Chloe smiled to herself as she sat on the floor in the living room, slowly tucking her legs under her petite frame. She carefully scooped up Freyja and placed her onto her lap, the two of them gazing at her open laptop on the coffee table, waiting for the call.
"Are you excited to speak to your godmother?" she asked Freyja, gazing down at her as Freyja wrapped her hand around Chloe's finger, smiling happily as she sucked on it.
"You're too cute." she smiled, her heart bursting with pride as she watched her baby girl. Chloe jumped, glancing at her laptop as she received an incoming video call. She quickly accepted the call, smiling widely as soon as she saw Kirstie and Ben on the screen.
"Hey guys." Chloe said.
"Hey girl, how are you doing?" Kirstie asked.
"We're fine, how are you guys?" Chloe answered.
"All good." Kirstie said, glancing at Ben for a moment, a happy twinkle in her eyes.
"What's going on?" Chloe asked quickly, instantly realising that the two of them were excited about something.
"Oh my god, Freyja is so cute!" Kirstie exclaimed, smiling at her god daughter as she stared at the screen, completely transfixed by it. Chloe smiled, placing her arm around Freyja and holding her close, longing to hold her baby tight.
"How old is she now?" Kirstie asked.
"Ten weeks tomorrow." Chloe said proudly.
"Nice job changing the subject by the way." she added, raising her eyebrow at them as she waited for them to explain what was going on.
"Is it good news about the IVF?" Chloe asked, trying to prompt them.
"No, we're having a break from the treatment for a bit." Ben said, sighing sadly as he glanced at Kirstie, his heart sinking into his chest that they still didn't have a child together.
"We got engaged though!" Kirstie squealed excitedly, quickly holding up her hand in front of the screen so that Chloe could see the diamond ring on her finger.
"Wow, that's amazing, I'm so happy for you both!" Chloe cried, desperately wishing that Ben and Kirstie were with her so that she could hug them both.
"I know, I actually can't believe it!" Kirstie said happily, wrapping her arms around Ben's neck and gazing at him lovingly.
"This one decided to ask me on my birthday." Kirstie continued.
"Aww that's cute. Was it something really romantic?" Chloe asked.
"He sung Like a Rose to me and handed me a single rose with the ring inside it." Kirstie told her, beaming happily as she recalled the best moment of her life.
"I did good." Ben said, beaming proudly to himself.
"You definitely did." Kirstie smiled, quickly placing a kiss on his cheek.
"He's secretly quite romantic isn't he." Chloe smiled, winking at Kirstie as she tried to suppress the memories that were swirling around her head of when she had been engaged.
"Don't tell anyone though." he joked, bursting out laughing when Chloe raised her eyebrow skeptically.
"Speaking of the engagement, I'd love you to be one of my bridesmaids Chloe." Kirstie said quickly, clapping her hands together in excitement.
"Really?" Chloe frowned.
"Yeah of course, you're one of my best friends." Kirstie smiled. Chloe nodded slowly, trying her best to summon up some excitement at the thought of helping to plan a wedding. Despite the fact that she was happy for her friends and excited for them, she couldn't quite stop thinking about how she was supposed to be getting married herself. The idea of Kirstie's wedding opening up the wound that Chloe knew would never fully heal.
"We'll have to come up and see you soon, then we can go dress shopping." Kirstie continued excitedly.
"And I can get a hug from my god daughter of course." she added, changing the subject when she noticed the change in Chloe's body language. She couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for her friend that she was clearly still struggling with the loss of Lee from her life. Chloe nodded slowly, a small smile playing on the corner of her lips.
"How has she been anyway?" Kirstie asked.
"Fine, she's a really good baby." Chloe said, smiling proudly as she gazed at her baby.
"It still feels weird that I'm a mother though." she added.
"Yeah I bet it does." Ben smiled.
"Even more so that I'm a single Mum." she said thoughtfully.
"You're doing such a good job though." Kirstie reassured her. Chloe nodded slowly, smiling to herself as she thought about how much Freyja adored her. Despite the fear that she'd first felt at the thought of being a single mother, she felt a deep sense of pride in herself that she'd managed to adapt to the situation.
"Is Lee still coming up at weekends?" Kirstie asked, snapping Chloe out of her thoughts. Chloe shook her head slowly, sighing deeply to herself as she thought about him.
"What?!" Kirstie said quickly.
"I haven't seen him for just over three weeks. He said that he's going to give me some space." she explained.
"Which probably means that he's gone away somewhere with Steph, but as long as I don't have to see him then who cares." she added dismissively.
"You should have said that you were alone, I could have come up and helped you." Kirstie said quietly, her stomach churning with guilt.
"I haven't been alone, Danny has been here." Chloe said quietly.
"He's had to go back to London for a few days because he has some meetings about selling some more of his songs, but he'll be coming back up." she explained.
"His songwriting is going well then." Ben said.
"Yes it seems to be. We were joking the other day that he's not going to give anymore songs to Blue." Chloe giggled.
"Speaking of Blue, Duncan was asking after you again the other day." Ben told her.
"He said that you don't speak to him very much anymore." he continued.
"No, not really." Chloe admitted, sighing sadly to herself.
"Why not, I thought the two of you were really close?" Kirstie asked, frowning in confusion.
"Because he's Lee's best friend so it feels kind of awkward." she said quietly.
"I'm sure he still wants to be there for you though." Kirstie pointed out.
"It's too awkward, I don't want to come between them when they have the tour in a couple of months, and also I don't know if Duncan would repeat things to Lee or not." Chloe explained.
"You shouldn't push everyone away Chloe, being alone isn't the answer to it." Kirstie told her.
"I'm not alone though, I have my baby and Amy lives here." Chloe said quickly.
"And I have Danny." she added.
"Yeah, he's really been taking care of you hasn't he." Kirstie smiled.
"Yes, he's been amazing." Chloe agreed, smiling to herself as she thought about how lucky she was to have him in her life.
"It's a shame he's gay, the two of you would be quite cute together." Ben said quickly, chuckling to himself as Chloe's cheeks coloured. She nodded slowly, choosing not to mention the conversation between herself and Danny a few weeks ago, since the two of them had agreed to keep it a secret. The last thing she wanted to do was to humiliate her best friend by revealing that he had feelings for her, particularly when he'd been so good to her the past few months.
Chloe's eyes flickered to Freyja as she began to fidget on her lap, suddenly becoming unsettled.
"I should probably go. I have to take this little munchkin out for a walk and then try and put her down for a nap." Chloe explained.
"Okie doke. I'll call you in a couple of days." Kirstie told her. Chloe nodded slowly, quickly ending the call.
