"Chloe, it's Ashley. Would you mind if we met for lunch?" she asked into the phone.
"Sure, is everything OK? Is it Matt?" Chloe asked concerned.
"Everything's fine, sweetie. Him, Brandon and Roger went to the music store over by the mall. I just wanted to go out just you and me?" she answered.
"That sounds good. Thanks Ashley." Chloe smiled at the phone.
"Great, I'll meet you at the diner in say an hour?" Ashley suggested.
"OK, I'll see you there."
"Bye sweetie" she said before hanging up the phone. Ashley wanted to talk to Chloe. He wanted to be there for her. She was in Chloe's shoes 26 years earlier and knew what she was going through now. She began to get ready for her lunch date with Chloe. She left the house and began going to the diner. When she walked in, Chloe was already there.
"Hi Ashley." Chloe said smiling at her.
"Hi Chloe. Thanks for coming." Ashley said sitting down at the table.
"I know why you wanted to meet me here." Chloe said smiling at her.
"You do?" she asked surprised.
"You're worried about me being involved with Matt with him being positive. Matt said you might want to talk to me and I really appreciate it, but I know what I'm getting into. I love Matt and we're careful, I promise." she said looking over at her.
"I know my son would never take chances with your life, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. 26 years ago when I met Roger, I was in your shoes. But I was a nurse, so I knew what I was getting into. Things happened so fast with him. It was so easy to fall in love with him. And I don't mean because of his boyish good looks or those green eyes either. He was charming and honest and the sweetest, most gentle man I have ever met in my life. I mean, he worshiped me, you know. And I know Matt is just like his father. And trust me, sweetie, that's not a bad thing." she said smiling at her.
"I know. Matt envies you guys. He always says how great it is, the way you guys seem to breathe for each other. He idolizes you guys." Chloe told her smiling at her.
"He does?" Ashley asked surprised.
"Oh yeah. He's always saying how lucky he is that you two adopted him." she said smiling at her.
"We feel the same way, sweetie. I mean, when we first talked about adopting a baby, Roger wasn't sure about adopting an HIV positive baby, but then when he thought about it, he liked the idea. Then from the minute we saw a picture of Matt, he was ours. The day we were picking him up from the hospital, I was so nervous, but not Roger. He was so excited. Poor Collins, I made him crazy that day." she said laughing.
"Yeah, but you were always his Baby girl." Chloe said smiling at her.
"Yeah I was. From the minute I met him. He was the greatest man. He was our big brother, you know? I wish you got to know him better. There was nothing he wouldn't do for anyone." she said fighting back tears.
"You all miss him so much, don't you?" Chloe asked reaching over to touch Ashley hand.
"Very much. But that's the hazards of being in our family. I'm just worried that you're gonna have to watch Matt die one day. I've known that I was gonna lose Roger and Matt for many years now and it's still not easy for me. I don't want you to go through the same thing." Ashley said taking her hand in hers.
"I know, Ashley. But I love Matt and any time I have with him, I'll take." she said fighting her own tears now.
"I know the feeling, sweetie. You have a good man, you know?" she said smiling at her.
"I know. He always says he's like his dad." she said smiling back.
"That he is." Ashley agreed.
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"Hey Baby, where'd you go?" Roger asked sitting on the couch putting new strings on his guitar.
"I went out to lunch with Chloe." she said leaning down to kiss him.
"Oh? Is everything OK?" he asked concerned.
"Yeah, everything's fine. I just called her and we talked." he said looking down at him.
"Is she OK?" he asked as she sat down.
"Yeah, she's OK. I just wanted to talk to her and let her know she has someone to talk to if she needs to. Someone who's in the same boat as she's in. Did you know Matt envies us?" Ashley said smiling at him.
"Really?" he asked smiling at her.
"Yeah, the way we breathe for one another." she said moving closer to him.
"From the first night I met you, you had me Ash. You know that, right?" he asked putting his arms around her.
"And you had me." she whispered leaning over to kiss him.
"I know, Ash Baby." he said caressing her face.
"I always loved you calling me that." she said smiling up at him.
"Well you're my, Ash Baby. Do you remember when you used to meet me at the club before I went on?" he asked smiling at her.
"My heart used to pound so hard as I was approaching the club and then I'd see you outside smoking your cigarette and you used to call me Ash Baby and I'd run to you and you'd pick me up in your arms." she said as they leaned back on the couch as Roger held her in his arms.
"And we used to run all of our friends off." he remembered laughing.
"Yeah, now we run the boys and their friends off." she said laughing as she looked up at him.
"Yeah well, we're still us even after all this time." he said kissing her head.
"Yes we are. We'll always be us." she said laughing.
"I love you, Ash Baby." he said quietly as she looked up at him.
"I love you too, Roger. Forever." she said leaning up to kiss him again.
"Hey mom. Oh man, get a room, guys." Matt said entering the living room.
"Why? It's so much fun freaking you guys out." Roger joked as he and Ashley laughed.
"Yeah, you're good at that." he said laughing as Roger and Ashley looked up at him.
"What is it, sweetie?" Ashley said smiling at him.
"Thanks for taking Chloe out for lunch. She said she had a really nice talk with you." he said smiling at her.
"Well I know that you two love each other and I just wanted to get to know her." she said smiling up at him.
"And you wanted her to know if she ever needed someone to talk to about me and the HIV, that she could always come to you. Thanks mom, that means a lot to her." he said smiling at her.
"Well, we're in a very difficult position. I mean, I have your Uncle Mark, Aunt Kelly, Aunt Jo and Aunt Maureen to talk to about dad. I just wanted to make sure Chloe knew she wasn't alone. If she's important to my little boy, she's important to me." she said looking up at him.
"I know, mom. Thanks." he said leaning down to hug her.
"No problem sweetie. And I mean it, OK? You tell her she can come to me at anytime about anything." Ashley said caressing his cheek.
"I love you, mom." he said kissing her cheek.
"Oh Matty, I love you too. So much." she said smiling at him.
