Ch. 7 Change of Plans

These last few days have been almost surreal. Darren spent practically every waking moment with Kyra and Braeden. He even spent an hour each night just watching them sleep. You found it a little amusing how much he wanted to be around them, but at the same time you loved it. You knew things weren't always going to be as easy as they have been the last few days, but you were determined to make this work no matter what. You wanted Kyra and Braeden to have their father in their lives, and if Darren wanted to be a part of their lives, you weren't going to keep them from him.

Darren talked with Ryan Murphy to explain the situation and to work out a schedule with him that allowed him to come here one weekend a month for the foreseeable future. Ryan was more than understanding of the situation, but did feel that this couldn't be kept a secret for long. Ryan felt the longer this was kept a secret, the more damage would be done to Darren's career.

Darren was leaving tomorrow and now you both had to talk about how this was going to work.

"So Ryan has agreed to let me have time off each month to come here and visit you and the twins," Darren said.

"That's good. Right now they need stability, and if they can see you on a regular basis, it will be the best for them," you said.

"Another thing, Ryan is concerned that we are keeping this a secret from the public. He's not suggesting that I parade them to the world, but he fears that my trips here every month will eventually attract the paparazzi. He's afraid that the paparazzi will catch on that I am flying to the same place every month with no 'business' need to be here and want to follow me to find out why. Ryan is afraid that if this is kept a secret for too long, it will damage my career," he said.

"What?" you asked. "I don't know about this Darren. I said I wanted you in their lives, but I told you I am not ok with them being in the spotlight."

"I know, I know. And I am not going to parade them in the spotlight at all. My promise to you still stands. I will take every precaution necessary to keep them out of the spotlight and safe," he said.

"I still don't know Darren, I don't feel comfortable with the idea of my children being exposed," you said.

"Hey, listen to me," he said as he grabbed your shoulders. "I love Kyra and Braeden, and I completely respect the fact that you want them safe and don't want them exposed. But, Ryan is right. At some point, no matter how careful we are, the public will find out. And believe me, if they find out on their own, it will be a scandal. It will turn into a big mess, and it will be worse off for you and the twins. I am looking out for all of us here, mainly Kyra and Braeden. I want this transition to be as smooth as possible."

You didn't know how sure you were about all of this, but you at least had to try to make this work. You knew Darren would fight for custody if you told him he couldn't see the twins, and that would surely expose them to the public. At least this way it would be controlled, and you knew Darren wouldn't purposefully parade them in public.

"So how does this work?" you asked. "How do you tell the public and still keep them out of it?"

"Well, I still need to talk to Ryan and my manager about that, but I am sure the media and the public will want an interview with me, and with you," he said. "They will want to see the twins, but we can just show them photos. It will be crazy at first, but it won't be that way forever. All we have to do is tell the truth."

"Interviews? Photos?" you said. "This is all beginning to feel like too much."

"I know, and believe me this isn't what I wanted, but it will be a lot worse if the media finds out we kept it a secret. They won't believe the truth, and they will try and paint you as the bad guy. If they find out we kept it a secret, it would not be in the best interest of Kyra and Braeden. I'm not saying that coming out now will be easy, but now they can know the truth and we can protect Kyra and Braeden," he said.

You were still unsure, you didn't think you would ever be comfortable with this idea, but you understood where Darren was coming from.

"Ok. Talk with Ryan and your manager, and then talk with me about the best way to do this. You just have to make me one promise," you said. "You have to promise me that no matter what, you protect Kyra and Braeden. You have to promise me that they will be safe in all of this, and they won't be overexposed."

"Trust me Paige, I promise you I will look out for them no matter what. They are my children too, and I want to protect them just as much as you do," he said.

"Ok, we can do this," you said.