Thank you for your reviews Kelly & EC Brenway! Was really looking forward to them!
Kelly - that cliffhanger certainly topped the previous one. Glad you're surprised!
EC - Yes way! Elly absolutely willed Chloe's miracle baby into existence! Elly is incredibly dangerous in so many ways! The risk of pregnancy is high with that one!
The Chemistry In Darkness
Chapter Sixty-Four
Tuesday 25th February 2025
"Hey, Chloe," Dipi greeted Chloe, surprised to bump into the blonde at the gift shop in the Erinsborough Hospital.
But Chloe didn't respond, not even looking over at Dipi so Dipi prompted her again, "Chloe? Everything okay?"
Chloe suddenly jumped at hearing someone calling out to her, her mind feeling like it was in another universe whilst she barely even realized she'd been standing in a gift shop let alone the local hospital, "Dipi?"
"You okay, Chloe? You look like you're on a different planet," Dipi commented.
She's not wrong…
Chloe still stayed silent, her jaw unable to move to speak, and even if she did, she didn't know what she could possibly say. Chloe felt like her world had been turned even more upside down than she thought it was.
"Chloe, is there a reason why you're at the hospital?" Dipi pried quietly, trying to get Chloe to open up, then when she didn't answer, she added, "I don't know if you know but I've been supplying the gift shop with tarot cards for them to sell for a few years now. They keep wanting me to book in some time to provide tarot readings for their customers but I'm always so busy at Harold's I just don't have the time. At least with the tarot cards, it gives some of the patients here some mystic in trying to determine their future."
"That's nice," Chloe mumbled out, not really listening to Dipi at all.
"That's a really cute soft toy you're holding there," Dipi pointed out, smiling at the light blue creature with green spots that wasn't the least bit scary but instead was adorable, "Are you getting it for one of Mark or Aaron's kids?"
Chloe stared down at the soft toy as she lifted it gently in her hand, she barely remembered picking it up or even walking into the gift shop after her appointment with her doctor, "I guess."
Was I thinking of giving this toy to Rose…or my baby…whom might impossibly be…Elly's baby?
Dipi reached out her hand gently, "Do you mind if I have a look at the toy?"
Chloe passed it along without question, her mind completely spinning.
As Dipi held the toy, she looked over at Chloe and the look of disbelief and confusion all across her face, "Chloe, you're not here at the hospital for something…related to your Huntington's, are you?"
Technically…not me but my baby…I had the CVS test…now I have to wait ten days to get the results…
"It doesn't matter why I'm here, it's not important," Chloe lied.
Dipi ran her tongue over her teeth, "Really? Because you look like your entire world has been spun off its axis."
Dipi's right…that's exactly what has happened to me.
"I'm fine," Chloe claimed.
Whilst it only felt like a few seconds as she stood there with Dipi, Chloe's mind scrambled through the last hour she'd spent at the hospital and everything that had turned her life upside down.
Chloe had been lying on a hospital bed, in the middle of her ultrasound with the doctor standing next to her. Chloe had not only been told that she'd been drugged with fertility drugs, she'd also been told her conception date didn't match the last time she'd slept with her husband.
The conception date of her baby instead matched when she'd cheated on her husband by making love to her ex-girlfriend, Elly.
Her ex-girlfriend whom also happened to be a werewolf.
But that was crazy, right? Elly couldn't possibly be the baby's parent because two women can't conceive a child together, it wasn't physically possible.
"What's not possible?" the doctor had gently asked her patient.
Before she could stop herself, Chloe had blurted out, "I slept with my ex two and a half months ago. It was just a one-time thing."
One-time thing that I made love to Elly…but she with me…that was more than a…one-time thing…
The doctor nodded at Chloe, of the belief that she knew what had happened and yet she had no idea, "Then I'd say your ex is the father of your baby, Mrs. Brennan. There's no judgment from me and you have doctor, patient confidentiality."
Chloe had shaken her head at the doctor, "No, you don't understand, my ex…cannot be my baby's other parent…"
"What makes you so sure if the timing fits…?" the doctor had asked.
"Elly left because I was already pregnant, I had all the signs, I'd missed my period. I told Elly I was pregnant to Pierce and we couldn't run off to start a new life together," Chloe rambled, her thoughts going back to that fateful evening.
As Chloe's thoughts often did, since the moment Elly had walked out the door, Chloe had wondered what her life could be like with Elly and Aster.
But being pregnant to Pierce had stopped her from that life.
And now Chloe's entire world was spinning at the mere idea that the baby she was carrying could even in the remote chance, be Elly's baby.
"Elly? As in…your ex…girlfriend?" the doctor was surprised, but not in a judgmental tone about Chloe's ex being a woman.
Or so Chloe had thought until the doctor's next question came quickly, "As in…Elly's…pre-transition?"
What…? Oh…the doctor thinks Elly is a guy transitioning into a woman… Well, honestly, what else is she supposed to think? I can't exactly tell her Elly is a woman, always has been, but she's also a werewolf… Werewolves don't exist…they do but I need to keep that secret to protect Elly… Elly did tell me werewolves can have werewolf babies…I never thought that meant two women could have a…wait…am I carrying a werewolf baby? I was so worried my baby would have the gene for Huntington's…not the gene for…werewolf!
Chloe reluctantly nodded in a half-hearted way, hating lying to the doctor about Elly's gender but also understanding the truth would make even less sense to the doctor.
Chloe then had a thought, "Can you do a paternity test?"
"We can do that along with the CVS test…again, both carry a small risk of miscarriage," the doctor agreed, "Do you have anything of Elly's…or Pierce's if you want to check it against him?"
No, I need to know if this is Elly's baby…will Elly's genomes for her gender come up in a test like this…? If it does, I'll just have to explain it away…I need to find out if this is Elly's baby…if our baby has Huntington's…if our baby is a werewolf…I need to find Elly for that…I don't know where she is…
Chloe reached into her handbag, pulling out a bracelet and handing it to the doctor, "Elly dropped this…after our time together. I went back the day after we had…to…look for missing clothes and I saw a bracelet Elly wore on the floor. I'm not sure if this will be enough…"
The doctor took the bracelet softly, "Only one way to find out."
"How long will it take to learn who the…parent of my baby is…that it might be my ex's?" Chloe asked nervously.
"Ten days, same as the Huntington's gene. Are you sure you want to go through with this?" the doctor answered then asked again.
"I have to know…on both counts," Chloe decided, before closing her eyes for a moment, "What am I supposed to do for ten days?"
"Try not to think about it. The Huntington's I mean. You've been worried about that for months, there's no reason to think this baby will carry the disease," the doctor reassured, "As for the baby's paternity…that's up to you. If you think there's more chance of the baby being your ex's…and your husband is likely to work out the baby isn't his based on the due date from when the pair of you last…you might want to have a conversation with him to prepare him… Or you don't tell Pierce at all. It's not my place to say."
"I don't know what to do," Chloe admitted, her mind once more spinning at the idea that because Elly was supernatural, it was might be possible that the baby she was carrying was hers instead of her husbands.
I don't even know where Elly is…how do I deal with this all on my own without having Elly here with me…or to think for a second that Pierce could ever understand…or forgive me for cheating on him…and maybe somehow…creating a baby with Elly.
"But…" Chloe stammered, "Would I be able to get two photos of my ultrasound…I think I need more than one to…believe what I'm seeing about the baby being a month later than I thought."
"Of course," the doctor agreed.
"And there's one other thing I need from you," Chloe hinted quietly.
Back in the gift shop, Chloe's haze over her doctor's appointment and the possibility that the baby she was carrying was Elly's after their time together, was leaving her unable to attempt a conversation with Dipi, whom she'd bumped into.
"Are you sure you're fine, Chloe?" Dipi asked worriedly, "I know it's not really my place but you look a million miles away."
Do I wish I was a million miles away with Elly, Aster and…our…maybe baby…?
Chloe finally looked up at her friend, "Yeah, I'm okay. I should get home. I didn't mean to be here this long. Hope the tarot reading goes well."
Dipi nodded, not wanting to correct Chloe that she wasn't doing any tarot reading at the shop, she was only dropping off supplies for them to sell, "Enjoy the rest of your day, Chloe… Oh…and don't forget this. Whichever child you're buying it for will love it."
Chloe reached out for the soft toy, not noticing it glimmering gently as it left Dipi's hands or Dipi's eyes glimmering the same colour, bid Dipi goodbye before purchasing the soft toy from the gift shop owner.
Leaving the hospital, Chloe then took an Uber to her martial arts class, accepting more and more that she'd need to step back on her classes, passing the mantel back to Hetty, seeing as though she was close to finding out in a few weeks if she would have the baby if it didn't have her Huntington's gene.
Arriving back to Ramsay Street in another Uber two hours later, Chloe stared up at her house for a moment, feeling immediately queasy and confused. She instantly remembered being told that she'd being drugged with fertility medicines without her knowledge. Chloe didn't want to believe for a second her husband of more than four years would ever do such a thing in a desperate attempt for them to have a baby. As she held her hand against her stomach, she wondered if it was at all possible that instead she was pregnant to Elly instead.
That just can't be possible…we're two women…or well…Elly's a werewolf and she did tell me she can have werewolf babies…but I thought that meant she can give birth to werewolf babies…not that she and I could have…a baby…together.
Shaking her head at the thought of waiting ten days to find out the truth about her baby's health and parentage, Chloe pulled out her phone. She texted Pierce to let him know, after she picked up her niece and nephews from school, she was going over to her brothers' house to spend time with the kids there for a few hours.
More than just a few hours later, Chloe returned home. It was very late at night; she'd skipped dinner with her husband. Not even able to bring herself to eat dinner with Aaron and Mark and their families as she spent time with them all for the evening. The thought of eating food, if that was the way she'd been drugged for who knows how long, she wasn't going to be able to eat for the rest of the day.
As she walked into her house, Chloe took a deep breath.
Ten days…I find out in ten days if my future is here with Pierce and a healthy baby or with…and I now refuse to believe in my fear of this baby having Huntington's…but how could I have a future with Elly if the baby is hers…and I don't even know where she is? I need Elly to come home like she promised, she said she would by the start of the school year for Aster but she never did… Ten days…I get through ten days…then I'll know where my future will lie…my baby's future too…
Pierce looked up from the dining table as Chloe entered. His laptop in front of him, books scattered across the table. Pierce's beard and hair looking somewhat unkempt. He'd been so busy lately, the past few months, he had been up most hours, wasn't taking as meticulous care of his hair and beard.
Chloe hadn't been too caring about her husband's sudden change in working far more often over the past two months, he still doted on her and gave her everything she needed, including space in the days after Elly and Aster had taken off. And the less she worried about Pierce, the more time Chloe had to worry about her pregnancy and Pierce's reaction when she eventually told him.
And now if this baby could possibly turn out to be…Elly's…how will Pierce possibly react to that?
"Did you have a good day, my love?" Pierce asked, running his hand through his beard.
"It was good," Chloe answered briefly, "I'm really tired, I'm going straight to bed. Will I see you in an hour or so?"
"Absolutely, Chloe, I'll turn in within the hour. I'll see you then," Pierce smiled.
A moment after Chloe had left the main area of the house, Pierce stared back down at the book he had open in front of him. Pierce was glad that Chloe hadn't taken any interest in the work he'd been doing the past couple months. He'd become obsessed, you see, spending hours upon hours, days upon days that had turned into months, researching into the one thing that had been troubling him since his wife had brought home a wolf for an evening and it had tried to attack him the night after.
Chloe didn't know what he was doing, she didn't see that just because the wolf hadn't returned to the neighbourhood since that fateful night Pierce had accidently been shot in the arm, that Pierce hadn't let it go.
Flicking the page of the book he was researching, Pierce continued reading the chapter he was on.
A chapter all about werewolves.
Close to an hour later, Pierce felt like he had solved the mystery that had been plaguing him for months. He'd read this book numerous times and this particular chapter, the ink was showing signs it was starting to fade, he'd read it that many times over the past few weeks. Every detail made sense to him, he finally felt confident enough in himself that there was no questioning his discovery.
As Pierce flicked back to the start of the chapter on werewolves, he wrote two words above the chapter title:
ELLY CONWAY
Next time - Pierce reflects on his discovery as Chloe reflects on her own about Elly and their Chelly baby