This is now moving into what should probably be called Part two. Going to attempt to be moving away from the child abuse storyline now, at least a little. A big thank you to those who are reading and especially reviewing! I'll keep going for as long as people want more (or I run out of things to say).
2 months later.
Robert was dressed even though it was still early in the morning and he leaned over Aaron, thinking hard as he looked at him. He had a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach which it seemed he could do nothing about. Or not yet, at any rate. Shaking his head, Robert stroked Aaron's face gently. "I have to go," he said lowly.
"Hmm?" Aaron murmured, waking up disorientated. "Why?"
"It… doesn't matter." Aaron looked at him, seeing that he was already dressed, then looked at the clock.
"It's six in the morning," he groaned. "Where do you possibly have to be?"
"It doesn't matter," he repeated. "I'll see you later." Robert kissed him gently then vanished. Aaron sat up in bed, feeling cold. He had a very bad feeling about this. The only thing he could think of that would have Robert leaving the flat at this time in the morning was… well, an affair. God, he wouldn't would he? Aaron answered his own question. Of course he would. Robert'd done it before, just with him. Aaron got up, knowing sleep was far away now.
In the quiet of the village street, Robert picked up his phone and dialled. "What do you want, Kelly?" he asked coldly.
"Robert? Do you know what time it is?"
"You come back into my life, then complain about my timing?" he asked sarcastically. "You called me yesterday. Again. What do you want?" he repeated.
"Money," she said simply.
Robert scoffed. "Come on. You think it's that easy?"
"Well, unless you want your daughter to starve, I need some cash from somewhere."
"What are you talking about?" Robert asked, having frozen at that.
"She's four. Nearly five actually. Can you count, I can't quite remember."
Very quickly Robert counted backwards. Shit. It took a good few seconds for words to form through the numb blankness of shock. "Why have you never told me?"
"It wasn't any of your business."
"For God's sake!" Robert burst out. "Are you telling me I've had a daughter for four years and you never bothered to tell me!"
"Something like that," she said. "You were hardly all innocent Robert."
"No, I know…"
"You treated me…"
"I know what I did. But a… a child that you neglected to tell me about?"
"Well, I was hurt," she said. "And I'm telling you now."
Robert sighed then bit his lip. "How do I know?" he asked. "How do I know she's mine?" Robert found himself disconnected and he closed his eyes in frustration, feeling the desire to punch something as he put the phone down. Just when everything was going smoothly for him and something like this cropped up. Oh God.
Robert had made the decision to drive to Kelly's house. She'd previously let it slip where she lived, in those annoying phone conversations he'd cut short and a quick search had given him her address. She wasn't hard to find. She only lived forty minutes away, which in his current state of mind was far too close. He got in his car and drove, oblivious to Aaron watching him from their bedroom window. Aaron had been watching him on the phone, unable to hear the conversation, but when he saw Robert drive away, he had a lump in his throat, watching the man he loved go to God knows where. Was this the beginning of the end? What would make Robert drive off at this time, without even telling him where he was going?
Robert parked a couple of doors down, on the other side of the road and waited. He had no intention of being seen, he wanted to do the watching. Looking at his watch, he guessed there was about ten minutes until they'd be leaving for school. Was she even old enough to be going to school? Probably, he decided.
Eight minutes after he'd pulled up, the door opened. Almost holding his breath, he watched as Kelly, he recognised her immediately even though it'd been years since he'd last seen her. And then… there she was. A child, wearing her school uniform. She had long blonde hair, plaited down her back. She still hadn't faced him.
"Come on, turn around," he said under his breath. He wanted to see her face. His heart lurched, when she did turn. His first thought was that she could be his daughter. There were definitely similarities in their faces. The girl was holding onto her mothers hand as they walked up the street, past Robert's car. He slunk down in his seat, bowing his head and hoping he wouldn't be spotted. He wasn't. As they went past, he looked in the rear view mirror, watching until they went out of sight. It wasn't until they went around the corner that Robert let out the breath he'd been unconsciously holding.
"Oh my God," he murmured. What was he meant to do now? His breathing was coming very quickly and he knew he had to calm himself down. His phone buzzed, and taking it out of his pocket, he took several deep breaths. It was Aaron and he really didn't want to ignore the call.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi. I was a bit tired when you left this morning," Aaron said. "Where are you?"
"Oh… nowhere," Robert said, trying to invent something plausible on the spur of the moment.
"Robert…"
"I just… I've been driving around. I needed to clear my head."
"But…"
"It's the divorce," he said shortly. "I just needed some space. I'm on my way home." While his and Chrissie's divorce was going through at the moment, that wasn't what was bothering him. And Robert knew that Aaron would be able to tell he was lying. He couldn't think of anything better to say on the spur of the moment.
"Okay," he said, accepting the lie. "Fine." Aaron hung up and Robert closed his eyes in frustration. He ran his hands through his hair in agitation before hitting his head on the seat. How the hell was he going to be able to tell Aaron this?
Let me know what you think! Thank you.
