Chapter 113

"Chloe! No! Of course not! I wouldn't do that to AJ!" Mac exclaimed, wondering what trouble they had been having at Christmas for Chloe to even think that.

"The Admiral? Oh, great, Mac! It's about time you admitted you loved him! I've known it for years!" Chloe crowed, happy for her big sister.

"Well, of course I love my husband, you goof!"

"HusbaND!" Chloe shrieked, "You got married?…Without me!" Now she was hurt. At her shriek, Mac had moved the phone from her ear with a jerk, and the loud questions that followed woke Angela with a start. She started crying. Mac lifted Angel into her arms to comfort her and when she put the phone back to her ear, she heard, "Mac, is that a baby? Are you babysitting for someone?"

"No, sweetie, that is what I called to tell you about. I had the baby early. That is…"

She was interrupted again, "Baby? You had A BABY? When? Where! HOW?"

Mac laughed, "Silly, I know she came early…well, 'the when' was six weeks ago, on April 17th, and 'the where' was while we were on vacation in Florida, and you are seventeen now, Chloe, you should know 'the how' by now!"

"Now, just a damn minute there, Mac! I was there at Christmas and if you had a baby in April, you would have been knocked-up when I was there!"

"Yes, of course I would have been. Chloe, I was five months along then."

"Mac, there was no way! You had that sexy black wrap-around dress on at the Roberts' Christmas party and it showed every curve. You were NOT pregnant!"

"Chloe, maybe you're thinking of the Christmas before. I was definitely pregnant…"

"No way, Mac, don't you remember Harm saying that your wrap around dress was just like a present begging to be unwrapped?"

"He said that at the party? Did AJ hear him?"

"Mac, they all heard him, that's why you were blushing like crazy!"

'Oh god, if AJ heard that and I was staying at the apartment, he might have thought that Harm and I were…'

"Mac? You there?"

"Yes, Chloe, I'm here."

Sarah's worst fears were confirmed when Chloe asked the question that she worried AJ might have been thinking, "So, who's the father, Mac?"

"Oh, honey, there is no doubt who her father is, she looks just like AJ!"

"You had the Admiral's baby?"

"Darling, of course I did, you had to have known that even if we were having problems at Christmas that I was going to have AJ's child." Mac could feel a vicious headache brewing behind her eyes. This conversation with Chloe was so confusing, trying to figure out what was going on.

Obviously, Chloe was having the same problem. "What's going on, Mac?"

"I have no idea, Chloe. I had an accident when Angel was born and I have no memory of the last year."

"What? Mac, that's awful!"

"Well, it certainly has been frustrating. I mean, I know that AJ lied to me about our wedding date…"

"Gosh, did you say you were married to the ADMIRAL?"

"Chloe, I'm so confused! AJ said we were married April 18th, but I know that on September 3rd, we weren't married, but I was five months pregnant by Christmas. Even if we were fighting, and I was staying at the apartment, how could you not know that I was married? Weren't you in my wedding? I would have wanted you to be, and Meredith freaked when I asked her if she had been my maid of honor…"

"Mac, the Admiral was engaged to Meredith!"

"I know that now. When I found out I was pregnant, he broke it off with her and married me."

"Wow! This is like a soap opera!"

"Chloe, this is my LIFE we're talking about!"

"Oh, sorry, Mac. But how did you get married and have a baby without me knowing? You were DEFINITELY were NOT pregnant at Christmas."

"I'm holding my baby in my lap, Chloe…"

"Maybe…she's not yours?" Chloe questioned tentatively.

"Well, I don't remember her birth because of the accident, but I had her by C-section. Chloe, she has to be mine…" Mac's voice trailed away as she remembered Ms. Bea saying, "A child not of your body," and then at the clinic, Clay trying to take the baby to identify her because of the baby ring he was there to break up…

To be continued….