The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 147
"I promise, I will not try to sabotage the results in any way." He clung onto her hand so she wouldn’t slip away again, knowing that if she did, it wouldn’t be easy to talk her into listening to him. "Give me a chance, will you?"
She shook her head. "I don’t know whether or not to trust you."
"Then don’t." He had an idea and nearly fist-pumped just thinking about it. How about this? I’ll give you my DNA sample and you can take my alleged child’s on your own. You can submit the two to whatever hospital you want, using whatever means you want, and have it delivered wherever you want. Will you trust the outcome then?"
She thought about it. "I don’t know. Will Shirley have to know about the DNA test before it happens?"
"Technically, she will have to know. It is her child, after all. There is only one way to get the child’s sample and that’s by meeting up with them."
"And she will know what we are up to." She realized, blowing out a breath. "Then I guess there’s no way to skirt around it after all."
Before she realized what time it was, she grabbed her phone and asked for Shirley’s contact number, which she dialed as soon as Damon gave it to her.
"I figured you would call." Came the other woman’s response. She shut her eyes and tried not to say something mean.
"Then I guess you also know why I’m calling."
She heard a door opening and shutting a few seconds later, and then Shirley sighed. "Of course. You want a DNA test."
"Since you know that already, I hope you can save us all the trouble and send the sample over."
Shirley was quiet for several beats, then she sighed again. "I can do that. However, do you think we can put that off for a while? I would like you to meet my daughter first. If you are not convinced that she is Damon’s, I will let your doctor take her DNA sample. Please."
Avery contemplated for a while. Was this another trap?
"Tomorrow at 7am. I drop her off at her sitter’s at 8 so I get to work on time and by the time I’m home, it’s usually a bit late. We can meet at Reynold’s on 51st street.
"Okay." Avery felt compelled to agree to the meeting. Maybe this was real after all. But even if it wasn’t, one thing was certain. It was going to be one hell of a long night.
______
She arrived before Shirley did and had the chance to check the little girl out as they entered the cafe. Shirley was holding her against her chest so Avery didn’t see her face, but when she put her down, her jaw nearly dropped. If Angel was a girl, this was certainly what she would look like. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
The girl had chestnut hair, the exact same color as Damon’s, and similar facial features to his. She was stunned for a moment.
"Meet Gemma. I named her that because she has eyes like my grandmother’s, whose name was also Gemma, and well, her eyes look like gems." Shirley introduced her, then turned to the little girl. "Gemma, this is your brother’s mother. It will not make any sense now but you will understand it when you meet your daddy."
The girl stuck out her small hand to shake Avery’s nervously. "Hello."
"Hi." Avery barely whispered the word out without throwing up. If this was what Shirley meant the night before, it made sense. Aside from her different eye color, this girl was definitely Damon’s child. How could it be a coincidence that Shirley had a daughter by another man, on the same year that she was with Damon, only for the child to be the female version of Damon?
"Do you want to order anything? I’ll have some coffee. I certainly need it after the turmoil that has been my life for the last few days." Shirley smiled as she picked up the menu.
Her life had been a turmoil alright. Avery wanted to roll her eyes but it would be of no use.
"I don’t need anything apart from answers." She demanded. "Why didn’t you say anything? Why did you keep her away for all these years?"
"That’s not something I want my girl to hear." Her smile fell, but then she looked like it was no longer a problem. "Her sitter is picking her up in a few minutes. Can we talk about it then?"
Avery nodded, but she couldn’t shake off the nagging feeling that something was off. She had Damon’s bracelet and Gabriel was lurking around so she was certainly not in danger. Besides, this was a cafe and it was very busy at the moment.
"Are you sure you don’t need anything? I’m going to pick up my coffee." She asked again. When Avery shook her head, she mumbled to Gemma that she would be back shortly and went to pick up her order.
The few minutes she sat with Gemma in silence were agonizing. The girl was lovely, she had to admit. Even though her existence meant trouble between her and Damon, she was innocent and should not be subjected to hate just because her mother was probably using her in her scheme. Even so, Avery was skeptical the more she studied her. She looked a little too big for a two-year-old. But again, Angel was too small for a five-year-old. Maybe Angel had developed significantly slower and clouded her judgment of children’s ages. Besides, every child was different.
She decided not to strike up a conversation with the girl and took out her phone to send Damon a text while Gemma sat obediently and chewed on her hair.
Eventually, she couldn’t help it. She pried the lock of hair out of her small hands. "You shouldn’t do that. Hair can be very dirty sometimes, it could upset your stomach."
In response to her words, Gemma straightened up in her seat. She was quite obedient.
Now that she had stopped chewing it, Avery couldn’t help taking notice of her hair. It was thick and reached all the way down her back. She frowned slightly. She had never seen a two-year-old with such long hair. But before the thought could completely form, she remembered she had not associated with many two-year-old girls. When Angel was her age, he wanted nothing to do with other kids. Maybe Most mothers just trimmed their little girls’ hair.
When she realized how quiet the girl was when toddlers were often full of curiosity, she finally asked, "how old are you?"
She hesitated.
Avery smiled. "I’m twenty-eight. How about you?"
"Free." She finally spoke, holding up three little fingers, before she caught herself and dropped one finger. "Two. I will be free soon."
"That’s three." She corrected her with a gentle smile. Was it a coincidence that her first thought was to say she was three years old?
Shirley finally returned with her coffee and flavored milk for Gemma.
"Her sitter is here. Give me a minute, will you?" She didn’t give Avery the chance to speak before she set the drinks down and headed out the door.
While she waited, Avery couldn’t help wondering why Shirley would leave her drink with her. Did she trust her that much?
When she returned on her own, she joked about it. "I didn’t spike it."
Shirley laughed. "Honestly, I wouldn’t care. It doesn’t matter how I die anymore."
Avery brushed her words off, finally bringing up the only thing that mattered. "She speaks quite articulately for a girl her age."
"Does she? That’s so nice of you, I always hoped she would learn to speak as fast as possible and her sitter spends hours helping her develop her language and speech." She sipped her coffee.
Realizing she would not get anything from prying indirectly, Avery got to the point. "Why did you keep her away for all these years?"
"I already told you. Damon was devastated after that night happened. He felt guilty." Her eyes dropped. "He believed he had betrayed you and it was clear that even though your relationship was over, he cared about you and didn’t want to let you down. So when I found out I was pregnant, I initially wanted to get rid of it. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t kill my baby. As a mother, you understand that, right?"
She rolled her eyes. "Don’t pull the motherhood card on me, Shirley. If you wanted to stay away from Damon so badly, why are you back? Why did you show up at the club where Mabella was?"
"I was trying to do what you did. If Mabella noticed Gemma like she did Angel, there was a chance Damon would find out about our daughter without me coming out of the shadows like I did."
Avery was offended by her words. Was she implying she used Mabella to trap Damon into finding out about Angel and being part of his life?
She ignored the feeling. "It doesn’t matter how you planned to do it. Why did you come back? Don’t give me that crap about wanting the best for your daughter."
Shirley sipped her coffee again, her gaze meeting Avery’s as though she was considering whether or not to say it. Then she set her styrofoam cup down and dug into her purse for an old envelope. She put it before Avery. "I was diagnosed with a lung disease. I only have three years to live. Well, three since I was diagnosed but that was two years ago."
