Adam Slade's vision of establishing a dynasty in Sunset Valley has reached the third generation but his work and that of his son, Brandon, is at risk. Cleo Slade's ill-judged affair has split her family, can she repair the damage done or will she have to raise the fourth Slade generation on her own?
In this chapter Pascal sets out his terms for a possible future together ...
Cleo didn't know quite what to think. Pascal had returned from Champs Les Sims to meet her at the hospital after the birth of her baby boy. How, she had told his parents that she was pregnant but how did he know the exact date? Of course, it was obvious, Danielle must have told him. But, then, for how long had Danielle been phoning her father?
The following morning Danielle sensed something was different in the house but it wasn't until she came down to breakfast that she realised quite what it was.
"Daddy!" she rushed over to Pascal and threw her arms round him in a tight hug, "You came, you come to help mummy? You're going to stay, say you are?"
"Oh, my beautiful baby girl, one question at a time!" Pascal laughed with joy, cherishing the warmth and love radiating from his daughter. How he had missed that feeling while he had been at his parents.
Barely releasing her grip on him, Danielle leant back a little to look directly into his eyes "So, are you back for good now?"
"I hope so honey; your mummy and I have to do some talking but you know I will always love you – you're my own beautiful girl."
The pregnancy had rather forced Pascal into making some decisions about his relationship with Cleo and as much as he wanted to reassure Danielle that everything was now OK, he didn't want to lie to her, to give her false hope.
"Now, I have to go into town to make some arrangements so you have your breakfast, and I will see you and mummy in a little while."
-- * --
That afternoon, with Danielle on a school trip, Pascal and Cleo sat down to work out where their relationship could go.
"Cleo, we need to decide where to go from here, not just for ourselves but for Danielle and the new baby, it is not fair on them if we cannot make this work, one way or another.
"I could not cope being a father not able to be part of his child's life, but what you did hurt me so much … I don't know if I could stay here, with you, but I don't want to lose out being part of the children's lives."
"And yet, I am afraid that if I just come back to live here without us resolving anything it would end up being worse for the children."
Although every day that he had been away she had hoped that Pascal would return, Cleo was not sure that she could offer anything more than excuses for what had happened.
"I know," she started, "that I cannot expect you to forget or forgive what I did. I was foolish and reckless. I have to take responsibility for what happened but, and this is no excuse, I know now that Garret manipulated us into this situation."
Cleo tried to explain Garett's Twinbrook story of how her great-grandmother was used to destroy his family and how he then used her in a similar way, as a twisted form of revenge for what his family had suffered.
"I think that from the moment we met as teenagers he had been working out a way to get back at us. He waited until I was happily settled with you and Danielle as the perfect time to cause as much damage to me ... and those I loved."
"Yes, I should have resisted, I already had you. And you gave me what I needed; love, support, and the most beautiful daughter. If there is any way that I could repair the damage I have done, anything that I can do ..."
Pascal had listened silently to Cleo's story and, to be honest, from what he knew of Garett could believe that he had engineered the whole thing. But still, if the woman he loved could be seduced by such a man once, could he be sure that it wouldn't happen again?
"Cleo, let me make it simple, I will tell you my conclusions and you can decide if you can accept them. First, and simplest, a new start for our family. After all that has happened here I do not feel that we could continue to live in this house. I know that it was built by your father and grandfather as a legacy project for you and future generations but that heritage has been tainted. As your grandfather did, I think we should move away and start afresh."
Cleo nodded, "I understand, Adam wanted to create a family legacy but that is more than just bricks and possessions, it is the family's strength – that is what is important."
"Very good, thank you," Pascal smiled warmly at Cleo. He knew it was a sacrifice to leave this old house behind but he was glad she could see the importance of moving out.
He looked down at the table between them, the next thing he was to ask could be more difficult for Cleo to accept but he needed certainty before agreeing to stay.
"The second thing;" he looked directly at Cleo, "I need to know ... are the children mine?"
"Of course!" Cleo snapped back immediately. It was a question she knew he would have to ask but even so she had been surprised to be asked so bluntly.
With the same impassive composure Pascal repeated himself, "But I need to know Cleo, to be certain. I want them DNA tested, both of them."
Cleo rocked back, pushed her chair away from the table, "Both? Do you really think that Danielle might not be yours? That's ridiculous!"
"I'm sorry, but I cannot be a father to them if I have any doubts. I want to believe you Cleo, I really do, but I have to know one way or the other. I am not saying that I will abandon you if they are not, we can still be a family but I could not live with a cloud of doubt hanging over us."
Cleo examined Pascal's expression, features that she had been so familiar with, that had reassured and supported her in their life before ... she knew that she could trust him in whatever he promised. She had no doubt that both children were Pascal's but even if their new baby, by some foul stroke of luck, was Garetts if Pascal said he would be a true father to him, that so he would.
"OK." Cleo inevitably conceded, "I will contact the hospital to make arrangements."
"No need," Pascal interrupted, "I have done that already, we have an appointment this evening. When Danielle comes back we can tell her and go straight to the clinic."
"Tonight!" Cleo’s mind was racing, this was happening all too fast.
"Yes, they have just installed the latest test equipment and the specialist who has been trained to use it is only in town for the next couple of days before going to train the consultants in Riverview. If we go tonight we can get the results in a matter of hours."
"OK, tonight it is ..."
-- * --
Danielle had hardly got through the door when she heard her mother calling out. "Dani? Is that you honey? Come upstairs a minute please."
"Honey, I know you've just had a busy day, but we need to go out again now." Cleo started to explain, "Daddy and I have been talking and we all need to go to the hospital to have a little test ..."
Hospital? Tests? Danielle immediately started to worry as she looked nervously at her parents, "A test? Is something wrong? Is it baby, is he sick?"
"No, no, everything is fine," Pascal stepped in to reassure her, "nothing is wrong but your Mummy and I have been talking and making some plans for us all and we might have to move away. But before we do that, we need to take a test to make sure, to make sure everything is OK."
"Okay ..." Danielle visibly relaxed for a moment before a second thought suddenly hit her, "we're moving? Why, where are we going, all of us, does this mean you're staying Daddy?"
--*--
Within the hour, all four were in the town centre, outside the Sunset Valley Memorial Hospital. Danielle skipping ahead, hopeful that this test would mean her parents would be back together again. Pascal smiled as if to comfort Cleo; that he would stay whatever the result but Cleo could not help but feel nervous. She knew Pascal was a man of his word, and she felt sure that both children were his but what if ... could he really be a father to someone else's child?
In a few hours time they would know the answer to at least one of those questions, an answer that would signal either the beginning of a new life as a family or the beginning of the end of all she had hoped for.
Chapter 33: A New Start
