Thank you Kelly for your review! Glad you're happy with the break up and Chelly get to move on together!

Chapter Forty-Six

Thursday 2nd January – 11:00am

Chloe sighed as she sat down next to Elly in one of the booths at Harold's Café, "Okay, that took a much bigger effort than I thought to get the peanut ready for a trip out of the house."

Elly leaned over to check on the infant, laying in his pram that Elly had placed next to her at the table, before turning back to Chloe, linking their arms, "I know that was quite the effort. I guess we'll know for next time we take Elliot out with us."

"Yeah, we will," Chloe agreed, "They'll be lots of taking the peanut out to places with us…just the three of us."

Like a family, Chloe?

Elly smiled at the blonde, "But on occasion it'll just be the two of us out to places as a couple?"

"Count on it," Chloe promised, "The peanut will always be part of us but we need to take time out as a couple for ourselves when we can. Now, what would my beautiful girlfriend like for brunch? I'll go up and order."

"You called me 'beautiful'," Elly gushed as she sat there staring into Chloe's eyes.

The café owner, Dipi, spotted the pair from the counter and walked over to them, "Elly! It's good to see you out of the house! Sorry I haven't stopped by, I thought you needed a bit of time to settle with the baby. Look at him, he's gorgeous!"

As Dipi leaned into the pram to gently hold Elliot's hand for a brief moment, she then looked over at Elly who had not even reacted to her being there as she was too busy staring into Chloe's eyes, "Or instead of taking your order I could just kidnap this gorgeous lil man and you wouldn't even notice…"

"Huh?" Elly reacted, breaking away from her gaze with Chloe to look up at Dipi.

"Nothing, terrible joke by me," Dipi explained, "So, we haven't seen you and the lil guy out of the house for the past couple weeks, how are you two doing?"

Elly squeezed Chloe's arm, as she responded to their neighbour, "Yeah, I've been a lil bit busy trying to settle into this new life with him that I haven't really had time to think about taking Elliot out for his first official tour of the neighbourhood. But I've been well and so have the three of us."

Chloe blushed at being included in Elly's words.

"The three?" Dipi asked, prying for confirmation of what she thought was going on but didn't want to assume.

Elly turned back to smile at Chloe, announcing, "Chloe and I are back together and the three of us are working on things to…hopefully one day…be a family."

Chloe blushed even harder when Elly surprised her by leaning forwards and kissing her softly on the lips, feeling an enormous sense of pride that Elly wasn't ashamed to do so in public.

"I had a feeling looking at the way you two have been staring into each other's eyes. I'm so happy for you both," Dipi told them, "And the three of you working on things to be a family one day…my heart!"

Chloe licked her lips after Elly's kiss, glancing up at Dipi, "I guess technically it's the two of us…Elly and I working on things. The peanut just gets to lay around and look super cute and do all that baby stuff that I'm getting very used to by now. But yeah…that's what we want…to be a family…one day…that's what we're working on for us to be a family."

"The three of you are going to be amazing together. I can't wait to see the three of you grow to be that family you both want," Dipi gushed at them, "Wait so is this like…you're first date out together for the three of you?"

"It is," Elly acknowledged, then off Dipi's look, "We're not into hiding any of this. Chloe ended things with Pierce, Chloe and I are together and we hope one day with Elliot the three of us will be a family. Tell the world, Dipi."

"Really?" Dipi asked excitedly, glad to have permission to spread the news as she along with Sheila were the resident nosy neighbours who needed to know everyone's business.

"Absolutely," Elly agreed as she leant forward, kissing Chloe gently again, "If you don't tell everyone I'm in love with Chloe and won back the love of my life then I will."

"I think you just made Chloe speechless," Dipi pointed out.

Chloe nodded without being able to respond verbally.

"Chloe needs to learn that I'm incredibly proud to be with her and won't ever be ashamed of it," Elly replied, nudging her girlfriend.

"Still getting used to that," Chloe whispered.

Dipi soon took their orders and headed back to the kitchen.

"Are you really this surprised I want everyone to know about us?" Elly asked Chloe.

Chloe shook her head, "No, it's not that. I was just thinking..."

"What's going on in that head of yours?" Elly asked with concern.

"Just something Pierce said to me earlier," Chloe pondered then opened up, "Oh nothing bad about you and I. Just he reminded me that Terese said I might have PTSD after the kidnapping. Part of Terese giving me the last couple weeks off work was that I was supposed to speak to someone about the ordeal not...y'know spend a few weeks on your couch building a relationship with you and Elliot. Which obviously I wouldn't give up for the world and I don't think I need to speak to anyone about it as I'm perfectly fine but it kinda was the only thing Terese asked of me to do before I go back to work on Monday."

"And since you may need to ask Terese for a smidge more flexibility for your hours if you will be kept up at all hours of the night by my son...you feel like you should do this for Terese," Elly assumed then when Chloe nodded, Elly pulled out her phone, "Let's get some numbers together, make some phone calls to see if we can find you someone to see tomorrow. Or maybe David can pull some strings with a colleague...or you can just have a chat to David about it. I'm sure that'll satisfy Terese if you explain we got severely side-tracked the last couple weeks."

"You're the best," Chloe acknowledged, linking hands with Elly.

As Elly started searching for details of local counselors, she looked up as the cafe door opened, and pointed out to Chloe, "Look there's Terese now. Do you want to talk to her now or wait 'til Monday when you're back at work?"

"I can talk to her now," Chloe decided as Terese spotted her anyway and walked over to them.

"Chloe! I feel like I haven't seen you in weeks, probably because I haven't. How have you been? Sorry I haven't stopped by your place or Pierce's to check how you are," Terese fired off rapidly as soon as she reached the table.

"It's been a while, hasn't it? I've been really good, thanks. That's perfectly okay…you probably wouldn't have found me at either place the last couple weeks," Chloe admitted shyly.

Terese nodded, not really getting what Chloe meant, then noticing Elly next to her, who was leaning into the pram fussing over her baby, "Elly, it's really good to finally see you and your son out of the house. It's good to see the pair of you hanging out together. New mums always need to lean on their friends for support."

Chloe glanced at Elly knowingly then gently placed their entangled hands on top of the table, told her boss, "Yeah…so about that…a few things have changed since I saw you last."

Terese's eyes widened at the pair as she took it upon herself to take a seat opposite them at the table, smiling, "Are you two back together?"

"Yes, we are," Elly answered before placing her left hand in the pram, rocking it gently as Elliot fussed about in it.

Chloe smiled back at Terese once she realized her boss looked genuinely happy for her, "I was planning on telling you Monday morning at the office…if by some miracle the news didn't make its way to you by then. I ended things with Pierce this morning because Elly and I want to be together. We've been through a lot the past couple weeks and it's made us accept the feelings we have for one another are still there and stronger than ever. I kinda have you to thank for it in a way."

"Me? What did I do?" Terese asked with confusion.

Elly grinned as she stared at Chloe, "You gave Chloe time off work the past couple weeks after the kidnapping and that time gave us a chance to work on things between the three of us."

Chloe squeezed Elly's hand, "What she said. I've spent most of the past couple weeks at Elly's place living on their couch so we could build our relationship…emotionally build it. With Pierce away, I couldn't break up with him until he got back and I didn't want to cheat on him so…okay there were a couple of kisses, I came clean to him about it all. It just gave us time together and we really needed that."

Terese nodded, happy to have played a minor part in why the two women looked like they were glowing, "How did Pierce take the news? Is that why you needed to let me know at work because things are going to get…awkward…at the office between the pair of you?"

Chloe grimaced at the thought, "Pierce obviously wasn't happy with it…I broke it off with him…right after he proposed to me," Chloe saw Terese's eyes widen even more in shock, "It took Pierce a long time to seem to get it in his head that I was ending it with him to be with Elly. He still wanted me to be with him regardless but I told him if he doesn't move on, he'll never find someone who loves him…the way Elly loves me."

"Damn straight," Elly interjected quickly to peck Chloe on the lips at her declaration, surprising Terese even more with their openness as a couple.

Chloe blushed at Elly's nature not to hide their status, "I don't want things to be awkward at the office. I've moved on, in time Pierce will need to accept that. I know starting to build things with Elly and Elliot whilst he was away wasn't the best thing, I could've done but it is what it is. I'll be professional at work. I hope Pierce can do the same."

Terese smiled as she noticed Chloe glancing at the infant, "So…when you say…building things with Elly…and Elliot…do you mean…?"

"Oh, I'm not in any way like his parent with Elly, that's far too soon and a bit disrespectful for Shaun RIP. But I'm going to be there for them. I'm not just dating Elly; I do want a role in Elliot's life…we're just taking our time working through it until one day…the three of us will be a family. Until then…I've been crashing at the Kennedy's on their couch, helping Elly cope through the nights looking after the peanut, pretty much doing everything except feeding him. I think I'm getting the hang of it. I'm going to continue doing that…helping them. I don't want to change that," Chloe explained.

"You're more than getting the hang of it," Elly reassured, "You've been amazing. And we will be changing one thing…you don't have to sleep on the couch anymore. You can sleep in my bed now with me."

Chloe blushed deeply at the thought then cleared her throat, not sure how much she wanted Elly to share with her boss, "Right…anyway…well the thing I wanted to talk to you about, Terese, with me helping Elly with the baby…I might need some more…flexible hours at work if I'm sleep deprived. I'll get the work done, I will, I don't want to stuff you around especially after you kindly let me have this time off during the busiest time of the year at the hotel. I won't let you down. I can stay late if I get into the office late, make up the hours on weekends or events any of the complex venues hold, lock me in, I'll-"

"Chloe, calm down, please," Terese raised her hands to interrupt her EA, "We can work around your life with flexible hours, it's fine. You don't need to work on weekends or every single event we hold. You should be spending that time with your fa…with Elly and the baby. If you want to come into the office a little bit later and stay later…well I won't stop you. We'll work our way through it over the next few weeks and we'll work out what works best for your job and your home life with these two."

"Home life with us," Elly repeated with a smile on her face.

"That'd be nice, thanks Terese," Chloe thanked her boss.

As Dipi came over with their meals, Terese said goodbye to the couple and was off on her way.

As Chloe and Elly dug into their meals after reluctantly letting go of each other's hand, they didn't notice Pierce walking into the café. The businessman immediately saw them together and wandered off to the corner of the café away from them where he took a seat at another booth, pretending to be busy reading a menu but he couldn't help but stare at the woman he loved.

Within a minute of the women starting their meals, Elliot started fussing in his pram. Elly leaned over to him then noted to Chloe, "I think he needs a change. I'll be back in a moment."

Chloe dropped her utensils, deciding, "Don't worry about it, I got it. You enjoy your meal. There's a change table in the bathroom here…right? Not the kind of thing I've ever had to notice before."

"Yes, there is on the wall, just got to pull it down. Are you sure you don't want me to?" Elly checked.

"Course I am, I got him," Chloe told Elly.

Before Chloe got up, Elly leant forwards, kissing Chloe gently. Chloe smiled once more amazed by Elly's affection for her. Pierce on the other hand grimaced as he watched the happy couple together. Though he couldn't see the look on Chloe's face from where he was sitting the look on Elly's told him all he needed to know and it hurt him to see the pair so open in their relationship mere hours after Chloe had ended it with him.

Pierce gritted his teeth as he watched Chloe get up, move around to the pram, scoop the infant up into her arms then grab what he assumed was a nappy bag from under the pram before heading to the bathroom. It was only for a minute but the care she showed in holding the infant, made Pierce sick to his stomach Chloe could accept having an infant in her life. The Chloe he knew wasn't about changing a baby's nappy.

As soon as Chloe was out of sight, Pierce swiftly got up and went over to Elly, sitting alone at the booth, "Elly."

Elly looked up with surprise at the businessman towering over her, "Pierce…what do you want?"

Pierce smirked at Elly, "Not even an apology for allowing Chloe to cheat on me with you, huh?"

"Chloe made her choice, Pierce, she chose me and my son. I'm not apologizing for any of it," Elly insisted proudly.

Pierce placed his hands in his pockets, his right-hand gripping onto the engagement ring box he still carried with him, "Chloe chose you now. Doesn't mean it'll last. You think you've won cause you two are here playing happy family's hours after Chloe crushed me?"

"I don't think I've won anything. It's not a competition. I love Chloe. Chloe loves me. We're together, we're not playing anything, we're planning on spending our lives together and this is the first day of the rest of them," Elly told him proudly.

"We'll see about that," Pierce threatened softly, "You've spent a couple weeks 'building' something, been on this one date, if you're calling this a date. We both know your track record with your love life and ability to screw things up…or screw someone else in record time."

Elly flinched at Pierce's words but couldn't find it in her to defend herself or declare she would never do a thing to hurt Chloe.

Pierce scoffed at Elly not even denying his claim, "We both know no matter what…you're not good enough for Chloe. You can't give Chloe the life I can give her. Chloe's enamored by this whole idea that you love her. She might be amused by the whole baby thing for now but both of those things will pass soon enough when the reality sets in that you can't give her what she truly wants. Chloe will be over it, she'll come to terms with the fact that a life with you and your son isn't in her future and when she does, I'll be the one to catch her when she falls."

Elly swallowed hard at Pierce's words, unable to argue with him and couldn't comprehend why.

Pierce smirked once more before exiting the café, getting out of view before Chloe could spot him even though he assumed Elly would tell Chloe every word he said.

A minute later, Chloe returned to the booth with Elliot, putting him back in the pram, then shifting back to sitting next to Elly, "Everything okay, sweetie? You've barely eaten since I left."

Elly planted a smile on her face, "All good. Just…lost my appetite for a bit. I'm glad your back. Everything okay with Elliot?"

Chloe nudged Elly's shoulder, "No problems at all. You sure you're okay?"

Elly nodded at the blonde, "Not a problem in my world as long as I've got you."

Chloe melted at Elly's words, "Same."

Why couldn't I stand up for myself or tell Chloe her ex-boyfriend is expecting us to fail so he can sweep back in and take her from us?