More Than This

Sequel to “It’s Gonna Be Love” & “With or Without My Love”

Chapter 11 – The Realization of a Father

“I’m pregnant!” she yelled at the top of her lungs.

Chase was in utter shock, he couldn’t even mumble a single word. He stared wide-eyed at her, while she wore an expression of sympathy and hatefulness on her face. At this moment, he needed to think, he needed to try and get things straight… oh geez, he needed to sit down.

Leaning on the wall to the right of him, he tried to regain a steady breath. It was about six minutes after the confession was made, the confession that changed every problem they each shared. Finally regaining his voice back, he spoke. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

She couldn’t help but feel guilty after hearing the hurt in his voice. Her eyes remained on the floor and when she snuck a glance at him, she saw his head draped low, not even bothering to look at her.

It was true that her secret was bigger than his, but that doesn’t solve anything. It doesn’t solve why Rebecca was here in the first place or why he is working with her of all people.

Another few minutes passed with no reply and finally Zoey bit her lip in nervousness. “I was scared…” That was all she could say? Well, it was the truth, but to Chase, he took it a whole different way.

“You were scared? Of what? Of telling me?” His head was up high again, having full eye contact on her again. He watched as she shook her head ‘no’.

A strand of her hair was in her face and she gently tucked it behind her ear, still not looking at him. “Chase… isn’t it obvious why I didn’t want to tell you?”

He simply shrugged, “To everyone, but me I guess.”

Feeling the tears form in her the corner of her eyes once more, she tried to blink them away. Turning her head, fiercely at him, she yelled, “BECAUSE OF YOUR CAREER!” She didn’t mean to scream it at him, but she was getting irritated at him. Maybe it was just the conflict of the matter, mixed with her crazy pregnancy emotions. Poor hormonal Zoey…

Practically jumping in the air at the sudden outburst from his wife, Chase wore an expression of shock. Now he knew best to not get on her nerves, especially in her condition at the moment, but that didn’t stop him to finishing their argument.

“Oh,” Chase quietly replied. Everything came back to him, like a vision in his mind. The tiny bump on her stomach, the big sweatshirts she had been wearing, the sneaking around, the quiet dinners, the fortune cookie… oh the fortune cookie… everything.

“Oh, that’s all you can say! That’s all you can possibly say, Chase. Why don’t you-”

“Now Zoey,” he interrupted her, stepping closer to her.

“No, stop right there! Don’t come any closer!” She had her finger pointed at him to stop dead in his tracks, and he obeyed. “I only have one question for you,” her voice was calmed down a little. “Did you kiss her?”

He quickly asked, “Who?”

“Who else!? Rebecca!”

“No…” he replied, while she breathed a relief. The words that remained in his mind, he said them aloud. He knew not to say them, but it was better if she knew the truth or wasn’t it. “But… she tried to kiss me.”

After those words were said, she tightly shut her eyes, while tears streamed down her face. Her uncontrollable emotions of her pregnancy took over her, while it forced her to hastily walk the remaining steps between the two. “You need to get out,” she quietly said.

“Zoey, but-”

“Chase, please just get out. Go! Now!” She started pushing him towards the door, opening it up with one arm. He could already hear the pouring rain outside and he had no idea what to do. With one last push from her, he was standing under the cloudy night sky, with his still drenched clothes from before. And with a slam of the door, he felt like kicking himself mentally.

On the inside, Zoey slid down the door, crying. Her arms encircled around her knees as she tears continued to slide down her face. All she wanted to do now was to run out to Chase, but something was stopping her. All the mixed emotions in her were confusing her entire body, mind and she was being controlled by them.

Talk about drama…

So, Chase stood there, eyes remaining on the front door still, shocked at what scenario had just taken place between him and Zoey. It may have been five minutes now and he was getting soaked, but he had nowhere to go. Well, he had a few choices.

With a sigh escaping his bare lips, surely it won’t be the last of that night, he made his way down the steps. Eyes darting towards the garage door, he was reminded that his keys were inside and that just made the situation worst. His hands were shoved in his pockets and he walked down the street to the first place that came to his mind.

--More Than This--

Zoey was remaining by the door on the inside and when she finally got control of her emotions, she stood up and grasped the handle. She swung it open, only to find her beloved husband gone and a strong wind left behind that brushed against her skin and made her shiver. Covering her arms, she let the tears flow to once more and quietly closed the door.

Gently wiping the tears from her face, she thought deep in mind as she bit her lip. Then it sprung to her… she didn’t even get the chance to tell him that they were having twins. Twins!

“Oh well that’s just great,” she told herself in a sarcastic way.

Just then, she felt tiny kicks and couldn’t help but smile, even after all that’s happened. Looking down at the bump that was clearly more visible now… to everyone, she placed a hand atop and spoke softly to the unborn twins. “Everything’s going to be okay, Daddy will be home soon.”

--More Than This--

Stepping up the entrance stairs of a different house, Chase lowered his head and watched as the beads of water dripped from his wet hair. He lifted a hand and knocked softly on the door, hoping someone was home.

He then heard someone unlocking the door and in less than a second the door was swung open wide, revealing a dirty Michael and many lit candles behind him. To be more specific, Chase could tell that there was a sort of food fight going on between him and his son, Zach.

Michael was surprised to see Chase there in the first place and by the expression worn on his friend’s face, he knew something was wrong. “Chase, come inside.”

“Thanks, Michael.” Chase entered through the door and stood off to the side, until Michael closed the door.

Michael turned towards him and said, “So, something must be wrong, I’m guessing?”

“Well, yeah. A lot is wrong, I mean, well… tonight was a disaster!” Chase plopped down on the couch, putting his head in his hands.

Michael rolled his eyes, remembering Chase’s problems at PCA that involved Zoey. “Alright, tell me what happened with Zoey.”

Chase lifted his head up to look directly at Michael, rambling on about how Zoey was pregnant. “She’s pregnant, Michael! Pregnant and she didn’t even tell me that she was!”

“Oh so you heard… finally,” Michael said calmly.

“Wait, you knew?!”

“Well… umm, yeah.”

“Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“Okay, Chase, calm down.”

“How can I calm down, when my wife just told my she was pregnant for like weeks and just kicked me out!”

“Whoa, whoa, pause right there. She kicked you out?”

“Didn’t I say that before?”

“No, but what did you do this time?”

Chase sighed, closing his eyes. “It’s a long story.”

There was a long silence between them and Michael snuck a few glances at his friend who was still deeply focused on the subject. “Chase, why don’t you get some sleep and we’ll talk about it tomorrow. Alright?”

“I guess that’s the best idea.”

--More Than This--

It was four hours later when Chase was still wide-awake as he had trouble getting to sleep. How could you sleep when all you had on your mind was what went wrong? Too much was on his mind, he was giving himself a headache. With a groan he got up from the couch and decided to get a glass of water.

Through the darkness of the house, he made his way towards the kitchen. Using the flashes of lightning for his guide, he carefully took a glass and filled it with water.

“Michael?” A flashlight turned on directing right on to him. “Oh, Chase.”

When the person lowered the light, he noticed it was Lola. Well, duh, who else would it be? “Yeah, it’s me. Did I wake you?” Chase replied.

“No.” Lola made her way towards the table and took a seat. “I just can’t sleep during the thunderstorm, don’t know how Zach and Michael can. What about you?”

“I would like to think that the thunderstorm is keeping me up, but unfortunately it isn’t.” He took a seat right across from her, placing the glass of water on the table beside him. “So, did you know about it too?”

“You know I do, so why bother asking.”

Chase quirked an eyebrow up and asked jokingly, “What are you a mind-reader?”

Lola let out a few laughs, smiling brightly. “You’re not the only one who thinks that.” Chase chuckled at her statement, but soon their laughter died down and into silence they both went.

It was quite awkward for both wanted to ask the other many questions, but didn’t know if they should. The flashlight started flickering a bit, meaning the battery was soon dying. Through the small light supply they had, Lola noticed Chase’s face. It wasn’t hard to miss even in the dark maybe.

“I’m sure Zoey is okay,” Lola said reassuringly. Chase just stared at her, it was funny how she knew what was on his mind and at times it wasn’t, he nodded in reply. “I mean, the three of them are all okay. You have no need to worry.” Chase was about to nod once more, until he heard the number three.

“Three?”

Lola continued smiling, “Yep, Zoey and the twins.”

“Twins?”

She then stared wide-eyed, noticing what she said. “Wait, she didn’t tell you?”

“Obviously, no.” Chase crossed his arms over his chest in an annoyed way. “First, she doesn’t tell me she was pregnant and now this.” Again, Chase rambled on with the same exact words he told Michael and Lola tried to interrupt him, but simply couldn’t. “And kicked me out, could my night get any worse?”

Lola sighed, “Are you done?” Chase nodded. “So you’re saying your night was a complete wreck?” Again, Chase nodded. “Finding out that you’re going to be a father of not only one child, but of two, made your night worse?”

Realizing what Lola was trying to point out, Chase’s frown started to fade away. “Oh my god. Lola, I’m going to be a father.” And a smile grew onto his face, making all the despair disappear from before. “Me, a father, Lola!”

He quickly got up from his seat and pulled Lola’s up by two hands, squeezing them gently. “Can you believe this!?”

Lola still couldn’t help but smile, but knew that people were sleeping. “Chase, lower your voice. Zach is sleeping.” It’s as though she jinxed her own words, when a sudden baby cry was heard down the hallway. She gave him a look-what-you-did-now look, now pulling both hands out of his and placing them on her hips, like an annoyed mother.

Chase, coming back to reality, gave her an apology look. “Here, why don’t I put him back to sleep? I already caused you all a lot of trouble, it’s the least I can do.”

“But Chase, he’s not good with others…” Before she could finish the rest of her sentence, Chase dashed off through the house, leaving the flashlight where it was, still flickering in the dark room.

--More Than This--

It was past midnight, when Zoey rolled over on her side, still wide-awake. She knew the storm wasn’t keeping her up; she would like to think that it was, but it was obvious what the real reason was.

“I wonder where he is,” she thought. Then her eyes widened at the sudden thought as she quickly sat up in bed. “What if he’s at her house? No, Zoey, don’t start jumping to conclusions, I’m sure he’s just… what if he came back? What if he’s sitting on the doorstep?”

With that last thought in mind, she pulled her legs over to the edge of the bed and walked through their dark house. She came closer to the front door and reached her hand out to grasp the door knob. The cold feeling of it made shivers go down her spine. She turned the knob with her strength and opened it slightly.

She peeked out the door only to find no one there and again she felt guilty. When will the guilt go away? Feeling the tears for again, she gently closed the door and walked back to her room, where she knew she wasn’t going to get any sleep.

--More Than This--

“And you’re daddy was the funniest of everyone. Telling joke after joke, trust me, whenever he came near, you knew there was laughter nearby in the future. He was on the football team too, because he was strong, like you will be when you grow up,” he softly spoke to the baby boy.

Chase was in the rocking chair, the one where Lola and Michael would usually sit to get their son to sleep. He rocked it slowly and was gently caressing the top of the baby’s head. The crying had stopped minutes ago and Zach wore an innocent baby look on his face, while his eyes kept closing but then reopening.

“And your mommy, well I must say she had a great taste of style and she still does. But what your mommy could do was trick people into thinking she was someone else. She could trick everyone but me… okay she could trick all of us. But your mommy was a great girl, woman, lady, whatever you want to call her. And…” Chase looked down to see the baby fast asleep, drooling a little on his sleeve, but Chase didn’t mind.

He slowly got up from the chair, careful not to wake the child in slumber. Placing him gently in the crib, she pulled the blue and white blanket on top and smiled down at the baby once more. “Night,” he said quietly.

As he turned around, he came face-to-face to Lola, who had tears in her eyes. “Uh-oh what did I do now?” First, he makes Zoey cry, then the baby, now Lola, whose next… Michael? He took a few steps closer to her and was finally able to speak. “Are you okay, Lola?”

She nodded and then closed the remainder steps between them, while she hugged him tightly. He was a bit taken back, but then closed his arms around her. She stood up on her toes and whispered in his ear, “Chase, you’re going to make a great father.”

Hearing that, well Chase couldn’t explain how great that sounded, how great it made him feel. Here Lola was crying, which he still didn’t fully understand yet, but with the last comment from her he smiled so wide. “Did you hear every word I said?”

Wiping the tears off her face, she responded. “Just when you finished talking about Michael and then I heard everything else.” Silence filled the room and they pulled out of their friendly hug, but smiles still remained. “You really are going to make a great father.”

“Thanks Lola, that means a lot.”

“And if I were in your place, I would be going back to your house to talk things over with Zoey, because I’m sure she isn’t sleeping.”

“But how can I get in if she-”

She held up a pair of keys, “Zoey always thought I would need it, just in case of emergencies. And right now, this is an emergency.”

Chase smiled again and hugged Lola. “You’re the best.” He reached out of their friendly embrace and headed for the door. He looked over his shoulder and whispered, for the baby’s cause, “Thanks.”

Lola simply nodded and heard him race out the front door and into the night. “Hopefully,” she thought, “this will all end well very soon.”

A/N: Wow, so umm long time since I updated. I’m so sorry. For the beginning of my absence I was very busy and then later I sort of forgot about writing. I know, how could I forget? I guess it being summer and all. Well, bad news and good news. Bad news is I’m leaving this Sunday for sleep away camp(2-3 weeks), but good news when I get back there should be updates right away. I’ll be back on track. I’m hoping to update “The Golden Couple” soon as well as “Embrace Tomorrow”.

Anyways, I hope everyone is having a great summer and I’m sorry. And I’m very sorry that I have to leave it there with a sort of cliffhanger. Love ya! Bye!

-Jo

P.S. Excerpt for next chapter on profile!