The Parent Trap

Chapter 30: Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Carly Lewis

POV

My eyes feel like they’re going blurry, I try not to blink because I don’t want to miss a single second of this. I just sat there unable to look away at the moments I’ve missed.

The bright pink photo album on my lap as Chase pointed out all of Stella little moments. These weren’t just pictures of anyone, these were pictures of my daughter, my little girl. I still wasn’t used to the word, yet my heart was comfortable with it.

I traced a fingertip over the first photograph. She didn’t look older than six months in one picture. She looked so tiny laying against Chase’s chest. Sleeping peacefully in his arms. Chase wasn’t looking at the camera he was looking at Stella in his arms.

"I’ve always wondered why you named her Stella..." Chase says suddenly.

I looked up at him. "I wish I knew, if the name has meaning to me." I was being honest.

There was another picture of the two of them together. "This picture my brother took when Stella just had a blowout." He points at the next picture.

He had Stella wrapped in a towel. He had circles around his eyes and he looked utterly exhausted yet he looked at Stella with so much love my heart swelled.

A lump formed in my throat.

One picture was on just Stella, her two little hands were wrapped around a big one. I assume Chase took it.

"I took that one myself." Chase said quietly. "She refused to sleep unless she was holding my hand or laying on top of me when she first came to me."

I smiled despite the ache in my chest, I hated myself for abandoning my daughter.

I looked at his broad chest wondering if Stella wanted to be close to him because she felt safe with him. Chase had a way of making you feel safe and cared for.

"She knew you’d always be there for her..." I told him. ƒгeewebnovёl.com

He smiled. "I sure hope she did. I would have buried the world for that little."

I smile too. I turned the page.

Stella couldn’t have been more than eight months old. She was sitting in a highchair with some orange mashed smeared across her cheeks, glaring at the camera as though someone had deeply offended her.

I couldn’t stop the laugh from slipping out. "Oh, she definitely looks like me here, whenever I’m forced to eat carrots..." I comment.

"That’s what she’s eating here. We tried to get her onto solids and she wasn’t having it. She really hated her vegetables here." He says softly.

I scoff. "Hated?"

He smiles rolling his eyes. "Well still. At least now I know its because you don’t like carrots. You’re the reason she doesn’t like vegetables..."

"The funniest thing is it’s the only thing my body really didn’t like, I don’t know how I like my coffee, or tea. Which I preferred but when it came to vegetables I didn’t like it. I always thought it was because I’m not the greatest cook."

"And?" he asks.

I shrug my shoulders. "One time I was cooking a packet of ramen noodles and completely forgot about it on the stove and fell asleep."

He smiled without taking his eyes off the photograph. "So now we know to never let you into the kitchen..." he jokes.

I playfully glare at him.

"I used to turn it into little games for her, just so she would eat her vegetables."

"Did it help?"

He nods. "Yes it did... For about three days."

I laugh again. I liked learning about my daughter. She was a part of me and I wanted to know everything about her.

It felt really strange going through her pictures, I felt pride looking at how beautiful she was, how smart she was, yet I had the painful reminder that I was there for her for most of her life.

I wasn’t there when she was learning to stand, her first steps, her first words. I wasn’t there for any of those milestones.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and turned the page.

There was Stella, standing unsteadily on two tiny little legs while Chase knelt in front of her with his arms stretched out wide. He had the biggest smile on his face.

"Her first steps?" I ask.

He nods. "She took about three steps that time..."

"What happened after that?" I ask not looking up from the picture. Chase never smiles like that unless you’re talking about Stella or she’s in the room.

I could have picked anyone to be Stella’s father but I got the man who has been the best father to his daughter. He never neglected her, he loved her with his entire being and soul.

"She fell on her bottom and startled herself and ended up crying. She would take another set unless you held her hand until she was at least one and a half. She refused to crawl so it took her longer to walk than most kids." he explains.

A tear fell down my cheek before I could stop it, I wiped it away quickly, hoping Chase didn’t see. "I feel like I missed her entire life..." My voice cracked.

Chase took the album off my lap and closed it. T

"It’s not like you chose to lose your memory. You were hurt and it affected your memory. We have no idea if you had planned to return or not." he tries to comfort me.

I stared at my hands in my lap. I knew a part of Chase did hate me for leaving our daughter on his porch without a word. Without even telling him. I hated myself for not even so much as leaving a note for myself. For after everything I couldn’t remember my own daughter.

"I know you’re trying to comfort me. But it doesn’t change the fact that I wasn’t there, I wasn’t there for any of those moments. I don’t even have any pictures or memory of my pregnancy or birth. I can’t even tell you where Stella’s name came from."

"Carly..." He sighs.

Now the tears wouldn’t stop. "It doesn’t change anything..."

"Honestly, I’ve spent every single second with Stella thinking her mother abandoned her." He says honestly.

I look up at him.

But Chase wasn’t looking at me, he was looking at the closed photo album on the coffee table.

"I hated her." His honesty stung.

"I hated her... Me too..."

"I thought..." He exhaled shakily. "I thought that if she ever came back, wanting Stella I’d never forgive her. I didn’t care what her excuse would be, I’d never let her anywhere near Stella..." He says softly.

"And now?" I ask shakily.

His eyes met mine. "Now I know she nearly died and I can’t bring myself to blame her."

I let out a tearful laugh. "One great excuse..."

I looked back at the closed album. "Can I ask you something?" before looking back at him.

He nods.

"What was she like as a baby?"

His smiles brightly. "You mean besides getting her stubborn attitude from you?"

I laughed softly, wiping my tears. "I feel like she got that from you..." I tell him.

He leaned back in his chair. "God when she started teething, I thought she was going to melt, her fever was so high and she got an ear infection. I think I spent so much time in the ER the doctors and nurses knew me by name. I was there almost daily convinced her was going to die."

I frowned. "Was it really that bad?" I ask.

"Really?"

"I thought something was seriously wrong. She couldn’t sleep, she would cry and it would pull at my heart strings..." He shook his head, smiling at the memory. "They kept telling me it was normal. And I’d be back the next day."

"Did it last long?" I ask.

"’No at least not. She was fine in less than two months but it felt like she was in so much pain it felt like years..."

"When she was sick I took time off work and stayed home with her. Then when she was better I had to go back to work and Stella wasn’t having it. She would cry like she was in pain whenever I had to leave. I would sometimes bring her onto set with me especially if I was travelling to another city or gone for a couple of days." He explains.

I pictured baby Stella refusing to let go when Chase had to leave her at home. Imagined the little stubborn look in her eyes when she refused to back down.

"God I’d pry her off, hand her to the Sylvia her nanny at the time, and she’d cry herself to sleep and I’d picture her crying for me the entire day. I’d try to get home as fast as I could. Everyone encouraged me not to spoil her. But all I could think about was if she’d get sick crying like that..."

My heart squeezed. "It breaks my heart just thinking about it..."

"It only lasted until she was two..."

"She still hates when you leave."

He smiled again. "Now I don’t give in. Plus she loves you she barely notices me leaving now..." he scoffs.

I don’t say anything...

"Then there was the dragon phase."

I blink confused. "The what now?"

"Oh, that was last year it lasted nearly two months."

I laugh. "What happened?"

"She found a cartoon about dragons, where this little boy who could turn into a dragon."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "She became absolutely convinced she was one too but she just needed her magic jewels."

I couldn’t stop laughing. "What did you do?" I ask between laughing.

"What any reasonable father would do." he looked at me seriously. "I bought dragon wings and her magic jewels."

I laughed even harder. "You did not."

"I did. I even glued scales on her arms and legs so she would believe she was really turning into a dragon. I wasn’t going to let my little girl down... If she wanted to be a dragon then she’ll be a dragon."

"Oh my God."

"The problems started when she started wearing them everywhere, the tail was over the top I know."

"Everywhere?"

He nods breaking eye contact. "To church too. We had a relatives funeral and my little girl had a tail, wings, and scales with a black dress and she refused to wear shoes because dragons didn’t wear shoes."

My eyes widened.

"I even learned how to roar properly." I saw the blush creep up his neck and to his cheeks.

I smiled. "You made her happy..."

"I’d do anything for her. And I was even happier when the phase went away and she wanted to be the princess instead..." He says.

My smile brightened. "Thank you for telling me..." I understood then why Stella adored him. I was started to adore the man.

"Of course you’re her mother..." his words surprised me.

I look at him. "Yeah... Yeah I am... Is that weird like I know I’m her mother but I still get surprised."

"How and when do we tell Stella?" Chase asks.

We haven’t spoken about telling Stella or how we’d tell her even. I look at the album again. "I don’t know how to tell her. How do I tell her I abandoned her when she was a baby and didn’t even remember her?"

"Carly you didn’t abandon her. And we don’t know what happened, I don’t think we should speak about it until you get your memory back or we know why you did it..." He suggests.

"What if she doesn’t understand?" I ask.

"I think Stella would be happy you’re her mother... She loves your Carly..." He rests his elbows on his knees.

"What do we even say?" I ask him.

Everything clouds my mind and I didn’t even know where to start.

"We tell her the truth Carly. We tell her you left her with me, and you hurt your head and can’t remember anything." He says like it was that simple.

I nod. Right keep it simple. I couldn’t the smile slipping. I kept thinking about her calling me mommy. "I’m her mommy." The words spill out.

"And I’m still her daddy." Chase says softly.

I look up at him in surprise.

"We’ll tell her tomorrow..." He says...