As Taylor walked in the mall, she heard someone call her name.
"Um… Mrs. Danforth?" A meek looking woman said, approaching Taylor. The first thought that came to Taylor's mind, was that she was a fan of Chad. Taylor put on her best smile and turned to face the woman.
"Yes?" Taylor asked sweetly, preparing herself to sign anything the woman offered to her. Taylor couldn't help but gaze at the baby, who looked like someone she knew, in the woman's arms.
"I'm so sorry… I'm really, really sorry." The women said as she began to sob. Immediately Taylor's smile faded away.
"Here sweetie, let's go sit down…" Taylor suggested, leading the sobbing girl to a secluded table. "Now what are you sorry for?" Taylor asked, extremely concerned, at why the poor woman was crying. As Taylor expected, when the baby began to notice her mother cry, she began to wail softly. When the woman finally calmed down enough to speak, she began to explain.
"Well first… My name is Keisha Young. My baby's name is Corrina Riley Danforth." When the woman paused, Taylor's heart dropped in her stomach, maybe it's just a coincidence with the last name. Taylor shook off her suspicious and continued to listen. "I met your husband at a party in Chicago. I swear I didn't know he had a girlfriend, much less a-wife." Keisha began crying again.
"Honey calm down… just finish telling me." Taylor sighed, praying that this wasn't going where she was thinking.
"I met him and we had sex… I swear I didn't know I'd get pregnant, he didn't even tell me the condom broke… or he didn't know himself." Keisha continued, the tears steadily pouring down her face.
All emotions were running through Taylor's head at that moment. Anger, hate, regret, hostility, and most of all disbelief. How could he have left this girl, who didn't look more than 18, alone and pregnant in New York?
"When I found out I was pregnant, I couldn't even get in touch with him… I was so alone, and scared. I told my parents about the baby and they helped me. When I told them I wanted to move to LA, to purse my career as a dancer, they told me, I had to take Corrina too. They still send enough money to feed, clothe, keep a roof over her head and put Corrina in daycare. I swear I'm not making this up, I'm not here for money… I just want him to kn-" Keisha paused again, this time to calm a screaming Corrina.
"May I hold her?" Taylor asked, suddenly wanting to prove to herself, this woman was in fact, not lying. As Keisha handed Corrina to Taylor, Corrina looked up at Taylor, and all Taylor saw was Chad. His eyes, his hair, his face, his smile. There was no denying this little girl was his.
"How old is she?" Taylor asked, feeling oddly maternal as she cradled the fragile creature in her arms.
"She'll be nine months, today." When Taylor thought about it, the time matched up perfectly, not that she doubted the woman. This woman was honestly, as she said, not here for money. She just wanted this child to know her father, even when the mother didn't know him herself.
"Tell you what Keisha, you can call this number," Taylor said, writing Chad's cell phone number on a piece of paper, after she'd handed Corrina back to her mother. When Taylor gave Keisha the number, Keisha almost burst into tears.
"Thank you so much… I didn't think it'd be right to tell you over the phone… I just want her to have a better life than I did. I didn't know my father, the man I always knew was my stepfather." Keisha explained, this time tears of joy flowing down her face.
When Taylor saw Keisha to her car, she got in her own, slowly processing everything that'd happened. How could the man she loved, and married, keep this from her? She would've been hurt, but eventually she would've forgiven him. After all, love and marriage was built on trust, right? As if someone alerted Gabriella, Taylor's phone began to ring. Reluctantly, she picked up, her voice still husky from her tears.
"Hey Tay! I was just thinking we sho-" Gabriella stopped in midsentence, when she heard Taylor sniffle. "What's wrong Taylor?" Gabriella asked, suddenly worried.
Slowly Taylor took a breath, and told Gabriella everything Keisha told her.
"So Keisha got pregnant and the baby is for Chad. The baby looks exactly like Chad and the baby's age and the timeframe, all fit together. You're a hundred percent sure this woman isn't lying?" Gabriella asked cautiously.
"Yes… The worse part about it was, she looks so young. The more I think about it, the more it makes me want to cry. He left her, alone to raise a child. She told me they'd used a condom, but must've broken and neither of them noticed. I don't even want to think about how having a baby at such a young age could've affected her mentally." Taylor explained, knowing that what she was feeling now, wasn't even to close to what Keisha had felt. Gabriella sighed, and for once, was speechless. Even Gabriella couldn't believe Chad had cheated on Taylor, much less got someone else pregnant.
Gabriella knew it hurt Taylor more than she let on, because Taylor and Chad had been trying to have a baby. Before he left for Chicago, they'd been trying with no success and Taylor had began to wonder if something was wrong with her. When Chad left, Gabriella remembered Taylor telling her they were going to try again when he got back.
"Are you going to confront him?" Gabriella asked. Gabriella knew Taylor was probably too hurt to even look at him, much less talk to him.
Meanwhile, when Keisha arrived at her apartment and put Corrina down for her nap, she stared at the number Taylor gave her. This was finally it. She would be able to do what she'd been hoping to do, since the day Corrina was born, and now as she looked at the number, she felt guilt grip her heart. One part of her said she shouldn't have told Chad's wife, but then the other part of her said she needed to know and that it was the only way, she'd get Chad to acknowledge his own daughter.
She finally got up the courage to dial it and her fingers shook as she pressed the numbers.
As soon as Taylor walked through the door of their house, she heard Chad's phone ring. A second later Chad picked up, obviously confused by the unknown number. Some masochist part of Taylor wanted to see him react. Letting that part win, Taylor sat down across from him in the living room.
"He-hello?" Keisha stammered, when Chad picked up.
"Yes, may I ask who's calling?" When Chad saw Taylor, he mouthed 'I love you' as he waited for the speaker to respond. To his surprise, Taylor glared at him.
"This is Keisha Young."
"And you are?" Chad asked, confused by the voice and especially the name.
"You met me in Chicago about a year ago." Keisha continued, feeling her palms sweat around the phone.
"I'm sorry Keisha but I don't remember you." Chad replied, still genuinely confused.
"The girl you had sex with Chad." Keisha replied, wanting to cry. How could the man who'd knocked her up, not even remember her name?
"What?" Chad asked, not sure if he heard Keisha right. The voice, name and reminder now caused the memory to come flooded back to him.
"You had sex with me, on my 18th birthday. You got me pregnant." When Keisha finally got out the words, feeling a huge weight lifted off her back, Chad almost dropped the phone, but he caught a hold of himself. "I'm not calling for money or anything; I just want you to acknowledge you have a daughter…" Keisha continued.
"I thought we used a condom…" Chad almost whispered into the phone, not wanting to let Taylor know.
"It broke and now you have a daughter, Corrina Riley Danforth. If you want you can see her and if you don't, I can just mail pictures." Keisha reasoned. "If you don't want to see her at all, I understand that too." Keisha finished off. "Just know you have a daughter… you can call me back if you want and if not just know…" With that, Keisha hung up.
When Chad put down his phone, he turned to Taylor.
"How could you leave her like that Chad? How could you leave an 18 year old girl, alone and pregnant in New York? Why didn't you notice the condom broke? Why would you cheat on me? The only part that actually makes me want to cry is the fact that we tried to have baby. She was just a kid…" Taylor trailed, the tears falling down her face.
"I didn't know. I don't know. Please don't cry baby. I don't know. I know baby. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Chad pleaded, shaking his head. He was still in shock over the fact that he'd gotten Keisha pregnant. He was sure he'd used a condom, but then again he was drunk. When he got back, he wasn't even sure if Keisha and him, had happened, all he remembered was waking up in his own hotel room, with a hangover from hell. As he began to cry himself, they both realized this was what everyone told them about when they got married. This was the test, just to see how much they loved each other.
"You-just-don't know how much that hurt Chad. Not only did you leave that girl alone, you left her pregnant and scared. To be honest with you, my heart truly fell apart when she told me how old the baby was. Everything Keisha told me made sense, and don't you dare ask for a blood test either. That child is yours. She has your eyes, you hair, your face and for god's sake, she even has your smile." Taylor continued, causing Chad's shoulders to hunch lower and lower in shame.
"I'm sorry baby. I really am. I don't know what happened that night. I thought I'd just leave her there and never hear from her again. I didn't know she was pregnant. I didn't know it broke. I didn't know she was that young. I didn't know." Chad paused to look at Taylor, and see the damage he'd done to her.
"I'm not even sure if I can I look at you right now, much less sleep in the same house with you. I need some time to think about this, about us." Taylor replied angrily, her tears now replaced with an ice cold glare.
"Is there any way we, I mean, I can make this up to you?" Chad asked, his honey brown eyes, glazed over with tears.
"First you can tell Keisha you'd like to see your baby. Then you can proceed to help her. When you do that, I might just see you as a better person. I'm not even giving you false hope in thinking that I'll be able to love you as much as I did. You have to earn back trust, Chad." Taylor said as she let a stray tear roll down her cheek. Everyone knew trust was easy to lose, but hard to gain. Chad nodded, and watched helplessly as Taylor walked up to the bedroom and then back down to foyer, with a suitcase and a carry-on bag.
"Taylor…" Chad whispered, his voice getting lost in the sound of the wind as Taylor opened the door and walked out.