Mistaken 6

A Guillard didn't let mere sickness keep them from tasting wine. Her father would be rolling in his grave if she'd ever given such an excuse aloud. Amelie had refrained from drinking because she had known in her heart, what she couldn't quite say aloud. To say it would make it real . But she could no longer ignore the truth. She couldn't ignore her condition, or the consequences and the hardships she would need to confront. But, for all of that, she had to admit to a certain, unmistakable… joy .

Gabriel's seed, the unending seeming flood of it that had filled her to bursting and left her longing for that sensation of being well filled… Gabriel's seed had indeed proven potent, and accomplished what Gerard's had not. As Amelie rinsed her face, cupping cold water from the running bathroom faucet and splashing it on her pale skin, she couldn't help but smile through her tears. She'd already rinsed her mouth of the taste of bile, but a bitterness seemed to linger. It was true. Her secret wish. She was enceinte. She'd wanted a child for so long!

But… this was not how it was supposed to happen. In her happy mental picture of a loving family, her husband was just as bursting with love and happiness to have a new life to cherish and teach the ways of the world. Now she was on the cliff's edge of a divorce. One that could get… complicated. Terribly, terribly complicated…

"Amelie?"

She stilled at the sound of Gerard's voice. His oh so terribly hopeful voice.

"Is, is it true? Are we… ?"

"Non!"her voice was harsh, hard. It hurt her nearly as much as she knew it would hurt him. But it had to be done, "We are not."

Gerard stared at his wife, heart broken and suddenly at a loss for words. Of course they were not blessed with a child. It was foolish of him to have given in to the wishful want that Ana's unexpected announcement had awakened in him. The doctors had been so adamant that his former battles during the Omnic Crisis had exposed him to both radiation and exotic toxins that caused damages that even Angela Ziegler's nanotechnology could not heal. Robbing him of that fundamental function of being a man.

His concern for Amelie grew as he realized she still looked ill, and that her hurried run for the nearest facilities had been for… ?

"We are not expecting a child, Gerard." Amelie's voice was pained, but she gripped the sink and pushed herself up and faced the man who was still her husband if only by law, "But yes, I am pregnant."

The stunned hurt in his eyes killed something inside her. She could not have wronged him more than if she'd placed a bullet between his eyes. He deserved better. They both did. And so, she could not relent. Could not give in. Even while part of her wanted to ease the harm with a beautiful lie, she knew that would be a base and cowardly act. No matter the pain it cost them both, she had to be truthful.

"I've already begun the process of divorce."

Tears threatened to blind her, but she did not look away. The words were like jagged stones in her throat. His pain was her pain. She had to see this through, she had to finish it.

"Gerard… I did not want to blacken your night of triumph."

He made a soft sound. Something small like a wounded animal might make, quietly desperate.

"I was going to wait till later, but there is nothing but to make this break as quick and as clean as can be allowed."

She held out a hand to forestall his words. She could see the confusion and protest in his dark eyes, and she wished she could tell him anything but what she was saying. But they both needed the truth.

"Our marriage is over. It has been over for a while now, but I just did not have the strength to speak of it. This child. My child . Forces my hand earlier than I had planned. I wanted to make this as painless as possible for both our sakes…"

"Painless?!"

Gerard's half strangled shout silenced her with the agony that permeated his voice.

"Who? Who is the father?!"

"A... stranger. Someone I'd never met before." Her voice was clipped, each word as colorless and flat, as void of emotion as she could manage, "It was… sudden, and unplanned. I didn't intend to betray you. I… it just happened."

The tears fell now, but she forced herself past the sorrow and delivered the final blow.

"I'd say I am sorry… but truthfully, I am not."

Amelie cradled her stomach, a new, fierce feeling of protectiveness almost overwhelmed her. Tears streamed from her eyes as she stared into Gerard's now haunted face.

"A complete stranger gave me this… gift. I am… thankful."

"We… Our marriage does not have to end. I can… I can forgive you." Gerard spoke as if each word cut the very soul from him, but his eyes focused on her still flat stomach with an almost fevered longing, "This could still be ourchild."

"Gerard… " Amelie closed her eyes, for a moment, but forced herself to open them again and face the truth, " Non. I love you. But I am no longer in lovewith you. I wish you happiness in the future, and I hope you will have children in your life. But I can no longer be part of your life, and neither can my child."

"Amelie…" Gerard's voice was half lament, half plea, but his former wife in all but name only shook her head.

The new anti-Talon Command stood straight, as if he had a steel rod for a spine. The expressionless mask he'd used so often in the field now in place, he turned and left Amelie Lacroix alone with her resolve.

Gabriel Reyes felt like he'd been hit by a truck. His mystery woman. His beautiful birthday present. Gerard's wife?! He remembered when Gerard had saved his life in Cape Town, and they'd both been in the infirmary for days afterwards, how the other man had described his bride. Hair like silken ebony, skin like fresh snow, lips like rose petals… Gabriel had joked and asked if she had a wicked stepmother who had a magic mirror, because Gerard had just given the description of Snow White. Gerard had laughed… And revealed his ballerina wife had actually danced the primary role in the theatrical ballet performance of Grimm's Fairy Tale.

Gabriel had accused his friend of telling a fairy tale. No one was as gorgeous as he described his wife. Someday, Gerard had promised, he would have Gabriel meet his wife and she would utterly blow him out of the water.

Well. He hadn't lied. Gabriel felt like a fish after the lake had just had a metric ton of dynamite dumped into it. Beyond stabbing his friend in the back in the worst possible way… There was the fact that he'd forced himself on Amelie Lacroix. She wasn't a whore playing a role she'd agreed to and been paid for. She'd fought. She'd said no… And he'd taken her. Fucked her. Raped her… The vast darkness in his soul threatened to overwhelm him. A line he would never have knowingly crossed had been shattered. He couldn't… He had to… What?! How?! How could he… What could he do to fix this? Make up for this?

He saw Gerard return from wherever his wife had disappeared to. He looked like the entire world had fallen on him. Oh, the casual observer would have not noticed anything wrong with Gerard Lacroix. The man looked good. Suave. A slight smile on his lips that did not reflect in his dark eyes. But Gabriel had played poker with the man, had spent the better part of a month recovering with Gerard, had gotten completely, stinking drunk with the man, and even woken up buck naked with him after half a bottle of tequila and a destroyed warehouse full of genetically enhanced hashish that had belonged to a Talon drug runner. They'd managed to blow up that operation in more ways than one.

"Gerard… ?" Gabe's tentative hail drew the empty darkness of the new Anti-Talon commander's gaze.

"Are you okay?"

Of course he wasn't ok. Gabriel knew it was a stupid question as soon as it left his lips. But he just didn't know what else to say. Had Amelie told him? The Blackwatch Commander braced himself for a blow. For a hell for leather smack down. He wouldn't fight back. Gabriel Reyes would take his lumps like a man even if Gerard actually beat him to death.

"She's leaving me. The baby is not mine."

Gerard's voice was pleasantly even, as if commenting on the weather. But his eyes were lifeless.

Baby. There was a baby. Not Gerard's baby. Gabriel felt the earth under his feet try to shake him off. He refrained from staggering with pure will.

"How… who?!"

The words blurted out, and Gabriel hated to use Gerard's obvious pain against him, but the Blackwatch Commander had to know .

"Some stranger. She didn't know him. She… He gave her what I could not. What I can not."

The new anti-Talon taskforce leader's last words were bitter as gall, and Gerard's eyes closed on what he considered a personal failure.

"I'm sorry, Gabriel. I am not fit company tonight. I… It's my party. I… " Gerard's mask faltered.

"It's late enough. No one will fault you for leaving now." Gabriel's voice was rough with the emotions he was keeping locked down.

HIs friend had just had the worst news a man could have. Gabriel remembered having only felt relief when his ex had announced she was returning to the US with their child. It had hurt to see the kid go, but it had been the best for all of them. He'd been able to move on. Gerard would need some time to himself.

"I'll let everyone know you have to make an early night in order to get up tomorrow start to set up in your new office in Rome." Gabriel's low growl drew Gerard's gaze to the pained look in his friend's dark brown eyes.

"Thank you Gabriel. You are a good friend. Better than I deserve."

Before Reyes could object, Gerard embraced him, hard and tight, and just as suddenly let go to make his way away from the party that was still underway.

Gabriel Reyes watched Gerard go and waited. Impatience clawed at him inside, but he waited. Once he was sure Gerard was not going to change his mind and had truly left, Gabriel headed to the area Amelie Lacroix had fled to. He needed to see her. He needed to talk to her. He needed to know. Was this baby… Was she having his baby?

To be continued