At Last

Three days before Christmas, Stella invited Jordie over for dinner. Things with Jason had been going smoothly over the past week and a half and she had agreed to let him take Alex for a couple hours by himself.

Lunch with Jason had been awkward to start as a flood of old feelings came to the surface and Stella had to face parts of her past she hadn't thought about in years. As they talked though, and caught up on their lives, she remembered the Jason she first fell for and it became easier to see him as a friend instead of an enemy. Regardless of how things ended between them, she had Alex as a result of knowing him and that was priceless to her.

Stella had taken Alex for ice cream to tell him about his dad two days after she and Jason had lunch. It was hard to explain to a six year old how his father had just magically shown up in their lives but she did her best. She let Jason come over for dinner that night and let Alex ask him questions as they slowly began to get to know one another. He had been over to eat with them a couple times since, and out to the park on one particularly nice afternoon. He was making an effort to be there for Alex, including going to one of his games with her and Jordie.

He had also questioned Tiffany about the letter after his lunch with Stella and when she admitted to signing his name and opening the letter, burning it after, he broke up with her and drove her right back to the airport, putting her on a plane back to San Jose.

"Hey," Jordie greeted her when he arrived at her house that night, letting himself in and joining Stella in the kitchen.

"Hi," Stella replied when he came up behind her and squeezed her.

"Can I tell you how excited I am to take you home on Wednesday? My mom can't wait to meet you in person."

Stella placed the spoon she had been stirring with to the side and turned to him. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about," she started. "Jordie, I can't go home with you."

"Why not? What happened?"

"It's just....Jason asked, if we'd go with him so his family can meet Alex and how can I deny him that after keeping him from so much?"

"That's not your fault though."

"Isn't it though? I never told him about Alex. What if I had? What if things had been different?"

"Stels, you did what was right for you and Alex. Don't beat yourself up about what might have been. You can't change the past. Would you have been happy if he had gotten that letter and came back to you or would you have constantly wondered about whether he had a side chick and been miserable?"

"I know but-"

He shook his head bitterly and cut her off. "Did Demers say something? Did he guilt trip you into agreeing to this?" She looked away from him and stared at the ground and Jordie let out a strangled noise of frustration.

"I'm not going to stop you from going with him, for Alex, but I don't want you to. I want you and Alex with me and my family, where you belong. You don't owe him anything and I wish you'd stop letting him tell you otherwise."

"He could take me to court, Jordie. I could lose Alex," she said quietly. "He makes more money than me and can hire any lawyer he wanted to. He can come after me and I have no way to fight back."

"You have me and Jamie, and his pockets run deeper."

"I could never ask you guys that."

"You don't have to ask. We'd do it whether you wanted us to or not. Alex is your son. You raised him. You have control of what he does or doesn't do. Jason Demers is not going to waltz into Texas and make demands of you six years later. You have every right to tell him no and if he doesn't like it then you send him my way and I'll straighten him out."

"I think I should go with him..."

Jordie sighed. "I knew you were going to say that."

"What else can I say? He's his father."

"You don't become a dad just by donating the sperm."

"Jordie..."

"I'm serious, Stels. I had a little heart to heart with Jason, so we could talk about what was going on and still be teammates. Hell, now we're fucking D partners. I can live with this situation, play hockey with him, tolerate all of it, so long as he doesn't use Alex as a weapon against you. This is him doing just that."

"I know you don't like this; I don't like it either."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"I have to."

He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. "Are you coming to the game tomorrow still?"

"Yes, we'll be there."

"I'll see you tomorrow then."

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah, I'm leaving. I need some time to myself tonight. I'll call you tomorrow after practice."

"Jordie..." She begged. "Don't go."

"I'm angry, Stels. And I know you're doing what you think is best for Alex but I can't help it that I disagree and I don't want to have this fight with you all night. I need to go, for both our sakes." He kissed her before picking his keys up off the counter and walking out of the house.

Stella turned off the stove and left the food she was making half finished before curling onto one end of the couch and wrapping her arms around a throw pillow and sobbing into it.