Disclaimer: I don't own anybody from the original cast............blah blah blah.....I own Brad and Chelsea.
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In Your Darkest Hour
Ch. 19
"........and a
little child will lead them."
Isaiah 11:6
Shelby walked in the door of Daisy's house and set Chelsea down. She didn't even know how she had gotten there. She didn't remember the whole drive there.
"So......." Daisy came out of another room with a devious smile on her face. "When's the wedding?" she asked in a joking tone. Shelby fought back tears and sat on the couch.
"When I find Prince Charming." She said.
"Prince Charming was supposed to be at the restaurant today at the same time as you....." Daisy said.
"It was more like the Evil Rasputin." Shelby said. "Dais, what were you thinking? That we would see each other and automatically forget about everything that's happened? Fall deeply in love again? Give all the credit of our story book romance to you?"
"Yes to all of the above." Daisy admitted.
"Crash and burn, then." Shelby said and crossed her arms over her chest and propped her feet up. Daisy came and sat down next to her.
"What happened?"
"I told him to either be Chelsea's full time dad, or not. An all or nothing deal."
"And......"
"He chose nothing." Shelby said quietly.
"That doesn't sound like Scott. Are you sure that's what he meant...are you sure you didn't take it the wrong way?"
"Daisy, he practically through Chelsea back in my face and ran out of the restaurant saying he had to go. That he couldn't. How else could I take that? It was pretty straight forward."
"It'll be okay." Daisy said more as a question than as a statement.
"No....it won't."
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Scott woke up. He didn't remember how he had gotten home, but he remembered the situation and he didn't like it at all. He had flashbacks of his conversation with Shelby and the restaurant and then flashbacks of his own childhood. He shook them away because they were both disturbing.
He decided to go ahead and tell his Dad. He would find out sooner or later and he would rather be the one to tell him. Scott gave himself time to wake up and then dialed his dad's number.
"Hello?" Martin Barringer asked
"Dad." Scott said.
"Good morning, Scott. It's good to hear your voice. How's life treating you?"
"Shitty. Dad, I have to tell you something and you're probably going to be mad as hell."
"Well, come on then. Let's get this over with."
"I'm a dad, Dad."
"Since when?! By who?! How did this happen?! Well I know how it happened, but why?!" Martin shoveled the questions at Scott.
"Her name is Chelsea, she's 4 and a half months old and Shelby didn't tell me about her until 2 weeks ago."
"Shelby. I should have known." Martin sighed.
"Yeah, well it doesn't matter." Scott said.
"It doesn't matter, my ass! You're responsible for a human life now. What do you mean it doesn't matter!?"
"I mean....I told Shelby that I didn't want to be in Chelsea's life."
"Scott Barringer, what the hell are you thinking about?! This is your child! You're willing to just abandon her like this? To just leave and compl---"
"I'm scared!" Scott finally yelled interrupting his ranting father. Silence filled the line.
"Every parent is, but that's part of it! You take care of this little person...you have no idea what you're doing the whole time, and yeah, it scares the hell out of you! But then sometime.....something happens.....they do something to make you proud ....and you realize you must be doing an okay job. Look at you for example, Scott."
"Bad example, dad. I was a teenage pot head and everything else." Scott argued
"Yeah, but look at you now. It's the finished product that counts, not all the rough drafts and first tries. The final draft is who you are after all the mistakes. That's what you are, and you're a good man, Scott. I taught you well. Don't let me down."
"Are you saying I should change my mind about this Chelsea thing?"
"Am I?"
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Scott eventually worked up the nerve to call Shelby at Daisy's. Evidently Daisy wasn't home because Shelby answered.
"Hello?" her tired voice asked
"It's me........I mean it's Scott."
"Thanks, Scott, I know what your voice sounds like." She snapped angrily.
"Okay, jeez. Why are you being so snappy?"
"Oh I don't KNOW, Scott, damn you!" She said.
"Well if you had told me about Chelsea in the FIRST place!"
"YOU LEFT THE NIGHT I FIST FOUND OUT! WE WERE ARGUING OVER CLEANING OUT THE BACK ROOM REMEMBER? YOU DIDN'T EVEN GIVE ME A CHANCE TO TELL WHY WE SHOULD CLEAN OUT YOUR OFFICE! THAT WAS WHY!" Shelby yelled.
"YOU SHOULD HAVE COME AFTER ME!" he yelled back.
"AND WHAT WOULD I HAVE SAID, SCOTT?!" she asked
"IT DOESN'T MATTER!"
"YES IT DOES!" she argued
"NO IT DOESN'T!" he yelled back at her argument
"WELL IF IT DIDN'T THEN YOU WOULDN'T CARE SO MUCH WOULD YOU, SCOTT?!' Shelby yelled.
"I STILL DON'T!" he lied.
"GOOD!"
"FINE!"
"FINE!"
And they both slammed their phones down. Scott realized that went completely wrong but he was still mad. He picked up the phone and pressed redial ten seconds later.
"HELLO?!" she yelled.
"I LOVE YOU, KNOW THAT?!" Scott yelled in the same angry tone that he had hung up with.
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TBC.........................................will that last line fix everything?! Hmmmmm....10 reviews please!