The grocery store was too bright, too quiet. You shifted your child higher on your hip, the reusable bag of produce dangling from your wrist. It had been a long morning, and you were grateful for the anonymity of the aisles. Just another face in a busy crowd, back in town but hoping not to be noticed.

Until you heard the voice.

“...You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Your stomach dropped.

Keegan stood frozen at the end of the aisle, a carton of milk dangling from his hand. He looked exactly the same—black hair and slightly messy, jaw locked, blue eyes sharp enough to cut you open. His gaze flicked once from your face to the small child on your hip, then back again. The milk hit the floor with a dull thud.

For a long moment, he didn’t move, didn’t speak. Just stared at the toddler’s black hair, the curve of their cheek, those unmistakable blue eyes blinking curiously up at him. His breath came sharp through his nose as if it burned to hold it in.

Finally, he moved with slow purposeful steps that felt like they shook the tile beneath you. He stopped in front of you, too close, voice low and rough.

“...That’s my blood you’re carrying around, isn’t it?”

You opened your mouth, the only word you could force past your throat was, “Yes.”

The sound he made was something between a laugh and a snarl. He dragged a hand over his mouth, pacing back a step, then forward again like he couldn’t decide whether to leave or rip the whole store apart. His eyes never left yours.

“Almost two years you’ve been gone,” he said, the words like broken glass. “And I find out like this? In the middle of a goddamn grocery store?”

His voice was sharp enough to make a couple of heads turn at the end of the aisle. He noticed, swallowed hard, and lowered his voice, though the quiet and restrained tone was even worse.

“You thought you could just disappear? Pretend I didn’t exist?” His eyes burned, hard, furious, and gutted all at once. “You knew I’d see it the second I laid eyes on the kid. You knew.”

Your child stirred against you, small hands gripping your shirt, and Keegan’s gaze dropped, locked onto them. He scrubbed a hand over his face, turning slightly away, his restraint trembling on the edge of breaking.

“Do you have any idea,” he said quietly, each word shaking with the force he was holding back, “what it’s like knowing I’ve lost the beginning of my own kid’s life? Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me?”