The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 148

Avery stared at the envelope like she was afraid it would catch fire, making Shirley pick it up and put it in her hands. "Go ahead and read it."

Avery’s hands shook as she opened it and took out a letter from Hillview Hospital. She didn’t need to check anything else but she did, just in case she was being taken for a ride. Shirley had indeed been diagnosed with a lung virus.

"I knew you would need it, so I brought my medical history, if you want it." She continued, digging into her purse for more. "I understand if you need more information. It sucks to prove that I was diagnosed with such a disease—that I’m dying—but if it helps me secure the best life for my daughter, so be it."

She instantly knew she didn’t need to check her medical records but she picked them up nonetheless. The more she read, the faster her heart raced. When she got to the last page, she couldn’t take it anymore.

"But you look..."

"Strong? Of course. I know that. I’ve been trying my best so my baby doesn’t have to suffer along with me." She explained, reaching out to take Avery’s hands. "I’m sorry. I know what this means for you, for your relationship with Damon and for your children. But please help my baby. I don’t have any family left and I don’t want her on the streets."

"What do you want me to do, Shirley?" She asked. "Are you asking me to force him to acknowledge Gemma?"

"No! I will never ask for such a thing." She let go of Avery ’s hands in what appeared to be shame. "I just realized the only way you can ever truly help is too much to ask."

"What’s that?" Avery asked despite already knowing where this was heading.

"When Damon takes Gemma in, and if you make it down the aisle with him, can you please try to be a good mother to Gemma? She will need it."

Avery hissed. "I shouldn’t have come here."

When she stood to leave, Shirley didn’t say a word against it. Instead, she stood too. "I do not wish to subject my daughter to any pain in the name of DNA sample collection, but if you still need it, I’ll send you her hairbrush or toothbrush, if that’s okay."

Avery left without another word, her head in a turmoil. When she finally got to her car, Gabriel slipped into the driver’s seat.

"How did it go?" He asked carefully, knowing this whole situation was a ticking time bomb.

"How else would it go? I think she is telling the truth." She whimpered. It would have been something else if she was certain Shirley was lying, but there was nothing suspicious about the hospital file. It even had a stamp and signature that could not be replicated. However, Hillview Hospital was reputable. There was no way the medical history was fake.

"She can get the court to make Damon take custody of Gemma, can’t she?" She slapped her forehead. "That will not even be necessary. If she is his daughter, he will never want her to be on her own. He will take her in. And then what? Angel would have a half sister and if I do make it down the aisle as she put it, I will be a stepmother. I will have to bring up a child who will remind me how fragile my relationship is. Wait. What if that doesn’t even happen? What if Angel hates Gemma? He is too possessive of the people close to him. If he is convinced that Gemma is going to steal Damon from him, would he want to bully the poor girl? Will Damon even want him after that? Heaven knows he has a soft spot for little girls. Besides, he will want to make up to his baby girl for losing her mother. What if he has a falling out with Angel?"

Gabriel stared at her quietly, letting her figure it out on her own.

It took her a while rambling before she finally did. "Maybe that’s the point. Maybe she wants me to have all these questions, to doubt my relationship and how much it can withstand. To give up on Damon?" She met his gaze and he nodded, which raised an even bigger question. "But why?"

"Because she is a selfish bitch who will not let anyone else have peace if she is dying. She wants you to die along with her and since you will not, she would gladly make your life a living hell. I bet she will be happy as a ghost."

She frowned at her brother. "That’s way too harsh."

"And you don’t think it could be true? Please, Vivi. This woman fooled Chloe for years. Of course she would have a pretty good tongue."

Avery blushed at the last part of his words. "Screw you!"

He burst into laughter. "What are you thinking about? I didn’t mean a good tongue in the literal sense. I meant she was pretty good with her words. But if it means you will laugh for a second, I don’t care what you think I meant." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

_______

That afternoon, she was at Angel’s school half an hour before his afternoon class ended.

When she finally saw students run out of their classrooms despite their teachers’ best efforts to slow them down, her lips curled in a smile.

A few meters away, a little girl tripped and fell. A tall man, probably her father, picked her up just as she burst into tears, and rocked her in his large arms before he pointed at the ice cream truck nearby. Nodding frantically, she wiped her tears and got down from the man’s arms, then the two walked hand in hand to the ice cream truck. Avery watched as the little girl pointed at a flavor she wanted and got a scoop, then licked it and turned around to offer her father some. They looked happy.

She didn’t realize that she was running a hand down her belly until the girl and her father were out of sight.

She had always been envious of such scenes in the past; envious on her son’s behalf. He didn’t get to simulate wrestling matches with his father, dress up in father-son outfits or have his father bring him to the occasional meet up with his friends until he was five. While Damon did most of those things with him now, her heart broke once again when she thought back to Gemma.

For how much longer would Angel have a father in his life? A few more months? Would he be gone once it became too much for him? What about her unborn baby?

"Will he ever see you?" She asked softly, catching a tear before it fell.

She got out of the car before she saw another father-child duo and broke down. Luckily, it wasn’t long before she saw Aubrey. The girl was busy fiddling with her bag pack. When she saw Julie, she beamed and reached behind her to take Angel’s hand, then the two kids ran all the way to Julie and hugged her. She had not noticed Julie earlier but now that she did, she went over to say hi. The kids grabbed a leg each to hug and looked up at her pleadingly. Knowing what they wanted, she took out a five dollar bill from her purse and gave it to Angel.

"Don’t bully Aubrey by making her pick your favorite flavor, okay? Let her pick her own." She reminded Angel, who pouted in response.

"Aunt Avery, Angel doesn’t make me take anything if I don’t want it. He is very kind." Aubrey defended her friend.

"Is that so? And do you make him take what he doesn’t want?" She teased, to which Aubrey shook her head so fast her pigtails swayed a little. The kids then made a beeline for the ice cream truck.

"You know your son all too well." Julie remarked with a laugh.

"He can be a bit bossy. But now that I think about it, he takes after his father." She still couldn’t get over Angel’s ’who cares’ response to her wanting to drop her nickname for him.

Julie’s phone rang and when she answered it, her face fell.

"Is everything okay?"

"My sitter canceled on me. I don’t know if I can find another one under such short notice." She lamented and dialed a number. Hearing it from Julie’s side, Avery guessed the latter was telling off the agency and asking that they send over someone else since the previous sitter canceled last minute.

"Do you need help?" Avery asked. "When do you need Aubrey off your hands?"

"You would take her?" She asked with a hint of guilt in her voice. "Don’t get me wrong. I appreciate it very much. It’s just, you have so much going on. I know it even if you don’t say it out aloud. I can’t simply dump my daughter on you."

Avery scoffed. "Says the woman who took care of my son all night so I would go on a date. Come on, I can help. Besides, the children would be thrilled."

She chuckled. "I can’t for the life of me fathom how they want to play together all weekend after spending the entire week next to each other in class. They never run out of games, do they?"

"My son has never been this active." Avery admitted. "Do you need a sitter, tonight? Aubrey can sleep over at my place."

"No, it’s tomorrow. I have a doctor’s appointment. There aren’t many pulmonologists in Olphire so my appointments are set on Saturdays."

"Pulmonologist?" Avery had a bad feeling about this.

Julie let out a breath as if debating whether or not she should open up. When she did, she looked away. "I was diagnosed with IPF."