froze. He looked straight ahead absently, and his eyes widened in disbelief.

There was a man walking towards him and he didn't need to look twice to know that was Ben. He would have wanted to just stand there and stare at him but his eyes immediately went to the boy he was holding in his arms with his head on his shoulder. From the clothes he was wearing, his beautiful dark hair, he didn't need to think twice to know that was his son.

"MichaelAngelo!" He gasped, his voice trembling with emotion.

"Michaelangelo!" Ben's voice was barely above a whisper.

'If we have a son, we're gonna name him Michaelangelo!' David's voice echoed through him. 'And if it's a girl, we're gonna name her Leah.'

Memories of their time together danced in his mind, haunting and beautiful, yet also tormenting. He felt like his heart had been ripped out. A state of misery that he couldn't see the end of the tunnel. A terrible weight fell onto his shoulders. He could feel a searing pain in his heart.

At that moment, Claudia and Jim came running outside and when they saw him, the look on their faces was incredulous. Claudia stood there, staring at Ben holding her grandson, feeling like her heart was threatening to run away from her. Her skin prickled with a clammy cold sweat, goosebumps rising like a constellation of fear.

"Papa!"

Michael's voice got Ben out of his painful memories. Ben took a deep breath and leaned to put the boy on the ground. He watched as he ran towards David who on his knees with his arms wide open. Once the boy ran into those arms, David held him tighter with fear to let him go.

"My love!" He said emotionally, kissing him all over his face. "Where have you been? Do you know how worried I got."

"I missed you, papa." Michael said in his tiny little voice.

"Are you okay?" David pulled from the hug and began inspecting his son. "You are not hurt, are you?"

"No, papa." He shook his head. "The handsome man was so nice to me. He told me that he'll bring me home and he got me chocolate."

David got his son in his arms and rose, staring at Ben with so much love. He was filled with a mix of emotions, happiness at seeing Ben again, and curiosity about where he had found his son.

"Thank you so much." He said with tears in his eyes. "You have no idea what you have done for me. Michael is my life and I would have died had something happened to him."

Ben's eyes welled up as he nodded, his eyes still locked on the boy in David's arms. He wanted to run away from there but he couldn't do it. Seeing the boy safe and sound was amazing but knowing he was David and Jim's son broke him.

"Thank you!"

David started getting closer to Ben but before he could move further....

"Ben!" A surprised voice came from behind.

He stopped in his tracks and stood still, quickly taking a glance behind. His eyebrows shot up, forming a high arch of astonishment when he locked eyes with his sister. She said she didn't know him, he thought. Then why did she call his name like that? David stood there with lots of questions running through his mind.

To be continued....