Who's the real you?

Chapter Eleven

October 1994

Alytain had cut back on parading Hannah around, he had followed her advice and allowed her to have some degree of privacy. He loved that she didn't use him for his fame or money. All Hannah genuinely wanted from Alytain was trust and trust that he would be there for their child.

They hadn't done an interview since Flora's show a month ago, that suited Hannah perfectly fine.

Hannah did allow Alytain to talk about Belle and their child when he was interviewed, as long as Alytain allowed their relationship to take it slow.

Hannah wasn't even sure if she wanted a genuine something from Alytain, she knew she had his child growing inside of her and she knew that Alytain had promised he'd play a huge part of it.

"Are you okay?" Bill asked as he watched his daughter stare into space as she held onto the baby clothes she was attempting to sort.

Hannah shifted her attention to her dad before shrugging "What would've happened if I listened to you? If I didn't go to the concert that night."

Bill let an uncertain smile slip across his lips, he could see the curiosity across her face, but he could see something else, something that he wasn't sure he had seen across his daughter's face before "Do you really want me to say this isn't how I imagined things to go?"

"I would've still been Emmy's friend."

"No you wouldn't." Bill let his hatred for Emmy soak into his tone.

Hannah folded the baby onesie "I would've still been working at the corner shop."

"And you would've been miserable." Bill admitted.

Hannah slowly placed down the onesie onto the floor "At least I wouldn't be..." She wasn't sure how to finish her sentence.

"Hannah, sweetheart." Bill grasped her attention "Did I imagine my daughter becoming pregnant at seventeen, no. I won't lie about that. I told you the day you told me that I'm not angry at you."

"But your angry at yourself."

"At least it's at myself." Bill admitted "You did nothing wrong, I let you go. I let you make your own choices. If your mother was here, she would've told me to stop worrying and let you have fun." He sighed.

Hannah lowered her gaze to another baby onesie sitting in the washing basket.

"I promised your mother that no matter what happens that I'd allow you to make your own choices. The father in me wants my little girl to stay my little girl forever, I want to keep protecting you, I want to keep being there for you even if you push me away. I've struggled to find that balance of being your father and allowing you to grow to be your own."

Hannah lifted her gaze to her dad, she knew all her father did was try; try to keep her safe, try to keep her within arm's reach, keep her from making mistakes she'd regret in the future.

"I'm not going to let tell you what to do with Alytain, I made that mistake when I invited Artisan to reveal what happened to you." Bill allowed genuine regret fill his words "if I hadn't pressed Arthur for his son to talk to you." He shook his head softly.

"At least my baby will know his father." Hannah tried to find some positive in all that.