Brady picked up the phone, "Hello?"
"Hello, I'm looking for Chloe Lane?" a man's voice said.
"May I ask who is calling?"
"This is Craig Wesley."
"The doctor who treated Savannah."
"Yes, how is she?"
"Back at school today, she's doing fine. That's not why you called though, is it?
"No. Um, can I talk to Chloe?"
"Do you have some sort of proof that she is you wife's daughter?"
"Does this really concern you?"
"She's the woman I love. Everything about her concerns me."
"We have adoption records and Chloe's blood type matches with Nancy's."
"Where did you get Chloe's blood type?"
"It's in Savannah's medical records. She has the same blood type as her mother."
"Which she are we talking about now?"
"Sorry. Nancy, Chloe and Savannah all have the same blood type."
"Ah. Why did you call exactly? To set up a meeting?"
"Yeah. Nancy is really interested in getting to know Chloe and Savannah."
"It probably won't go as smoothly as you hope. Chloe has some pretty strong abandonment issues. But she'll avoid making a scene in public. Probably. Maybe. You should suggest meeting at the Brady Pub."
"Thanks. Will you be there?"
"Only if she wants me to be. I'll get her for you."
*****
"Is this really a good idea Brady?"
"Aren't you curious to hear what she has to say?"
"A little."
"Well, we're here. Once we go in you can't changer your mind."
"I can always change my mind. It just may be difficult to leave." Brady held the door open for her and they entered. Nancy spotted them immediately.
"Oh, Chloe," she cried, ready to break into tears of joy. Chloe smiled nervously as the strange woman embraced her.
"Hi. You're Nancy, right? Um… I don't know what to say."
"Oh don't say anything baby it's just so good to see you. And so grown up. You're so beautiful. You've still the same eyes as when you were born; so alive and curious."
"Really?! I always thought I looked sad and jaded."
"Oh no darling. Not at all."
Craig, Nancy, Chloe and Brady sat and ate together while Nancy extolled Chloe's virtues. On her part Chloe was amused at the chatty woman. Nancy had yet to stop talking. In fact things seemed to be going very well until:
"Oh Chloe, you must come home with us. Craig and I would love for you to live with us so you can go to school. We'd be glad to adopt Savannah and take care of her. You deserve a normal life, not living off your boyfriend's charity or burdened with the responsibility of a child-"
"We're leaving," Chloe interrupted coldly.
"What?!" Nancy exclaimed. Craig, still in shock from what Nancy had just said, merely sat there. Chloe and Brady stood and gathered their things. "Where are you going?!"
"Home. Work. I don't' know. Somewhere away from you," Chloe said absently.
"You can't."
"Why not?"
"You can't keep living like this. You deserve to have a free life with us. With me."
"I have a free life, one you didn't bother to ask about. I have a career I enjoy. I career that I earned on my own merits. I do not live off my boyfriend's charity. I have a lovely little house and an amazing family. My daughter is not and has never been a burden." Chloe was never more angry in her life. She got right in Nancy's face. "My daughter is the best thing to ever happen to me. She is smart and beautiful and mine!"
"That's how I feel about you Chloe. You're my daughter. I just want what's best for you."
"I suppose that's why you gave me away then? That's why you didn't start looking for me until I was 18?"
"I am your mother! You will not speak to me this way!"
"I don't need a mother! I've never had a mother. I grew up without a mother and-" Nancy cut her off with a slap across the face. Chloe didn't seem surprised. "That I grew up with," she stated sadly. "That I had."
Chloe and Brady headed for the door. Before stepping through, Chloe turned to Nancy once more. "Stay away from me and stay the Hell away from my daughter."
*****
Chloe slammed the front door behind her, storming into her house. Brady opened the door holding his nose, which was bleeding.
"Diva, I know it was bad but do you have to take it out on me and the door?" When she saw Brady bleeding all of Chloe's anger melted away.
"Oh Brady I'm so sorry. Here," she made him sit while she got tissues. "Lean you head back. There. Do you hear crying?"
He listened. "Belle?!" The couple rushed into the kitchen to find Belle weeping at the table.
"I didn't (sob) tell her. She (sob, sniffle) got back together with- (crying full out)" Belle buried her face in Chloe's shoulder. "And Philip (hiccup) was so- so angry (sob), he said I was (sob) stringing him along and (hiccup) that I was a tease and-" she cried harder.
"Looks like we both had a shitty lunch. My birth mom wanted to take Savannah as her own so I could have a normal life. Like this isn't normal." Tears started to fall down Chloe's cheeks. "Fucking fate. Just when life starts getting great."
*****
Back at the Wesley house…
"Oh Craig. She should have a normal life and do teenager things not… not this."
"Nancy I think she's fine. I think she enjoys her life and is happy."
"Happy?! How can she be happy when she's so tired down this young?" Nancy reasoned. "She's not happy. I could see it in her eyes. A mother knows these things. We have to help her Craig. Somehow."
*****
On the other side of the World…
"We've found her, sir. We've found your daughter. Chloe Lane, now of Salem, USA."