Chapter Thirty-Nine

Thursday 26th December – 8.30am

"You nervous?" Elly asked Chloe as she sat on the other couch cradling her son.

Chloe sat on the couch she'd turned into her bed for the foreseeable future, "Who me? Nervous? Over telling Mark that I'm breaking things off with Pierce because I'm in love with Mark's ex-wife and intend on being a huge part of Elliot's life...the baby who he thought at one stage was his and he'd be a doting Dad to him now? What's to be nervous about that...? Wish me luck."

"Luck," Elly whispered, "Are you sure you want me and Elliot here?"

Chloe nodded, "Yes, Mark's going to pick up on where I am once the Skype call connects. I want to let him know that I want to introduce him to Elliot, if that's okay with you. If he agrees then I'd like you to sit down with me here on the couch with the peanut while I tell him about us."

"That sounds great," Elly agreed, "Wait, what if he says he doesn't want to meet Elliot? Maybe I should go wait in my room and you can text me if he does. It'll be awkward hearing Mark saying he doesn't want to meet my son."

Chloe grimaced, "I know, sweetie, but then if I don't text you, you'll know what the answer is so it's still awkward. I'm sure it'll be fine. I'm more scared of his reaction that I'm leaving Pierce for you and want to be part of the peanut's life in the way he thought he'd be."

Elly breathed deeply, "Better make this call, Chlo, before we change our mind."

"Can't put it off forever...why am I more scared of telling Mark about this than when I have to tell Pierce?" Chloe asked.

"Because Mark's opinion means the world to you and you need to know he supports us. Pierce is simply to dump him and his opinion after that has no bearing on us," Elly pointed out.

"You always know the answer when I doubt myself," Chloe beamed.

"That's cause I love you, Chloe," Elly smiled, "Though I won't always know the answer to everything."

"You probably will," Chloe grinned, "I love you, too. Okay, here goes nothing."

Elly busied herself rocking Elliot as the infant became restless in her arms. Chloe opened her laptop that she had set up on the Kennedy's coffee table, logging into Skype and making the call to her eldest brother.

"Mark! How are ya?" Chloe asked casually as soon as Mark appeared on her laptop screen.

Mark smiled at Chloe, then immediately frowned, "Elliot, you look like death!"

Chloe raised her eyebrow, "Ah…thanks, not."

"Sorry, Chlo, that was a bit rude of me. I'm just surprised, you look like you haven't slept in days. You didn't look like this last night when we caught up with the family," Mark pointed out.

"I feel like I haven't slept for days," Chloe admitted then glanced at Elly apologetically, "It's something I'll be getting used to."

"O…kay," Mark drew out a deep breath, "So, what did you have to talk to me about that you didn't want to last night in front of the rest of the family? Little bit worried about whatever it is."

"Don't be," Chloe insisted, "It's…ah…good news."

"Well, let's hear it then sis," Mark pushed, then looked beyond Chloe on the screen, "Are you at the Kennedy's?"

"Yes, Mark," Chloe nodded, "So…before I tell you…if you're okay with it…I wanted to introduce you to Elly's son."

Mark silently noted that Chloe's eyes darted to the side, "I see…and this is why you wanted us to Skype privately this morning instead of doing this last night. Is Elly there with you now with her son?"

"She is, yes," Chloe responded, hoping her brother wouldn't think she was railroading him into something he wouldn't want to do.

Mark pursed his lips for a moment, trying not to show the hurt he was feeling that he'd been trying to ignore wanting to know about Elly's baby because he had taken a long time to come to terms with the fact the baby wasn't his like Elly had led him to believe for several months, "Then I guess you'd better bring her onscreen so I can met the lil guy."

Mark watched as Chloe smiled brightly at him then seem to light up even more as Elly stood in front of her, appearing on his screen as she sat down as close as possible to Chloe on the couch, cradling the infant in her arms.

"You look well, Elly," Mark told her before smiling as he watched the infant throwing one of his fists around, "Your son is gorgeous. He looks very happy with you."

Elly smiled back at Mark through the laptop screen, "I'm doing incredibly well. He is. I hope he's happy with me…it's all I ever wanted. I named him Elliot."

Mark raised his eyebrow, "You named your son after my baby sister? Guess I need to be more careful who I mean when I call Chloe that from now on if you or your son are ever around at the same time."

They most definitely will be around, Mark, please be okay with that bro.

Elly blushed as she glanced over at Chloe, "Kinda…yeah. I wouldn't have if I didn't love the name too obviously. Chloe was more than fine with it."

"I'm sorry to have heard about what Finn did to Shaun…you…Elliot should've gotten the chance to get to know him. Shaun would've been a big part of Elliot's life…I'm sure he would've made a great father. I'm sorry you're going through parenthood alone and don't have that partner by your side to help you," Mark gave his condolences.

Maybe not so alone as you think…

"Thank you, Mark. Shaun would've been a pretty decent Dad to Elliot…but he never would have been a partner to me. Co-parent was all I'd have ever wanted from Shaun," Elly informed her ex-husband.

When I'm in love with your little sister and even if Shaun was alive, I'd still be sitting on this couch next to her waiting anxiously for Chloe to tell you we'll be together and Chloe will help me raise my son.

"Right. I'm glad you took the time to introduce me to Elliot, he's amazing Elly. You do deserve to be happy," Mark offered.

"I'm incredibly happy," Elly announced as Mark watched the brunette stare at Chloe as she said that.

"So…is there anything else I…need to know?" Mark asked, not sure he was ready for the answer, feeling like there was way more to the way Chloe and Elly were looking at one another.

Chloe tore her eyes away from Elly reluctantly, "Oh…ah…yes. I didn't just call you to introduce you to the peanut and let you know Elly's doing fantastically as a mum…"

Mark raised his eyebrow when Chloe trailed off.

Chloe cleared her throat, "I needed to let you know…I'm breaking up with Pierce when he gets home from New York."

Mark nodded gently, "Okay...can I ask why...and why you seem to be telling me of your decision before you've told him?"

"I don't love Pierce and I'm never going to. I don't want to continue in a relationship where I don't feel that way about the person I'm with," Chloe answered her brothers first question.

Mark breathed a sigh of relief that he hadn't gone ahead and given Pierce his blessing to ask Chloe to marry him, wondered silently how Pierce was going to take this news, then found himself repeating one of the things Pierce had said to him, "When you know, you know."

"And I know," Chloe replied, not realizing she echoed Pierce's words too.

"So, why are you telling me you're ending it with Pierce now when Pierce isn't due back to Erinborough for a week or so?" Mark asked again.

"I don't want to break up with Pierce over the phone or Skype, he deserves more respect than that so I'm going to tell him face to face," Chloe avoided Mark's question.

"Chloe," Mark pushed his sister by simply saying her name in a tone that expressed he knew she was avoiding telling him something.

"Well, I...the thing is that...I..." Chloe stumbled before glancing at Elly, feeling lost to find the words to tell her brother about her and Elly.

Elly smiled at the blonde, knowing she needed to say something to help her, "Mark, I'm in love with Chloe."

Mark sat back a bit in his chair, watching the pair as they smiled shyly at one another before they turned back to him, clearly anxious for his response, "So the two of you are back together which is why you're telling me?"

"We're not together...yet, but we will be once I end things with Pierce," Chloe explained nervously.

"And why should I believe this is any different to your previous dalliances with one another?" Mark asked before clarifying, "I'm asking out of concern because I don't want to see my sister get crushed again by you, Elly."

Chloe reached out and placed her arm around Elly's shoulders, pulling herself into an embrace with the brunette. Elly instinctively nestled her face against Chloe's neck as she softly kissed Chloe's neck before turning back to Mark, "I've made a lot of mistakes, Mark, almost all of them with you. It has taken me a really long time to come to terms with this. I love Chloe and I will never do a thing to crush her."

Chloe found herself reaching up and kissing Elly on the side of her forehead, "I love Elly, Mark. I know you did too and this might hurt you to see Elly and I together...but I can't fight this. It's too big to fight it. Elly loves me the way I dreamed she would. I trust that her feelings for me are just as strong as mine are for her. I need...we need you to accept this."

"What's made you accept you have feelings for Chloe, Elly?" Mark asked his ex-wife.

Elly stared back at Chloe, locking eyes with the blonde, "I couldn't deny it anymore. What I feel for Chloe...it's more than I've ever felt for anyone...no offence but that ah...includes you and I am sorry for that. I don't ever want to lose Chloe. I want to spend every day for the rest of my life proving how in love with Chloe I am."

Chloe smiled shyly at Elly, "And I want to spend every day for the rest of my life proving I know how much you love me and show you I love you just as much."

Mark swallowed deeply, not really sure what his feelings were to this revelation, "And the baby...? Where does Elliot fit into this...relationship of yours?"

Chloe and Elly immediately glanced down at the infant who was now sleeping peacefully in Elly's arms.

"You're going to raise him with Elly, aren't you?" Mark realized.

Chloe reached out with her free hand to take hold of Elliot's tiny hand in her own, "Eventually...yes, I would like to raise the peanut with Elly. But we're not there yet."

"And by that you mean...?" Mark pressed.

"Mark, this relationship between Elly and I...it's very new. In fact, it's not even a relationship yet, it's an emotional bond and promise that we will be together once I'm no longer with Pierce. Even when I do break it off with Pierce, it doesn't mean Elly and I are an instant couple. Elliot is a huge part of this...the biggest part. I'm not sure I'm ready to be a...to be a mum but I'm willing to try because I do want Elly, the peanut and I to be a family one day. This relationship between Elly and I as well as the one between all three of us...it's going to take a lot of work and a lot of time before we figure out how it will work. This is what we both want, what we both know is the best thing for Elliot's future," Chloe settled on.

"Do you think you're ready for this, everything that comes with...raising a child?" Mark asked simply.

Chloe nodded, "You saw me on the screen as soon as the call connected and said I looked like death, that was because-"

"You spent the night with Elly and were up all night with the baby trying to get him to fall asleep. Was that your first night together?" Mark figured out.

"Yes, I spent the night here with Elly and the peanut and it was my first night with them where I was up all night with her trying to get him back to sleep, changing him, burping him, letting Elly feed him and everything under the sun to get him to cry a little bit less. It was...more than I expected...but I think I did okay," Chloe acknowledged.

"Chlo was a life saver, she did amazing, I'd never have gotten through this night without her," Elly gushed.

Chloe cleared her throat, "So, we're perfectly clear, me spending the night here and the nights I want to continue staying here to be with them and help us to build the foundations of what could be our family...I slept on the couch here and will continue to sleep on the couch. I'm not sharing a bed with Elly. Not until Pierce knows it's over and even then, we won't be rushing into anything between us."

"Chloe won't even let me kiss her, trust me there is no togetherness between us going on even though it's driving me crazy not kissing her," Elly pouted.

"You'll be able to kiss me in a week or so once Pierce and I are over," Chloe reminded Elly.

"Baby, a week is such a long time," Elly groaned, then realized, "You're probably not the person I should be grumbling to about that, Mark...sorry."

Mark sat there silently trying to sift through his feelings on the whole situation, feeling weird hearing his ex pouting about not being able to kiss his little sister and calling her 'baby' when she never had a name for him.

"Who else knows about the…two of you?" Mark semi changed the subject.

"Everyone important to me. I told Aaron last night then obviously had to come clean to David too. In order to get the Kennedy's to be okay with my decision to be here at their place to enable me to help Elly with the peanut overnight, we had to let them and Bea know. Oh…and uh…Hendrix. He kinda sprung us…not kissing in what could've looked like Elly and I were about to kiss…but we were not about to kiss. Plus, the kid doesn't want to go to Lisa's for the holidays anymore, with Pierce away, I have no intention of ever sleeping in Pierce's bed again when I need to be here so…Hendrix will be staying on the couch at Aaron and David's. I'll let mum and Tyler know next week if that's okay, after Pierce and I are over. I didn't want to hide this from you any longer, Mark, which is why I'm telling you now," Chloe explained.

Mark nodded, "Sounds like an awful lot of people know more about Pierce's life than he does."

"We feel bad for that, Mark," Elly replied, "But Chloe and I can't put our lives on hold and halt building what could be an amazing future together just because Pierce isn't around."

Chloe turned back to Mark, with a deep breath, "Mark, I need you to be okay with this...I don't for one second want you to think that I'm…stealing this life that you thought could've been yours earlier this year. I really need you to support me…and Elly because one day...Elliot will be your nephew and he's gonna need his Uncle Mark to have his back."

"I don't really know what to say," Mark admitted.

"Tell me you're okay with this…that you still love me…even though the woman you loved has fallen in love with me," Chloe pleaded.

Mark thought about it for a moment, "I'm never going to not love you, Chlo. Yes, I loved Elly at one point and yes, I admit the love I did feel for you Elly was never going to be enough…that I could love you the way you deserve to be loved. If the feelings you do have for Chloe are as strong as what they…seem to be then I was probably never going to be enough for you. If you truly do love Chloe, Elly, then I can accept you two being together-"

"I do, Mark," Elly interrupted to declare, "I promise you after everything we've all being through I am beyond done with lying or hiding who I am and who I love. Chloe is the love of my life and I will never do anything to hurt her."

Mark watched as Elly pressed her lips to the side of Chloe's forehead before resting her head against the crook of Chloe's neck. Whilst it saddened him Elly had never been that affectionate with him, he could see how different she was with Chloe then how she had been with him.

"While I am coming to terms with seeing you two be so...together I admit that I do feel relieved that I'm not in Erinsborough anymore because the idea of you, Chloe…raising this baby with Elly…if I was there seeing it for myself. I don't think I'd be ready for that. I still need some time to wrap my head around that. I don't think I'm ready to be...Uncle Mark yet. Is that okay?" Mark decided.

Chloe nodded, "Absolutely, if you need more time that's fine. I get this isn't easy for you and I don't want to hurt you...but I need to do what's right for me. And that's being with Elly and...giving this whole...family with Elly and the peanut the best chance I can."

"Then I wish you all the luck and hope this all works out for you...all three of you," Mark left them with before exchanging goodbyes with the pair and signing off from Skype.

Once Mark was off the screen, Elly kissed Chloe's cheek, "I'm so proud of you, you know that?"

Chloe attempted to smile, "I know that wasn't easy for Mark to hear...I just wish my brothers could be a pinch more supportive of us. Maybe I'll have more luck with Tyler when I tell him."

Elly snuggled further into Chloe's embrace as the blonde squeezed her arm around Elly's shoulders, "Give them a bit more time. We're doing the right thing by us and by this lil guy and that's what matters the most."

"Yeah it does," Chloe decided though wished she could feel the confidence in her words.