Chapter Twenty-Three

"Please be completely honest with me and tell me where you were.  I need to know."  Chloe calmly asked him not knowing what he would say.

"I was in Italy."  Chloe seemed awed by his response.

"What were you doing in Italy, Philip, when you told me you were going to be in London?" He didn't answer her quick enough so she continued on.  "Do you know what it was like for me to find out that you weren't there, hadn't been there since October? Do you Philip, do you?"  He shook his head,  "I didn't think you would.  But let me tell you, it's not fun and it was scary when I finally figured out that you lied to me."

"Chloe it wasn't like that.  I didn't want to lie to you."  He could see she was becoming angrier with him by the second and he knew he had to at least try to calm her.

"You may not have wanted to but you did.  I had your father basically telling me that you were trying to divorce me on one end.  And on the other you were calling me, lying about where you were and what you were doing.  I didn't know what to think.  The only thing I could think about was what if something happened to me, what would happen to the children.  You weren't here, I had no idea where you were."
           

"If something had happened, Brady would have contacted me––," Philip would have continued but Chloe interrupted him, dropping his hands to raise hers.

"That is not the point, Philip.  The point is that Brady Black isn't your wife, and according to this ring," she pointed to her wedding band.  "I am, I am your wife, the mother of your children.  You have a responsibility to me to tell ME these things, not Brady."  She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the pillows on the bed.  "So please enlighten me as to what was so earth shatteringly important that you just had to run off to Italy?"

Philip took a deep breath, he had been fretting this confrontation for while, but he knew he had to tell her she had to know what had happened to her.   Moving away from the bed he walked to the window and looked out, gathering his thoughts together before turning to look at his wife.  "This isn't the way I wanted to tell you.  Especially not when you are in the hospital.  But since you want … no need to know.  I will tell you exactly why I was in Italy and what I found out.  But, Chloe you have to remain calm and let me tell you everything before you respond.  Okay?" She nodded and he ran his hands through his hair once before moving to stand at the edge of her bed.

"I was in Italy looking for the truth about Jarod's paternity."

"Wait a minute, I thought we were going to do that together.  But, that was nothing but a lie, wasn't it?"  Chloe interrupted him annoyed by his lack of sharing things with her.

"Chloe, you said you would let me tell you everything.  It's hard enough for me to tell you as it is."

She snorted.  "Well I certainly don't want to make things any harder for you.  So by all means continue."

Philip knew she was mad but it wasn't going to get any easier by her not even attempting to let him finish.  "I hired a private investigator to find out about Jarod's paternity for me.  And before you say anything, yes I hired another PI.  I did this because I am trying to protect you.  I had your best interests in mind, this wasn't going to cause you anymore unnecessary pain."

"I don't need you to protect me, I am a grown woman capable of handling a lot of things.  Now tell me what exactly did this private investigator find that was so important you left without one word?"

"He found an informant, someone who had information about Jarod's birth.  What I didn't know at the time was that the informant was Stefano Dimera."

Chloe seemed mildly surprised if anything at all.  "What did Stefano tell you and how did he know anything at all about it?"  She asked him a little intrigued about it now then she had been beforehand.

"Well, I don't know how he knew anything.  All I could think about was finding out the truth about Jarod and coming home."  He paused and moved to grasp her hand, taking special to care the hand that held his ring.  Chloe looked down at their clasped hands.  "You were always on my mind."

She pulled her hand away from his and smoothed her hair behind ears.  "I-I can't listen to you if you're touching me.  So please don't … just tell me what happened," she looked into his eyes.  "Tell me what you found out about our son."

Philip didn't bother to try again; he knew that she needed to feel as if she was in some sort of control here.  She had to be, because what he needed to tell her was serious.  He backed away from her a few steps.  "Stefano never told me how he knew what he did. He said he wouldn't tell me because I wouldn't believe him even if he did.  Which, incidentally I wouldn't have.  So he sent me to a hospital.  The same hospital you were taken to when you had your accident." She nodded, not entirely sure where he was going with this or what it had to do with Jarod.

"When I got to the hospital I was supposed to see a Dr. Lazzarino.  She's the director of the hospital now but she was a resident when we were there the first time.  In fact, she was the doctor who kept me calm after the accident. That damn accident."

Chloe could see a passing storm of anger in Philip's eyes, as they turned silver.  They always turned silver whenever, he was severely angry.  They were so icy that even she started to get chills though she knew his anger wasn't directed toward her.  She knew then that whatever Philip had found out going to be bad.  "Philip, tell me, please tell me what she told you."

He was driven out of his own anger-induced thoughts to remind him that she still didn't know.  "While you had your accident, a surrogate mother, who was supposed to go through an embryo transfer that afternoon, decided not to go through with it.  Instead of canceling the appointment, the doctor and his loyal resident went through with the procedure as planned. But, not with that surrogate mother."      

"So what does this have to do with me?" Philip eased down onto the bed beside her; he took her hands in his.  He hadn't looked up at her yet.  Chloe took one of her hands from him to lift his jaw so that he looked her dead in the eye.  His eyes were brimmed with unshed tears.  She jerked her hand away as if he were hot like fire.  Her eyes began to fill with tears; she brought her trembling hands to her face.  "No, no Philip it wasn't me.  It couldn't have been.  I-I'd have known."  He tried to take her hands again but she shook them off.  "Don't look at me like that.  I know it couldn't have happened to me."

He grabbed her shoulders.  "Chloe, listen to me. I know you don't want to believe it but it's true.  I talked to the doctor she admitted it to me.  She assisted in the procedure–––"

"Well she's mistaken.  I would have felt something like that."

"No baby you were unconscious," he smoothed back her hair.  "They sedated you the minute you arrived for the surgery.  They performed an evasive procedure that would leave you with no scars after they took out the embryo. Then, they implanted it into another woman. There is no way you would have known."  By this time Chloe had been crying freely and the only thing Philip could think to do was pull her into his arms and hold her.      

"I'm sorry.  I'm so sorry I wasn't there to protect you like I should have been.  It's my fault."  Chloe pushed out of his arms wiping the tears away to look her husband in confusion.    

"What are you talking about? What's your fault?"  She watched as the look of guilt come over his face.  "This … you think this is your fault?"  She asked, shocked that the thought had even crossed his mind.

"It was Chloe, I got into the argument with you, remember.  Then you left to take a walk and got hit by the car.  Don't you see if I hadn't of started that argument with you, it wouldn't have happened."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing; clearly Philip had lost his mind.  There was no other explanation for it.  Looking into his watery blue eyes she could go feel the intensity that he had.  There was no way in hell she would allow him to think that.  "Philip, look at me."  She commanded, cupping his face in her hands forcing him to look at her.

"Now, listen to me, you ARE NOT the blame for some … some psychotic doctor taking our son away from us.  It's of no consequence what I did before I got into the hospital.  That doctor, whoever he was, is the one at fault here.   I may have arrived unconscious and pregnant but I damn sure should have left that way.  You aren't the blame because someone took advantage of me when I was at my most vulnerable."

"That doesn't matter Chloe, I should have been there to protect you.  It's my responsibility as your husband.  I failed you, I should –––," Chloe placed her fingers over his mouth.

"No.  I don't want to hear it.  You're not responsible. And if you say one more word about this being your fault or protecting me or anything else like that so help me Philip I will slap you."  She threatened softly before removing her hand.

"But, Chloe they violated you––"

"Yes and they violated you, too.  Jarod isn't only my child he's yours.  He wasn't just taken from me; he was taken from you too.  As for your misguided notion of protection, I don't need it.  The only ones who need your protection are our children: Jarod, Dominic, Ariana, and Jessica.  We were victimized by someone and it's not my fault or yours." 

"Even though, you may not understand it Chloe, it will always be in the back of my mind that I couldn't protect you."   Chloe begin to interrupt.  "No, I need to say this.   You are my wife, and whether you accept it or not, it's my responsibility, an extension of the protection I give to our children to make sure no harm ever comes to them or you.  I want to spare them all the turmoil we grew up with.  So I will make this promise to you that I-we will find out who did this and make them pay because no one hurts my wife or my children and gets away with it.  I promise you that."  Philip informed Chloe as she grabbed hold of his hands in hers; raising his left hand she kissed his white gold wedding ban.

She looked into his eyes, holding his hands in hers, "Good, I want them to pay.  But before anything else happens to us I have to tell you something.  It's the reason why I'm here."  She splayed his hand across her lower abdomen, her hands over his.  "It's because of something we did together," she paused to take a breath.  "We––I … I'm pregnant."  She watched as his eyes widen in shock.  He jumped off the bed to stand by her, his hands didn't move. 

"What?"

"I am pregnant with our child.  I know this is a shock but,"

"You're pregnant?"  He asked and she nodded slowly.  His eyes closed as he silently thanked god for all his good blessings.  When he opened them he saw Chloe.  She was biting her lower lip in slight hesitation awaiting his reaction.

"What do you think?"

"I think … I think I'm going to be a father again, I think our love has proven itself again.  I think I'm the happiest man alive."  He leaned down and pressed his forehead to hers.  He wrapped his unoccupied arm around her as he sat down next to her, their hands interlocked on her stomach wedding bans crossed.  "We're going to have a baby."