Chloe carefully placed Freyja onto the sofa and hurried to answer the door, frowning in confusion when she saw Lee standing on the doorstep, his mother by his side.
"What are you doing here so early?" she frowned, narrowing her eyes at Lee when he grinned cheekily at her, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
"What's going on?" she asked, a small smile playing on her lips as she gestured for them to come in, slowly closing the door behind them.
"I'm taking you out for the day." he smiled, his heart pounding against his chest at the thought of spending the day with the woman that he loved. He knew in his heart that he needed to show her how much he loved and cared about her and he couldn't help but smile at the thought of the two of them having fun together, just like they used too.
"Mum is going to take care of Freyja." he reassured her, following her eyeline as her gaze flickered to her baby. Chloe nodded slowly, swallowing the lump that was rising in her throat at the thought of being parted from her baby girl. She knew in her heart that Sheila would take good care of her daughter, but she still knew how much she was going to miss her.
"Do I need to change?" she asked, glancing down at herself as she stood in her skinny jeans and casual top.
"No you should be fine, as long as you're warm it'll be fine." he smiled.
"Where are we actually going?" she asked, watching Lee as he walked over to the sofa, carefully picking up Freyja and holding her in his arms.
"It's a surprise." he told her, raising his eyebrow at her when she rolled her eyes playfully.
"Just make sure you put on a warm jacket." he told her as she walked away from him, hurrying to her bedroom. He smiled to himself, not quite able to suppress the excitement he was feeling at the thought of spending the day with Chloe. Freyja gazed at him as he planted a soft kiss on her forehead.
"You'd better make sure that you don't mess this up, since it's your last chance." Sheila said quickly.
"I know Mum, you've already given me a lecture." he sighed, rolling his eyes at her. He smiled at his daughter as she gently reached out to touch his face.
"I adore them both Mum, I'll never do anything to hurt them ever again." he added, sighing sadly to himself when he thought about what he'd done. He knew that for as long as he lived, he would never forgive himself for hurting the two people that were the most precious to him. He fell silent, his eyes flickering to Chloe as she walked back into the room, quickly zipping up her leather jacket. She slowly walked over to Lee, stopping in front of him as she placed her hand on her baby, her eyes misting with tears as she placed a soft kiss on Freyja's head.
"I'll take good care of her Chloe." Sheila piped up.
"I know you will." Chloe said quietly.
"We won't be long baby girl. Make sure you behave okay." she muttered.
"There's milk in the fridge for her." Chloe said, trying to keep herself talking as she watched Lee carefully place Freyja into Sheila's outstretched arms.
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"Are you going to tell me where we are yet?" Chloe giggled, tentatively placing one foot in front of the other as Lee stood behind her, his hand on her hip as he carefully steered her, his other hand covering her eyes.
"That would defeat the purpose of a surprise wouldn't it." he chuckled.
"But you know that I don't like surprises." she smiled, her stomach churning nervously.
"Well, you'll like this one." he whispered in her ear, holding her in place as he slowly removed his hand that was covering her eyes. She blinked slowly as her eyes adjusted to the daylight, frowning to herself when she realised that they were in a park.
"Where are we?" she frowned, turning to face Lee, smiling to herself when she noticed that his eyes were twinkling cheekily.
"In Battersea Park." he told her, quickly taking her hand and leading her over to a cabin in the distance. She stopped in her tracks, a small gasp escaping her lips as she read the sign.
"We're doing Go Ape?!" she exclaimed. He nodded happily.
"Did you forget that I don't like heights?" she said quietly, her heart pounding against her chest nervously as she gazed up at the trees, her eyes wandering over the ladders and the course.
"No, but I think it'll be good for us." he pointed out, staring down at her as she gazed up at him, raising her eyebrow questioningly.
"Because we are doing an activity together and we have to trust each other." he said tentatively, watching Chloe closely as she sighed deeply, not entirely comfortable with the idea of trusting him. She nodded slowly, her stomach still churning nervously at the thought of being at height. Chloe remained silent as they walked into the centre and listened to the safety briefing. Her hands shook as she followed Lee and their safety instructor, Stuart, into the canopy. She watched closely as Stuart fitted Lee's harness, quickly fastening it in place. Lee shot Chloe a small smile when Stuart walked over to her, and wrapped her harness around her, his hand lingering in place on her hip. Chloe's cheeks coloured as he glanced up at her, quickly clipping the harness together.
"Okay, that's you sorted." Stuart said softly, his eyes flickering to Chloe's lips as she stared up at him.
"Thank you." she said quietly, glancing at Lee for a moment when she felt him burning a hole into her head. She sighed to herself when she noticed that he was glaring at Stuart, clearly trying to resist the urge to warn him to back off.
"Okay, you guys are good to go." Stuart announced, reluctantly tearing his eyes away from staring at Chloe.
"Do you want me to go in front Chlo?" Lee offered, shooting her a small smile when he noticed how nervous she looked. She nodded slowly, her complexion turning pale as she followed Lee, gazing down at the ground that seemed miles away. Her feet shook as she carefully stepped across the planks, trying to forget about the sheer drop below her. Lee turned to watch her, waiting for her to catch up before he moved on. As soon as she caught up with him, he hopped across the next obstacle, turning to smile at her.
"Don't look so proud of yourself." she giggled, laughing at the cheeky expression on his handsome features.
"I happen to think that was quite impressive." he beamed, holding out his hand to offer his assistance.
"I can make that." she said quickly, glancing at his hand for a moment.
"It's quite a big gap." he grinned.
"So?" she countered.
"And there's not much of you." he chuckled, laughing at the determined expression on her beautiful features.
"You're forgetting something." she started, pausing for a moment for dramatic effect.
"I can do the splits remember." she grinned, quickly stretching across the gap and placing her foot on the step. She pushed off with her other foot and quickly stepped across the gap.
"That was quite impressive actually." he smiled, staring down at her as she stood in front of him. Chloe grinned at him, giggling to herself as she performed a small curtsey and he burst out laughing.
"Now we have to go down the zip wire." he told her, gesturing ahead of them. She followed his eyeline, her stomach churning nervously at the thought of throwing herself off the platform.
"I can go first if you want?" he offered, sensing her trepidation.
"You can, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to follow you anyway." she admitted, swallowing the dry lump that was rising in her throat.
"Maybe you should go first then." he suggested, shooting her a small smile. Chloe nodded slowly, wrapping her arms around the fragile strap that was holding her against the wire. She took a deep breath, peering over the edge, her heart pounding against her chest in fear.
"You can do this Chlo." he said softly, smiling at her as she took a deep breath and stepped off the edge.
