He squeezed her hand to bring her back to the now.

"I'm glad you came here. To talk about this face to face. I appreciate that your scared, angry, and a whole lot of mixed up about this right now, but so am I."

She knew he was right. She had walked in just minutes ago and told him his ex-girlfriend has a child that could be his. She nodded at him.

"Okay, let's just talk." She said trying her best not to do what she does and run away from the problem. He smiled and pulled her into him to hug her.

"I hate that this is happening, I'm sorry. I honestly..."

"I know, you had no idea." She answered, slightly hugging him back.

"So, Danielle is how old?" He asked, his tone changing to a serious confused question as he began squinting as if trying to do the math. She knew he needed some answers, she had barely given him any information.

"She would be 3 years old. She is in the day care at the school. Pre-kindergarten is the 4-year old's and kindergarten is 5-year old's. So?"

"Well, that last time I saw Caitlin was around end of February, start of March 2017. After that I never saw her again."

"Right, so, nine months from then is," Chris paused counting her fingers until she had a guess, "late Dec 2017 or Jan 2018 give or take." Jared frowned.

"It adds up." He dropped his eyes from Chris and swallowed hard. She had been wanting to ask. If they had been intimate around the time of the breakup, but it felt way to personal and nosey.

"…but I doubt, I mean why would she?" He glanced back at Chris. "Okay if she found out she was pregnant after we broke up, why would she not tell me?"

"I dunno," Chris mumbled. "Maybe she was scared, maybe she was with a new guy? Maybe she didn't think you would want to know? I don't know Jared. I don't know her." There was a pause and she wondered about all of the logistics around what happened.

He heard her pause or hesitation and knew she was probably wondering more about the breakup and what had occurred.

"I didn't think she was seeing anyone else, like cheating on me, but then again I didn't think she would just leave either?"

Chris summoned the courage, "So I guess you guys were still, you know, intimate, when it happened?"

"Yeah, just as normal, until the afternoon she just came home and said it's over." He stood up and began to pace. Clearly getting agitated as his head raced whilst he searched himself for answers or signs that he may have missed.

"God, I, I can't even think straight right now." He mumbled. Chris watched him staring out the window.

"I want answers and,"

"And you need to talk to her." Chris interrupted sadly. He froze and looked at her. "What? You do?" She shrugged, looking back at him as he wore a shocked expression. "You have to talk to her Jared." She restated. "You aren't gunna get the answers sitting here, with me, wondering."

He blinked a few times and nodded, before he walked back to sit opposite Chris. The way he looked at her, she could see his heart was hurting right now. The pain in his eyes made her heart hurt too.

He drew in a breath and then exhaled as his eyes met hers. "Chris, if Danielle is mine..." he started slowly, it came out as a scared whisper. Chris was studying him as their eyes were locked. It was in that exact moment, she could see the pain he was in, the confusion that was eating at him and the tears building in his eyes. So, she just reached out, drawing his lips to hers as she kissed him hard. It was a sad, passion filled kiss. As she pulled back, she held his gaze and looked at him.

"If she is yours, you will be an amazing father." She got out before her voice began to crack. He wrapped his arms around her and held her. As they both cried.

Once he was able to steady himself again, he leant back and took her hands.

"No, Chris, please, listen." He shifted and made himself comfortable. "If she is mine," he started again, "please don't jump to the conclusion that I suddenly don't want you." He explained looking into her dark brown eyes, "I want you; I want us, and I will fight for that." He finished.

His sweet words made her smile. She felt those butterflies and tingles looking back into his eyes, knowing he truly meant that.

"I want you too, but"

"But what?" He whispered, dreading her answer.

"Jared, I see that you mean that with your whole heart sitting here with me right now, but, but we can't hide from the fact that you might have a family, a daughter and a girl out there that deserve you and…"

"And what Chris? I don't know what this means. It is an unusual situation. Danielle might not even be mine. We might just be ahead of ourselves here."

"Sure, I mean, I get it." Chris nodded,

"But, like I said," He held her and gently tucked her hair behind her ear. "I don't plan on ever being with Caitlin again. If Danielle is mine, sure we have things to work out, but that's it. Hell, Caitlin doesn't even know I know about Danielle."

"And that's the next step." Chris said looking up to him. "What are you gunna do?"

"I don't know to be honest. I don't have a way of contacting her other than through professional channels." He shrugged. "I mean I guess; I'll just call her office and ask to talk to her?"

"Jared," Chris looked at him, "that is a terrible plan." She drew out her phone and opened it.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Texting someone." She answered, without looking up.

"Who? ... Why?" He asked confused.

"I can get someone to find her number." Chris began typing as Jared placed his hand over her phone.

"No please, I, I don't want you getting tangled up in this mess."

"I kinda already am." She shrugged.

"Dragging you into this and me throwing you into that conversation, it all just feels..."

"Messy. I know." She answered, looking up at him. "But you have to be honest, tell her that I saw her with Danielle and I came running to you to tell."

"Oh, come on, we aren't in second grade anymore."

"No, but still, you are gunna have to tell her how you know about Danielle."

"Yeah." He was quiet.

"What?" She asked as she watched him pace. "What are you thinking?"

"Well, once I see her again or call or whatever? Then what? What on Earth do I say? Hey, my girlfriend saw you picking up a three-year-old who called you mommy. Is she mine?" He laughed slightly making fun of the situation.

"I um, I dunno, but until you talk and find out, there isn't much else we can do. Chris eyed him as he looked deep in thought.

"The thing is, with this case. I've finally been given the lead on something this big and at the point that it is right now, I can't just up and leave back to LA."

Chris frowned and nodded. She knew all too well the demands of this job.

"Once it is over you need to find the time then." She said matter of factly.

He nodded. "Of course, Chris, I don't like this anymore than you do."

Chris wasn't 100% satisfied with the situation but she knew she needed to give him the time to process and work out a plan from here. So, she insisted on staying in a motel nearby, to allow him to begin to process this situation in his own head. Without her there to complicate it.

"Please no Chris, you have just driven 5 hours and…"

"And" she said standing next to her truck, "You won't think straight about this situation with me here." She reached for the door, and he grabbed her arm. Tears in his eyes. She stopped and sighed.

"Look, I wanna walk back in there with you and pretend this is going to be okay, but who knows Jared. It might not end the way we want, and we both need time to work out how we feel without complicating it further."

"Chris, have you not heard a word I've said. I WANT YOU!" He almost shouted it.

She stood looking at him in silence for a second. Before she stepped into his arms and whispered. "I want you too. I just know I owe you a minute to work out what this means and how to proceed, without us complicating things. I'm sorry, I just think we need to sleep apart tonight."

After leaving a protesting Jared, she drove to the closest motel and checked in. To be honest she needed time too. She tossed her things onto the bed and saw her phone flash with a message from him. It read.

"I wish you would come back. It's killing me that you're here yet feel so far away. I want to hold you right now Chris!"

"Jared, you need this space. Trust me."

"I can have space when you go back, and I have finished up this case. Please come back." He begged.

"I know, I get it. But please, just take the time to process, alone, tonight. Please. This is important. I will see you for breakfast."

As she went to toss her phone away, knowing continuing this exchange would only break her further, she remembered that text from Street. Tapping on it, it read.

"Hey, I am really worried about you. Are you okay?" She smiled slightly reading it. It was nice to know he cared, but then she noticed a second message,

"Okay, I get your angry with me and I'm the last person you wanna talk to, but I stopped by your place. Might have disturbed your neighbours by knocking so hard. Where are you? Chris please? You are scaring me."

She tapped her phone on her leg, she remembered how annoyed she had gotten with him about the whole Nate thing, when he wouldn't respond, so she began to type.

"I'm okay. Relax. I will be back. Just dealing with some 'family' stuff." What could she say? "No, I am not okay. I think my boyfriend has a child with his ex."

She laughed at how pathetic it sounded before she slid into bed and turned out the lights.

The next morning, she dropped her motel key in the returns box and drove back to Jared's. It was still early. Around 6:30am. But she wanted to see him. Needed to know if he was okay.

She parked at the curb and walked back towards his door, thinking that this was definitely not the way she had envisaged her first trip to see him going. That made her sad. Like a special milestone she would never get back. 'Just a small detour, I hope!' She mumbled, as she approached the door and tapped lightly. Wondering if he was still asleep. He opened the door and his sad face instantly smiled.

"Hey," he said stepping out and wrapping his arms around her.

"Hey," she smiled softly feeling his embrace. "Did you sleep?" She asked as he held her tightly.

"No, not a wink." He whispered into her hair as he took in her scent.

"Listen, I'm sorry." She mumbled against him, holding him tightly. "I don't want you to think I don't care. It's just that we are both a mess, and I just wanted you to have the space to get your thoughts together." She finished as he squeezed her tightly.

"It's okay." He released his arms and motioned for her to go inside passed him. As she stepped inside and he closed the door, he grabbed her arm. Tugging her back against him.

"I need you." He whispered, looking down at her. Chris let out a sigh. She knew he was sad. Scared. Maybe even angry with her for leaving last night. She felt bad.

"I'm sorry Jared. Sorry I forced you to have space, but…. until you decide what to do and sort this out. We can't go forward until we know, and I feel like I'm stuck in limbo." Her honest words hit him hard.

"I know. I'm sorry too." He began. Then she saw his bags packed.

"Oh, has the case taken a turn again?" She asked pointing, "Where are you off too?"

"Well, not exactly. I do have to wrap this case up. Which I want to do ASAP. But then I plan on heading straight to LA to meet with Caitlin and work this out." He answered stepping to Chris. "I got a hold of her number last night and text her. I asked her if we could talk about something important and she agreed." Chris's eyes widened.

"Did you mention Danielle?"

"No, I just told her that we need to talk about something, that I'll be back in LA soon and asked her if we could grab a coffee."

"Right," Chris nodded, as she shifted her gaze out the window and scrunched her face imagining their chat. She could deny that the thought of it made her feel jealous, scared, sick, and unsure.

"Come on," he stepped to her, making her flick her attention back to him.

"What?" She asked trying to shake those feelings away.

"Enough of the drama." He grinned mischievously. "What is it with us and this whenever we are together huh?" He joked lightly.

She couldn't help but let out a small chuckle as he tugged her hand towards the kitchen.

"You have to help me cook breakfast, as punishment for leaving me alone last night." He teased. She rolled her eyes and tried to tug her hand free,

"Oh do I now?" She asked with a grin.

He paused and drew her closer, right against him as he kissed her hard. Chris couldn't help but kiss him back, he deepened the kiss holding her face as he held her tiny figure against his athletic frame.

"Okay okay," She laughed and pulled back. "I thought we were cooking." She smirked. Gesturing to the kitchen. He smirked too and laughed.

"Or?" He grinned at her with all of his charm and confidence, "we could, ah, work up an appetite first?" He mumbled as he ran his strong hands down her back seductively.

She eyed him as he grinned at her with a wriggle of his eyebrows. She had to admit that it felt nice to be silly and carefree for a moment with him again. But she wasn't sure she could completely go there right now. So, she smirked back at him.

"Food first!" She said firmly holding up her finger at him as he leant in to kiss her, "then," she added with emphasis, "once you have had that coffee with Caitlin, we will see about working 'up an appetite'." She added with a tease to her voice.

He protested slightly, "Not fair, that could be a few days away."

"Well, more motivation for you to hurry this along," she laughed playfully as he hugged her tightly.

"Okay, okay," as much as it was killing him, he had to concede that she was right. He knew how important it was right now not to get bogged down in the drama and to try to keep things happy. So, as she slid out of his arms to grab some eggs, he asked,

"Can you pass the sugar, sugar?" Winking playfully at her. Chris smirked and rolled her eyes.

"God, really?" She laughed picking up the container of sugar and passing it to him as he slid behind her and kissed her neck.

"Get the honey out, honey." She shot back as she nudged him away, nodding to the cupboard.

"Oh, Touché very nice." He laughed grabbing it and again stepping behind her and kissing her neck.

"Okay," She laughed spinning to face him and glaring up at him. "Stop it," she shoved him playfully.

"Mmmmm, I'd rather not, and I think you would rather I not. I love how you groan and melt when I do that." He leaned down kissing her softly and then pulling away as she began kissing him back. He was teasing her, and she knew it. She whipped him with the tea towel and laughed as they moved about the kitchen, having fun.

Chris was really enjoying keeping things light. It was times like this with him that she really felt just how much she could picture a life with him.

That morning was almost perfect. Sharing breakfast, talking about how nice it was to be together again. But in the back of both their minds lingered the question about Danielle and Caitlin.

Later that day, Chris felt at odds as she gathered her things and headed for her truck, leaving him was hard, every single time, but she made him promise to call as soon as the case was done. Jared hoped it would only be a day or two.

"I'll miss you." She said as she stopped next to her truck. Holding out her arms as he stepped over and hugged her tightly. "Be safe." She whispered against him as he picked her up off the ground.

"Always." He smiled as he kissed her cheek and set her back down. "Drive safe and call me when your home."

"I will, don't be far behind, okay?" She added as she closed the door and started the engine.

"I won't." He climbed up and kissed her again through the window. "I love you babe. I really really do." She smiled and tugged him closer kissing him back.

"I love you too."

And with that Chris was on her journey home.