Chapter Eight

"Whoa!" Jamie said. "What’s wrong?"

Chloe sat down the on couch and started sobbing.

"Chloe? What’s going on? Are you hurt? Chloe! Say something." Jamie commanded.

"I blew it." She told her as her breath pattern began to return to normal.

"What?" Jamie asked.

"Remember I told you I knew Lance from before?"

She nodded.

And then Chloe launched into the whole story.

"And now I think I made one huge mistake four years ago." She finished.

"You have to tell him." Jamie said.

"I know. I just don’t know what to say." Chloe.

***

"Thanks for coming over." Chloe said opening the front door.

"Well after you ran out on me yesterday I thought you’d never wanted to talk to me again so when you called I was relieved." He told her.

"Why don’t you have a seat?" she suggested gesturing to the couch.

"Sure." He said sitting down.

"Want something to drink or anything?" she asked nervously.

"Chlo, you’re stalling." He said with a smile.

"You know me too well." She said sitting down.

"What’s up Chlo?" he asked.

She took a deep breath. "Did you really mean what you said last night? That you never stopped loving me after all that time?"

He nodded. "I meant it. I was a wreck after you left, but I never gave up hope that somehow, someway we’d find each other again."

"Leaving you was the biggest mistake I ever made. I never stopped loving you." She told him.

Lance thought his heart was going to burst through his chest. "I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything more beautiful in my entire life."

"But there’s something I have to tell you first." She said seriously.

He noticed the change in her tone of voice. "What’s wrong?"

"There’s no easy way to say this so I’m just going to say it." Chloe told him.

"Okay." He said not sure where she was headed.

"When I left I did it for a very selfish reason. At the time I thought I was doing what was best for you, but now I realized I may have ruined things between us forever." She said slowly.

"How?" he asked.

"When I left I was pregnant." She said quietly.

"What? Pregnant?" he asked looking at her.

She looked at him and saw the realization in his eyes.

"Emma?" he asked softly.

She nodded.

"Emma is my…my daughter?" he choked out.

Chloe nodded again.

"You left me when you were pregnant with my child?! Unbelievable." He said angrily.

"Lance, I’m…" she started.

"Save it Chloe. I don’t want to hear it! I can’t believe you. I can’t believe this entire situation." He shouted standing up.

"Lance…" she said.

"Four years Chloe! I’ve missed four years of my daughter’s life because you thought it would ruin my career?! What the hell were you thinking? What is wrong with you?" he yelled.

Chloe knew she deserved all of this but she couldn’t help but begin to cry.

"Please Chloe, you’re not going to get any sympathy from me." He said heading towards the front door. "I can’t be here right now."

And with that he slammed the door. Emma came running into the living room.

"What’s wrong Mommy?" she asked climbing into her lap.

Chloe used the back of her hand to wipe her tears. "Nothing sweetie."

"I love you." She told her.

"I love you too baby. I’m so sorry." Chloe whispered.

"Sorry?" she asked. "For what? You do everything right."

And with that Chloe started to cry again.

Chapter 9