Stealing Home (Read 9,792 times)

[fluffysmom]

Great chapter! I liked Chloe admitting that she wants her memory back. I especially liked the end of the chapter.

[Kpatch]

Chapter 9


“Stay with me.”

Chloe giggled, not because of what Philip said, but because Philip’s warm breath tickled her ear. Their naked bodies were nested together spoon-style, a position that felt so cozy and comforting, new, yet so familiar as if they’d done this a million times before. They fit together so well, both physically and emotionally. And yet, she felt the need to create some space between herself and Philip, not unlike when they were teens.

Her emotions confused her sometimes. She didn’t want to be away from him, but she didn’t want to be dependent on him either. It was hard to explain, and it was especially hard to pull herself out of bed, but she did just that.

“Chloe! Didn’t you hear me? I asked you to stay.” He sounded impatient now. “Hey, where are you going?”

She sat at the edge of the bed and slipped her sleepshirt over her body again. She started to get up and Philip reached for her arm and pulled her back on the bed. “Answer me. Why won’t you stay? Do I have bad breath? Body odor?”

Chloe turned around and faced Philip with a smile. “No, of course not. I ... I love your scent. It’s just ... I’m still finding my way, Philip, trying to find out who I am, and figure out how I fit in.”

“So? You can figure that out from here too.” He patted the mattress. “Can’t you?”

Chloe shook her head no. “No, not really. Remember the way we were in high school, how wrapped up we were in each other? Sometimes I felt like I had to keep you at arms length so I wouldn’t lose my identity. It was too easy to get lost in you, in everything about you.”

“Yeah right. You didn’t stay lost though, did you?” The annoyance was evident in his voice.

“You’re talking about Brady, aren’t you? The difference was that Brady was helping me to discover who I was and who I wanted to be. But whenever I was around you, I couldn’t think straight. Do you know what I mean?”

“You’re talking about ancient history,” he said impatiently. “Chloe, this isn’t high school.”

“It’s not ancient history, Philip!” She said. “Well, not to me. In my mind, high school was only a few years ago.”

His demeanor softened. “I’m sorry. I know. I get that, and I feel for what you’re going through, but you have to see my side too,” he explained. “I’m a man. I love you and, I don’t know about you, but I’m sort of planning to spend my life with you.” He took her hand and kissed her open palm. “While we were apart, I literally ached for you, Chloe. I prayed for the day you’d be back in my life, in my bed. I almost lost you and I don’t want to go through that again. I can’t. Sweetheart, we’ve lost so much time already, I don’t want to be away from you even for a minute. I just don’t get why you need to sleep in another room.”

Chloe sighed and slid back into the bed alongside Philip. “I’m afraid I’m not explaining this well,” she said, touching his cheek, “probably because I don’t completely understand it myself. The truth is, I don’t know what I’d do without you and that’s part of my problem. I already know who we are, but I still need to remember who I am.”

“I suppose I understand,” Philip said quietly. He looked down at the sheet and spoke softly. “Even so, when you’re not next to me, I feel incomplete.” He looked up at her. “I need you.”

Chloe smiled and kissed Philip’s cheek. “Oh brother, you’re making this really hard with that pouty face of yours.”

Philip’s frown turned upside down. “Hard enough to make you stay?”

“Nice try, but not this time. ... Philip, we’re together, okay? I’m back and I’m not leaving you. I’m just leaving the bedroom. And I’m only going across the hall. Let’s not make a big deal of this please. It’s not forever, okay? Let’s look at it as if it’s just for now.”

[melly]

Relax, Philip. It's a Kpatch story. You'll have a happy ending....promise. Just be patient....

[gapeach]

melly, but there will be trials too since this IS a Kpatch story.

[fluffysmom]

Try to be patient Philip. I'm glad Chloe was honest about how she's feeling.

[unavitasegreta]

I have a feeling that trouble is ahead for our beloved Phloe! I'm so curious to see what happens next!!!

[Kpatch]

Chapter 10


This isn’t so bad, Chloe told herself. Philip was at the office and it was just her and Parker. Nothing scary at all. In fact, she was enjoying spending quality time with Parker, just the two of them.

At this point, though, Chloe wasn’t sure who needed a nap more, her or Parker. The boy had a short attention span. She must have made him four different breakfasts, and as soon as she set it in front of him, he’d want something else. She knew that the parenting books would tell her not to let the child rule the roost, but knowing everything Parker had been through in the last year, she didn’t have the heart to tell him no. She just wanted to make him happy.

They played games together, she chased him around the apartment during a game of hide and seek gone amok. And now she was laying in bed with him, reading to him. He was just chattering away, while she was close to falling asleep.

“Sing Mommy,” he said.

She lifted her head off the pillow. “You want me to sing to you?”

Parker nodded vigorously. Chloe was so touched by the little boy’s request. “Have I sung to you before?”

“Uh huh.”

“What do you want me sing?”

Parker shrugged. “I don’t know.” He started to crawl toward the foot of the mattress and Chloe grabbed him and laid him back down.

“Okay, angel, I’ll sing to you, but you have to promise to try to take a nap, okay? Okay.” She kissed his forehead and started her song. “You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. You’ll never know dear how much I love you. Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

Chloe was about to start singing the second stanza when something stopped her mid-lyric. It was a memory. A flash of a memory of her singing to a baby in a basinette. “Oh my God,” she said quietly. “I did sing to you before,” she said to Parker, whose eyes were now closed. “I sang this same song I’m singing now. I remember, Parker! I finally remember something.” She kissed Parker’s head and quietly got out of bed.

She hadn’t really thought about what kinds of things she might remember when her memory finally started to return, but this memory seemed so perfect, so pure, so appropriate. A memory of mother and son, singing to her sweet little baby boy. All this while, she’d been afraid that there was something painful locked in her mind. But maybe she had nothing to be afraid of at all.

She went into the guest room where she was supposed to be staying and retrieved her cell phone. It felt like a breakthrough and she just had to share this news with Philip. He’s been with her on this long journey and he deserved some good news.

She dialed his number and hoped she wouldn’t be interrupting a meeting. Her heart soared when he answered. “Philip, I have amazing news!”

“You do? What is it, sweetheart?” She could hear the anticipation in his voice.

Chloe spoke so quickly, it was almost as if she couldn’t get the words out fast enough. “I had a memory. A real memory. I remembered singing to Parker when he was a baby.”

“Chloe, that’s fantastic! Hold on, I’m coming home.”

She laughed. “No, Philip, wait. It’s okay, you don’t have to leave work for this. I just wanted to share the news with you.”

“Did you remember anything else,” he asked.

“Not yet, but it’s a start, right?”

“It’s a very good start, sweetheart. I guess that massage I gave you last night did the trick. You’re relaxed now.”

Chloe laughed again. “Told you you were good. Who needs hypnosis when I have you.”

“Guess we’ll just have to do it some more. Hey, thank you for calling and telling me, Chloe.”

Every day, Philip proved how much he was there for her, how important she was to him. Words couldn’t possibly express how grateful she was to have him in her life. “Thank you for ... well, for being you.”

She could hear the smile in his voice when he said, “I love you. I’ll see you tonight.”

[gapeach]

So glad Chloe's FIRST real memory was a happy one. Got a feeling some not so happy memories are going to be making an appearance soon!

Loved that Phillip wanted to come straight home!!

[melly]

Yay! A memory!!!! But Philip had better tell Chloe what happened between them while he still can....

[fluffysmom]

I'm glad Chloe had a sweet memory and wanted to share it with Philip. I wonder what she will remember next.

[Kpatch]

Chapter 11a


A few days later, Chloe, Parker and Philip were riding up the elevator to their condo after spending an afternoon at the park.

She watched Philip holding Parker in his arms and felt so inspired by the two of them. Philip was so devoted to Parker, so strong for him, patient yet commanding, firm but loving, an ideal role model. Parker responded to Philip in a way she’d never seen before. When Philip spoke, Parker stopped, watched his father and paid attention. Being only three years old, Parker didn’t always do everything his father told him to do, but it always seemed like he got the message, like he respected Philip. Chloe thought there was something so sexy about a man who was so openly affectionate with his children. It kind of turned her on.

Stepping off the elevator, a quick image flashed through Chloe’s mind and it surprised her. Suddenly, she felt flushed. Could that have actually been a memory, she wondered.

“You okay,” Philip asked as they entered the apartment.

“Um. I think so.” Chloe turned her attention to Parker. “Did you have a good time at the park, my angel?”

Parker nodded and squealed and giggled while running around the apartment. Chloe looked at Philip. “He’s going to sleep well tonight.”

“Good,” Philip winked at her. “That way we’ll have no interruptions.” He squatted down and caught Parker mid-run. “Hey buddy. Time to settle down. Why don’t you go take your clothes off and get ready for a bath. Okay? We’ll be there in a minute.”

Parker nodded and went running off in the direction of his room.

“I’d like to bottle that energy,” Philip said. He noticed that Chloe had an unusual look on her face. “Hey, you sure you’re okay?”

Chloe looked at Philip for a few moments before answering. “I just remembered something.”

“Oh yeah? What?”

“No, I mean I remembered something new.” This almost felt too personal to share, so she danced around it a little. “Um. You know I’ve been having these memory flashes lately, and sometimes they’re hard to pinpoint, like the ‘when,’ ‘where,’ and ‘who’ kind of thing.”

“I know, but at least it’s progress, right? Soon you’ll be connecting the dots.”

“I sure hope so. I told you about the memory I had the other day -- the one where I was singing to Parker, probably right after he was born. Melanie told me that he was born in the Horton cabin, right? She delivered him.”

“With Daniel’s help, yes.”

“Well,” she continued, “I was singing ‘You Are My Sunshine,’ to Parker the other day and that’s when I remembered singing that same song to him in the cabin when he was a baby.”

“Hmmm. That probably wasn’t Parker if it was the Horton cabin.”

“What??” Chloe was puzzled. “Why not?”

“I was there when Parker was born and you didn’t sing to him that day. Hmmm.” Philip rubbed his chin. “You and Parker lived at Maggie’s house when he was a baby.” Philip snapped his fingers. “You know what? It was probably Allie.”

“Allie? Who’s … Oh! You mean Lucas and Sami’s daughter? What are you talking about?”

“You lived in the Horton cabin with Lucas for a while. You were pretty crazy about Allie.”

“I probably liked her better than I liked her father.” Chloe pouted. “I guess my memory isn’t all that clear yet.”

“It will be sweetheart. You’re doing great. ... So, you said you just now remembered something else. What was it?”

“Oh. Right. While we were riding in the elevator a few minutes ago I flashed to a memory. This one is X-rated.”

“Really? You’ve got my attention.”

“Thought I might,” she chuckled. “Mmmm. You. Me. A stuck elevator. I was getting a little claustrophic and you found the perfect way to get me to relax. Leave it to you to do something like that. ... Did that happen here? In this building?”

Philip’s lips parted but no words came out.

[gapeach]

Man I can't believe we have to wait til MONDAY for Phillip to try and explain Chloe remembered sex in the elevator with Lucas!! You are a cruel, cruel woman Kpatch!!! LOL

[jc20886]

OH my goodness

[unavitasegreta]

Why is today Friday?! Why! I am all excited it's the end of the week and then you hit me with this cliffhanger. Dang, you're good! If only the show could do them this way!

[melly]

Bahahahahahahaha! This chapter made my day.... At least Philip has the weekend to figure out how to explain this to Chloe....unless Kpatch favors us with some previews??