Robert sighed and leaned forward on the table. "Leo, your mother and I…" he took a deep breath before exhaling loudly. "Your mother and I were separated for about a year. Not that you or your sister would have really noticed. I was always at the hospital because of my schedule anyhow, so it wasn’t such a shock that I wasn’t home much. I mostly slept at the hospital, in a guest room, and…well, and at another woman’s place." He rubbed his forehead. "We were separated and were living our own lives, so it wasn’t technically cheating by either of us. We were both well aware that the other was ‘with’ someone else at some point." He sighed and ran his hand through his hair again.
"You have an open marriage?" Mina leaned out of her mother’s shoulder, tears still streaming. Oliver was rubbing her back and being the only silent body in the house.
"No," Robert whispered out raggedly. "Like I said, we were separated."
"What about the baby?" Leo spit out.
"A month after we resolved some of our issues and decided to work harder on our marriage, the woman I'd been with found out she was pregnant." Robert looked at Elaine who buried her face in Mina’s shoulder. "I told your mother, who forgave me, but…she didn’t want the baby." He couldn’t finish. "Anyhow, she decided to terminate the pregnancy." He stopped and it took everyone what felt like an hour to regain their composure.
Leo broke the silence. "You have the nerve to criticize and…"
"Leo!" I shouted at him putting a hand on his arm. He looked at me confused. "That’s enough." I looked at Elaine who pulled away from Mina with swollen red eyes. "Everyone makes mistakes and your mother loves you. She only wants what is best for you." I dropped my napkin onto my chair and headed toward the front door.
"Chloe!" Leo caught up to me. "Please don’t leave, stay with me."
"Leo, I will be next door. I don’t think that me being here is such a good idea." I smiled weakly and left. I heard a loud thud after the door closed behind me, but I refused to find out what it was.
Leo
"Leo?" Mina shouted at me. Robert appeared next to me and was examining my hand that I had just slammed into the wall.
"I’m fine," I spit out. I stormed over to my mother and looked down at her. "I hope you’re happy now!" She reached for me and I swiftly ran out the back door.
I knew where I was going, I was going to Chloe. There was no way that I was going to let this break us.
"Leo!" I turned and saw my mother, broken, and standing at the back door.
"What?" I groaned toward her, but not getting closer to her.
"I’m sorry," she whispered.
"I’m sure you are," I whispered back and went to Kenneth and Judith’s house.
I got to their house and saw Chloe sitting in a chair in the back yard. I immediately walked over to her.
"You should be with your mother, Leo," she spoke without looking at me.
"No, I should be with you." I closed the gap and kneeled in front of her.
"Leo, we need to talk." I felt a knot in my stomach. This was going to be bad.
"Please, Chloe, we’ve already talked." She shook her head.
"No, Leo, we haven’t." She took a deep breath. "Why did you ignore me? What did I do to push you away?" She still wouldn’t look at me.
"I…you didn’t do anything. I just thought that it would be better to…but I was wrong. I was so jealous of the thought of you with someone else that I figured if I just let you go it would be better."
"Why did you get engaged so quickly?"
Taking a deep breath, I rubbed the back of my neck.
"I felt like I needed…that I had to have someone with me, Chloe. I hated being alone, especially when I no longer had you and knew we weren't going to be together." I took a deep breath. "Glenda was great and she was what I thought that I wanted. But I realized that she was what I could ‘live’ with. She, then, realized that she couldn’t live with me."
"And you don’t think that that what this is about? Your need to be with someone so you aren’t lonely?"
"Oh God, Chloe, No! Since Glenda and I got divorced, I have barely dated. There were the occasional dates or small, short lived relationships, but I realized my dependencies a while ago. I’ve done a lot to stop being that way." I lifted her chin to look at me. "This, us, is because it’s what I’ve always wanted." She tried to smile, but it didn’t really reach her eyes.
She took a deep breath. "Well?"
"Well, what?" I asked.
"Your turn." She said a little uneasy.
"Oh." I stood and sat in the chair next to her.
I took a deep breath and then I followed her example.
"Did you meet Domenico at my engagement party?" She nodded and I sighed, "I knew it. I’ve fucked up more than one way, huh?"
"Why, Chloe…why didn’t you tell me? I want to really, truly understand what would stop you from telling me that we were going to have a child." I kept my eyes to the ground. I know she had told me things the night before, but it didn’t seem that it was all of it.
She breathed heavily.
"It was the easy out, Leo." I heard her choke on a sob. "I was a coward, I was selfish and I went with what was easier. I had already failed you and I felt like if I didn’t make my marriage work then I was failing everyone else too. I never thought…I didn’t take into account what would result." I could hear her sniffle. "I knew then that Dom was the closest I would get to feeling….." she paused, "to feeling the way I had felt with you." Then I heard a hard sob from her.
"Chloe, you should’ve talked to me. Hunted me down…come to my door. Something. Something other than just leaving me in the dark."
"I know and I am..." I cut her off.
"Chloe, I don’t want any more apologies, okay?" I looked over and she was nodding.
"I was so mad at you." She whispered.
"You were…."
"Yes, because you were engaged and I still felt…felt this way about you. You had moved on. I hated it." She admitted.
"You hid it well," I chuckled and she stayed silent. I reached over and grabbed her hand. "Chloe?"
"Hmm?"
"Please tell me we aren’t ending this already?" She squeezed my hand and I took that as reassurance.
After a few Moments, Chloe moved and climbed onto my lap. I rested back into the chair and she leaned her head on my shoulder. We lay there for at least an hour before we said another word.
"Leo?"
"Hmm?"
"I still love you."
My heart thumped and I wound my arms around her tightly.
"Chloe, I have always loved you," I whispered into her ear and she shivered. Smiling, I kissed behind her ear.
"You need to talk to your Mom and make it better." Her words caught me off guard and I tensed. "She loves you and was simply trying to protect you. Go to her."
"But what about…?"
"Anthony and I will stay in my room over here. We will see you in the morning, which isn’t too far away with how late it is now." She giggled lightly. "Now go make things better with your family." She patted my leg and stood to go inside.
I grabbed her arm as she went toward the house, spinning her around. I leaned in and kissed her deeply. I hoped that how I felt about her poured from me into her. It surprised me when the kiss seemed to turn into her love pouring into me. I felt my heart swell and my stomach warm from her intensity.
Saying one more quick goodnight, I headed back to my parent’s home.
When I entered the door and walked into the house, I found my father sitting at the dining room table. There was a bottle of liquor and an empty glass with ice sitting in front of him. His head was in his hands.
"Dad?"
He obviously hadn’t seen or heard me come in because he jumped. "Oh, Leo," he chuckled. "You frightened me."
"Sorry about that," I paused and then moved closer to him. "I’m sorry about tonight," I put my head down.
"My boy, you have nothing to be sorry for. It was all going to happ
en eventually." He tried to blow it all off but I could tell that he was still working through the events. "Just go easy on your mother. She only wants what is best for you and Anthony."
"Chloe is what’s best for both of us," I growled out. "Where is she?"
"She is in our room with Mina." He mumbled.
When I got to my parent’s room I could overhear a conversation between her and Mina.
"He hate’s me, Mina…do you hate me, too?" I could hear the tears in her voice.
"No, Mom, I don’t hate you and neither does Leo. He was just angry. I mean…tonight was a lot to take in." Mina comforted her.
"No, no…he hates me. Judith is right, I’m a hypocrite. I just want what is best for both of you."
"We know, we know…now shhh.." Mina soothed.
"He’s not going to talk to me again," my mother sobbed.
I knocked lightly and then opened the door.
"Leo?" She croaked out.
"Yes, Mom, it’s me."
"Oh, baby, I am so sorry for what happened tonight. I just…I only want…" I cut her off.
"I’m still not sure if I forgive you for what happened tonight, especially after hearing what happened in the past with you and Dad and then you tried to judge Chloe and me…" I stopped myself when I saw the hurt on her face. I sighed. "I love you, Mom. I really do, but I am a grown man. You need to let me make my own decisions in my personal life. I know what I want, who I want. I know that Chloe is it for me, whether you like it or not."
"I understand," her head was down. "I still don’t like that you and…" I cut her off again.
"Be careful what you say about her, Mom. She is the only reason that I am standing in front of you right now." I informed her and both my mom and Mina looked confused. "She, Chloe, is the one who told me…no, made me, come back over here and talk to you. She knows that you only love me and were trying to protect me. I just wish that you could be as understanding as she is being right now."
"Leo…"
"I think we should just drop the subject and move on, mother," I said shortly. She started to cry harder and I went over to the bed and sat next to her, placing my arm around her.
Once she had cried herself to sleep and my father had shown up, I excused myself and went to my room. I showered and put on gym shorts. Climbing into bed I felt the same longing that I had always felt when she was apart from me.
I snuck to Mina’s room quietly and, as I was climbing onto the tree house walkway, I heard Mina groan. "Shut the door, Leo!" I chuckled and pulled the door tightly closed, continuing on my path.
When I got to the doors on her balcony, they were unlocked. I entered quietly and closed the door. Walking further into the room, I could make out Chloe’s figure and then Anthony’s. He was curled up to her chest and she had her arm around him. That was when I made a very final decision.
Anthony’s name would be changed and, soon, I would change Chloe’s name as well. We would have a family and I would ask her to carry my child for me again.
My smile never faltered as I slipped in next to her warm body and wrapped my arm over her, resting my hand on our son.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Unions
Chloe
The weeks following that night at Leo’s parents were rough and unusual at first. Elaine was constantly calling Leo for reassurance that things were okay between them. Mina and Leo had come to a complete resolution of his anger with her and the new information they had learned about their parents.
Judith and I had become closer since that night. The way Judith had stood up to Elaine really made me look at her as a mother instead of a stepmother.
Anthony was too young to register too much except that his momma and daddy were together a lot more. There was a moment that I thought that our night without precautions might have gotten me pregnant. Much to my relief, that wasn’t the case.
A month after that night, Elaine had called me at work and left a message with my secretary. When I had finally gotten the nerve to call her back, she asked me if I would meet her for lunch the next day in Seattle. I reluctantly agreed, figuring that at least it was a public place. She couldn’t kill me, right?
Our lunch date arrived sooner than I had prepared myself for, but I climbed out of my car and headed into the restaurant. Elaine was sitting off in the corner and the hostess led me directly to her. She smiled uneasily as I arrived and I knew my smile was just as uneasy.
"Hello," I said quietly.
"Thank you for meeting with me.” She looked nervous.
"Sure." At that moment, the waitress arrived to take our drink order. Once she was gone, the silence remained.
"Umm, I’m not sure why you wanted to…" Elaine cut me off.
"First, I need to apologize for my behavior." The waitress returned and we quickly ordered our lunches. When she had left again, Elaine continued, "I am sorry for the way that I have treated…"
"It’s okay," I barely spit out. "Elaine, I know you were, are, mad at me for what I did and I am truly sorry for everything. I really am. I don’t know what else I can say, how else I can express this to you. Just tell me what to say and I will say it."
"Chloe, all I ask is that you don’t hurt my son.” She got extremely serious. "You were always like a daughter to me and you didn’t deserve for me to turn on you the way that I did. I was reliving my past and trying to protect my son, but it wasn’t handled properly. I am sorry." She cleared her throat lightly. "Leo has forgiven you, so I have to as well. Could you possibly forgive me?"
I nodded and the waitress appeared with our food. Over lunch we continued to discuss the situation as well as some details she wasn’t aware of. What can I say? I’ve become an open book. Finally, I told her that I would get some of Anthony’s pictures and videos for her.
When I got home that evening, I was met by Anthony and Leo in my living room.
"So, how did it go?" He asked with a nervous expression.
"It was good," I smiled easily. "I promised to get her some copies of the photos and videos like I did for you." I picked up Anthony and hugged him tightly.
"I can give her mine," he said in a low tone.
"What? No. Those are yours, I can get…" he put his hand on my knee and cut me off.
"Chloe, I don’t want copies. I want the real thing.” He didn’t look at me.
"I don’t think I understand," I whispered. Anthony climbed off my lap and went back to his crayons on the floor in front of where Leo and I sat.
"I want us to be together, as a family. These are just copies, I want to be where you and Anthony are." He finally looked up at me.
"You want to move in with us?" I asked, a little shocked at the request.
His face looked defeated. "If you don’t want…"
"Oh God, Leo! Of course I do!" I wrapped my arms around him and tackled him back onto the couch. I heard Anthony giggle and then felt him climb up onto my back and lay on us.
"Really? ‘Cause it sounded for a minute like…"
I kissed him. "When are you moving in?" I smiled widely at him and he kissed me forcefully.
After eating dinner together and putting Anthony to bed, Leo and I sat and discussed his move into my house. Our house. We talked about the good and the bad, if it was too early for this step, and then we broached the dreaded financial aspect.
It was late when we finally climbed the stairs to bed. We both fell asleep almost immediately.
No more custody agreement, no more deciding who’s place to spend the night at, no more being apart. I couldn’t have been happier.
A few months later, Mina and Oliver announced that they were expecting a baby. Everyone was elated and the baby shower planning was taking off months in advance.
Elaine and Judith had reconciled their relationship slowly after my lunch with her. Elaine was trying to make amends for her behavior and everyone was working to get past all of the drama.
Leo moved in two months after we discussed it and Elaine receive
d all the copies of baby books, photos, and videos that were Leo’s. All of mine were now ours.
By Father’s day, Anthony’s name had been officially changed to Anthony Charles Mackey and I surprised Leo by showing up at his company one afternoon with the news.
Entering the building, I was greeted by the receptionist, Kate.
"Good morning, Chloe" she smiled. "He’s in his office, I believe."
"Thanks." I smiled largely. I quickly got to the elevator and impatiently tapped my foot. Once the doors opened, I sprang onto the floor and headed to his office door. Charlotte was sitting outside of the door at her desk and was smiling as I approached. "Is he busy?"
"Never for you," she smirked and buzzed into his office. "Mr. Mackey?"
"Yes, Charlotte," he sounded a little irritated.
"You have a visitor, can I send them in?" She stifled a giggle.
"Does the visitor have a name?" He asked, seemingly more annoyed.
I leaned toward the phone. "Just let your baby mamma in the damn office, Leo!" Charlotte burst into a fit of giggles. I laughed.
"Oh, dear God." He laughed, but then it grew silent.
I looked at Charlotte and she shrugged "Mister Mac—"
Before she could finish, his office door swung open and he grabbed me around the waist.
"Hold any calls," he winked and I slapped his chest for making the insinuation. He laughed. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" He asked as he placed small kisses on my chin.
"Can’t I just visit?" I faked annoyance. He laughed and raised his eyebrow. "Okay, okay, I brought you something." I held out the plain white envelope.
"What is..?" he stopped speaking when he pulled out Anthony’s birth certificate that now held his name in the father position. I saw tears build in his eyes and I wrapped my arms around him.
"Happy early Father’s Day," I whispered into his ear, even though Father’s Day was like three weeks away. He latched onto me tightly and lifted me off my feet. I giggled and then realized that he was carrying me. "What are you doing?"
Without a word he sat me on his desk and started to attack my lips fiercely. I slid my hands into his hair and gripped on to him. He moaned and that’s when I knew we needed to stop before it got carried away.
All Grown Up Page 29
