"She looks like an angel," Chloe murmured, stroking Celeste's hair off her face as she lay sleeping off the anesthesia.

Matthew nodded his agreement, eyes never leaving Celeste's angelic little face. "She looks just like you," he said, "Has since the day she was born."

Chloe smiled softly. "You're just saying that because you're biased."

"Perhaps," he admitted. He wrapped one hand around Celeste's tiny fingers. "Do you remember the last time we were here?" he asked, "Watching our little baby sleep, unable to believe how beautiful she was, that we could create something so incredible."

She nodded. "The day she was born. They put this tiny writing screaming little bundle on my chest and I swear to God, I thought my heart would burst in that moment, it was so full of love. I've never known that feeling, before or since."

"When I held her for the first time, I fell in love so hard," he agreed. "She changed my life."

Chloe hummed a little note of assent. "Do you ever regret it?" she asked, "We were so young, we didn't plan on having a kid..."

He shook his head. "Not even for a minute. I wouldn't trade a second of the last two years."

"You really have no regrets?"

"Only one," he admitted quietly. She raised a brow in silent question. He glanced up to meet her gaze, paused to let her absorb the truth.

"Oh..." she breathed at length.

A beat.

"Chloe," he started, stopped. "I know you know how I feel. And, if you can honestly tell me there's nothing left between us for you, I'll never ask again. But if there is anything..."

She let out a shuddering breath. "Matthew..."

Matthew and Chloe hadn't exactly been dating when they'd slept together for the first and only time. Matthew had long been harbouring an all-consuming crush on Chloe and it wasn't exactly a secret. It also wasn't a secret that Chloe didn't feel the same way. Which was fine. Really, it was. Because they could still be friends and that was enough for Matthew.

Besides, Chloe liked someone else. She always seemed to have a crush on one guy or another. It was kind of her thing. The guys never seemed to be interested in her for long, though, and Matthew always seemed to be the one there to pick up the pieces of Chloe's broken heart. It was fine.

That particular broken heart, though, had changed everything...

Matthew and Emily were over at the Simmons' house for their monthly dinner together when it became clear just how drastically things were going to change. Emily and Kristy were commiserating about how difficult their pregnancies had been when Kristy made a remark about how the twins' pregnancy had made her forever averse to the smell of eggs.

Matthew could see the moment a light switch went off in Chloe's mind. She immediately shot him a look across the room and nodded her head in the direction of the kitchen in a gesture for him to follow.

"I'm pregnant," she'd hissed the moment the two of them were alone and out of earshot.

"What... But..." he stammered, "I mean... I used protection!"

She huffed. "Well, it must've failed," she snapped.

"Are you sure?" he persisted. "Have you taken a test?"

She shook her head.

He wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but couldn't quite muster the emotion. "I'll do the right thing," he assured her. "Whatever you decide, I'll be by your side." If there was one thing Matthew knew, it was that he was never going to be the kind of man who would abandon a child he created. The opposite to how his father had been...

"No, wait..." he interrupted, suddenly feeling the need to explain himself, "I don't want to put any pressure on you, but I... I need to know, Chlo. I think I deserve that – to know whether I should finally move on and put any hopes of us being a family to rest for good. Or, at least, try to."

She chewed her lip for several long moments of silence, apparently internally debating something. At last, she sighed heavily, murmured, "It's not that easy..."

He gave her a pointed look. "It is that easy," he insisted. "I've been by your side since we were kids and I've always been there for you. No matter what happened, you could always count on me." Try as he might to keep his temper in check, not wanting to scare Celeste if she woke up suddenly, he couldn't help but feel a little flare of anger burst in his chest. "I've been in love with you since we were fifteen and I had to watch you go out with guy after guy..."

"Excuse me?" Chloe snapped, hurt from his words coming out as anger.

Realizing that may have sounded judgmental and callous, he backtracked, "Oh, no... No! That's not what I meant. I was just trying to say that I've been your consolation prize for every failed relationship, every breakup, and I've never asked for anything in return. Well, now I think I deserve an answer."

Moving from her chair beside Celeste's bed to kneel in front of him, Chloe caught Matthew's gaze and held it, needing him to see the truth in her eyes. "Matthew, the reason I can't give you an answer is that I honestly don't know what the answer is..."

"That seems like a pretty clear answer to me," he said, looking from her down to the floor so she wouldn't see the hurt in his eyes.

"No, you don't understand," she insisted. "Not knowing what I'm feeling isn't the same as feeling nothing at all."

He glanced back up at her, suddenly feeling a flicker of hope.

Chloe continued, "I feel something for you because you're a wonderful father to our daughter. Because you were my best friend in elementary school. Because one call from me had you rushing to my house to be sure I was okay." She reached over to caress his cheek. "I just don't know what this feeling is..."

He nodded, swallowed thickly, struggling for words. "Can... Can I take you out to eat?" he offered. "As soon as Celeste's is given the all-clear for solid foods."

She smiled softly. "I'd like that."