Post by rsafan on Nov 6, 2006 4:42:01 GMT -5
Chapter 21
“Good luck.” Victoria snuck up behind Max and planted a big one on him when he turned around, “Not that you’ll need it.”
“Mmmm… Thanks.” Before they could move in for another kiss, Stephanie walked in.
“Hey Stephanie, good luck to you too. I’ll be holding fingers for you.”
“Thanks Victoria.” Stephanie smiled at her, then introduced the gentleman with her.
“EJ Wells.”
She smiled at his accent, “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, it’s always a pleasure to run into another Brit in Salem.”
“Well I’m not exactly an English lady, but I know exactly what you mean.”
Ignoring their conversation, Stephanie asked Max, “So are you ready for the race?”
“About as ready as I’ll ever be, was just collecting my good luck kiss when you came in.”
“Well enjoy it because you’re going to need it. It’s the only way you’ll get by me.”
“Excuse me.” Leaving them to talk shop, or rather trade insults, Victoria walked out of he garage and answered her phone, “Rex, what’s up?”
“Fundraising ball next month, the one you organised, that’s what’s up.”
“Ooh… I forgot. I tell you what, I’ll see if I can get a few days off work and I’ll be in the windy city before the fundraiser, help sort out any details and attend on your gorgeous arm. How’s that sound?”
“Perfect. Taking advantage of the fact that your grandfather owns the company?”
“Hardly, I should be entitled to a few days leave; they’ve been working me to the bone. Between family get-togethers and work, I barely have time to sleep”
“So where are you now?”
“Salem Race Track, I’ll be cheering Max on, and Stephanie.”
“I’ll be sure to check it out if I find the time.”
“How’s the research going? Have you made any progress?”
“Not much but we’re getting there, I can feel it. Enjoy the race.”
“Will do.” She hung up and returned to the garage, “So where are we celebrating tonight?”
“There’s going to be a big shin dig at the Pub, we could swing by there.”
Trying not to be too obvious, she asked him, “Do you think Shawn and Mimi will be there?”
He shook his head, “I doubt it, Shawn said Mimi’s not that into going out recently, she’s too exhausted. He apologised ahead of time for not being here today. Pity considering his engine will be making its debut.”
She smiled, more with relief than actually wanting to go to the pub, “I guess we could make a turn at the Pub.”
“Can we talk?”
She turned to Belle, “I’m here supporting Max and to enjoy myself.” she sighed, “Make it quick.”
“About what you saw the other night, on the rooftop.”
“Belle, if you and Shawn want to carry on like a pair of teenagers, I can’t stop you.”
“Don’t blame Shawn; I was the one who kissed him. I didn’t mean to, it just-”
“Happened? Look Belle, it’s really none of my business and I don’t want to know any more than I already do so if you don’t mind keeping the details to yourself.”
“I just don’t want you to blame Shawn for this. He’s so excited about having you as a sister and he’s torn up thinking he’s let you down.”
“I’d have thought he’d be more torn up about what this’ll do to Mimi, his wife. The woman who’s going to have his child soon.”
“I only meant…”
“I know what you meant Belle, now if you’ll excuse me.”
Phillip came up to the two of them, she was glad he had chosen that moment, she only hoped he hadn’t heard the conversation going on between herself and Belle, “Victoria, hi. What a surprise.”
“It shouldn’t be a surprise, Max is racing I’m here to support him and Stephanie too.”
Phillip laughed at her mention of Stephanie as an afterthought, “Of course, I forgot the two of you are an item. You haven’t been by lately.”
“I’ve been busy,” Avoiding my brother, his wife and your wife, “but if you’re still having a problem with that programme, I’ll be happy to help you out.”
“I’m working on it at the mansion now, the computers there are more state of the art and no interruptions.” He shrugged his head in Belle’s direction.
“The mansion?”
“Stupid of me, you haven’t been yet have you?”
“My dad’s place. If I need help, I’ll give you a call and directions.”
“Well I better go, the race is about to start and I promised Max I’d watch him from the pits.”
Today just wasn’t going to be her day.
“My, if it isn’t my wonderful half-sister.”
“Hello, Chelsea.”
“Come to watch max race?”
“That was the plan. Look we got off on the wrong foot, maybe we could meet sometime, talk things over. You’ll see we probably have a lot in common.”
“We share a father and the same taste in men. That’s more than enough for me.”
“Why do you dislike me so much?”
“You mean aside form the fact that you stole my boyfriend?”
“I didn’t steal your boyfriend.”
“What ever helps you sleep at night.”
Chapter 22
Victoria was contemplating her current dilemma; in fact it was really starting to unsettle her, “Max?”
“Hmm?” He didn’t even bother to glance up from the paper he was reading she didn’t mind.
“If you knew something, a secret that could destroy people’s lives, would you keep it to protect those people?”
That caught his attention, “Well, it would depend on what the secret was wouldn’t it? Would these people be better off not knowing the truth?”
“Some would, others wouldn’t.”
“Would you want to know? If this secret involved you, would you want to know the truth?”
Victoria thought about that for a moment, “Yes, I would.”
“Then you have your answer don’t you?”
“Yeah I guess I do.”
“Come here.” He pulled her onto his lap, “Stop worrying about other people’s secrets and start worrying about the fact that you have way too many clothes on.” He kissed her as he unbuttoned her shirt. “I’m going to miss you when you go to Chicago.”
Victoria came around to the loft three weeks after she’d caught Shawn and Belle on the roof together. She’d resolved to get both Shawn and Mimi to tell each other their secrets, and if that failed, to tell them herself. Though she really wanted them to do it themselves. She knocked on their door, Mimi answered, but was on the phone so she simply walked in and closed the door behind her. She caught bits and pieces of the conversation and knew that Mimi was on the phone with her doctor. Finally she put the phone back on the hook, but she stood at the table for a while.
“Bad news?”
Mimi spun around; she’d forgotten Victoria was there. “The worst, apparently my blood pressure isn’t any lower than it was last week, she’s considering having me admitted if it doesn’t come down soon.”
“You mean if you don’t relieve the stress you’re under soon?”
“Yes, as though it’s that easy. How can you tell someone they may lose their baby and then not expect them to stress?”
“Mimi, your doctor just informed you that your baby is at risk. That you’re suffering from hypertension. She may not know why, but I do.”
“This isn’t about that.”
“Mimi, you’re keeping this secret and I know how much it’s bothering you. Well, now its bothering your baby too, in fact it could be killing him. Is it really worth the risk? Losing your baby to keep this secret?”
“That’s not going to happen, I won’t let it.”
“You may not have a choice in the matter.”
“If you think I’m stressed now, just wait till they all find out. Who do you think they’re going to blame? And they’d be right, and my baby would be at even more risk then because I’d have even more people hating me than just myself.”
“I know and I don’t hate you. You have me lying to my brother, one of the only guys in the world who’s been halfway decent to me, I don’t like it, but I don’t hate you for it. Everyone is going to have to take responsibility for the roles they played in this mess. But Mimi, you have to tell them, you have to tell Shawn. If you don’t tell him, I will.”
“Tell me what?”
She looked at Mimi, “Well, are you going to tell him?” Mimi said nothing, “Your wife just got a call from her doctor. Apparently, her blood pressure is so high; her doctor is considering having her admitted.”
“Mimi…”
“I think that maybe we should get Belle and Phillip over here. Could you go call them, there’s something I need to say. Something I’ve needed to say for a long time.”
“What does this have to do wi-“
“Just go and get them will you?”
Once he’d left Victoria turned to her, “You’re doing the right thing you know.”
Mimi sighed, “I hope you’re right, because all our lives are about to change.”
“Okay, we’re all here. So what was it you wanted to say?”
“There’s something I have to tell you all, something that’s going to change all our lives. I should have told you sooner, but I was just so scared.”
“Mimi, whatever it is, everything is going to be fine.”
She shook her head, pulling away from him, “No. No it isn’t, it isn’t going to be fine. Nothing’s going to be fine.”
“Mimi, just tell us.”
She looked at Victoria, “It’s about Claire. It’s about Shawn’s blood being a match for Claire; it’s about Shawn being Claire’s father.”
Belle laughed, “No that just isn’t possible. Shawn and I were never together.”
“Yes you were. That night in the barn, you thought it was a dream, obviously it wasn’t.”
“No, this is some mistake. Claire is Phillip’s daughter; she’s mine and Phillip’s.”
“Belle…”
“What proof do you have? Shawn’s blood matching with Claire’s isn’t proof enough.”
“Maybe not on its own, but when you put it together with the fact that yours isn’t…”
“So what? You jumped to the conclusion that Claire was Shawn’s?”
“Given Claire’s blood type, it’s impossible that you are her father Phillip.”
Victoria interrupted, correcting Mimi, “Actually, it’s not impossible, it’s just highly unlikely.”
“Would you care to explain yourself?”
“Well, science is based on theories; we accept those theories till they’re proven wrong. Right now, science dictates that an A- mother, as Belle is, and an O- father, as Phillip is, cannot produce a child with AB- blood type, as Claire is. It is more likely that Shawn, being B-, is Claire’s father. Unless of course, there are a couple of other candidates that need to be considered. No, I guess not.”
“So you’re saying that Shawn is Claire’s father?”
“No, I’m saying that there’s a greater possibility of Shawn being Claire’s father than Phillip being her father. You’d have to conduct a DNA test to prove paternity. But this whole story has so many wholes in it; I don’t know what to think.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well from what I’ve heard, there’s only one possible night that Claire was conceived if she is Shawn’s that also happened to be the night he was suffering from hypothermia.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Ever heard of a cold shower? Well, hypothermia is like having an ice cold shower. And secondly, there’s no way Phillip couldn’t have been a match for Claire, when he has a universal blood type.”
Belle wasn’t listening to the conversation going on between Victoria and the guys, she was concentrating on the fact that her best friend hadn’t saw fit to tell her something this important. “What I want to know is how long have you known about this?”
Mimi swallowed and answered Belle, “Since some time after Claire’s transplant.”
Shawn stared at her dumbfounded, “All this time, you knew all this time that I could have a daughter? Why would you keep this from me, from all of us?”
“I just…”
“You just what? Decided to play God with our lives? We had a right to know Mimi; you had the obligation to inform me.”
Victoria shook her head, “No, she didn’t. Should she have told you, sure it would’ve been the right thing to do, but it wasn’t obligatory. She wasn’t obligated to do anything, least of all tell her fiancé that he might have a daughter with his ex-girlfriend. An ex-girlfriend he still appeared to love very much.”
“She’s my wife, if she knew, she should have said something.”
“She didn’t know for sure, her proof is circumstantial. Was she supposed to rip all your lives apart over a theory?”
“Stay out of this; it has nothing to do with you.” Belle angrily ordered her.
Phillip disagreed, “Actually, I think it does. She seems to know an awful lot about the ‘circumstances’, which leads me to believe that she knew long before today. So Victoria, how long have you known?”
They all looked at her, waiting for answers. How had all this turned around to be her fault? Just because she’d agreed to keep a secret, if that was the case perhaps she should…no that would only hurt people who were already hurting enough. “I overheard Mimi and…”
“And decided not to tell any of us? Decided that we didn’t have a right to know.” Shawn accused her.
Before she could defend her actions, Mimi did it for her, “The only reason she didn’t tell you, didn’t tell any of you is because she thought it should’ve come from me. And she was right, it should’ve come from me and now it has. Don’t take this out on your sister, she hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Belle snorted, “Yeah, except keep a secret she had no right to keep. And no doubt you’d have loved to keep it forever too.”
Victoria looked at Belle, she was enjoying this. Enjoying seeing Mimi in this much trouble, enjoying seeing herself in this much trouble. She wanted to wipe the smile off Belle’s face and had just the thing to do it. “Keeping secrets I have no right to keep? Well if that’s the case, perhaps I should just…”
Shawn wasn’t listening to the banter going on between the women. All he could think about was that not one, but two of the women he loved had kept a secret from him, had possibly kept his daughter from him. “Phillip, Belle, Victoria if you’d see yourselves out, I believe Mimi and I need to have a little talk.”
Nodding, Phillip led Belle out of the apartment under much protest. They all had to deal with what they’d heard today, process it and then decide what to do. Victoria was less diplomatic and less inclined to leave Shawn and Mimi alone, “No the last thing she needs right now is to have it out with you.”
“Victoria, just go!”
“Shawn…”
“This is between Mimi and me, us not you. I’ll deal with you later but for now I want you out.”
“Just be…”
“Out! Now!” She glanced at Mimi, who nodded her head. She picked up her coat and left the two of them alone.
Once the door had shut, Shawn turned to Mimi, “Okay, lets here it. Lets here the flimsy excuse you have for keeping a secret like this!”
“I have no excuse. When I found out, my first thought was to tell you. I tried, so many times but things always seemed to be keeping the truth hidden.”
“Don’t feed me that crap Mimi, if you’d wanted to tell me so badly, you’d have found a way. You’d have made sure I knew that Claire could possibly be my daughter. Nothing would’ve stopped you, but that’s not what you wanted was it?”
“Okay, maybe there was a small part of me that wished you’d never find out. The part that knew you would use it as an excuse to go back to Belle so the two of you could play ‘happy families’ together. But you have to believe that I wanted to tell you, in the beginning I tried so hard; then later I just thought it would take care of itself. Until Victoria convinced me otherwise, she made me see that I had no choice but to tell you. That it was something that had to come from me and she was right.”
“So basically she forced you to tell me, you were left with no other option but to tell me. This wasn’t your decision, you were forced into it. You would’ve kept the truth as you know it from me forever if you’d had the chance.”
“No, that’s not true. I was going to tell you, you have to believe me Shawn.”
“No I don’t, not anymore. I thought you were different, I thought I could trust you but you’ve been lying to me all this time.”
“No Shawn just wait…”
“Whatever, this conversation is over.”
She grabbed his arm; angrily he shrugged her off, his arm hitting her in the face. She stood back in shock, placed her hand to her mouth. She could taste the blood, but she had to see it, pulling her shaking hand back, she looked down and saw it. Her blood stained her hand, she looked at Shawn.
He moved to her, apology and remorse written all over his face, but she backed away, “Mimi…”
“No! Don’t come near me, just stay away from me.” Her legs hit the back of the sofa, she had nowhere else to go and he didn’t stop coming, she put up her hand to stop him “Stop, just stop where you are. I don’t want you touching me.”
He stared at her dumfounded; she couldn’t possibly believe he’d meant to hit her could she? It had been an accident; she had to know it had been an accident. But still her arm cautioned him to stay away, to not come any nearer.
When he stopped, she let out a breath. She backed her way to their bedroom door, “I’ll only need ten minutes. Just ten, can you give me that much?”
He nodded, thinking she wanted to clean herself up. Thinking she was asking him to stay till she came back out, he went and sat on the sofa.
He was shocked to find her with suitcase in hand when she opened their bedroom door again. “Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving.” She tried to carry the heavy suitcase with her to the door, but her protruding belly wouldn’t allow her.
She looked at him expecting him to do it for her but he shook his head. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“You obviously don’t want me here.”
“Where are you going to go Mimi? Your mother’s?” he shook his head, “No you’re better off here.”
“Well I don’t want to be here. I want to…” she couldn’t finish because of the sharp pain that had her bending over, brining tears to her eyes.
He moved to her, “Mimi, are you okay?”
“Don’t touch me. Just stay where you are, it’ll pass soon. It’ll pass soon.” She murmured those words like a mantra, praying that if she said it often enough the pain would stop and it did eventually.
He watched her, torn between wanting to do something to help her and respecting her wishes for him not to come closer. If something happened to the baby because he’d been afraid of her anger, he’d never forgive himself and he didn’t think she would either. So he ignored her warnings and lifted her in his arms, “Shawn put me down, I’m fine.”
“No you’re not; you’re going to the hospital. You’re getting checked out and if need be you’re being admitted.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“I’m making it necessary. And just for the record, there’s no way in hell you’re moving out. Not with the condition you’re in.” He carried her to the car and after making sure she was securely buckled drove them to the hospital.
“Good luck.” Victoria snuck up behind Max and planted a big one on him when he turned around, “Not that you’ll need it.”
“Mmmm… Thanks.” Before they could move in for another kiss, Stephanie walked in.
“Hey Stephanie, good luck to you too. I’ll be holding fingers for you.”
“Thanks Victoria.” Stephanie smiled at her, then introduced the gentleman with her.
“EJ Wells.”
She smiled at his accent, “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you, it’s always a pleasure to run into another Brit in Salem.”
“Well I’m not exactly an English lady, but I know exactly what you mean.”
Ignoring their conversation, Stephanie asked Max, “So are you ready for the race?”
“About as ready as I’ll ever be, was just collecting my good luck kiss when you came in.”
“Well enjoy it because you’re going to need it. It’s the only way you’ll get by me.”
“Excuse me.” Leaving them to talk shop, or rather trade insults, Victoria walked out of he garage and answered her phone, “Rex, what’s up?”
“Fundraising ball next month, the one you organised, that’s what’s up.”
“Ooh… I forgot. I tell you what, I’ll see if I can get a few days off work and I’ll be in the windy city before the fundraiser, help sort out any details and attend on your gorgeous arm. How’s that sound?”
“Perfect. Taking advantage of the fact that your grandfather owns the company?”
“Hardly, I should be entitled to a few days leave; they’ve been working me to the bone. Between family get-togethers and work, I barely have time to sleep”
“So where are you now?”
“Salem Race Track, I’ll be cheering Max on, and Stephanie.”
“I’ll be sure to check it out if I find the time.”
“How’s the research going? Have you made any progress?”
“Not much but we’re getting there, I can feel it. Enjoy the race.”
“Will do.” She hung up and returned to the garage, “So where are we celebrating tonight?”
“There’s going to be a big shin dig at the Pub, we could swing by there.”
Trying not to be too obvious, she asked him, “Do you think Shawn and Mimi will be there?”
He shook his head, “I doubt it, Shawn said Mimi’s not that into going out recently, she’s too exhausted. He apologised ahead of time for not being here today. Pity considering his engine will be making its debut.”
She smiled, more with relief than actually wanting to go to the pub, “I guess we could make a turn at the Pub.”
*****
“Can we talk?”
She turned to Belle, “I’m here supporting Max and to enjoy myself.” she sighed, “Make it quick.”
“About what you saw the other night, on the rooftop.”
“Belle, if you and Shawn want to carry on like a pair of teenagers, I can’t stop you.”
“Don’t blame Shawn; I was the one who kissed him. I didn’t mean to, it just-”
“Happened? Look Belle, it’s really none of my business and I don’t want to know any more than I already do so if you don’t mind keeping the details to yourself.”
“I just don’t want you to blame Shawn for this. He’s so excited about having you as a sister and he’s torn up thinking he’s let you down.”
“I’d have thought he’d be more torn up about what this’ll do to Mimi, his wife. The woman who’s going to have his child soon.”
“I only meant…”
“I know what you meant Belle, now if you’ll excuse me.”
Phillip came up to the two of them, she was glad he had chosen that moment, she only hoped he hadn’t heard the conversation going on between herself and Belle, “Victoria, hi. What a surprise.”
“It shouldn’t be a surprise, Max is racing I’m here to support him and Stephanie too.”
Phillip laughed at her mention of Stephanie as an afterthought, “Of course, I forgot the two of you are an item. You haven’t been by lately.”
“I’ve been busy,” Avoiding my brother, his wife and your wife, “but if you’re still having a problem with that programme, I’ll be happy to help you out.”
“I’m working on it at the mansion now, the computers there are more state of the art and no interruptions.” He shrugged his head in Belle’s direction.
“The mansion?”
“Stupid of me, you haven’t been yet have you?”
“My dad’s place. If I need help, I’ll give you a call and directions.”
“Well I better go, the race is about to start and I promised Max I’d watch him from the pits.”
*****
Today just wasn’t going to be her day.
“My, if it isn’t my wonderful half-sister.”
“Hello, Chelsea.”
“Come to watch max race?”
“That was the plan. Look we got off on the wrong foot, maybe we could meet sometime, talk things over. You’ll see we probably have a lot in common.”
“We share a father and the same taste in men. That’s more than enough for me.”
“Why do you dislike me so much?”
“You mean aside form the fact that you stole my boyfriend?”
“I didn’t steal your boyfriend.”
“What ever helps you sleep at night.”
Chapter 22
Victoria was contemplating her current dilemma; in fact it was really starting to unsettle her, “Max?”
“Hmm?” He didn’t even bother to glance up from the paper he was reading she didn’t mind.
“If you knew something, a secret that could destroy people’s lives, would you keep it to protect those people?”
That caught his attention, “Well, it would depend on what the secret was wouldn’t it? Would these people be better off not knowing the truth?”
“Some would, others wouldn’t.”
“Would you want to know? If this secret involved you, would you want to know the truth?”
Victoria thought about that for a moment, “Yes, I would.”
“Then you have your answer don’t you?”
“Yeah I guess I do.”
“Come here.” He pulled her onto his lap, “Stop worrying about other people’s secrets and start worrying about the fact that you have way too many clothes on.” He kissed her as he unbuttoned her shirt. “I’m going to miss you when you go to Chicago.”
*****
Victoria came around to the loft three weeks after she’d caught Shawn and Belle on the roof together. She’d resolved to get both Shawn and Mimi to tell each other their secrets, and if that failed, to tell them herself. Though she really wanted them to do it themselves. She knocked on their door, Mimi answered, but was on the phone so she simply walked in and closed the door behind her. She caught bits and pieces of the conversation and knew that Mimi was on the phone with her doctor. Finally she put the phone back on the hook, but she stood at the table for a while.
“Bad news?”
Mimi spun around; she’d forgotten Victoria was there. “The worst, apparently my blood pressure isn’t any lower than it was last week, she’s considering having me admitted if it doesn’t come down soon.”
“You mean if you don’t relieve the stress you’re under soon?”
“Yes, as though it’s that easy. How can you tell someone they may lose their baby and then not expect them to stress?”
“Mimi, your doctor just informed you that your baby is at risk. That you’re suffering from hypertension. She may not know why, but I do.”
“This isn’t about that.”
“Mimi, you’re keeping this secret and I know how much it’s bothering you. Well, now its bothering your baby too, in fact it could be killing him. Is it really worth the risk? Losing your baby to keep this secret?”
“That’s not going to happen, I won’t let it.”
“You may not have a choice in the matter.”
“If you think I’m stressed now, just wait till they all find out. Who do you think they’re going to blame? And they’d be right, and my baby would be at even more risk then because I’d have even more people hating me than just myself.”
“I know and I don’t hate you. You have me lying to my brother, one of the only guys in the world who’s been halfway decent to me, I don’t like it, but I don’t hate you for it. Everyone is going to have to take responsibility for the roles they played in this mess. But Mimi, you have to tell them, you have to tell Shawn. If you don’t tell him, I will.”
“Tell me what?”
She looked at Mimi, “Well, are you going to tell him?” Mimi said nothing, “Your wife just got a call from her doctor. Apparently, her blood pressure is so high; her doctor is considering having her admitted.”
“Mimi…”
“I think that maybe we should get Belle and Phillip over here. Could you go call them, there’s something I need to say. Something I’ve needed to say for a long time.”
“What does this have to do wi-“
“Just go and get them will you?”
Once he’d left Victoria turned to her, “You’re doing the right thing you know.”
Mimi sighed, “I hope you’re right, because all our lives are about to change.”
“Okay, we’re all here. So what was it you wanted to say?”
“There’s something I have to tell you all, something that’s going to change all our lives. I should have told you sooner, but I was just so scared.”
“Mimi, whatever it is, everything is going to be fine.”
She shook her head, pulling away from him, “No. No it isn’t, it isn’t going to be fine. Nothing’s going to be fine.”
“Mimi, just tell us.”
She looked at Victoria, “It’s about Claire. It’s about Shawn’s blood being a match for Claire; it’s about Shawn being Claire’s father.”
Belle laughed, “No that just isn’t possible. Shawn and I were never together.”
“Yes you were. That night in the barn, you thought it was a dream, obviously it wasn’t.”
“No, this is some mistake. Claire is Phillip’s daughter; she’s mine and Phillip’s.”
“Belle…”
“What proof do you have? Shawn’s blood matching with Claire’s isn’t proof enough.”
“Maybe not on its own, but when you put it together with the fact that yours isn’t…”
“So what? You jumped to the conclusion that Claire was Shawn’s?”
“Given Claire’s blood type, it’s impossible that you are her father Phillip.”
Victoria interrupted, correcting Mimi, “Actually, it’s not impossible, it’s just highly unlikely.”
“Would you care to explain yourself?”
“Well, science is based on theories; we accept those theories till they’re proven wrong. Right now, science dictates that an A- mother, as Belle is, and an O- father, as Phillip is, cannot produce a child with AB- blood type, as Claire is. It is more likely that Shawn, being B-, is Claire’s father. Unless of course, there are a couple of other candidates that need to be considered. No, I guess not.”
“So you’re saying that Shawn is Claire’s father?”
“No, I’m saying that there’s a greater possibility of Shawn being Claire’s father than Phillip being her father. You’d have to conduct a DNA test to prove paternity. But this whole story has so many wholes in it; I don’t know what to think.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well from what I’ve heard, there’s only one possible night that Claire was conceived if she is Shawn’s that also happened to be the night he was suffering from hypothermia.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“Ever heard of a cold shower? Well, hypothermia is like having an ice cold shower. And secondly, there’s no way Phillip couldn’t have been a match for Claire, when he has a universal blood type.”
Belle wasn’t listening to the conversation going on between Victoria and the guys, she was concentrating on the fact that her best friend hadn’t saw fit to tell her something this important. “What I want to know is how long have you known about this?”
Mimi swallowed and answered Belle, “Since some time after Claire’s transplant.”
Shawn stared at her dumbfounded, “All this time, you knew all this time that I could have a daughter? Why would you keep this from me, from all of us?”
“I just…”
“You just what? Decided to play God with our lives? We had a right to know Mimi; you had the obligation to inform me.”
Victoria shook her head, “No, she didn’t. Should she have told you, sure it would’ve been the right thing to do, but it wasn’t obligatory. She wasn’t obligated to do anything, least of all tell her fiancé that he might have a daughter with his ex-girlfriend. An ex-girlfriend he still appeared to love very much.”
“She’s my wife, if she knew, she should have said something.”
“She didn’t know for sure, her proof is circumstantial. Was she supposed to rip all your lives apart over a theory?”
“Stay out of this; it has nothing to do with you.” Belle angrily ordered her.
Phillip disagreed, “Actually, I think it does. She seems to know an awful lot about the ‘circumstances’, which leads me to believe that she knew long before today. So Victoria, how long have you known?”
They all looked at her, waiting for answers. How had all this turned around to be her fault? Just because she’d agreed to keep a secret, if that was the case perhaps she should…no that would only hurt people who were already hurting enough. “I overheard Mimi and…”
“And decided not to tell any of us? Decided that we didn’t have a right to know.” Shawn accused her.
Before she could defend her actions, Mimi did it for her, “The only reason she didn’t tell you, didn’t tell any of you is because she thought it should’ve come from me. And she was right, it should’ve come from me and now it has. Don’t take this out on your sister, she hasn’t done anything wrong.”
Belle snorted, “Yeah, except keep a secret she had no right to keep. And no doubt you’d have loved to keep it forever too.”
Victoria looked at Belle, she was enjoying this. Enjoying seeing Mimi in this much trouble, enjoying seeing herself in this much trouble. She wanted to wipe the smile off Belle’s face and had just the thing to do it. “Keeping secrets I have no right to keep? Well if that’s the case, perhaps I should just…”
Shawn wasn’t listening to the banter going on between the women. All he could think about was that not one, but two of the women he loved had kept a secret from him, had possibly kept his daughter from him. “Phillip, Belle, Victoria if you’d see yourselves out, I believe Mimi and I need to have a little talk.”
Nodding, Phillip led Belle out of the apartment under much protest. They all had to deal with what they’d heard today, process it and then decide what to do. Victoria was less diplomatic and less inclined to leave Shawn and Mimi alone, “No the last thing she needs right now is to have it out with you.”
“Victoria, just go!”
“Shawn…”
“This is between Mimi and me, us not you. I’ll deal with you later but for now I want you out.”
“Just be…”
“Out! Now!” She glanced at Mimi, who nodded her head. She picked up her coat and left the two of them alone.
Once the door had shut, Shawn turned to Mimi, “Okay, lets here it. Lets here the flimsy excuse you have for keeping a secret like this!”
“I have no excuse. When I found out, my first thought was to tell you. I tried, so many times but things always seemed to be keeping the truth hidden.”
“Don’t feed me that crap Mimi, if you’d wanted to tell me so badly, you’d have found a way. You’d have made sure I knew that Claire could possibly be my daughter. Nothing would’ve stopped you, but that’s not what you wanted was it?”
“Okay, maybe there was a small part of me that wished you’d never find out. The part that knew you would use it as an excuse to go back to Belle so the two of you could play ‘happy families’ together. But you have to believe that I wanted to tell you, in the beginning I tried so hard; then later I just thought it would take care of itself. Until Victoria convinced me otherwise, she made me see that I had no choice but to tell you. That it was something that had to come from me and she was right.”
“So basically she forced you to tell me, you were left with no other option but to tell me. This wasn’t your decision, you were forced into it. You would’ve kept the truth as you know it from me forever if you’d had the chance.”
“No, that’s not true. I was going to tell you, you have to believe me Shawn.”
“No I don’t, not anymore. I thought you were different, I thought I could trust you but you’ve been lying to me all this time.”
“No Shawn just wait…”
“Whatever, this conversation is over.”
She grabbed his arm; angrily he shrugged her off, his arm hitting her in the face. She stood back in shock, placed her hand to her mouth. She could taste the blood, but she had to see it, pulling her shaking hand back, she looked down and saw it. Her blood stained her hand, she looked at Shawn.
He moved to her, apology and remorse written all over his face, but she backed away, “Mimi…”
“No! Don’t come near me, just stay away from me.” Her legs hit the back of the sofa, she had nowhere else to go and he didn’t stop coming, she put up her hand to stop him “Stop, just stop where you are. I don’t want you touching me.”
He stared at her dumfounded; she couldn’t possibly believe he’d meant to hit her could she? It had been an accident; she had to know it had been an accident. But still her arm cautioned him to stay away, to not come any nearer.
When he stopped, she let out a breath. She backed her way to their bedroom door, “I’ll only need ten minutes. Just ten, can you give me that much?”
He nodded, thinking she wanted to clean herself up. Thinking she was asking him to stay till she came back out, he went and sat on the sofa.
*****
In their room, Mimi didn’t even bother to wipe the blood away, though a glance in the mirror had shown her that it was her nose that was the cause of all the blood. She looked horrific, but it didn’t matter. She opened the first drawer and grabbed an armful of clothes dumping it on the bed. She did the same with the other drawers then searching under the bed for her suitcases she dumped her clothes in them. She’d asked Shawn for ten minutes, she’d only needed five.He was shocked to find her with suitcase in hand when she opened their bedroom door again. “Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving.” She tried to carry the heavy suitcase with her to the door, but her protruding belly wouldn’t allow her.
She looked at him expecting him to do it for her but he shook his head. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“You obviously don’t want me here.”
“Where are you going to go Mimi? Your mother’s?” he shook his head, “No you’re better off here.”
“Well I don’t want to be here. I want to…” she couldn’t finish because of the sharp pain that had her bending over, brining tears to her eyes.
He moved to her, “Mimi, are you okay?”
“Don’t touch me. Just stay where you are, it’ll pass soon. It’ll pass soon.” She murmured those words like a mantra, praying that if she said it often enough the pain would stop and it did eventually.
He watched her, torn between wanting to do something to help her and respecting her wishes for him not to come closer. If something happened to the baby because he’d been afraid of her anger, he’d never forgive himself and he didn’t think she would either. So he ignored her warnings and lifted her in his arms, “Shawn put me down, I’m fine.”
“No you’re not; you’re going to the hospital. You’re getting checked out and if need be you’re being admitted.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“I’m making it necessary. And just for the record, there’s no way in hell you’re moving out. Not with the condition you’re in.” He carried her to the car and after making sure she was securely buckled drove them to the hospital.
