I Want You To Stay (BoyxBoy)

He Said if You Dare, Come A Little Closer

Chapter 4

            "Well Mitch I guess I should start from the beginning. I found out I was pregnant just after we were together. I told my parents and I planned on telling you later but they immediately freaked out. They moved and sent me off to this school that was for pregnant teens. They took away my phone and any kind of access I had to the outside world. Once I had Rory they just left me at the school. It had dorms for young moms to live in with their children and they offered daycare. My parents paid the tuition but never had any contact with me or Rory after that. When I graduated and turned 18 I didn't have a choice but to leave. I took every job I could to support us both and we have been struggling ever since. I wanted to come find you when I was free from that school but by that time you had moved away. I tried to ask around about you and your friends told me you went to L.A. to audition for the sing-off. When I saw you on that show I knew how talented you were and when you won, I knew I couldn't take that away from you. I wanted to see at least one of us succeed. I decided to keep everything to myself. I never planned to bother you with all of this but I found out last year that I'm sick."

            Mitch and Scott listened intently. Mitch was angry knowing she had this information for so long and didn't tell him but he understood her reasoning behind it. She continued, "I had been feeling bad for a while but I thought maybe I just had the flu. I went to the doctor when it wouldn't go away and I found out I had a lump in my neck. They examined it and did a biopsy. It turns out I have lymphatic cancer. It is stage 4 and I have stopped responding to any treatment. I didn't want Rory to end up with some strangers so I went to your mom. I'm sorry everything happened this way but I don't know how much longer I have and I need the reassurance that she will be with people who love her. I know you don't know her yet Mitch but you are going to love her. She's amazing and so much like you. As she got older and I saw how beautiful she is and the attitude she has, I knew you two would get along immediately. Will you give us a chance and get to know her?"

            Mitch looked at Scott's hand that had found its way to his and gave it a squeeze. They had a non-verbal conversation with their glances before he answered Chloe. "I'm angry Chloe. I know you thought you were doing what was right but I should have had the chance to decide that and the fact that you made me miss out on 6 years of her life is not ok. The only thing I can say is I'm happy to have her now. It's not fair that I don't know her but I plan to know her very well now. Scott is my best friend in the whole world and I know he will be a great influence on her. We will be happy to have her in our lives and you too. I'm here for you Clo."

            Chloe smiled and felt tears sting her eyes. She was so happy Mitch felt the way he did. "Thank you Mitch and Scott. This means so much to me you have no idea. Can I ask you guys a personal question?" Mitch looked to Scott figuring what the question might be but not sure how he will react to it. Scott had a slight blush on his cheeks but didn't look up. "Yeah Clo ask whatever you want." Mitch told her while he squeezed Scott's hand again gaining a squeeze back. "Are you guy's just friends or are you more? I'm happy if you are a couple but I just want to know who is in Rory's life and what role they will play." Mitch smiled and scooted slightly closer to Scott.

            "That's a hard question to answer. There are some things we need to work out between us but for the moment we are friends. He is my best friend in the entire world. He is my everything and I have never loved another man as much as I love him. I would be lucky if he were mine but for the moment I'm happy he is my friend. He will be the most amazing influence for our daughter we could ever ask for. He is loving, amazing, and beautiful inside and out. Trust me Chloe we couldn't have a better guy in our lives." Scott looked up at this best friend talking so kindly about him and couldn't help the love and happiness that filled his heart. "I love you so much Mitch. I will be happy to get to know your beautiful little girl and treat her like I would my own child." Mitch smiled and leaned into Scott loving the feeling of his warmth.

            "I'm so glad she will have you guys." Chloe chimed in breaking them from their trance of each other. "I was so worried about what would happen with her after I was gone. It's good to know that you will be the people she needs in her life. I'm also so happy she has your mother. Since I've told her about Rory she has been amazing. She has seen her every day and they have gotten really close." Mitch perked up at her words. "How long ago did you tell my mom?" Chloe realized she had made a mistake. "Well I walked onto her doorstep about two months ago. She said she was going to tell you when they time was right." Mitch felt new anger build in his chest.  "Let's go see our girl and I need to have a long talk with my mom."

            They walked down to the park with Scott trying to calm Mitch down on the whole walk there. They found them at the swings with Rory soaring into the sky as high as she could handle giggling with her grandmother. The sight almost calmed the fire building in Mitch but when he looked at his daughter he just met and knew this could have happened at least two months earlier his anger swarmed again like a hive of bees. They walked near the smiling girl and her grandmother. "Hey sweetie can Uncle Scotty push you for a bit I need to talk with mommy and grandma." Rory looked at Scott wearily. "Hey I'm a great pusher look how tall I am." She smiled and agreed to let him push her on the swing.

            "Hey Mitchie sweetie what's up? Did you guys get everything sorted out?" Mitch pulled his mom over to the park bench.  "Mom when did you find out about Rory?" Mitch was straight up with her. "Well honey I found out a few months ago." He felt the anger build its way up again. "So why the hEll did you wait so long before telling me? Didn't I miss out on enough time?" His mom was taken aback by the way she was talking to him. "Mitch you were on tour what was I supposed to do. You just got back last week. What good would it have done you to know when you were halfway across the world?" Mitch looked her angrily in the eye. "I deserved to know no matter what. That's my fUcking daughter over there and she is just now meeting her dad because neither of you thought I deserved to know." Chloe felt so guilty for causing problems in such a beautiful family. She felt her chest start to tighten and a pain shoot down her left arm. "Mitch......" she sighed as she fell to the ground.