Chapter Twenty Five

Ethan could tell that there was something on Lily's mind as soon as he saw her. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and sat down beside her to see if she was okay, he knew that she'd been feeling unwell for the last couple of days but he could tell that there was something else bothering her. Something that he should know about.

"What's wrong?" He asked, knowing better than to ask if she was okay when she clearly wasn't.

"I um...I saw Connie today," Lily whispered. "And I got Ava's results."

"Right," Ethan sighed and ran a hand through his head. "Out with it then. It's positive, isn't it?"

"No," Lily whispered and shook her head. "Negative."

Ethan didn't know what to say. He was happy that Ava wouldn't have to suffer through the pain of being diagnosed with Huntington's but then it also meant that the possibility of Cal being her father was getting higher and higher. He chewed on his lip and just faintly nodded his head, trying his very best not to cry in front of Lily.

"Don't be upset." She obviously noticed. "It's good, it means that she can live a normal life."

"And I can't?" Ethan scoffed.

"I didn't mean it like that," Lily sighed deeply. "She could still be yours, you know?"

"Look, I know I said I didn't want to..." Ethan began to speak. "But after this baby is born, I think we need to get a paternity test done. I'm trying to be happy and I'm trying not to think about it but I can't help it, it's just constantly on my mind."

"Whatever you want to do," Lily agreed and gave a small shrug. "It's your choice. I might head to bed if that's okay, I'm feeling tired."

"Do you want me to come up with you?" Ethan offered but Lily shook her head. "All right, cup of tea?" But Lily had already left the room and gone up the stairs.

Ethan shook his head and took a deep breath. He knew that Lily didn't want to have a paternity test done but he just wanted to know if Ava was really his daughter or not. He was going to leave it for now until the baby was born so that the two of them didn't have tonnes of stress or upset. He got up off of the sofa and walked into the kitchen to make Lily a cup of tea anyway, hoping that it would cheer her up. When he carried the mug upstairs, he saw that she was lying in bed flicking through a leaflet and the first word that jumped out at him was Huntington's.

"Where did you get that from?" He asked and placed her mug on the bedside table.

"Connie gave it to me," she whispered. "Thanks for the tea. You didn't have to. I...I can't actually keep tea down that much at the moment though, it just makes me sick."

"Sorry," Ethan apologised and ran his hands down his face. "I didn't know."

"It's fine," Lily said. "It isn't your fault. Thanks anyway."

"I should have asked first," he said and turned to look at Lily. "Are you coping, Lily?" He then asked and gestured to the leaflet in her hands.

"I'm fine," Lily said. "Honestly Ethan, I don't want you to worry about me. I really do regret sleeping with Cal but I guess I didn't think that you'd ever find out, in my eyes Ava belonged to you. I never expected Cal to come back and...I guess I'm just scared because...I don't want to lose you. I love you."

"You won't lose me," Ethan said. "I love you. I always will. If you want to ask me anything about Huntington's though then feel free."

"I know enough," Lily said. "I'm a doctor."

"I know but..." Ethan paused mid-sentence. "I don't want you to struggle alone. I don't want you to go back to your old ways."

"I won't," Lily reassured him. "But it'll make me feel better if I just know how I can help you and I realise that sleeping with Cal probably wasn't the best way forward."

"The only way you can help me is just by being there and offering your support," Ethan said. "And you're already doing that. Look, why don't we spend some time together and bake a cake or something before we pick Ava up from school?"

"That sounds like a good plan," Lily said. "We have some baking bits in the kitchen cupboards and it'll be a nice treat for our princess."

"Yeah," Ethan agreed. "It will."

Ethan offered to go and collect Ava from school so that Lily was able to stay home and rest. He'd baked a cake and had set it down on the kitchen table with a few places, knowing that it would excite Ava when she arrived home. They were right. As soon as Ethan arrived home with her, she squealed and ran straight over to the table.

"Is it for me?" She asked with a huge grin.

"It's for everyone," Ethan said. "For after dinner."

"Awww!" Ava whined.

"Oh, let her have a slice now," Lily said, walking into the kitchen and leaning down to hug her daughter. "Have you been good at school?" Lily asked and Ava nodded. "Has she?" She asked Ethan.

"Yeah, her teacher said she'd been on her best behaviour today," Ethan said.

"Good girl," Lily praised and kissed Ava on the lips. "That is what mummy and daddy like to hear. Well done. If this behaviour carries on, maybe we can look at getting you that rabbit we talked about hmm?"

"I'd call it Dora!" Ava squealed, watching with big eyes as Ethan cut her a slice of cake and placed it onto one of the plates. "Yummy cake!" She squealed, stuffing the chocolatey goodness into her mouth.

"Easy now or you'll choke," Lily joked and ruffled her hair.

Ava started to slow up halfway through the cake. She placed the remains onto the plate and rubbed at her chest, Lily noticed just as she was about to start washing up.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" She asked.

"I don't feel well," Ava said, continuing to rub at her chest before suddenly falling to the floor.

"Ava!" Lily squealed and raced over to her daughter. It was times like that where Lily was so pleased that she and Ethan were both doctor's. "Ava, speak to mummy," she said and checked her pulse. "Gods sake. What did you put in that cake, Ethan?"

"I...I can't remember..." Ethan stuttered, looking at their unconscious daughter in complete shock.

"Nuts?" Lily asked, making eye contact with him. "Ethan, were there nuts in the cake?"

"I...I think so..."

"Ethan!" Lily shouted. "She's allergic to nuts! Did you not remember?" Ethan went silent. "Go and get her epi pen! It's in our room. Now!" Immediately, he sprung into action and raced upstairs. "It's okay baby girl," Lily soothed and stroked Ava's hair. "It's okay. Mummy's here, I've got you."

"I've got it!" Ethan yelled and hurried into the kitchen, stumbling as he went.

"Give it here," Lily ordered and snatched it from him, before jabbing it into Ava's hip. She looked at her watch and counted to ten quietly under her breath, whilst keeping the needle in Ava's skin. "Okay, Ava," she whispered, slowly removing it. "Ava."

Slowly, Ava's eyes opened and she started to come round. Lily stroked her hair and Ethan stood watching anxiously as Ava rolled onto her back and slowly sat up, tears rolling down both of her cheeks.

"Hey, it's okay," Lily whispered, wrapping an arm around her daughter's shoulder and holding her close. "It's okay."

"Good...Good girl," Ethan praised Ava with tears in his own eyes. "Mummy and daddy are here."

"Ethan," Lily cried and kissed Ava's forehead. "We...We need to sort this out before it gets any worst."

"What?" Ethan asked her.

"You. You couldn't even remember that Ava was allergic to nuts," Lily cried and sniffed. "She almost died."

Baby time for the happy couple soon :-)