"Michael, I have to tell you something.." she said nervously
"What is it?" He asked looking up
Her throat dried up, this was it, once she had told him there was no going back. She gave a small cough trying to clear her throat "What if you did have a child..." She said not looking at him and avoiding his questioning eyes
"What?" He asked
"Sadie..." She said quickly before she could think against it
Michael raised his eyebrows "What do you mean?"
"Sadie, she's yours.." Linda sighed
"She can't be" He scoffed
Linda looked him in the eye trying to confirm what she was saying was true
"I don't believe you" he said shaking his head
"Why would I lie!" She said getting up to go in the living room to check on her
Michael buried his head in his hands
Surely it couldn't be true. He couldn't have had a daughter all this time and not know about it, she wouldn't do that to him.
Sadie was still lay on the couch but her eyes were open, as she watched the tv that had been left on
"Hi darling" Linda smiled scooping her up in her arms as she gave her a hug. Sadie smiled, feeling comforted in the warmth of her mothers arms.
Michael walked in, he looked at Sadie, she looked just like a mini version of Linda, her golden blonde curly hair was up to her shoulders and she had bright blue eyes.
"Why would you tell me this now.." Michael said, his throat choked up
"Because you were going on about how much you wanted kids, I never even realised, that's why I didn't tell you about Sadie, I thought you wouldn't want to know, that you'd mess up her life" Linda said holding on to Sadie tightly
Sadie looked to Michael, her little mouth giving him a big smile.
He couldn't believe that was his daughter, he didn't even know her, he'd missed out on everything.
"Oh no.." Linda sighed as she heard the front door opened
"Hi" Ben said coming in then paused seeing Michael "Oh hi, you're the one who give Linda a lift aren't you?"
"Yeah, we were just having a catch up" Linda smiled
"So have you known each other for a long time?" He smiled
"We went to teacher training college together" Michael said awkwardly
"Was she still as small as she is now?" Ben laughed, oblivious to the awkwardness.
"A bit smaller" Michael said
"Is that even possible" Ben joked
"Shut up.." Linda said rolling her eyes
Sadie tottered over to Ben holding her arms out gesturing him to pick her up "Hey, you" he smiled picking her up as she snuggled into him rubbing her tired eyes.
Michael looked at Sadie. It was too late, she had already got a dad, Ben was a better dad than he could ever be. He wasn't going to screw her life up.
Michael's phone began to ring, it was Sian
He canceled the call "Thats Sian...I better be off"
"Bye mate" Ben said
"I'll see you out.." Linda said
"I won't mess up her life" Michael said when they were in the hall
"What?" She questioned
"I don't want to be in her life" He said "Your right we should end this, us."
"Right" Linda said, shocked that he didn't care "So your telling me you feel nothing?"
Michael gave a sarcastic laugh "What goes on in your head! You don't tell me I've got a daughter, let some other dad take over as her dad so now she'll grow up thinking her own dad never gave a ****!" he said hurting bad
"I'm so sorry.." She said "You always screwed me over! I just thought you'd mess her life up as well"
"Right, it's my fault?" He said raising his eyebrows
"I'm not saying that" She sighed
"You didn't have too" He said going out the door
"Michael..." She said going after him
"Get back to your fiancee Linda" He said getting into his car
"I'm so sorry" She mouthed to him through the car window to him before he drove off into the night.
Michael sighed as he walked through the front door when he got home, his heart ached.
"Thanks for running off!" Sian said coming from upstairs "I had to go home by myself from the hospital"
"Sorry I lost track of time" he sighed tiredly
"Were you with her?" She asked
"Yeah, not like that, I was asking her about what happened" He said looking at her tear stained cheeks
"What did she have to say for herself?" she asked
"Nothing much" He said "How are you?"
"Still a bit sore..." She said "I feel so empty"
He thought about Sadie, inside he hated how Ben had replaced him, how Linda hadn't told him. How he would never be a dad.
"We could still always try for another" He said "When your ready"
"Michael I told you, I can't" She sighed
"Why not, I thought you wanted kids just as much as I did" He said
"I did...I do, it's just I can't go through that again, I'm sorry" she said before going upstairs leaving an awkward atmosphere.
He sighed knowing that forgetting about Sadie and Linda wasn't going to be as simple as he planned.
'I want a DNA test' he texted Linda.
He needed to know Sadie was his for definite, if she was, he couldn't turn his back on her.