"Is there a way to get out of here without Erin being seen?" David asked roughly as he helped Erin to her feet, grabbing her attaché case before she could take it. Letting out a little breath of frustration, Erin slipped her purse strap across her body, worrying her phone in her hands as she waited for the woman to answer.

"There's a door to the back hallway right over there," Ms. Garcia replied, still hardly any warmth in her voice. Erin tried not to be upset by it, but she had hoped that there would have been some chance at a good working relationship with her in the months ahead. That was clearly a pipe dream now, and she shuddered a little as she shrank into David's side, allowing him to rest his arm around her waist as he led her out of the office and into the little used back hallway.

"You shouldn't let her get to you, Erin. She's your subordinate, and should be treating you with at least a modicum of respect."

"I'm the one who made the mistake, David."

His arm tightened around her waist, almost pinching slightly, and she frowned as she pulled away from him a little to stare up into his face as they entered the stairwell. "It took two of you to tango, Erin. He needs to carry his own portion of the judgement and blame. Just because you happen to be carrying the outward manifestation of the mistake, doesn't mean that you should allow people like her to castigate you." Stopping her from starting down the stairs, David reached up and cupped her face with his hands, staring into her eyes. "I meant what I said when you first told me about the baby. I will stand by your side throughout this pregnancy, in whatever form you need from me."

"But you're Aaron's best friend."

"Yes, but you need me more than he does at the moment. He'll deal with it, I promise."

Erin nodded as she rubbed the soft fabric of the handkerchief that Penelope had given her between her fingers. "I don't know how to express my gratitude, thank you seems so small."

"I have a good feeling that I can read your heart, Erin. Despite the façade that you wear, your heart was always easy for me to read." She let out a little gasp before looking away from him and starting down the stairs.

"I, I can drive home. I don't want…"

"Your car will be driven home by Helen, and her partner will be picking her up after she drops it off. I already made arrangements. I just thought that it would be best if I got you out of here as quickly as possible." She nodded and took firm hold of his hand, needing to be anchored to something in that moment. "I don't want it to feel like I'm taking over, but I just feel like you shouldn't be driving at the moment."

Erin knew that he was probably correct, but she didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Once they reached the parking lot, he led her over to his Cadillac, and she curled up in the passenger seat, managing to fall asleep before he had even left the lot. Thirty minutes later, she was waking up to the feeling of David shaking her shoulder gently, and she sat up and stretched, blinking her eyes to clear away the vestiges of sleep. "You look perturbed."

"Alan is waiting for you on the front porch, and he does not look happy."

She frowned a little as she looked at the porch, seeing her husband seated on the swing, a pensive look on his face. Erin knew that nothing good was about to come out of this confrontation, and she was suddenly glad to have David by her side for this, since she thought she could count on him to help defuse things, should the situation get out of hand. After he had turned the car off, Erin climbed out of the car and went over to the porch swing, taking a seat next to her husband and reaching out for his hand, only for Alan to snatch it away as if she was trying to hurt him. "Alan?"

"You're pregnant."

The blood drained from her face as she nodded slowly. "I am, I was going to tell you soon, I just wanted to get out of the first trimester. You remember what Tabitha's pregnancy was like."

"I do, and I'm just sorry that I won't be able to help you when you struggle."

"I, I'm sorry?"

He drew in a deep breath as he reached out and touched her shoulder lightly. "I know that this is not my baby, Erin. If you had come to me after sleeping with another man, I would have understood. It was that night that you got drunk, wasn't it? And you spent the night in a hotel, with someone who wasn't me." She nodded, feeling her lower lip wobble. "I should be angry, I should hate you, but I know that we've been growing apart ever since Tabitha was born. You wanted a fourth child, so badly, but I didn't want to put you through that hell again."

"That wasn't why I slept with Aaron. Everything just spun out of control so quickly…"

"Because your inhibitions are lowered when you're drunk. And with the emotions that must have been coursing through you that night, it was a recipe for disaster. Why didn't you tell me? Why did it take Aaron's wife calling me on the phone and reading off the letter that he wrote to her to fill me in on your pregnancy?"

"I honestly didn't know how to tell you, Alan. I knew that you would be upset with me, and I wanted to have some time to figure out how I could possibly make things better. I guess, instead, I just made them worse. Where do we go from here?"

Alan reached out and patted her shoulder lightly. "I don't know where you're going to go from here, but I know that I cannot stay here any longer. We're both going to end up hurting each other far worse if I stay here. I won't ask you to leave this house, it's your home, and the children's home. But I also can't help but feel like this is a clear signal that things are irreparably broken between us."

"Alan?"

"I'm sorry, Erin. You'll have divorce papers to sign by the end of the week, and I won't press for custody so long as you allow me to see the children whenever I want. I'll continue paying my half of the mortgage. I just won't be living here any longer. I've already started packing a few of my things up, and have them in my car."

"It won't help if I tell you how sorry I am?"

He shook his head. "I know how sorry you are, dear. That's what probably makes this hurt all the worse." Alan reached up and caressed her cheek lightly. "I wish that things could have turned out differently between us, that our love had been enough to last."

Erin's heart cracked a little wider as she nodded, watching him get to his feet and amble off the porch before heading into the garage. As the door began to open, she allowed the noise it created to muffle the sounds of her cries as she watched her husband back out of the drive, taking half of her heart with him.