Love your comments as ever EC Brenway!

Oh dear a pair of Greyson twins...or a litter of them! What would Chloe do with all that wood?

The Chemistry In Darkness

Chapter Sixty-Two

Almost Two and a Half Months Later – Tuesday 25th February 2025

Chloe stared at her feet as she sat in the hospital waiting room, her mind running over the lies she had spun to her husband earlier that day as to how she had nothing planned for the day. When instead, she had finally had the courage to make the doctor's appointment that was well overdue and even more courage to turn up at the hospital.

Desperately afraid that her brother-in-law, David, or their neighbour, Karl, would see her there at the hospital and then mention it to Pierce. David was one to keep one of Chloe's secrets from Pierce about taking birth control. Not that that had resulted in doing her much good the last time she'd slept with her husband.

Because here Chloe was, months later than she should've been there, pregnant and waiting for her first ultrasound. She'd been to the doctor the previous week for a blood test but had taken her time to have the courage to go in for her next appointment.

Chloe knew she was pregnant. She'd known for months, not long after Elly had returned, she even knew in her gut the day after Pierce had been with her. But it had taken her months to come to terms with it. She thought she'd started to accept it after she'd confessed to Elly that she was pregnant, that she would find a way to accept it and tell her husband his dreams of starting a family were happening.

But then Elly had taken her daughter, Aster, and disappeared once more.

It had been nearly three months and Chloe hadn't heard anything from her best friend.

Woman I love…but can't admit that to anyone…barely even myself.

Elly had left all over again, fearing her friends' and family were in danger of her attacking them.

The revelation that Elly was a werewolf still didn't quite compute with Chloe. In some ways, it made perfect sense to Chloe as there was so many little different things about Elly that fit with her been supernatural. There was also the fact that Chloe had seen with her very own eyes Elly transforming from being a dog into her human self.

Elly not explaining to Chloe why she'd seen her as a dog instead of the supposed wolf that she is confused Chloe into thinking there was something wrong with her.

Chloe had wanted to call Elly every single day since she'd left. She did at first, but Elly's phone was switched off. After a week of trying to call her and the phone still been switched off, Chloe had accepted she needed to let Elly go. As hard as that was.

Elly had promised she'd return one day soon, that she wouldn't disappear for years on end like she'd done before. For killing Finn, another of Elly's secrets Chloe felt bound to protect, even though it would bring the Kennedy's much relief to know Finn would never surprise them by returning again. But what relief could they have knowing Elly had been the one to kill him?

Chloe had seen the letter that Elly had sent to Bea and the rest of her family explaining why she had packed up her things and taken off with Aster once more.

To say Bea was angry months on was an understatement.

Bea had fumed at Chloe when the blonde had explained to her that Elly had taken off again but didn't know where she was. The letter that arrived a few days later from Elly to her family explaining that she needed to leave once more, yet promised she would be back within a few months when Aster was due to begin kindy, didn't help matters.

Bea didn't understand just what had happened to make Elly disappear and Chloe had borne the brunt of Bea's rage.

Bea had no idea that Elly was a werewolf, one that was terrified of hurting her family if her rage took over her.

Though Bea didn't let Susan or Karl or Pierce in to the truth as she knew it, as far as she knew Chloe and Elly had slept together again in the Kennedy's greenhouse, and the following day, Elly had up and left with Aster. Without giving Bea any chance to explain like she promised she would.

The presumption being that Chloe had refused to leave her husband, Pierce, and Elly had runaway, after being unable to deal with her feelings for Chloe.

Bea had no idea that Chloe's pregnancy was the driving reason as to why the blonde made the heartbreaking decision not to pursue a relationship with Elly.

Bea's rage was luckily kept between herself, Chloe and Yashvi, but it had damaged the friendship between Chloe and Bea, whilst Yashvi tried to focus Bea on the fact that Elly would return and that she needed to trust that Elly had her reasons.

Chloe had feared Bea's rage would lead to Elly's sister revealing she'd betrayed her marriage vows to Pierce but she never did and despite their fractured friendship, Chloe was thankful that Bea hadn't complicated her life even more.

But that didn't mean that Chloe hadn't spent the past few months wondering if she'd made the right decision to stand by Pierce and the baby she was carrying. Wondering what her life would be like if she'd taken the biggest risk of her life, following her heart, and agreeing to run away with Elly and Aster.

Wondering couldn't do Chloe any good. She'd made her decision, she'd put the baby she was carrying ahead of her feelings for Elly, and here she was.

At the hospital, waiting to have her first ultrasound and CVS test, so she could learn if her baby was healthy and could tell her husband, Pierce, that she was finally pregnant with the baby he longed for.

The fact that Chloe had kept her secret from him for so many months still astounded her that Pierce, whom was so desperate for a baby, had been blind to her pregnancy symptoms.

Or maybe it was because since Elly left, Chloe had somewhat reverted back to the wife Pierce wanted, the one who did what he asked and didn't ask questions of him. Of course, Chloe still attended her martial arts classes twice a week and trained each day at home without Pierce knowing about it. And she also kept up her decision with Pierce not to begin trying for a baby.

For starters, they didn't need to, Chloe was already pregnant. But after making love to Elly, Chloe was too nervous to sleep with her husband again until she knew the baby that she was carrying was healthy and she could commit to Pierce fully by getting over Elly.

Chloe's decision to stop sleeping with her husband and try for a baby had to come to an end soon. Pierce had decreed they had taken nearly four months off from trying and he insisted that a holiday he had spontaneously booked for a week away together in a fortnight's time, they would restart trying for a baby.

Chloe had agreed.

Of course, that was because Chloe had finally been given the push that she needed to go to the doctors for her first ultrasound and CVS test. She would receive the results back on if their baby was healthy within two weeks. So, with Pierce declaring the holiday they would be taking in a fortnight's time being just after she knew if she would be carrying this child to birth, Chloe had been as enthusiastic as she could be about this holiday with him.

Seeing as though the holiday wouldn't be needed when Chloe would tell him that she was pregnant upon receiving the CVS test results.

Even if the results came back that their baby had inherited her Huntington's disease, Chloe knew that she would still be honest with Pierce about it. She wasn't prepared to make a decision about continuing the pregnancy without him knowing and she could never end the pregnancy with Pierce never knowing they could've been parents.

Chloe had already waited more than three months to tell him. She knew he'd be upset at her for keeping it from him but she had hoped if the CVS test fell their way, Pierce's happiness would override his anger.

And if the baby had the Huntington's gene, then Chloe hoped Pierce would be understanding as to why she had kept it from him for so long. Her fear of passing on her disease had paralyzed her into silence.

Because it truly had.

The voice in the back of her mind reminding Chloe of what she could've had with Elly if she had instead decided to leave with her.

But it wasn't to be.

Elly had her life with Aster, trying to find confidence in herself that she would never hurt anyone as a werewolf so she could return to her life in Erinsborough.

And Chloe had her life, focusing on her unborn baby and the decision she might need to make with her husband if the baby could inherit her fate of a disease that would cruel their life.

Chloe was finally eased from her thoughts when the doctor called her into her appointment. As she walked into the room, Chloe noted another lady sitting in a chair outside the hospital room, whom had nodded at Chloe politely.

After Chloe greeted the doctor, she was soon sitting up on the table waiting for her ultrasound to be taken so she could see her baby for the very first time.

The doctor rolled her chair over to Chloe, her casual approach relaxing Chloe as she felt success at managing to get into the appointment without David or Karl seeing her, though she would soon feel less relaxed.

The doctor held open Chloe's medical file, smiling up at Chloe gently, "Your blood test results have come back and you are definitely pregnant, Mrs. Brennan."

I knew that…not like this could just be some hysterical pregnancy…

Chloe still grimaced at the confirmation of what she'd known deep down for months.

The doctor frowned at Chloe's reaction, "You're not…happy by this news?"

"It's complicated," Chloe answered vaguely after hesitating for a moment, "I'll need to have a CVS test for the baby…today…after the ultrasound if possible."

"We don't need to rush any decisions because a CVS test does come with a small risk of miscarriage but if you do want to proceed with it, we can do that today for you," the doctor explained.

"I'll take the risk," Chloe decided immediately, then clearing her throat, knowing she'd been too scared to talk much when she had the blood test for the pregnancy test the previous week, "I don't know if you've checked my medical records but I have…Huntington's disease…I need to know this baby doesn't have the gene before I…decide if I…I mean if my husband and I…"

The doctor couldn't help but frown once more, "Of course… Do you mind me asking…was this pregnancy planned?"

"Not at all," Chloe answered honestly, "I'm too scared of passing on my Huntington's to…want to get pregnant. I know I can go through IVF to make sure the egg that can be implanted with my husband's sperm is an egg that doesn't carry the gene but my husband thinks we can have a healthy baby naturally…guess we're about to find out."

"I see," the doctor noted in a tone that suggested she didn't mean the words at all, then reached out for Chloe's medical file again, flipping through it.

"Is something wrong?" Chloe asked meekly.

"Nothing…I just assumed you'd be over the moon at learning your pregnant…I must've made a mistake," the doctor whispered, chewing on her lip as she read the medical report again.

"About what?" Chloe worried, "If this is because I've waited months longer than I should've to come in for my first ultrasound…and the CVS test could've been done a month ago, I know, and I know that if the baby does have the Huntington's gene then I've probably left it too late to not want to continue with the pregnancy but this pregnancy has left me completely frozen over what I'm meant to be doing. I never wanted this…I mean I do want to be a Mum, I do want this baby, it's just I'm so scared that you're going to tell me in a couple weeks this baby has Huntington's and that because I wasn't careful enough with birth control that I ended up pregnant with a baby that I…do want but was not expected…that I'll…"

The doctor closed the file, looking up at Chloe and holding her hand up to calm the blonde, "I'm sorry…I should've read the rest of your file to know you have Huntington's…I just got it wrong that this baby you're pregnant with is…that you've been desperate to get pregnant, Mrs. Brennan."

"What would make you think I'm desperate to get pregnant?" Chloe furrowed her brow, annoyed that the appointment was taking so long when she just wanted to have the ultrasound and CVS test as soon as possible so she could return home before Pierce noticed she wasn't there.

There was a gentle knock on the doctor's office door.

"Who's that?" Chloe wondered.

The doctor grimaced, "That would be the psychologist I asked to join me in this appointment with you…you passed her on the way in here."

"What do I need a psychologist for? You never even bothered to check my records to know I have Huntington's, that this baby could have it too…and okay yeah maybe I do need to talk to someone about how I'm completely unprepared for this pregnancy and have been putting off even admitting that I am pregnant that I'm here months later than I should be because I'm not sure I want to have this baby with my husband," Chloe rambled off honestly.

"You really aren't desperate enough to do anything to have gotten pregnant with this baby?" the doctor confirmed.

Chloe stayed silent as she shook her head.

The doctor cleared her throat, "I thought the psychologist was needed because your blood test didn't just reveal you are pregnant, Mrs. Brennan…it revealed there is an…extreme amount of drugs in your system…a level high enough that…I've never seen before…"

Drugs? Is my baby okay?

Next time - Chloe receives life-changing news about her pregnancy!