Chloe

“Pregnant?” Rocco’s gaze drops to my stomach before it skims over my face. “Chloe, are you sure? You and Chris tried for so long. How is this possible?”

Christopher Newell and I tried for years to start a family. He’s older than I am by two decades and very successful. I met him when I interned at his law firm before college. He divorced his second wife, pursued me and I finally gave in.

Our wedding was everything I thought I wanted. It was the perfect life on the outside, but behind the doors of our apartment on Park Avenue, it was an ongoing battle to have a child. Christopher wanted an heir and I couldn’t deliver, so I became his third ex-wife.

“My doctor said that miracles happen.” I manage a small smile. “I’ve always had irregular periods and the fertility doctors that I saw with Chris told me that the chemo had damaged my eggs. No one thought this was possible, Rocco, yet it’s happening.”

He tugs me into his chest. “It is a miracle. You’re having a baby. What did dad say? He must be over the moon.”

I push back so I can look up and into his face. “I haven’t told anyone. You’re the only one who knows.”

“Did you tell Evan?” he questions. “I don’t want to jump to conclusions but I’ve seen the way the guy looks at you. I’m assuming he’s the dad.”

“He is…” I trail off not sure of how to tell him that Evan isn’t quite as sure as I am and he already has one child to take care of.

“What’s the problem? I don’t know him at all, but I don’t see you getting involved with a deadbeat. Is he not going to step up to the plate and own this?”

I watch as his jaw ticks. Rocco is a master at covering his emotions but when he’s angry, there’s little he can do to veil that.

“We’re going to do a paternity test.” I pat his knee. “That’s part of this process.”

“Why do it if you’re both sure he’s the father?”

It’s a valid question that I don’t have an answer to so I resort to asking him a question of my own. “If you had a one-night stand and the woman got pregnant, you’d want a paternity test, wouldn’t you?”

“Hell, yes,” he says empathetically. “We’re not talking about a one-night stand, Chloe. We are talking about two people in a relationship.”

I’m not surprised that he has blinders on when it comes to my personal life. “Evan and I started as a one-night stand. We both believe that’s when the baby was conceived.”

“I understand, “ he finally says after staring at me for a beat. “The details don’t matter. What matters is that you’re going to be a mom and you’ve got your family to lean on.”

“Thank you.” I kiss his cheek. “There’s something else that I want to talk about.”

His eyes widen. “I can’t imagine it’s going to be more mind-blowing than what you just told me, but I’m all ears.”

“I found out that Evan has a son.” I hear the tremor in my voice. It’s the first time I’ve said it aloud, even though I’ve been replaying Dr. Bergstein’s words in my mind all day. “He didn’t tell me. I heard about it from someone else.”

He leans his back against the sofa. “How well do you know this guy, Chloe? A kid seems like a pretty big deal to me. You’d think he’d want to share the good news before you two got too serious.”

This is the part of the conversation that I’ve been dreading. “Do you know how I told you it was casual? Well, it’s really casual. We only exchanged numbers after we found out I’m pregnant.”
“It’s not casual anymore. You two are going to share a child. If you heard he already has one, you need to talk to him about that. It’s going to impact your baby’s life since they’ll have an instant sibling.”

“You’re right.” I nod my head in agreement. “The next time I see Evan I’ll ask him about his son.”

I will. I just need to use the time between now and then to figure out how exactly I’ll do that.

***

I feel my cheeks blush as Evan approaches me. He’s dressed in a black suit with a white dress shirt underneath. He’s carrying a bouquet of pink roses in his hand.

I’m not dressed nearly as smartly as he is. I’m still wearing the plain black dress I’ve had on all day. Meeting him for dinner was his idea and since I had a late meeting, I agreed that seven p.m. at the pasta place was the best I could do.

“You look very handsome,” I say as he stops in front of where I’m standing just inside the door.

The place is busier than the first time I met him here.

He pushes the bouquet at me. “You’re radiant, Chloe. I don’t know how you can be more beautiful each time I see you, but you are.”

I like that he thinks so. I know he’s not just saying it. He believes it.

I follow him and when he pulls out a chair next to a table, I sit. “I’m glad you called me. I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”

“You can call me whenever you want.” He takes a seat next to me. “If I’m busy it will go straight to voicemail but I’ll call you back as soon as I can.”

I take comfort in that. Once he realizes that he is indeed the father of my child, I’ll need him more. I have no idea what it’s like to go through a pregnancy and then the early days of the child’s life. Evan does. He’s already tackled it all once.

“I’ll remember that.” I place the roses next to me on the table. “Dr. Bergstein said we could do the paternity test once I’m eight weeks along.”

“I know I’m the father.” He places both his hands on the table. “I don’t know why I doubted it. It might have been fear. I’ve been through this before, Chloe.”

“I know,” I admit. “I heard about that.”

My words take him aback. He runs a hand through his hair. “You know about that? There’s no way you can know about that, Chloe.”

“Dr. Bergstein let it slip.” I shrug. “I admit I was surprised but I know now. I think we have to discuss how it will impact both of them.”

He looks right at me, his eyes trained to mine. I see confusion mixed with frustration. “What exactly did Rita let slip?”

“I know you already have a child, Evan,” I say evenly. “I think it’s great. Our baby will have a sibling from the start and I couldn’t be happier about that.”