Collision Course, Chapter 32
 

Eve was waiting on the outskirts of town in an isolated part of the park when Julian drived up. He got out of his car and sat down on the bench next to Eve.

" Eve, what is wrong? Why did you want to meet with me?"

" I'm sorry to upset your day, Julian.", Eve  said with sarcasm.

" Well, you should be. My daughter had an upsetting night, and I wanted to spend as much time with her today as I can."

Hearing about Penny, Eve immediately regretted what she had said to Julian. " I'm sorry, Julian. I didn't know that you were dealing with Penny. How is she?"

" Well, her body's beginning to heal, and she had a horrible night. She was in a lot of pain. But, Ivy and I spent the night with her, trying to make her feel better."

" You and Ivy together?"

" Yes, Eve. Ivy and I can have a civil conversation. We DO have four children together. We love our children."

Eve looked at Julian. For the first time, she really looked at him as a father. There were so many labels that she could pin on Julian. So many things between them that had gone wrong. But, Chad wasn't one of them. Chad was the ONE right thing that they did together. And, she realized that if she was going to protect Chad, she needed Julian's help.

" Julian….I don't even know how to begin all of this. I'm still trying to process it myself, and it ebbs and flows for me."

Julian looked at Eve. Her demeanor was relaxed, but serious. Whatever she had to tell him was definitely not a light matter.

" Then, just tell me Eve. Whatever it is."

" Ok…..Awhile ago, I was doing a favor for a young man. His name is Chad Harris. "

" Yes. He works at the Book Café. He was the one who almost caught us together that night."

" I know. "

" You didn't like him back then. You're doing favors for him now?"

" Yes. Our relationship has grown. He came to Harmony trying to find his parents."

" I remember Ethan telling me something about that."

" Yes. Well, I was helping him. I ran a DNA search for him."

" Do you know how expensive those are, Eve? You just can't.."

" YES, Julian. I know how expensive they are. But, I did it anyway, because I thought Chad deserved a chance to know. So, I found out who his parents are."

" They were in the hospital database?"

" Yes."

" So, what does this have to do with me?"

" Julian, don't you get it. WE are his parents."

Julian looked at Eve in total shock.
 

Simone found Chad working at the Book Café. She gave him the 'Evil Eye'.

" So, Whitney told you."

" That you were a jerk to her, yes."

Chad knew it was an uphill battle, but he had to explain himself to Simone.

" Simone, I didn't want to be a jerk to Whitney, which is why I cooled things with her. You have no idea how much I respect Whitney AND you. I've never had a friend like you."

" You totally hurt Whitney!"

" No, totally hurting her would have been to lead her on even more, and get her to totally fall in love with me knowing that I didn't feel the same way. I can't say that I'm proud that it got as far as it did. I'm a guy, and sometimes, we just like to prove to ourselves that women are attracted to us."

" If that was your plan, what stopped you?"

" To be honest, YOU did Simone."

" Me?"

" Yes. When I was being slandered by those Tiffany rumors, you stood up for me. You took me on blind faith, and showed me what true friendship was. I had to take a good, long look at myself. I had to ask myself if I was doing the right thing by Whitney, and then, I realized the depth of what I was about to do to her to assuage my ego. I couldn't do it. I'm sorry I hurt Whitney as much as I did, but, I had been trying to back off and discourage her. I respect her, and you. I would feel awful if I have lost your friendship."

Simone looked at Chad. He's not the hero she thought him to be. He was human. But, he wasn't horrible. He had just made a mistake. People make mistakes. Simone knew that better than anyone. She also knew that something inside of her had connected with Chad the first moment she saw him. At first, it was a crush, and then she deluded herself into thinking it was something more. But now, even through all of this, she still felt drawn to him. She knew that there was good in him, and she felt that she needed him in his life.

" You haven't lost my friendship, Chad. But, you need to tread lightly around Whitney for awhile. She's still very hurt. I hope that you never do this to another girl, Chad."

" I won't Simone. I have learned my lesson. I have learned what friendship is, and what kind of a friend I want to be in return. Thank you for giving me another chance."

Chad hugged her and she surprised herself by responding. She doesn't know why it makes her happy that they've made up.
 

" What did you just say?", Julian asked.

" I said that Chad Harris is OUR son. Yours and mine."

Julian shakes his head. " NO. It can't be. Our little boy died the same day that he was born."

" No. We were led to believe that our son had died. In truth, he had lived and was switched with a baby that had died."

Julian shook his head. " How….how?"

" Julian, I don't know how. I haven't gotten the entire story, but, I've got enough so that I'm sure that our son is alive, in Harmony, and that his name is Chad Harris. "

" Alistair.", Julian said bitterly.

Eve nodded. " That is my guess. I think your father wasn't going to take any chances that your heart would stay hard to me and our child. He knew what a child meant to both of us. So, he decided to eliminate the one true bond between us."

Julian shook his head. " It makes sense. I don’t know why I'm surprised. How could I be? I know what a monster Alistair is."

" Yes, he IS a monster."

Julian looked at Eve. " He KNOWS, doesn't he? T hat Chad is our son?"

" Yes. He contacted me today. Julian, I'm scared. I can't let anything happen to Chad. I can't. I couldn't take it. I don't have it in me.", Eve said, as she began to cry.

Julian moved over and drew Eve into a hug. He let her cry for a few moments. When she pulled away from him, she looked into his eyes. They were full of sympathy.

" Julian, there's more.  Chad knows that he's my son. I told him. I haven't told my family. Chad asked me not to. He doesn't know about you. We haven't discussed his father. To be honest Julian, I had no intentions of telling you about Chad. Not for awhile. I wanted my family to get used to having Chad around. I wanted them to really get to know him. TC went to Chad and told him that he was going to sponsor his college education."

" TC did that?"

Eve nodded. " All on his own. His idea. I saw it as an opportunity. To get my son and my husband closer. Get them bonded. In my idealism, I had hoped that TC would grow to love Chad so much that it wouldn't matter when the truth came out. That was my dream. But, then..Alistair called. And, I got scared, Julian. I don't want him hurt."

" What did Alistair want?"

" For me to continue my silence with regards to his paternity."

Julian nods. " What do you want, Eve?"

" Julian, I don't know. I wanted what I got last night. I had dinner with my husband, and my three children. It was the happiest night of my life. I could barely contain my joy. But, most of all, I want Chad alive and SAFE."

Julian and Eve sat there for awhile, and then Julian spoke up,
" We shouldn't tell Chad about me being his father. It won't do him any good. It will only open him up for pain right now. I doubt that he would be able to handle it, and I know that neither one of our families is ready. Penny is small child, and she's mending. I can't risk her recovery. Your family is willing to open themselves up to Chad. He needs to be able to get to know you, Eve. He needs the time. No more bombshells. I won't let on to Father that I know about Chad. I'll make no moves towards Chad, but, I'm going to hold you to keeping me updated with regards to the happenings in his life."

Eve nodded. " I can do that."

" Our son needs for us to do the best that we can for him. What's best now, is that he begins to truly get his shot in life. The foundation of that is a good education. And forming emotional ties with the one person on Earth who always wanted him - you."

Eve cried.

" You've always fought for our son, Eve. Against everyone, you fought for him. Thank you."