AN: Moving along some plots before DE dive into their next chat.
If you're new to David and Erica or if you didn't pay attention when they were together, I highly recommend you check out the basement scenes, as what happens there sets the tone for their interactions for the remainder of the show. They are on YouTube and can easily be found, as can about 85% of DE's 13 year history.
Chapter 18
"You got her pregnant?"
David sighed and stopped in the doorway of his office. "Nice to see you too, Greenlee."
"What were you thinking?" She stopped pacing his office and turned to face him.
"I didn't get her pregnant. We transferred an embryo, and the transfer was successful."
"Same thing. It's still a child. Yours and Erica's. Why would you do it?"
"Erica and I came to a mutual decision that we wanted to try to see if it took. She had the opportunity to take back her body, her baby. Why wouldn't she? Why wouldn't I support her?" He walked past her, headed for his desk.
"Because you're the father, David. Having a child with Erica is crazy."
This was the part everyone always came back to. Where the real issue seemed to lie.It was fine that Erica was going to be a mother. It was fine that he was going to be a father. But their being
co-parents was unimaginable.
They had history. Lots of it. Good. Bad. Ugly. But when was all said and done, they were different with one another, and ending up co-parents after everything they'd been through seemed fitting.
"We know what we're doing. Erica and I are communicating, and we are not taking this lightly."
Greenlee sat down across from him. "You kept her granddaughter from her. Do you think she's going to let you forget that? You know she'll use it against you. Take this kid from you."
David nodded. He knew all of this. Erica knew all of this. These topics couldn't and wouldn't be ignored. "Erica and I have a lot we need to work through. We know that. And we understand everyone's concerns. We are determined to give him as happy and stable a life as we can. And to do that we have to address all the elephants in the room."
"It's a boy?" Greenlee asked on a whisper. This would have been Leo's nephew. While she wasn't very fond of Erica, Leo had been and would have been so excited for both of them.
David nodded, sliding open his desk drawer. He handed her the ultrasound photo Dr. Anderson had printed.
"Leo's nephew," She blinked back a few stubborn tears, eyes fixed on the photo. Leo would think this was crazy. He would have told them both off for even considering it after everything they had been through. And then, when they didn't listen and went through with it anyway, he would have asked to pick out a name.
"He would have told you both that you're out of your minds. He would have worried that you were making a huge mistake. And then, after you did it anyway, he'd spend the next few months trying to convince you and Erica to let him choose the name."
David laughed through a soft smile. Leo would have probably been the only person in Pine Valley who was happy for them.
"You really do want him, don't you?" She set the ultrasound photo on the desk and looked up at him.
"More than anything. Being a father is all I've ever wanted. And to a son. It's amazing."
"A father to Erica Kane's son," Greenlee reminded him. "At one time, she would have been part of that all you ever wanted. What about now? What makes you think you two know how to be friends? Can be healthy co-parents? What happens when she gets back with Jack? When you meet someone? She will try to take him from you. It's a mess waiting to happen, David, and somewhere inside, you know I'm right."
"As crazy as it sounds, I trust Erica. Greenlee, she chose to transfer that embryo knowing I'm the biological father. She knows just about every miserable thing I have ever done. And she still chose to give him life. She knows what she's doing, and I trust that she will continue to allow me to be a part of the pregnancy and his life."
It was hard to explain. It was hard to make them understand. The parts of each other's souls they witnessed in her basement. The exchange of secrets. The connection that they had forged from it was there forever. Even if it's strength varied from time to time.Greenlee sighed and shook her head in defeat.
"You deserve to be a father, David. I hope you're right."
"Trust me, alright? He's going to have a great life with two parents who love him."Greenlee nodded, still skeptical.
"Think you can talk her into naming him after Leo?"
David laughed and shook his head. "I'll see what she thinks."
Their conversation moved onto other things, but David would freely admit that he was only thinking about his son, about Erica.
At some point, the "honeymoon" phase would end, and they would have to addreas the last nine years. Perhaps there were some merit to their concerns. Perhaps there was some truth to their words.
In the end, he and Erica had two choices. Work through all the pain and betrayal that was the last nine years, so they could be good co-parents who communicated and worked together.
Or they would end up bringing their son into a world of drama and chaos, with two parents who couldn't see past the bitterness.
The second version of events was unfathomable, and they would do whatever it took. However many conversations, arguments, and disagreements it took, they would find some way out of the darkness to give their son the life he deserved.
TBC
