Shattered Hearts

Chapter 46

Charlotte took a deep breath hearing a soft knock at her door. "That'll be Nick," she said to Louis with more confidence than she felt. "Please stay here and let me deal with him."

He looked at her grim-faced. "I'm not happy about this. One wrong word from him and-"

"I'll call you," she said quickly. "But this only going to be a brief conversation, just to keep things amicable now he knows about the baby." Louis grumbled under his breath but he didn't stop her going to the door. She opened it, biting back her nerves.

"Mommy," Jamie said throwing himself at her. "I've missed you. Do you have icecream, grandma wouldn't let me have any cos I didn't eat all of my dinner."

She smiled down at him, ignoring Nick's stern face. "Maybe later, you should have eaten your dinner." It wouldn't do to get into a petty parenting row with Nick at this precise moment. "Go inside while I talk to your daddy."

"So you're not going to invite me in?" Nick said once Jamie was out of hearing.

"I don't think it's a good idea to confuse him."

Nick nodded, brushing his hair out his eyes. "I guess you're right, I'd imagine he's pretty confused as it is." He indicated to her stomach. "I must say, I'm more than a little shocked myself. I thought you couldn't have another baby?"

Typical Nick, implying I made the whole thing up.

"You heard what the doctor said as clearly as I did," she said tersely, refusing to get drawn into an argument. "I guess we both thought they were trying to let us down gently."

"That was how it sounded," he admitted clearing his throat. "Would you still have left me if you hadn't thought you were infertile?"

She gaped at him. "That wasn't why we split up."

"Wasn't it?" His eyes narrowed and she did not miss the edge to his voice. "Cos if I recall correctly, you were quite happy with me when we were trying to expand our family."

"Can we not go through this again?" she asked leaning back against the doorframe. "We're never going to agree about why our marriage ended."

"No we're not," he said with a drawn-out sigh. "The biggest mistake we made was moving here, especially so close to your friends and family. We were happy in Ohio."

She had to stop herself from scoffing. "You said your career was dead, that your reputation was tarnished back there. We both wanted to relocate." She held her breath waiting for him to bite back.

"I was frustrated, who knows what would have happened if I'd bided my time."

She nodded, not wanting to engage in the subject. "Okay, but I want to discuss the here and now. I'm having a baby, Jamie will have a sibling and-"

"You've just moved some random guy in with my son," he snapped.

Now there's the Nick I know so well.

"No, I haven't. I'm not living with Louis," she said through gritted teeth. "But I hope to, before much longer."

"So that's what he's called," he said his brows slowing knitting together. "Hold on, he's not your old boyfriend is he?" He started to laugh. "Jamie said he was a friend of John's, I might have known it."

"Yes, he is my old boyfriend," she said trying not to get riled up. "I'm glad you find it so amusing."

Nick stopped laughing. "I find it rather ironic, still it's better than you ending up as John's bit on the side."

"John's what?" she spluttered. "I'm not even going to waste my breath telling how absurd that suggestion is." They glared at each other until Nick took a step back.

"So your boyfriend, what does he do?" he asked shoving his hands in his pockets. "I think I have the right to know about who is in my son's life."

"Yes you do," she said keeping her temper in check. "That's why I'm talking to you now. He's an engineer over at McAlpine Construction."

"Jamie said he was in the army?"

"He was in the marines, in Vietnam."

"Impressive," he said in a tone that suggested otherwise. "I thought you were against the war in Vietnam though?"

"I am, but that doesn't mean I don't support our troops." She bit her tongue knowing Nick was trying to provoke her.

"Hey, I agree with you," he said holding his hands up. "However I must say that I find it somewhat enlightening how you've gone from the protection of your brother to the protection of soldier boy."

"Soldier boy?" she said bristling. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"No need to be so defensive," he said dismissively. "It was just an observation. I always thought it was a bit odd that you didn't move in with your mother after you left me. I assumed, given how hysterical you were back then, that you thought you needed a man to protect you."

"You condescending..." She clenched her fists, digging her nails into the palms of her hands. "I moved in with Sam because I didn't want my mom to know how bad things were between us," she said, silently admitting he had a point. A very small point. "I've let her believe you did no more than push or shove me, that it was all mostly verbal."

"It was, the judge agreed, remember?" He paused for a moment looking at her. "But hypothetically, if I was abusive, why would you cover for me like that?"

"I was protecting my mom, she hasn't had the easiest of lives and I didn't want her to be further hurt by what you did to me."

"God you're such a martyr," he said, his anger unmistakeable. "It's impossible for anyone to meet your standards. Soldier boy will find out soon enough."

She couldn't help rolling her eyes. "That's his problem, isn't it?"

"I guess so."

She folded her arms across her chest, rapidly losing patience. "Why do you even care? The last thing I recall, as far as our marriage was concerned, was your mistress telling me she was having your baby?"

He had the decency to look ashamed. "That was a lie. She wasn't my mistress and there was no baby."

"Oh, so she just randomly turned up at our home and lied to me." She shook her head, "Why on earth would she do that?"

He looked away from her. "I slept with her, she believed we were in a relationship, but I told her I was never going to leave you. She was distraught...turning up at our house, it was all theatrics to get you to dump me."

"It doesn't matter now anyway," she said, although her memory of Nick's mistress didn't marry up with his version of events. "I wanted to talk about Jamie, the baby will be a big adjustment for him."

He cleared his throat. "It will be an adjustment for us all. I hope you're not expecting more maintenance? I'm assuming you'll quit your job."

"Probably."

"Well, I'm not paying for your bastard child."

"Nick!" She raised her hand. "No one is asking you to. I'm talking about Jamie's emotional wellbeing, he's had a lot to contend with lately."

His face darkened. "Yes, he has and you'd better not try and turn him against me."

She looked at him aghast. She'd done everything she could to foster a healthy father-son relationship despite her reservations. "Jamie is my priority, he doesn't need to know what's gone on between us. I'd like him to grow up with two supportive parents."

"You won't find me arguing against that," he said grudgingly. "But if you tell him-"

"That's the last thing I'd do! Are you not hearing me? I don't want Jamie to be in any way adversely affected by our relationship. I'm not going to denigrate you, I want him to have a normal father-son relationship with you."

"I guess, that's okay then."

"Yes, it is."

Provided you keep your hands to yourself.

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