Chapter Thirty-Six
Wednesday 25th December – 7.25pm
"Hendrix!" Chloe almost shouted in surprise to the teen as he had caught her sitting on the couch with Elly, about to kiss the woman.
"Hey Hendrix," Elly greeted the teen warmly, not the least concerned that he'd caught her nearly kissing the woman who was dating his father.
"Miss. Conway, you're looking good. Motherhood works on you. It's nice to see the little nipper for the first time. Your son looks happy to be with you, he's lucky to have you," Hendrix replied.
Elly smiled at her son, "I hope it does work for me as I'm sure not going back to a life without this lil guy in it. Not quite sure anyone can claim that Elliot looks happy yet but I'll take it."
"Hendrix, what are you doing here?" Chloe asked, worried Pierce's son would blow her almost kiss to his father.
Hendrix shrugged, "Aaron said you spent the day here. I wanted to see why and chat to you before Christmas dinner. Didn't expect to find you nearly making out with my English teacher when I thought you were my Dad's girlfriend."
"We weren't…nearly making out. I was not about to kiss Elly," Chloe claimed as she glared at Hendrix.
Elly smirked at the blonde, "If the kid here hadn't walked in here you would've kissed me and you know it."
Chloe glanced back at Elly to roll her eyes at her, "You're not helping."
"I know but I have no intention of lying about things like this from now on, baby. I'll leave you two to head back to your place to talk about some things. I'll go let Suze know she can make up the couch, text me when you're coming back for dessert so we can start serving it," Elly told Chloe, then as she gently stood up, cradling Elliot in her arms, Elly surprised Chloe by kissing her cheek before walking past Hendrix.
Chloe tilted her head as she watched Elly walking away.
Before Elly had quite left the room, Hendrix smirked at Chloe, "Are you checking out Miss. Conway in her silk dressing gown?"
"No," Chloe claimed.
Oh, I so am! Those legs...!
"Yes, she is," Elly chimed in without looking back at the pair as she headed down the hallway away from them.
Chloe blushed at Elly knowing she was, before glancing back at Hendrix, "Why don't we go for a walk?"
A minute later, Chloe had texted Aaron to let him know she was going for a walk with Hendrix to explain things to him before they would be back for dinner and the pair were walking around the block.
"So, you and Miss. Conway...you nearly kissing her, her calling you 'baby' and you checking her out...are you cheating on my Dad with her?" Hendrix asked calmly.
"Yes and no," Chloe admitted before elaborating, "I don't expect you to understand adult relationships as you're so young but I'm cheating on Pierce emotionally with Elly. It hasn't been anything physical between either of us unless you count Elly constantly kissing my cheek. And there may have been one emotionally charged kiss Elly gave me when I wasn't expecting it during our…kidnapping ordeal. I wouldn't have kissed Elly when you saw us together...okay I probably wouldn't have kissed her."
"You would've kissed her," Hendrix sniggered teasingly.
"Whether or not I would've...it was a reminder to me that I don't want to kiss Elly," Chloe decided.
"Didn't look like it to me," Hendrix insisted, "And the way you and Miss. Conway were with each other, I don't think I've ever seen you that coupley with my Dad before."
Chloe breathed deeply before telling the teen, "I'm going to break up with your Dad when he gets home. I could do it now but Pierce deserves more respect from me than to be told over the phone or Skype."
Hendrix nodded, "Are you leaving him for Miss. Conway?"
"Yes," Chloe answered, "It's probably too complicated to explain it to you but yes...Elly and I will be together once I end it with Pierce. Until then...like I said...it's emotional cheating it's not physical, I won't allow myself to cheat on Pierce by kissing Elly or anything like that. When I do break it off with your Dad, I'll be honest about the emotional cheating I've been feeling for Elly."
"Explain it to me. I may only be 17 but I'm tired of people not listening to me," Hendrix requested, "Does Miss. Conway love you?"
"Yes, she does and I'm in love with Elly," Chloe admitted, "The way your Dad feels about me...I just don't feel it for him. I wanted to; I know he loves me. I never got over Elly. I thought what she felt for me...was nowhere near what I feel for her. Turns out us being apart...Elly fell in love with me. I never saw this coming. I hope you know that I never intended on dating your father whilst waiting around for Elly to work out if she had feelings for me. I really thought if I gave it time then I'd learn to feel what Pierce feels for me."
"And there's no point sticking it out with my Dad to see if you ever will because you want to be with Miss. Conway?" Hendrix realized.
Chloe looked over at the teen as they walked side by side, "True love doesn't happen very often and when it does you need to take it. Especially when the timing is right. The timing between Elly and I isn't perfect but once I end things with Pierce then we're free to be together. If I stay with Pierce it would just be for security, what he can provide for me when my illness takes hold. It's not fair to me and it's also not fair to him because he won't be able to find that true love that he deserves either."
"Like what you have with Miss. Conway?" Hendrix confirmed.
Chloe couldn't help but smile at the reminder of her feelings for Elly, "Yes, that's what I share with Elly and I owe it to myself to pursue a relationship with her. Pierce deserves to find that too with someone else who loves him more than he wants me to."
"And what about the baby? Where does he fit into all this? You didn't like me when I showed up, you really want a crying, screaming baby around all the time?" Hendrix pointed out.
Chloe placed her hand on Hendrix's shoulder for a moment, "It's not that I didn't—don't like you, Hendrix. I was surprised by your existence. I know I'd only being dating your father for 24 hours before you showed up but I did have history with him. Granted he left for six odd months but I had known him close to a year before I began dating him and he never mentioned you. I should've seen that as a sign that Pierce was willing to lie to me about things of importance."
"Hardly think I rank in any level of importance to Dad," Hendrix muttered.
"You two may have a rocky history but you are important to Pierce. He wouldn't want to lose you or have you move back to Sydney," Chloe insisted, "Going back to your other questions…the peanut is going to have a huge effect on Elly and I's relationship. He's going to be the most important person in Elly's life and I want to find a way of fitting into that. It's going to take some time to get used to having a baby in my life when I never pictured myself getting pregnant with babies. Due to that I guess I thought that meant ruling out becoming a parent one day. Maybe that's because I wasn't meant to have my own children…especially when the risk of passing on my Huntington's gene is so strong…maybe I was meant to…one day in the future when Elly and I are ready…be a parent to the peanut."
"The 'peanut'? That's what you're calling Elliot. How long do you think 'peanut' will stick?" Hendrix teased.
"What? I've been calling him that since Elly was halfway through her pregnancy. You don't think Elliot will like it cause I don't intend on stopping calling him 'peanut' until he's at least as tall as you," Chloe grinned.
"You're going to traumatize the kid if you stick to calling him 'peanut' his entire childhood," Hendrix giggled.
Chloe rolled her eyes, "Here I was thinking he might love it and he'll love me for it."
"Oh yeah, and what was your nickname growing up? What name did your brothers insist on calling you?" Hendrix pointed out.
Chloe chewed on her lip before admitting, "Elliot."
Hendrix raised his eyebrow at Chloe, "Miss. Conway named her son after you? In an attempt to win you back and it worked?"
Chloe smiled, "No, it's not like that. Elly had already chosen it for him, y'know, once she gave birth to Elliot and knew he was going to be a boy. She told me Shaun and her had settled on a girl's name before he passed away. She never got a chance to tell him that she had decided on Elliot for a boy. Yeah part of it was knowing it's my nick name but she asked me first if it was okay before making it official."
"So, when my Dad gets back, you're really going to fall into a relationship with Miss. Conway and have a baby in your life that you might one day feel is your own?" Hendrix asked.
"Yes, I am," Chloe answered, "It's gonna take a lot of work for the two of us to get to the point that Elly and I both want me to be a co-parent to the peanut but I'm willing to do what it takes. I think it helps knowing that the relationship between Elly and I won't take a lot of work. I never thought Elly would fall in love with me, now that she has and is happy to express it, our relationship will be easy to fall into. I've got a lot of learning to do when it comes to having a baby in my life that I might be slightly responsible for. Especially when I…screwed up royally with you this morning."
Hendrix sighed as the pair rounded the corner headed back down Ramsay Street, "I was wondering when you were going to bring that up."
"Hendrix, I am really sorry I forgot about you this morning," Chloe apologized, "I was so focused on Elly and bringing her and the peanut home from the hospital. Making sure she had a good start to her first Christmas with her son after the ordeal she was put through to give birth to him without the support she'd have wanted. But I should've paid more attention to you. Looking after you until you went to Sydney was the only thing Pierce asked of me…and I failed miserably."
"I don't think so," Hendrix disagreed, "Y'know I could've messaged you, called you, to get you to come back for me. I could've ordered an Uber to the airport. It wasn't your fault I didn't go to Sydney."
"Why didn't you go to Sydney?" Chloe asked quietly.
Hendrix shrugged, "I'm tired of being shuffled off by my parents like they care about me when they don't. I feel like I'm back to them shoveling me to one boarding school after the next thinking it's for my education. It was never about that. It was about mum and dad not wanting to be there as parents for me. Dad had his reasons…mum…I guess she did too, I just don't know what they are."
"They're your parents, Hendrix, they care about you. They love you," Chloe insisted.
"Sometimes I wonder if they do," Hendrix admitted, "Y'know I'm pretty sure Elliot's gonna be loved by you and Miss. Conway a hell of a lot more than I've ever been by my parents. I'm a little jealous of him. I kinda wished I'd had parents like you two growing up."
Chloe beamed at Hendrix's assessment of her and Elly's love for Elliot but felt terrible that the teen hadn't experienced that growing up, "I hope Elly and I can do that for the peanut. I know you feel like you don't have that with your parents but it doesn't mean you can't. Give them both a chance. How would you feel if we book you on a flight to Sydney for the morning? I promise to take you to the airport this time."
Hendrix shook his head, "I don't think so. Mum will be pissed at me for pulling this stunt. Maybe I can go see her towards the end of school holidays when she's gotten over it. I'd rather stay here with you."
Chloe hesitated for a moment as they reached the driveway of Aaron and David's house, "Yeah about that…I can't stay at Pierce's now that I know it's going to be over between us. And I won't be here at home with Aaron or David either…I need to be there for Elly and the peanut. Help Elly with the peanut during the nights when he won't go to sleep. I'm staying at the Kennedy's on their couch for the week."
"You really are prepared to do what it takes for Miss. Conway and the baby to make it work between you all," Hendrix was surprised, then thought, "Can I stay with Aaron and David on their couch until Dad gets back?"
Chloe turned to Hendrix as they stood in the driveway, "As long as Aaron and David are okay with it and as long as you promise to call both your parents in the morning to check with them, you can. If you do, I'll make sure to spend time with you every day. I can come over here for dinner each night, go out to lunch with you."
"You think you can pry yourself away from the hot brunette long enough for any of that or that you won't be too tired from being kept up all night by a crying infant?" Hendrix asked.
"For you I can manage," Chloe promised, "Hey Hendrix…are you going to tell your Dad about Elly and I? You've pulled a lot of stunts over the time I've known you and I know part of you wants to hurt your Dad but this shouldn't be the way to do it."
Hendrix shrugged, "It's tempting…Dad'll spit chips if I told him you're leaving him for Miss. Conway when she's got her newborn to care for."
"Hendrix, please don't. Please let me tell your father the way I want to as soon as he comes home. This is your chance to be an adult for once, to do the right thing. You want people to start listening to what you want, then you need to do the same," Chloe pleaded.
Hendrix nodded, "Okay, I won't tell Dad, I promise."
"Thank you," Chloe smiled, "Now, let's get inside and introduce you to a Brenaka family Christmas dinner."
Hendrix grinned back at Chloe and as they headed to the front door, "Oh…one more thing I need answered about you and Miss. Conway…"
"Yes, Hendrix," Chloe prompted him to continue.
Hendrix sniggered cheekily, "When Miss. Conway mentioned you going back to her place for dessert…to give her the heads up when you'd head back for it to be served…was that a metaphor that Miss. Conway and you are gonna serve up some romantic dessert of the sexual kind-?"
Chloe reached out and slapped Hendrix over the head, "Finish that sentence mister and I will send you to Sydney on the first flight out in the morning! It's the innocent kind of dessert, kid, Christmas pudding. Got it?"
Hendrix winked at the blonde, "Fine but I bet you wish it was that kind of dessert."
Chloe shook her head at the teen as she followed him inside the house.
Maybe…
