‘Don’t tell me you’re a control freak too?’ he demanded wryly, and she laughed.
‘’Fraid so. I like things to be just so and preferably the way I want them to be.’
‘Then pity help those two boys, that’s all I can say. Having one parent who’s a control freak would be bad enough, but to have two? Well!’
Mia chuckled. ‘I’m sure they’ll survive. Anyway, what about your wife? Surely she isn’t as set on having everything done her way as we are?’
‘Believe me, my ex-wife makes us look like beginners when it comes to being demanding. What Amanda wants takes precedence every time.’
His tone was so cold that Mia shivered. The thought of the other woman having anything to do with her beloved Harry was very hard to accept. ‘I see. I’m not sure if I’d be happy at the thought of Harry spending time with her after hearing that,’ she told him truthfully.
‘There’s no need to worry. Amanda isn’t the least bit interested in Harry.’
‘She knows about the mix-up, though?’ Mia queried, wondering if he was telling her the truth. She couldn’t imagine any woman not wanting to meet her own child but, there again, why would Leo lie about it?
‘Oh, yes. I told her what had happened. Suffice to say that Amanda was more concerned with how it could impact on her rather than on Noah or Harry.’
He didn’t say anything else. Although it appeared that his ex-wife wasn’t involved, Mia couldn’t help feeling uneasy. She simply couldn’t accept that any woman, no matter how self-centred, could ignore what had happened. She realised that she needed to find out exactly what she was dealing with and the only way to do that was by asking Leo straight out. She was just about to do so when Harry appeared.
‘Can we go to the park now, Mummy?’ he demanded plaintively.
‘Soon, sweetheart.’ She placed the receiver to her ear again as Harry reluctantly went back to the sitting room.
‘I take it that you and Harry were planning to go to the park too,’ Leo observed. ‘Excellent. It’ll appear far more natural if we happen to meet up. We don’t want to make a big deal of this, do we? The boys will only get suspicious and start worrying that something is going on.’
‘Which it is.’ Mia sighed. ‘I wonder how they’ll get on with each other. That’s something else we need to think about.’
‘Let’s take it a step at a time, shall we?’
They made arrangements to meet in the playground before Mia hung up. She went to tell Harry that they would be leaving shortly and sent him off to find his trainers. He whooped with delight as he tore up the stairs. He was obviously looking forward to the outing and she only hoped it would work out for all of them, Harry, Noah, Leo and herself.
Her heart gave a little jolt when it struck her that she was about to meet her real son. Although she had seen that photo of Noah, she knew nothing about him—what he enjoyed, if he was athletic or musical or neither. As Leo had said, it was like leaping into the unknown so no wonder she found the idea daunting. Still, at least Leo would be there, she consoled herself, and for some reason the thought made her heart leap once more.
CHAPTER SIX
IT HAD STOPPED raining by the time they arrived at the playground. Leo looked around but he couldn’t see any sign of Mia. Noah ran off to play on the slide, ignoring the other children as he climbed the slippery steps.
Leo sighed as he watched him. Noah had always been a quiet child and he had become even more withdrawn since the accident. He wasn’t sure if it was the prolonged stay in hospital that had affected him or Amanda’s disappearance. Amanda hadn’t made any attempt to see Noah in the last six months. She hadn’t phoned or even emailed to ask how he was either. Discovering that Noah wasn’t her biological child had given her the excuse she’d needed to cut him out of her life.
Although she had never been around very much, Leo knew that Noah must miss even the sparse contact he’d had with the woman he believed to be his mother. It made him realise how careful he needed to be when he introduced Noah to Mia. The little boy could resent Mia’s sudden intrusion into his life.
It was something else to worry about, one more thing to add to the ever-expanding list. Not for the first time, Leo wished that he had let sleeping dogs lie. What had he hoped to achieve? All right, so he and Mia would get to know their real children but was that enough to justify disrupting Harry’s and Noah’s lives? Children needed stability but what hope did they have of giving the boys that when they were about to rock the very foundations of their existence?
‘Hello! This is a surprise. I didn’t expect to see you here.’
Leo looked round when he heard Mia’s voice. Fixing a smile to his lips, he went to meet her, trying to ignore the way that Harry shrank away when he approached. It was obvious that the child’s initial opinion of him hadn’t improved.
‘I’ve brought my son, Noah, here to play,’ he explained, refusing to feel hurt. It was his own fault that he’d made such a bad impression on Harry and it was up to him to do something about it. His smile deliberately widened. ‘That’s him, over there on the slide.’
Leo pointed to Noah, who was surrounded by several other children, a couple of whom also had blond hair. He felt Mia stiffen and instinctively reached for her hand. ‘He’s the one wearing the red jacket. He’s at the top of the slide now.’
‘Yes, I can see him.’
Leo heard the tremor in her voice and realised that she was deeply affected by her first actual sighting of Noah. His fingers tightened around hers as a wave of tenderness washed over him. He knew how she felt because he had felt the same when he’d first seen Harry—shocked and amazed by the resemblance the boy bore to him. When Harry ran off to play on the swings, Leo led her over to a bench.
‘It knocks you for six, doesn’t it?’ he said as they sat down. ‘I mean, you try to prepare yourself but it’s still a shock when you see them for the first time.’
‘It is.’ She could barely speak and he heard her take a quick little breath. ‘He’s so like Chris—his hair, his build, the way he tilts his head—everything!’
‘I was just as stunned when I saw Harry,’ he admitted. ‘He has my nose and my chin, the same colour hair.’ He gave a self-mocking laugh, trying to lighten the mood in the hope that it would help her. ‘His hair even sticks out like mine does if I don’t get it cut every couple of weeks!’
Mia turned and stared at him. ‘You think Harry looks like you?’
‘Of course. Surely you can see the resemblance?’
Leo frowned as she turned and stared at the little boy. He couldn’t believe that she hadn’t noticed how alike they were. His eyes rested on her as she studied Harry and he saw to the very second when what had been so clear to him from the moment he had laid eyes on the child became clear to her too. Her face was very pale when she turned to him, so pale that he thought she was going to faint and he gripped her hand harder, ruing the fact that he’d felt it necessary to point out the resemblance. The last thing he’d intended was to upset her.
‘I can see the resemblance now.’ She bit her lip. ‘I don’t know why I didn’t spot it before.’
‘Probably because this has been such a shock for you,’ Leo said soothingly, surprised that he should feel it necessary to offer comfort. Although it went against the grain to be rude, he wasn’t known for being compassionate. In fact, if he was honest, he rarely took account of other people’s feelings, mainly because he didn’t expect them to take account of his. However, for some reason, he felt a need to soothe her, to comfort her, to make this meeting as easy for her as it could possibly be.
‘Do you think so?’ Her eyes held his fast and he could see the plea they held. ‘Maybe I was deliberately trying not to see how like you Harry is because it would mean those test results are right.’
‘They are right, though.’ Even
though he hated to upset her, Leo knew that he had to make this most important fact absolutely clear. ‘You read the letter, Mia. The results prove conclusively that Harry isn’t your son.’
‘But they don’t prove he’s yours!’ She shot to her feet, her eyes spitting fire at him. ‘There was nothing in that report to say that you are his father, Leo. Absolutely nothing!’
‘I know.’ Leo rose as well, realising they were attracting attention. He lowered his voice, hating the thought of people overhearing their conversation. ‘Which is why we need to send off more DNA samples, but from you and me this time as well as from the boys. I’ll get it organised and then we’ll know for sure what we’re dealing with.’
‘It’s that simple, is it?’ She sat down abruptly and Leo saw the anger drain out of her. ‘We send off more samples of hair and saliva and they’ll send us back another report to say that Child A belongs to this or that parent.’
‘No, it isn’t simple,’ he said sharply. ‘Nothing about this situation is simple, Mia. It’s a mess, and there’s no point pretending that it isn’t going to cause a massive upheaval for us as well as for Harry and Noah. However, the only way we’ll get through it is by working together. If we start fighting then we’ll achieve nothing apart from destroying the lives of two innocent little boys. Is that what you really want?’
‘Of course not.’
Mia took a deep breath and tried to get a grip on herself. It wasn’t easy but, as Leo had pointed out, nothing about this situation was easy. She looked across the playground, feeling her heart ache when she saw Harry at the top of the slide. He must have sensed she was watching him because he turned and waved, his face breaking into a mischievous grin as he propelled himself at top speed down the slide. He came running over to her, bubbling with excitement.
‘Did you see how fast I went, Mummy?’
‘I did,’ she replied, giving him a hug. ‘You’re a proper little demon on the slide!’
He laughed happily as he ran off to have another turn. Mia turned to Leo, knowing that she owed him an apology. It wasn’t like her to create a scene but there again she’d never had anything like this happen to her before. ‘I’m sorry. I’m afraid it all got the better of me but it won’t happen again.’
‘It’s been a shock for both of us,’ he said quietly, and she shrugged.
‘Yes, but that isn’t an excuse.’ She paused, not wanting to cause another upset, but she needed to be absolutely sure of the facts. ‘I think we should have those tests done as soon as possible. We need to be certain that we know exactly what we’re dealing with.’
‘I agree. We can’t afford to make another mistake, not when it could impact on the boys.’ He shrugged. ‘Maybe there is a resemblance between Noah and your late husband, and maybe I do think that Harry looks a lot like me, but it isn’t proof. It will be safer if we see it written down in black and white before we make any plans.’
‘What sort of plans?’ Mia said swiftly. ‘I made it clear that I won’t allow you to take Harry away from me.’
‘And I made it equally clear that I am not prepared to give up Noah,’ he said curtly, interrupting her.
‘Then what exactly are you talking about?’
‘I’m not sure.’ He frowned. ‘The boys are far too young to tell them what has happened—it’ll only confuse them. But obviously we each need to maintain contact with our real child or it could cause problems in the future. I don’t want Harry to grow up thinking that I wasn’t interested in him and I’m sure you don’t want Noah thinking that either.’
‘Of course not. So what do you suggest?’ Mia said slowly. ‘That we meet up on a regular basis so we can get to know the boys and they can get to know us?’
Leo looked across the playground. Mia followed his gaze, her heart contracting when she realised that Harry and Noah were on adjoining swings. They had no idea what had happened and it was up to her and Leo to make this is as easy as possible for them.
‘Won’t they think it strange, though?’ she said, turning to him. ‘I mean, we can’t keep on bumping into each other, can we?’
‘No. They’re bright kids and they’ll soon realise something is going on. We have to find another way to go about this and the only thing I can come up with is if we let them think we’re going out together.’ He shrugged, ignoring her gasp. ‘There are lots of kids at Noah’s school whose parents have split up and are in new relationships and I imagine it’s the same at Harry’s school. If we tell them that we’re seeing one another, they’ll think it’s quite normal. What do you think?’
What did she think? Mia was lost for words, quite frankly. It was mind-boggling to imagine herself dating Leo...
Wasn’t it?
Heat roared through her veins as she looked at his handsome face and realised that the idea wasn’t so outrageous after all. ‘I...um...’
She got not further when Harry appeared. ‘I’m thirsty, Mummy. Can I have a drink, please?’
‘Of course you can, darling.’ Mia shot to her feet so fast that she almost dropped her bag. She slung the strap over her shoulder, pinning a smile to her lips as she turned to Leo. She needed to think about what he’d suggested, see if she could come up with a better idea. The last thing she needed was to become even more involved with him than she already was.
‘It was nice to see you again, Leo. Enjoy the rest of your day.’
‘You too,’ he replied politely, rising. Noah came running over and he put a protective hand on his shoulder. ‘This is Mia, Noah. Say hello to her and Harry, her son.’
‘Hello,’ Noah muttered, scuffing the toe of his trainer on the ground.
‘Hello, Noah. It’s good to meet you.’
Mia felt a rush of emotions overwhelm her as she studied the child’s downbent head. Close to, the resemblance to Chris was even more marked. Not only did Noah have Chris’s ash-blond hair and black brows but his nose was the same shape too. All of a sudden she knew that no matter what it took, she had to get to know him. He was her child, hers and Chris’s, and even though she had no idea if she would ever be able to tell him that she was his mother, she couldn’t bear the thought of not being involved in his life.
Her head lifted and she looked Leo straight in the eyes. ‘I think your suggestion might work. Let’s talk about it next time we meet, shall we?’
‘Of course.’
Leo didn’t say anything else as she led Harry away but he didn’t need to when his expression said everything for him. Mia shivered as she and Harry made their way to the café. Maybe Leo had made the suggestion purely to help the boys but they both knew it could have repercussions for them too.
She bit her lip, trying to contain the rush of excitement that filled her as she recalled the way he had looked at her just now. That he was aware of her as a woman wasn’t in doubt. However, her feelings for him were far more complicated. Since Chris had died she hadn’t dated, hadn’t been interested in going out with other men. She never really had been, if she was honest. What had happened with Steve Parker had put her off the idea of dating and if she hadn’t met Chris then she doubted it she would have found the courage to try it again.
However, Leo was different. Very different. Pretending that they were seeing one another for the sake of the boys wouldn’t be easy. What would be easy was making the pretence real.
* * *
Leo was glad to go into work on Monday morning. At least while he was working he would have less time to worry about what had happened on Saturday. He sighed as he made his way to Theatre. He had spent the remainder of the weekend thinking about his meeting with Mia and what had transpired.
Suggesting that they should pretend to be involved for the sake of the boys had been an off-the-cuff idea. However, as soon as he’d broached it, it had become increasingly attractive. It had been ages since he’d been out with a woman and
he would appreciate some female company; however, he knew that it wasn’t the reason why he found the idea so appealing. Getting to know Mia seemed as important as getting to know Harry, strangely enough.
Leo cursed softly as he thrust open the door to the scrub room. What in heaven’s name was wrong with him? He could have his pick of women, women who were far more beautiful than Mia. This situation was skewing his thinking, making him come up with the craziest ideas. His only interest in Mia was as the mother of his son!
‘Oh, please, please, don’t make me do this! I’ll do anything—scrub toilets, wash out sick bowls—anything at all if you’ll spare me this. It’s Monday and I really can’t face the thought of two hours locked up in Theatre with our beloved leader!’
Leo came to a halt when he found Declan Murphy on his knees in front of Janice Lang, the theatre sister. The F2 student was staring beseechingly up at her, his face bearing an expression guaranteed to appeal to even the hardest heart. Janice and the rest of the team were laughing so hard that they didn’t notice he had come in. It was only when he approached them that they spotted him. Declan obviously realised something was wrong when everyone hurriedly moved away. He looked round, his freckled face paling when he saw Leo.
‘A moving performance, Dr Murphy.’ Leo smiled thinly as his errant F2 scrambled to his feet. ‘Your talents are obviously wasted working in this particular type of theatre. You should apply to RADA and see if they can offer you a place.’
‘I...erm... Thank you,’ Declan faltered, then gulped when he realised what he had said.
Leo headed into the shower room, managing to contain his mirth until he had turned on the water. Declan’s face had been an absolute picture, he thought as he stepped under the jets. It would be a long time before he pulled a stunt like that again! It made him realise all of a sudden that it wasn’t always necessary to play the heavy-handed boss. Sometimes a dash of humour could be far more effective.
Leo frowned as he pulled on fresh scrubs. He was very aware that the idea would never have occurred to him in the past. Was it this situation with Noah and Harry that was making him behave so differently? he wondered. Finding out that Noah wasn’t his son had knocked the feet from under him; nothing seemed certain any more, including his own actions. Where once he would have known he was right, now he found himself questioning his decisions.
The Motherhood Mix-Up Page 6