What Parker Wants (Read 5,107 times)

[kathyj]

I am so loving this story!! Philip and Victor are more alike than they are different. Hopefully Chloe has as much patience as Maggie.

[Kpatch]

"Poor little rich boy fits." I love that!

Great confrontation. I felt the anger in the room. I felt bad for Parker too thinking everyone's mad at him, especially on his birthday. I think Victor is the biggest baby in the room. He needs to let it go.

[Kpatch]

Nov 13, 2014 19:46:21 GMT -5 kathyj said:

I am so loving this story!!

Me too. I wish it was more than 8 chapters!

[fluffysmom]

Nov 13, 2014 19:52:03 GMT -5 Kpatch said:

Nov 13, 2014 19:46:21 GMT -5 kathyj said:

I am so loving this story!!

Me too. I wish it was more than 8 chapters!

I was thinking the same thing Kpatch.

Poor Parker. I feel bad for him that he thought everyone was mad at him.

[unavitasegreta]

CHAPTER FIVE

“He’s out cold,” Chloe informed Phillip, walking into their living room. She spotted him on the couch, his laptop perched on his lap and a slew of documents spread out across the coffee table.

“I’m not surprised. He didn’t even stir when we got him out of the car seat.”

Chloe sat down beside him, pushing his feet off the coffee table. She shook her head, reliving the events of the day. “How did Parker find out I’m pregnant?”

Phillip closed his laptop. “He’s obviously heard us talking.”

“At least Maggie took the news well,” she mused.

“Daniel could have told her, even though we asked him not to tell anyone yet,” Phillip pointed out, gathering the expense reports into a single pile as he packed away his work.

“He didn’t,” Chloe reiterated. “We talked about it when we went to get a bite to eat. She didn’t know until then.”

“You told her!” Phillip erupted, rising from the couch. He could feel his anger escalating by the second. She’d forced him to keep the pregnancy a secret from even his closest friends, promising they’d tell people together when the timing was right.

“Phillip, I-“

He cut her off, continuing, “I can’t believe you! You insisted that we couldn’t even tell Austin and Carrie and they don’t live in this country! But you told Maggie, the woman who is married to my father and can’t keep a secret about anything?!”

“Will you just listen to me?” Chloe tried to defend herself, but Phillip seemed too upset to listen. She twisted around on the couch until she could see him again. He was angrily throwing toys Parker had left out into a basket beside the television.

“You said we were going to do it all together this time, including telling the people we love about the baby. I’ve done everything you asked of me, Chloe. Everything! I even married you so your parents couldn’t get a guardianship over you!”

Chloe took a breath, calming her rising agitation. If Phillip would just let her explain, he’d understand that she didn’t exactly tell Maggie. “And I’m grateful for all of that, Phillip.”

“Grateful?” Phillip scoffed. “You’re grateful?” The anger had drained from his voice, but she knew that he was still upset.

“Yes!” She rose from the couch and walked to where he was standing. He was looking through the day’s mail now, trying to pretend that he wasn’t angry, but she knew him too well.

“You’re grateful that loser-in-love Phillip was still single and willing to take on his mentally unstable former baby momma?”

Chloe felt her jaw tighten at his words. “How dare you say that to me!”

“It’s the truth, isn’t it? We didn’t get married because we were madly in love. You’d just spent three months throwing yourself at Daniel and trying to break him and Jennifer up so you could get back in his bed.”

Chloe snatched the mail from his hands and threw it on the table. “Can we talk about this like adults?”

Phillip looked at her incredulously. “Need I remind you who was here to pick up the pieces when you came crawling back a broken mess?”

“That’s what you always do, isn’t it? You rescue the damsel in distress.” She pushed Phillip out of her way, walking past him. “Now that I don’t need to be rescued, what are you going to do, Phillip? Do you want a divorce? I don’t have a ring to give back to you, but we do have a pre-nup. So why not end this now?”

Phillip looked at her, too stunned to think straight. “If that’s what you want, fine,” he stated, reaching for his keys.

Chloe watched him walk to the door. She knew that if he left, their relationship would never be the same again. It wasn’t just that they were in his apartment and she’d have to be gone with Parker by the time he returned, but more importantly she didn’t want to leave and she especially didn’t want him to leave.

“That’s not what I want,” Chloe called out, her voice quiet. “I just…” She sighed heavily, absently tracing her fingertips over her stomach.

“You what?” Phillip asked, turning around.

“What is this, Phillip?” she asked, motioning between them.

Phillip didn’t understand her question. “What’s what?” he asked.

Chloe groaned, “will you stop asking questions instead of answering questions!”

“Then start making sense,” he threw back.

“What are we?” Chloe asked. “We got married because I was crazy and needed someone to make decisions for me. You’ve always been my best friend through thick and thin. I trust you more than anyone I’ve ever known.”

“You weren’t crazy,” Phillip reminded her.

“Yes, I was,” she insisted. “After I was released from treatment, you let me come here so I wouldn’t have to go to one of those group homes for the outpatient therapy. I was supposed to stay for twelve weeks. That was a year and a half ago. We never discuss the future. The easiest thing we do is have sex. Everything else is complicated, so we just ignore it.”

Phillip nodded, “and then you got pregnant and we didn’t discuss that either.”

“You seemed happy about it, but I was afraid to ask.”

“I am happy about it,” Phillip assured her, finally putting his keys down and moving closer to her. “Are you?”

Chloe nodded.

“You don’t seem happy right now.”

“I’m just worried about what’s going to happen to us,” she answered honestly.

“What do you want to happen to us?” he asked, his heart beating faster as he waited for her answer.

“I already told you I want to stay married. But-” she looked up at him.

“But what?” he asked, trying not to sound alarmed by her reluctance.

“Do you want to stay married to me, Phillip?”

“It’s not that simple,” he answered, trying to figure out how to explain himself.

Chloe looked away, biting her lip to try and keep from crying.

Phillip realized that his inability to make her understand was going to cause him to lose her if he didn’t think fast. “I don’t want to stay married if it’s only because you’re pregnant.”

[kathyj]

I'm gonna cry. Philip landed a few low blows but Chloe seems to be standing up for herself.

[fluffysmom]

So emotional. I hope Philip and Chloe can work through the hard stuff and be honest with each other.

[gapeach]

Just got caught up. LOVE the way Vicyor, Phillip and Chloe reacted to Maggie's scowl!!

[unavitasegreta]

CHAPTER SIX

“I don’t want to stay married if it’s only because you’re pregnant.”

Chloe walked to the window, her back to Phillip to hide her face. “Is that why you think we’re still married?” she asked, looking out at the Chicago skyline.

“I’m still married to you because I love you. Why are you married to me?” he asked, coming up behind her.

“I know that you love me. I love you too, but are you in love with me?” she asked, quietly.

“You didn’t answer my question,” Phillip pointed out. He wanted to touch her and hold her in his arms, but he wanted to know her answer first.

Chloe could feel him directly behind her now. “I’ve been in love with you for half of my life. You’re the only man I’ve ever been in love with.”

Phillip turned her around to face him. “I feel the same way,” he replied, wiping away her tears with his thumbs.

“I’m the only man you’ve ever been in love with?” she teased, laughing at her own attempt to lighten the mood.

Before Phillip could reply, Parker piped up from across the room. “Why is Mommy crying?”

They both looked over at him, surprised to find Parker standing in the middle of the hallway that led to the kitchen.

Chloe stepped away from Phillip and walked over to her son. She knelt down in front of him. “You know the baby I’m going to have?” Parker nodded. “Well, he or she is growing inside of my tummy. And sometimes that makes Mommy sick, or happy, or sad.”

Phillip watched the interaction, confused about what Chloe was trying to explain to her son.

“Or angry?” Parker added.

“Or angry,” she nodded. “It’s kind of technical adult stuff, but Mommy has what’s called hormones. The baby messes with Mommy’s hormones and sometimes it makes me cry.”

“Is it being mean?” Parker asked.

“No,” Chloe shook her head with a laugh.

“But why does it make you cry if it’s not being mean?” he frowned.

“Well, it’s growing and-“ She looked over at Phillip for some help. He was still standing by the window, just watching them.

“You got yourself into this mess,” he shrugged.

“Do you want birthday cake now?” Chloe asked, hoping to change the subject and distract her son.

“Is it chocolate?” Parker asked.

She hugged him against her, “let’s go find out!”

“Ice cream too?” Parker added.

“We might have ice cream,” she conceded.

“And sprinkles!” Parker pushed her away from him and ran toward the kitchen. Chloe followed behind him.

Phillip watched them as they disappeared down the hallway before walking over to the side table that was beside the TV stand. He pulled out a drawer and reached inside, retrieving a small black box. He popped it open with one hand and looked at the ring inside.

“What’s that?” Parker asked from behind him.

Startled to find Parker staring up at him, Phillip was grateful that Chloe wasn’t with him. He bent down and whispered, “it’s a present. Don’t tell Mommy.”

“Can I see it?” Parker asked.

Phillip looked around Parker and down the hallway before showing him the box.

“It’s pretty,” Parker stared at it before reaching for the ring.

“Wait, no. Parker! Parker, be careful, that’s really expensive,” he called out as Parker turned around and ran down the hall. “Parker! Parker!” He ran after him.

Parker ran into the kitchen where Chloe was putting ice cream on a plate. Phillip had picked up a strawberry cake said ‘Happy Anniversary’ on it, but she was hoping Parker would be too distracted by the ice cream to notice the flavor.

“Mommy! Mommy! Look what Phillip got me!” Parker held the ring up for her to see just as Phillip came running into the room.

Chloe took the ring from her son. “Phillip got this for you?” she asked, looking down at him, clearly confused.

“I told him it was a present,” Phillip answered, his heart pounding. “He misunderstood.”

“Oh,” Chloe laughed, “well, it is his birthday.” She handed the ring back to Parker, feeling awkward holding it. She didn’t know what it meant or why Parker would have it, but it was making her heart beat really fast.

Phillip took a few steps into the kitchen and picked Parker up. He had to figure out a change of plans much quicker than expected. “I know it’s your birthday, Parker, and I’m really glad you like the present but why don’t we let Mommy keep it for you?” he suggested.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Chloe noted. “It looks expensive. I’ll keep it somewhere safe,” she promised him, taking the ring back.

This wasn’t playing out like Phillip hoped, but maybe this was yet another part of their nontraditional romance. He looked at Parker, a new idea forming in his mind. “I think Mommy should wear it every day for the rest of her life,” he suggested, looking at Chloe. Her expression was blank, but her eyes widened in shock from his words.

Parker’s eyes lit up. “Put it on, Mommy.”

Chloe was about to do as he’d asked when Phillip stopped her. He put Parker down and took her hand, holding it in his for a moment. He then slid the ring on her finger. “I do,” he smiled down at her.

Chloe stared down at the ring in amazement, then finally looked back up at Phillip.

“Let me see!” Parker insisted, pushing himself between them. He grabbed for Chloe’s hand, though she kept looking at Phillip.

“I do,” Chloe finally replied, leaning forward to kiss Phillip.

“You do what, Mommy?” he asked, looking up at them. They didn’t answer him, but kept on kissing. “Are you gonna kiss a lot like Grandpa and Grandma do?” Parker asked with a disappointed sigh.

[jc20886]

Love that Philip and Chloe finally admit their love for each other, Parker with the ring was priceless
he is the star.Could you streach this to more chapters dont' want it to end?

[kathyj]

Parker is a little dynamo - he cuts right to the heart of matters. Wonder how things are going in that $3,000 room at the Four Seasons?

[Kpatch]

Great chapter. I love the whirlwind of emotions. Philip and Chloe seem to have a hard time just spitting it out.

I'm with jc20886 about stretching it into more chapters.

[fluffysmom]

I really like Parker running off with the ring to show Chloe. I'm so happy they finally admitted their feelings.

[unavitasegreta]

Nov 15, 2014 13:28:59 GMT -5 Kpatch said:

Great chapter. I love the whirlwind of emotions. Philip and Chloe seem to have a hard time just spitting it out.

I'm with jc20886 about stretching it into more chapters.

I am working on doing just that. It won't start up immeditaley when this finishes, but there is more to the story coming soon. We have to find out if it's a boy or girl, after all!

[jc20886]

Thank yo u