"Just spit it out, Zoe. I think the time has passed for us to keep secrets from each other, don't you think?"
"That night when I found you with Lucy." She looked away from him put her fingers to her mouth to stop the sob that had risen in her throat.
He ached to go to her but something stopped him. "What?"
"I was going to tell you something. I should have stayed anyway but I couldn't bring myself to. I was pregnant."
He stumbled down onto the bed. Pregnant, he never saw that coming. His head reeled and he looked over at Zoe. She was standing by the window with tears streaming down her face. "What did you say?"
"I said I was pregnant. You heard me."
"But, no wait just a minute. We agreed to wait. We were too young and you were on the pill."
"It wasn't deliberate. Accidents happen."
"So what, you just thought it would be easier to run than face me?"
"No. I wanted to tell you." Zoe rubbed her tears away. "I so wanted to tell you but it all went wrong. I'm sorry, I'm really sorry."
"All these years and you couldn't once find it in your heart to tell me we made a baby together? I don't fucking believe it."
She glared at him now, looking angry instead of upset.
The door opened and Lucy walked in.
"Get out," they both shouted in unison. She backed out, shutting the door quickly.
Jonas looked back at Zoe. "So, because of what that little bitch did, you ran away and destroyed something we had made together."
She lifted her chin. "No, I didn't."
"What do you mean, no?" he asked, his voice a mere whisper in the still room.
"I didn't have an abortion if that is what you're asking. I don't care what you think of me Jonas. I could never destroy something we had made together. I got a job and had our baby."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"For fuck’s sake, listen to yourself." She was standing waving her arms in the air now. "Why would I tell you. You didn't want to be saddled with a baby before you made your fortune, remember? I managed well enough on my own."
"Did you keep it or give it away?"
"Her, Jonas. Her name is Lilly and I kept her. I could never part with our baby."
"But you could keep her from me. You selfish little bitch!" His stomach had tied itself in knots and his breathing was ragged.
"You can call me anything you like but at least I didn't shirk my responsibilities. You can't make the rules Jonas and expect me to read your fucking mind when you change them. Get your shit together. I'm taking you home then I'm going back to where I belong."
She stormed past him and threw open the door.
"Oh and by the way, I thought since you car was taking up our spot in the shed, I should get a chance to drive it." She walked out giving him no choice but to follow or be left behind.
****
"You can't leave, Zoe. We need to talk about this. God, I have a niece whom I only just heard of. Can't you at least tell me why you did it?"
"You know why, Bran. You wouldn't have been able to keep it from Jonas no matter how hard you tried. I'm sorry, really I am but I had to do it that way. I couldn't have Jonas rocking up being 'Mr. High and Mighty' just because I got pregnant. We both wanted different things and we would have ended up hating each other. You know that as well as I do." She threw her clothes into the suitcase. "I refuse to bring up a child like that, Bran. I have a life in London. A business and a gorgeous kid who was hoping I'd be home for Christmas. I'm sorry but I need to go. I never intended to stay longer than it was necessary to sort out my part of the business."
Zoe did the zip up on her case and hefted it off the bed. "Can you take me to the airport please or do I have to call a cab."
"Sure, let me get my keys. Are you going to say goodbye to Jonas?"
"I'm pretty sure we said all there was to say. He can do whatever he wants to with my shares, I don't need them. I would ask that you pass the board this letter though."
He took the envelope she held out and quickly read it.
"Zoe bird, don't do that."
"Seriously, Bran I don't care, I don't need the money. I only came back because it was home. Now I have dealt with the emotions I wouldn't let surface at the funeral, I'm happy to leave. I'll sign them over to you rather than let him sell them off though. Pretty sure that's allowed. I'll see what he does and if it doesn't work out, I'll see what my lawyer says. I'm pretty sure he can deal with it so there is a mutual agreement." She walked out of her bedroom trying to ignore the pain gripping her chest. She just wanted to move on and get back to her life with her daughter.
Brandon put her bag in the back of his truck and looked around before getting into the driver's seat.
"Don't go there brother, it's all over." Zoe hoped with half her heart that he would try and stop her from leaving, the other half had already moved on without him.
On the long trip to the airport Brandon learned all about his niece and his sister’s business. "You can come and visit for Christmas you know. Still plenty of time to get organized and book a flight. It'll be snowing and I know Lilly would love to meet you."
"I might just do it. When will she be home from boarding school?"
"December twelfth, which is not that far away. Please say you'll come, Bran. We can have a lovely white Christmas together."
"Let me talk to Pete and see if I can get away. I'd love to come over. "
***
When her plane touched down, Zoe breathed a sigh of relief. She had convinced herself there was no way Jonas would ever forgive her for deceiving him and she understood that. It was a cruel thing to do. Even if he had no wish to be a father he should have been informed.
She pushed her way through customs out to the waiting area and into the arms of her best friend.
"So I take it things didn't go too well then?" Lori said helping her to push the baggage trolley out to the car park.
"No, they most certainly did not. But I'm home now so I can breathe again and get back to normal." She stowed her bags in the back of the car and walked around to the passenger seat. When she had her seat belt on she smiled at Lori. "Guess who might be here for Christmas?"
"Not Jonas?"
"As if. No, Brandon. He wants to meet Lilly. He was kind of pissed at me for not letting him in on the secret which I can understand. I made the offer and I think he will be here as soon as he can get away. He and Lilly have a lot to catch up on. It should be fun."
"That's wonderful. It will be nice for you to finally have some family in the know. Want to spill the beans on Jonas and what happened?" Lori kept her eyes on the traffic and waited for Zoe to talk.
"I tried to tell him a couple of times and it just didn't work out. Silly fool had a chopper accident and when I found him he decided I should marry him." Zoe shook her head and looked out of the window at the traffic rushing by.
"Just a minute, there is more to this than you're telling, girl, but I'll settle for the short version for now. Keep going."
"Well it turns out he wasn't cheating on me at all, go figure. Just a misunderstanding that got out of control. Anyway, he thought we had cleared the air and wanted to know why I didn't feel right marrying him. That's when I told him about Lilly." Zoe gave a bitter laugh. "He snapped so I took him home from the hospital and left."
"Didn't he object?"
"He didn't even know I was going. He's nursing a bruised ego and he locked himself in his room. I managed to get a flight out straight away so I took it." She breathed a sigh of relief, convincing herself that things had worked out for the better. "How have you been coping?"
"No problems here, everything runs like clockwork as per usual. I spoke to Lilly last week, she's looking forward to Christmas. It's nice to have you back."
***
The smell of holly, pine needles and Christmas cooking filled the night air. Zoe was making mulled wine and trying to clean up the house while Lilly was busily wrapping last minute presents for
her uncle.
Brandon was getting a taxi from the airport to the house and Zoe was expecting him any minute. She was relieved her brother would finally get to meet his niece and she squealed with delight when the doorbell rang.
Lilly beat her to the door and opened it just as she walked into the hallway. Standing outside was her brother. Tears filled her eyes and she walked up to him her arms outstretched.
"It is so good to see you, Bran. Come in out of the cold." She stood back to let him enter.
"Good to see you too, sis." He looked at her and then the color flashed up his cheeks and he coughed. "Um, look I'm not sure how to tell you this but I brought a friend."
Jonas stepped into the hallway behind him.
Zoe knew that the blood had drain from her face and her breath hitched in her throat.
"No." Her fingers covered her mouth and the stars spun in her eyes. Lilly grabbed hold of her skirt and pressed into her.
"Mummy, are you okay?"
"Your Mum will be fine, honey. She's just had a bit of a shock." Jonas stepped forward and grabbed Zoe by the shoulders. He pulled her close, his hand rubbing her back while she struggled to regulate her breathing.
****
He looked over Zoe's shoulder at his daughter. "Why don't you go and take your Uncle Brandon in and tell him where to put his bag and we'll be with you in a minute."
He nodded to Brandon and watched him follow her down the hallway.
"Just breathe, honey."
She smelled of spice and happiness and every good memory he held of her. He squeezed her close and dropped kisses on her soft blonde hair.
Pulling back from him, Zoe took a deep breath. "Why?"
"Why what? You need to be bit more specific than that?"
"Why are you here, Jonas?"
"It's Christmas and when Brandon said he was coming over I thought it would be a good time to meet my daughter and talk to you about our future. I had planned on coming anyway once I had a few things sorted out at home. It so happened this trip coincided nicely with Christmas."
"We don't have a future, Jonas." She wiped the tears from her eyes and he chose to ignore the hurt he saw in them.
"I beg to differ, Zoe. Look, we both stuffed up okay. We were kids and made mistakes. I can live with it if you can."
"I'm sorry, but I don't believe you. I don't need you throwing this back at me when you're in a pissy mood." She pulled out of his arms and took a few steps away from him, leaning against the wall, her hands wrapped around her waist protectively.
"Look. We need to talk. We made a child together and there is the chance of a future if we can both let go of our past. I don't mean to forget everything we had, but to move on, leaving our mistakes behind us. And I promise I'll never throw it back in your face honey " He put his hands in his suit pockets and shook his head at her. "I didn't try to stop you leaving for good reason. I don't believe in doing anything rash without making sure first. You know me, you should understand that. I approached the board and they approved of you putting your shares in Brandon's name. You never would have lost them in the first place, Zoe." He looked at her shrugging his shoulders and made the admission he had been holding back. "It was a feeble attempt of mine to get you home where I thought you belonged. I never would have done it if I'd known about Lilly."
"You sneaky bastard. I knew there was more to it than Bran was telling me. So help me, I'll kill him when I get my hands on him."
"My fault entirely. I put him up to it. I needed you to come home because I was having a hell of a job living without you. I knew you would come if he called. I wanted you to remember what we had and we couldn't do that if I came here. I figured my chances were better on home soil."
"Oh Jonas, you are so wrong. I would have come if you had asked me."
"Shit, and to think that we've wasted all this time being stubborn and missing out on being a family. I guess the chopper crash was all about us then, don't you think?"
"I can hear Mum saying 'everything happens for a reason,' so yeah, I guess we should go with that." She leaned into his face and ran her tongue over his bottom lip, grinning at the reaction she got.
"You are such a tease, Zoe."
"You know you love that about me. You always did Jonas so stop trying to play tough guy." She straightened his tie and looked into his eyes. "There are things we need to discuss before we go any further. I've my own successful company too. I can't just walk away and leave it. Plans will have to be made."
"I understand that. I think you might find that your friend Lori would be more than capable and willing to take it on full time.”
"You take way too much for granted ,Jonas. This is my business and I’ll be the one to sort it out if we go back to Australia. Understand?"
"Yes, ma'am."
He smiled at the light sparkling in her eyes. "You know you don't mean that."
"Probably not. But still, I want to have some say in what happens. This is going to be a partnership, not a one-sided relationship." Zoe ran her shocking red fingernail down his cheek and cupped his chin. "That is if we are going to have a relationship."
Jonas put his hand in his pocket and brought out a jeweler's box. "You know we are meant to be together, Zoe. We've both known it all along. We just had to grow up."
He dropped to one knee and took her hand. "Zoe Walters, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife and lifetime partner?"
"Yes."
Jonas stood, took a solitaire diamond ring from the box and placed it on her ring finger. Pulling her close he kissed her deeply.
Zoe looked into his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Jonas."
"Me too, but it’s behind us now, okay? I want to meet my daughter. Let's go tell her and Brandon the good news. I'm sure he is standing at the door waiting to see what's going on. He wants you and Lilly home, Zoe. That's why it was so easy to talk him into letting me come too."
Zoe laughed and took his hand, leading him into the lounge where the rest of her family waited.
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