" I'm telling TC and the girls the truth tonight."

Eve turned towards the door when she stopped by a voice:

" The hell you are."

Eve turned around to look at him, “ What did you say?”

” I said, you’re not going to tell them.”

” Chad, I’m not ashamed of you. I want for this to be all out in the open.”

” For what reason? To prove that you are such an upstanding woman. I don’t know or care if that’s the truth. All I know is that your husband is the only man who has ever stood up for me. To support me. I’ve never had that. And, I like it. I’m not going to lose it because of your lies. If half of what Crystal told me about my biological father is true, I doubt that he’s going to welcome me showing up. Am I right, or right?”

Chad stares at Eve, who looks uncomfortable. “ Things will not be easy with your father.”

” So, you know who he is?”

Eve looks cross at Chad. “ Look here. Whatever you want to think about me. I’m not a slut. I’ve slept with only two men in my entire life: TC and your father.”

Chad looks at her. “ Are you serious?”

Eve looks uncomfortable. “ Yes, I’m serious. Things would be difficult with your father.”

Chad picks up her hand and motions her to stop. “ See. That’s why I don’t even want to go there. ‘Difficult’. Why the fuck should I remotely want ‘difficult’, when I’ve got a man right here who cares for me and wants to mentor me. I’m a little old for a ‘Daddy’. I need a man to help me fulfill my dreams as a man. Somehow, I don’t think the asshole who knocked you up is exactly that man. But, hey, I’ll go by your advice. If you tell me that my father will give me better support than Coach Russell, I’ll tell you right here and now to go tell them. So, what’s it going to be?”

Eve had to think about things. She was faced with an awful choice. She and Julian had spoken of their son. There were times when she believed him when he said that he would love their son. But, now, faced with the prospect of telling him, she didn’t know what to do. Chad was offering her a choice. She could tell everyone the truth, and we don’t know how it would all work out. At the very least, her marriage and family would explode. She didn’t know if she could trust Julian with the truth. What would happen if she told them all the truth, and Julian turned his back on his son, like he had done with her all those years ago.

Then, there is the question of Alistair. Eve knew that something had happened with Chad, and though she didn’t know all the details, she knew this much was true: it reeked of Alistair. How could she trust that Julian WOULD stand up to Alistair THIS TIME, when he hadn’t any other time? Could she trust Julian to do right by her son, or would he be thrown to the wolves?

On the one hand, didn’t Julian have the right to know that their son was alive? On the other hand, TC was extending a hand to her son, and he didn’t know it. Without knowing, he was loving Chad. With Chad knowing the truth, there’s no way that the girls could get hurt by being involved with him.  She could have all three of her children in her life. Sure, they couldn’t reveal things to the rest of the world, but, who says that has to be permanent? Maybe, in time, they could reveal the truth to TC, and he could understand. At the very least, it would give time for her to develop a relationship with her son, without being worried that it would blow up in her face.

Eve looked at Chad. Really looked at him. For the first time, she realized that he had Julian’s eyes. But, the Julian that she knew back then, not the Julian that she could barely look at without being disgusted.

” I….I guess, for now, that there’s no need to tell TC and the girls the truth. I want you in my life, Chad. And, I think that TC would be better for you. I can’t promise you anything about your father’s reaction .”

Chad nodded, “ Just what I thought. Well, I’ve made up my mind. Keep quiet. We have things to work through, but, I see a ticket to my future, and, I’m not giving up the bond I have with Coach for some guy that’s not reliable. I’ll talk to Whitney. I’ll make sure she understands that nothing’s going to happen with us. “ Chad looked at Eve. He was really confused right now, and needed to get out of there. “ I have to go.”

“ Chad?”

” Yeah?”

” Thank you for giving me a chance. I know that we can work through things over time.”

” Don’t count your chickens. I need time. “

” Ok.”

Chad walked out, and Eve began to cry. She didn’t know what to do. She had been preparing herself for a divorce, and now, it seemed like it wasn’t going to happen. She wiped her face and left TC’s office.
 

Chad was walking in the park, when he saw a familiar face.

“ Theresa?”

Theresa looked up at Chad. She was crying. Chad sat down beside her.

“ Ethan.”, Chad simply says.

” Yep. I guess I have a few good cries left in me about him.”

” I guess so.”

“ Chad, I’m not going to be good company tonight.”

” Theresa, you’re the only company that I can deal with right now. I….I saw Eve.”

“ You did? What happened?”, Theresa said curiously, glad to listen to anything taking her away from her troubles.

“ I guess I should begin at the beginning. I went to Coach Russell’s office to tell him the truth. I was ready, Theresa. I was going to blow his mind and her world.”

“ And?”

“ When I got there, the man had a surprise for me. You can’t imagine what it was. He is going to help put me through college, Theresa. COLLEGE. He had everything ready for my first semester.”

“ Wow. Is this something Dr. Russell suggested?”

Chad shook his head. “ That’s what I thought too. But, it was all him. He decided this on his own. He wanted me to have it. Theresa, NEVER in my life had I had anyone have this kind of faith in me. NEVER.

But, he does. He cares for me that much. He supports me, Theresa. How could I hurt this man like that? How could I? For the first time, I have the possibility of having a relationship with a real mentor. But, more than that. The man is offering me a place in his life. He WANTS ME, Theresa. Me.”

“ So, you didn’t tell him.”

” No, I couldn’t tell him. I couldn’t. Then…SHE came.”

“ Oh.”

” Yes, Oh. She came to tell him about me.”

” No!”

“ Yep.”

“ So. What happened?”

” He got called away for a meeting, and we talked. She told me she came to tell him, and I told her that she didn’t need to tell about her mistake, and she countered that I wasn’t a mistake, and then, she had the nerve …”

“ What?”

” She pulled out this old shoebox….and, it…it had baby clothes in it. She says that they were for me.”

“ Really? She kept your stuff?”

“ Theresa, don’t go soft on me. How am I supposed to know that they were real. She gave me some song and dance about them being in the back of her closet.”

Theresa looked at Chad. “ Chad…was this a white baby outfit. Several things?”

“ Yeah..”, Chad said hesitantly.

” Chad, I think she’s telling the truth. Awhile ago, when I was trying to find a song for Crystal to sing so that Ethan would admit his love for me, Whitney and I went to her parent’s room. We went into the closet. There was a shoebox, in the back of the closet. Far in the back. And, it had these baby clothes. At the time, Whitney and I thought they were probably Simone’s unused clothing…but, I believe it’s probably yours. “

Chad was stunned by Theresa’s admission. This just added more confusion to him. Eve could actually be telling the truth about the baby clothes? About her love for him? He didn’t know what to do. Once again, she was stripping the barriers from his hatred, but, he wanted to cling to it.

” Chad?”

” Yes, Theresa.”

” I had a visitor at home.”

” Who?”

” Whitney.”

“ Oh.”

” Yes. She came. Chad, she’s hung up on you. You have to..”

” I know…break her heart. And break my own. Theresa, how do I get over her?”

“ One day at a time. Why don’t we make a promise to one another. We’ll help one another. I can’t talk about Ethan and everything else with anyone else, and I’m the only one who knows the truth about your mother. We can help one another.”

” Theresa, I made Eve promise not to tell Coach Russell or Whitney and Simone. I don’t want for it to come out. I….I want a chance to be a part of a family. I need that.”

” Chad, I won’t tell anyone. And, I think you are right. I think you should get to know her. Chad, she’s a wonderful mother. I know she has nothing but love in her heart for you.”

” Sometimes, Theresa, I look at her, and I hate her. I simply hate her. But, other times, I look into her eyes, and I can see them pleading with me. Telling me that she does care about me. I want to believe her.”

” You can. “

” Well, I’ll take it one day at a time. Why don’t we go get some ice cream?”

“ Sounds good.”

Father Lonigan is preparing his weekly sermon when he hears a knock on his door.

” Come in.”

” Father Lonigan, it’s Eve Russell.”

” Come in, Eve.”

” Father Lonigan, I have something to tell you.”

” Chad revealed your relationship.”

” No…he didn’t. “

” He didn’t? When he left here earlier, he was so angry, I was sure that he was going to tell.”

” Oh, he intended to. He went to TC’s office, and he was going to tell him.”

” What stopped him?”

” TC did. TC offered to pay for his college education and be his mentor. Chad was touched.”

” I bet he was. “

“ He was. He accepted TC’s offer and told me not to tell him. He gave me the choice, Father. He said if I thought that his father would welcome him as TC did, then he would accept me telling TC. But, I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t tell him that Julian would accept him. Father, I’m keeping this secret from my husband and the father of my son.”

” You’re doing what your son has asked you to do. I don’t know Julian personally, but, I do know that you would be in the best position to tell Chad whether Julian wants to be in his life. I believe honesty is the best policy, Eve. But, I also know how tortured you are about this. I hope that one day you can be honest with everyone. But, maybe, you need to take this time and build a relationship with your son. I think if you have that relationship, it will possibly give you the courage to face your family. “

” Maybe. Well, I’m going home. Home…to my three children. The first time in my life I can say that, Father Lonigan.”

” God Bless You, Eve. And, your family.”

” Thank you, Father.”