MM's Heartbroken Bride

I really love to hate TCOT HB because of the suggestion that Kaitlynn could be Perry's daughter. So here are the MM's that kill all suggestions in that direction.

Warning: If you don't like romance, you better not read this.

(big thanks to Michelle Weiner who inspired me … thank you for your lovely stories, your romance... sigh...)

Two chapters. When I finish them, I'll get back to TCOT Envious Enemy, this one had to go out first...

SPOILERS FOR TCOT Heartbroken Bride!

Paris(h)

Of course, in other circumstances, she would have recognized his posture, but since the lights were off, and she thought he'd be in the office until late, she just hadn't expected him to be here. Waves of his scent were always present in her house, therefore also the scent that was Perry Mason was no warning to her that he was waiting for her.

So when she came into the kitchen and switched on the lights, the moment she saw him was the same moment her heart missed a beat from being startled nonetheless.

" Oh…. dear God…" her hand on her mouth, she steadied herself against the doorframe.

" No, it's just me … " he grinned, shaking his head, his eyes narrowed from the sudden light.

She chuckled low, and blew out a long breath. " I really didn't expect you here … " She put her purse down on the floor, " but I like a nice surprise … " Now she tilted her head, and gave him the radiant smile he was waiting for. The one with the smiling eyes and the pursed lips that started with a sweet blink. The one that made him melt.

He kept his face serious which made her look at him questioning. " I thought you'd be working late in the office. "

" That was my plan, yes …"

" So, what made you change your mind? "

" You. "

" Ohw. Am I in trouble, sir? "

" No." His voice was soft and low. He locked his eyes on hers.

" Something wrong? "

" No. " He sat back in his chair, in his typical pose, the one she loved so much, so dearly. One arm on the table, the hand of his other arm in his pocket, one leg crossed over the other. His handsome face serious, watching her.

She took him in completely, noticing her breathing heavied a little. It made her lips part. He was still so very attractive to her.

" Will you ever cease to amaze me, Della Street ? "

" Ehm … well, no. I'm not intending to. " She leaned back to the doorframe, and crossed her arms in front of her. " Why? "

" You saw Max coming to the office this afternoon … before you left. "

" Yeeesss… he said he wanted to talk to you alone. So I left. How is he ? "

" He's a, well, how he is supposed to be, devastated but determined to be strong for Kaitlynn. "

She nodded.

" Max told me something. Something he said he felt guilty about. " He carefully examined her reaction.

" Oh dear, Perry… did he confess to you? Did he kill Lon Hawks? " That scenario hadn't occured to her yet.

" No. I already found out who did it. Now I just have to find a way to prove it. No, Max didn't confess a murder to me. Not at all. " He shifted on his chair. " No, he told me that twenty-four years ago he visited someone to talk about a paternitytest he was planning to take. " He carefully examined her reaction again. His blue eyes watched her blushing face.

" I see. " She looked down to the floor, and swallowed.

" He said he talked to my secretary about it, and that he was surprised by her honesty and genuine concern. He was also quite surprised to find out she had a relationship with me, and that she was startled by his story, but understood him and persuaded him to do the test. "

" Yes. " She whiped the carpet with her foot.

" They had a very long talk. " He watched his hand making circles on the table. " They discussed the possible outcomes of the paternitytest and what it would mean to them and their relationships. "

She sighed. " Yes. "

" Max told me that they decided to let him do the test first, and if the outcome would be Max was not the father of the child, she would tell the other possible father, and she'd work things out with him, about the baby. About the future. "

Her sight became misty, and she whiped two little tears from the corners of her eyes with her index finger. He pretended not to see it.

" And if not, they decided to be silent about it. " his voice was soft.

" And so they were, " she sniffed softly.

" And so they were…" he repeated her words.

The long silence that followed was neither comfortable, nor uncomfortable. She queried his face, sought for an answer, was he angry, was he disappointed, was he hurt? She couldn't read him. He just sat there, watching her in a gaze that resembled, if anything, surprise. Astonishment. She decided to be the first to speak again. She had to swallow several times, before being sure her voice would come out right.

" You phoned me the morning after you spent the night with another woman when you were in Georgetown. You felt very bad about it, as I recall ... "

" Yes… "

" I asked you if you were sorry, and you said you were, and that you wanted me to be with you. You wanted to talk to me. And I came to see you, remember? "

" Yes… " He didn't move at all. His stare made her feel weak, insecure.

" Then you took me to Paris for a week, We had a gorgeous, romantic time there. You made me feel so secure about us, about our love, that I was sure that it was just a fling you had with the other woman, nothing really serious. "

" Yes…"

" I ehm … we talked about it, why you shouldn't have done it, and why you had done it, you said there had been two bottlles of wine involved and in all honesty you said you actually felt flattered because she was about 25 years younger than you were … "

" Yes … " His lips curled up into a small smile.

" U-uh." She grinned at his smile. " Well, and you were quite male at that time, as I recall. Testosteron and all, you know. When I come to think of it, you were even twice as male as you are now. And, not to mention of course, dropdead gorgeous … "

His lips curled up into a real broad smile now, but he still looked down at the table, drawing circles with his index finger. It frustrated her, that she still couldn't read him. And hadn't been able to do so for the past couple of days. What was going on in that brilliant mind in front of her?

" … and you still are, and not just to me. It's like Laura Parish said, you don't age, you just weather. And gain some weight ..." He just nodded. She continued. " We decided to leave your mistake where it happened, in Georgetown, and then when we came back from Paris, we kind of forgot about it and moved on, and… "

He nodded. " And... ? "

" And … " she swallowed hard, " ... then Max came to see me about a year later, and told me about his daughter, and his doubts about if he was her father. He showed me a picture of his wife, who had told him about you. I knew then that you had spent that night with her, with his Laura… I remember I was quite ironic about it, thinking, oh God… another Laura…" she smiled a small smile.

" And ? " His eyes stared out of the window into her garden. His fingers were tapping on the table. She wanted to grab him, to shake his shoulders, to jolt him, to demand that he would just tell her what he was thinking. To tell her how he felt.

" He wanted to take the paternitytest, he was very emotional about it, and…"

" And…"

" … we agreed that, if it turned out that the baby wasn't his, I would talk to you to have you take the test, and then we would probably learn Kaitlynn was yours, and …. "

" And… ? "

" … and, I insisted that he would give us time to work it out, that she would come to know you were her father, when she'd be a certain age. I wanted us to welcome her in our lives, in our homes, and that you would know you had a child that was yours … He said he would acknowledge that, but he wanted to raise her as his own together with Laura. I agreed with that of course, with all my heart, Perry, all the while knowing that it had been hard or us I couldn't give you children. " She sniffed.

" Della… "

" … I would never have taken away the possibility for you to be a father, to see your own flesh and blood grow up somehow. I know you had your struggles about wanting to be a parent, like I had mine. So, I told Max, that if you had begot a child, I would welcome it in my life and let it be part of yours. Ours. But … "

" But… ? "

" There was no need to tell you anything, because later that month Max told me the test had shown that he was Kaitlynn's father. "

" And you agreed to be silent about it, and so you were…"

" And so we were…"

After a long silence he stood up and rubbed his face. He leaned against the table, and grabbed his keys. Slowly, he walked towards her, and she held her breath. He was so close, she could take in his scent, she could hear his breathing, she could feel the warmth coming from his body. But he didn't touch her, he just stood there. She couldn't lift her eyes to meet his gaze. Afraid of what she might see.

" I need to think…" He turned his eyes up and watched the ceiling, as if to avoid her eyes.

" Perry ? What is it? "

" No, no, there is nothing, Della, it's not you, it's me."

" Well, but that still worries me, Perry... "

" You shouldn't, I'll be fine, Della, really. I just need to be alone for a while. "

" But Perry…"

He walked past her, taking away his warmth and his scent she had just dwelled in, taking away the arms she needed to be held with, the chest she wanted to lay her head against. The sound of his leaving footsteps pierced her ears. The frontdoor opened and closed silently.

She stood still for a very long time in her kitchen, trying to figure out what had happened there. Thousands of thoughts and feelings went throughout all of her body, she tried to swallow her tears, unsuccesfully.

Surely, she was convinced there was nothing wrong with what she had just said. It was the truth. She had handled in his best interest at that time, in her own, and in Max's, Laura's and Kaitlynn's. Laura had a severe postnatal depression, Perry was involved in a very difficult case about the murder of young twins, and she and Max had just been dealing with Max's doubts. That turned out to be unfounded.

She decided to take a long hot bath, and gathered herself together, preparing for whatever it was that was going to happen, when he came back.

If he came back.

And he did.

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