A Family Affair

by Marilyn McPherson

Chapter Twenty-three

  “Chloe,” Ellen called out, as she entered the apartment. What a wonderful apartment! It was the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. There was no response. Everything looked the same as she remembered. It was as if she hadn’t been gone for a week.

  Ellen hurriedly found her wallet, and dashed back downstairs to pay the driver his fee plus a generous tip. Once she returned, Ellen locked the front door behind her, and kicked off her stinky, week-old running clothes and put them in the bin.

  She looked in the fridge, and found Chinese takeaway. It looked fresh, perhaps from Chloe's dinner last night. It smelled amazing even though it was cold. Ellen's mouth started to water just looking at it. She grabbed a fork, and shovelled a large amount into her mouth, while still naked. She decided to take the food into the bathroom, and continued to eat while turning the hot water on. Food had never tasted so good.

  The shower was incredible too, and before long she was clean again and no longer hungry. She brushed her teeth and got dressed, ready to head to the police station, when the front door opened.

  “Ellen,” Chloe shrieked. “Is that you?”

  Ellen came into her view.

  “Where the hell have you been?” Chloe asked loudly. “I've been so worried. I, I was about to report you as missing at the police station.”

  Ellen ran to Chloe and gave her a giant bear hug. “It's a long story. I'm just heading to the police station now. Will you come with me? Tom will meet us there too.”

  “Um, listen. There is something I need to tell you first.”

  “Can it wait?”

  “Um, no. It’s important.”

  “Well,” said Ellen, looking at her watch. “I guess I can give you five minutes, then I've really got to report what happened.”

  “Let’s sit on the couch,” suggested Chloe. When they were both seated, she continued, “Elle, I'm pregnant.”

  “What?” That was the last thing Ellen expected Chloe to say. “Since when?”

  “Well, I think I'm only a week pregnant. Too early for the test to show of course. But I missed my period, and my nipples are already starting to hurt. And my cousin VJ says that is a sure sign.”

  “Chloe, that's great news,” said Ellen, trying unsuccessfully to read Chloe's expression, which was a mixture of cautiousness and restrained joy. “Isn't it?”

  “I'm very happy, yes.”

  “Well, what's the problem then?”

  “I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to come out and say it.”

  “Okay.”

  “It's Tom's baby.”

  Ellen's world stopped still. Dead still. Chloe stood at the end of a long tunnel in Ellen's mind. The rest of the world was suddenly blocked from her focus. She shook it off. “Sorry, what?” Ellen asked. “What do you mean? You think my Tom is the father of your baby?”

  “Yes,” confirmed Chloe, no longer smiling.

  Ellen shook her head. Chloe really had lost all sense. “It's not possible. Tom is not the father of your baby.”

  “Yes, he is.”

  “How could that be?”

  “We became close while you were away.”

  “You became close?” Ellen yelled in disbelief. “Sorry, what? You’re telling me that while I was being kidnapped, you shacked up with my boyfriend? And now you’re pregnant, even though I was only gone for a week. Is that what you’re telling me?”

  “You were kidnapped? Why didn’t you say?”

  “Well, I was trying to, when you started all this nonsense about Tom and you.”

  “I'm sorry, Elle, but it’s not nonsense. I know you like him too, but I love him. We are going to be very happy together, I just know.”

  “Sorry, what?

  “I know it isn't easy to hear.”

  “I was just talking to him. He told me that he loves me. That he wants us to go away together.”

  “He doesn't know that I'm pregnant yet,” Chloe admitted. “I wanted to be sure before I told him.”

  “But you are sure enough to tell me?” Ellen said.

  “Yes. Tom will do the right thing by me when he finds out.”

  “And that is?”

  “He will marry me. And we will raise our child together.”

  “Chloe, you are delusional.”

  “Am I? Why did he make love to me, if you mean so much to him?”

  Ellen looked down. There was no answer to that question obviously. Maybe that was what Tom was going to tell her. It couldn’t be. How could he do this to her?

  Chloe continued, “There's more Elle. You need to let him go. I'm doing you a favour here.”

  Ellen’s mind was spinning. How could there be any more? “How's that?”

  “He is your father.”

  The kidnapper and Chloe seemed to have developed the same mindset while she was away. “No, he’s not. We did a DNA test, remember?” How could Chloe have forgotten the test results, which she organised herself.

  “I, um, I need to tell you something about the test. I... did something to the DNA test before sending it in.”

  “What?” asked Ellen slowly. She stood over Chloe, feeling the rage of betrayal flow through every vein in her body. “Tell me exactly what you did to the DNA test?”

  “I sent them my tooth brush instead of yours.”

  Ellen was stunned. Her DNA was never tested against Tom’s. This means she was back to square one, and could be related to Tom. In a quiet, defeated voice, Ellen asked, “Why did you do that, Chloe?”

  “I had my reasons. But it doesn't matter now. I know the truth in any case. He is your father.”

  “No. It’s not a guaranteed thing,” Ellen said. But then she remembered her conversation with Tom from before. He had said ‘oh’ in a funny voice. He had known Colleen Watson, her mother.

  “Tom told me that he fathered a child, with his teenage girlfriend Colleen. That’s the name of your biological mother. And think about it, the dates all line up. That baby was you, Elle.”

  Ellen's world was rocketing out of control, and she sank down onto the carpet.

  Chloe continued harshly, “So, you can't love him that way. It's not right. And now that I'm pregnant, everything is falling into place. He won't be too upset because, he has me now, to look after him. And he is going to be so happy to hear about the baby.”

  From her position on the floor, Ellen sobbed roughly and painfully. “I can't believe that he slept with you. That you slept with him. I can't believe you meddled with the DNA test, Chloe. You must really hate me to hurt me so much.”

  “Try to look at the bright side. I mean, this is working out for both of us. I am going to become Tom’s wife but you are going to inherit a fortune, Elle, being Tom's daughter. Of course, you will need to split it with our future child,” Chloe said happily, patting her stomach. “I just realised. I am going to be your stepmother. How weird is that?”

  Ellen looked at Chloe with new eyes. How could they have ever been friends? “I hate you. I hate you completely and I never want to look at you again. You are a mental case, Chloe.”

  “Elle, I'm sorry this is hard on you. But you've got to snap out of it. I fell in love with Tom. We fell in love with each other, that's all.”

  “He doesn't love you.”

  Chloe hesitated. “Maybe not now, but eventually he will when he hears about the baby.”

  “It doesn't work that way.” Ellen was starting to pull herself together and didn’t want to listen to anymore. “Listen, screw this, Chloe. Screw you too. I need to go to the police station. I can't think about all this right now.”

  Ellen couldn't think about Tom being her father instead of her future lover. She stood up, pushed past Chloe and ran out of the apartment to the lift, slamming the door behind her. She intended to run all the way to the police station which was about four blocks away, but collapsed crying in a seat in front of the building. She was exhausted from her long week and from the fight with Chloe. She had never been so confused a
nd hurt in her entire life.