THE MISTAKE

Over 6 long years Alex had befriended the girl she met in the pharmacy, Hannah was now her best and most trusted friend. Alex holds Nathan's hand as they head down the stairs of their house and towards the front door. They find a pile of envelopes at the door so Alex collects them up and puts them on the shelf for later. Nathan opens the front door and runs down the little cobblestone path to the iron gate. Alex locks the front door and then heads down to the gate with her son. She opens the gate and takes her sons hand, carrying her bag on her shoulder and a small box holding two slices of cake in her hand.

"We're meeting Hannah down by the beach, okay?" Alex asks her son and Nathan grins.

"Yay! I love Auntie Hannah!" He says, jumping up and down with excitement.

Alex and Nathan cross the road, and head down through the sand dunes towards the beach. They had a gorgeous view from their house.

When they get a bit further onto the beach she pulls off her slip on canvas shoes, and Nathan takes off his trainers. He passes them to Alex and they head further onto the beach. It was only May, so it wasn't the warmest of days, but it was warm enough to at least dip your toes in the navy blue sea.

They walk along the beach, the sand tickling their toes.

Eventually they find Hannah a little further down the beach, she was already lying on her beach towel, her ginger hair pulled back into a bun, a summer hat played ungracefully on her head.

"Happy Birthday Nathan!" She grins and she sits up and pulls the boy into a tight, unescapable hug.

"Thank you auntie Hannah," Nathan smiles, hugging her back. 

"How about you go play by the sea, don't go too far out though, stay in range," Alex says, smiling at her son. 

Nathan smiles, rushing out towards the water. 

Hannah sorts out Alex her own towel and the girl sits down beside her best friend. 

"So, did he like his presents?" Hannah asks and Alex nods, keeping her eyes fixed on her son. 

"You don't seem very happy? You okay, Alex?" The red head asks, looking concerned. 

"I'm fine...Just...Nate gave me a drawing this morning, and it had me, him and his dad on it...I mean he's never even seen a photo of his father...I haven't seen his father for years, he could look completely different now, but he must have just drawn him as an older version of himself...And I keep seeing hints of Simon in him, everyday he becomes more and more like him," Alex explains and Hannah puts an arm round her friend. 

"Listen, that guy is a waste of space, he left you for Leeds University, and then he moved down to London for gods sake! The guy is an asshole!" Hannah says and Alex shakes her head. 

"He left because I told him I would soon follow in his footsteps, but when he noticed, after 7 months of me not coming, I had to tell him over the phone that I wasn't coming, and I never would be, because this place is my home, and I could never leave it behind...I lied to him...Its my fault...I never told him that our stupid night together had caused such an effect," Alex tells her and Hannah pulls her friend closer, hugging her. 

"Just forget him babe, he's nothing to you anymore," Hannah says and Alex shakes her head again.

"No, Han, he's the father of my son...He deserves to know he has a son...I mean...For all I know, Simon could be married and being a father to a different little boy, with a loving wife...I can't just roll up and ruin all that for him...But my son deserves to have a father," Alex replies and Hannah sighs deeply. 

"You truly are on shit street, huh?" She says, looking out at Alex's little boy. 

Alex lets out a light laugh, her head falling back to look at the sky. 

"My life is a fucking mess, and I feel like I can't keep anything good going for long," Alex says and Hannah shakes her head. 

"You have a roof over your head, a gorgeous little boy, a family who loves you and supports you, you have a job and you have a super amazing best friend like me! It can't all be bad, surely?" Hannah says, chuckling as Alex smiles. 

"Thank you, Hannah," Alex says. 

"Mom! Come look at this!" She hears, looking down the beach to see Nathan waving at her. 

"Coming!" Alex calls, getting up and heading down towards her son. 

Hannah hangs back, watching her best friend and her son, who she thought of as a nephew, looking at something down by the water. 

Hannah, out of pure curiosity reaches down to her phone and takes it out, opening up google. 

She knew the father's name was Simon Minter, so thats what she typed in. She was greeted with pages and pages of google searches, all to do with this guy who liked to call himself Miniminter. Hannah clicks on some of the images, her eyes blinking with pure shock as she sees just how much a like Nathan and Simon looked. Hannah discovers his YouTube channel that holds 5 million subscribers. Hannah feels her mouth open in shock and she looks up just as Alex and Nathan arrive in front of her. 

"You okay, Hannah?" Alex asks, furrowing her eyebrows. 

"You have to see this," Hannah says and she stands up, holding the phone out towards Alex. 

Alex takes the phone, looking at the YouTube channel on screen.

"What is this?" Alex asks, reading the name, "Oh...Everyone used to call him that...You know...He was a short kid..." 

"Is it him?" Hannah asks, clicking back, bringing up a google image. 

"Fuck," Alex says, causing Nathan to throw her a glare.

"Bad word!" Nathan says, "Thats a pound for the jar," 

"Sorry," Alex says, giving her son a soft smile. 

"How about you eat your chocolate cake?" Alex suggests, opening her bag up and taking out the box that held the two slices. 

Nathan sits on the towels and happily munches on his cake. 

"How did you find this?" Alex turns to Hannah. 

"I just typed in his name and there he was, straight away, he's like...Famous or something," Hannah says and Alex looks round at her son. 

"I'm definitely not attempting to contact him now, I'm not having my son be some kind of internet famous boy, and I'm not going to ruin Simon's career because of this," Alex says and Hannah shakes her head. 

"He could help you, I bet he earns mega money!" Hannah argues and Alex looks her in the eyes. 

"I'm not a gold digger, Han, I'm certainly not going to him now, no way in hell!" Alex says and Hannah shrugs. 

"Fine, its your life, but don't be upset when Nathan finds out that you know where and how to find his dad and you won't let him go and see him at least once," Hannah counters, her voice quiet. 

Alex sighs, once again looking at her son. 

"We'll see..." Alex mutters, before moving away to sit beside her son, and to observe the sunny, seaside day. 

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Thank you for reading! 

I hope you enjoyed the second chapter, don't worry, Simon will be making an appearance soon enough! 

~KatnissBajanCanadian<3