Page 94 of Mistletoe Mistake
Just knowing he was back in the country made my heart soar, and I quickly sent back a reply.
We have tickets to get in so I'll wait for you outside, by the ticket office. Call me if you can't see me. Counting the minutes now. G
I waited another half hour before leaving for the Abbey. The night was cloudless and cold, a few stars twinkling above the London lights, and I pulled my scarf a little tighter and cinched my coat tighter too. As it tensed against my stomach, it reminded me of the little life already growing there. By the following Christmas, I would have a baby. Cole's baby. Just the thought of it helped to keep me warm and put a smile on my face. I really hoped he would feel the same way about it that I did.
Minutes ticked by while I waited outside the church, and as Big Ben chimed 11:30, I sent another text to Cole, asking if he knew how much longer he’d be. He quickly replied that it should only be a couple of minutes, and finally, as the clock drew close to 11:45, a town car pulled up outside the church, and he appeared.
Maybe I should have played it cool and waited for him to come over to me, but I couldn't help myself. I ran to him, throwing myself into his arms as soon as his feet were on the ground.
“Gemma.” His deep voice in my ear sounded like heaven as his arms enveloped me. “I've missed you so much.”
“I missed you too,” I assured him, my words muffled against my scarf.
“Last call for ticket holders,” a member of staff at the Abbey called out, reminding us both where we were and why.
I pulled back from him and took his hand, but Cole looked at the church and back at me, a rare look of apology on his face. “I know you've been looking forward to this, but would it be okay if we just go somewhere and talk instead?”
That actually sounded perfect to me. The idea of sitting next to him for an hour in the church without being able to tell him my news or to hear his was almost unbearable.
I quickly walked over to the staff member looking for any last ticket holders and handed him the tickets in my hand. “I can't use these after all. If there's anyone who wants them, please, pass them on.”
He thanked me, and I returned to Cole, taking his hand and leading him over to the river. Neither of us spoke along the way. The things we had to say were too big to blurt out until we were settled somewhere, somewhere where we could see each other's faces and talk properly.
The lights of the London Eye and Westminster Bridge reflected in the dark waters of the Thames as we walked along the Embankment. There, in the waning moments of Christmas Eve, we found a bench, a quiet place to see the river and also see each other. Keeping my hand tucked firmly in his, Cole sat down next to me and turned to me, his dark eyes full of an emotion I couldn't quite name.
“First things first, I wanted to say thank you, Gemma, for being so understanding about me arriving late. I know we didn’t plan on this.”
Why was he wasting time on an apology? “Cole!” I admonished him. “Just tell me the results already.”
He smiled, a look of true affection on his face but still with a hint of that unnamed something in his eyes. “Madison is not my daughter.”
“Not?” I repeated in genuine surprise. I didn't realize until he said it how much I had convinced myself that she must be. I had been fully prepared for it to be true.
He shook his head. “No, she's not. It came as a surprise for me too. I believe that Samantha truly thought she must be. She was shocked when we got the results, and I don't think she faked her response. She must have honestly thought all this time that I was Madison's father, but the doctors assure me that I'm not.”
“So, she was actually sleeping with the man she left you for while you were still together?” I asked, wanting to make sure I understood what had happened. Cole said Samantha had told him about her pregnancy before he proposed.
Cole nodded. “Apparently. And I guess he thought the whole time that he wasn't the father, because Samantha had convinced herself I was. And he left her partly because of that, when Madison had actually been his daughter all along.”
“That poor little girl,” I couldn't help saying.
Cole's brow furrowed in a look of pain. “I know. I hope you don't mind, but I decided on the flight over here that I’m going to give Samantha some money anyway, just to keep her on her feet. I’ll also set up a small trust fund for Madison, in an account that Samantha won't be able to touch. Even though she's not mine, for a little while I thought she might be. She’s completely innocent and I don't want her to suffer just because her mother can't be a decent human being.”
“That's very generous of you,” I told him sincerely. I had no idea why he cared if I would mind or not. The money belonged to him, and I was much more worried about how he felt about everything. “Are you disappointed?”
He smiled almost wistfully. “A little. It's a strange thing to suddenly be told you have a child and then just as suddenly be told you don't. But it is what it is and at least now I know. Besides, I still have a lot of other wonderful things in my life to keep me occupied.”
He raised his hand to my cheek, stroking it gently.
“So, you're not opposed to the idea of being a father?” I clarified, trying to steer the conversation towards my own news.
“I'm not opposed to it. I would like to be, eventually. Hopefully, I can do it properly next time, from the beginning.”
He couldn't have given me a better opening than that. Taking a deep breath, I gave Cole's hand a tight squeeze. “What if the beginning came sooner than you expected?”
His eyebrows drew together as he looked at me, trying to figure out what I meant.
“I just found out this afternoon,” I told him, giving him a small, hopeful smile. “Cole, I'm pregnant.”
