All by Chance {Brollins}

/ Chapter 44 \

The second Colby heard the front door quietly open and close, he lifted his head from his hands and stood up from the couch.

A part of his chest stung when he caught Rebecca walking straight up the stairs to a still crying Danielle without acknowledging him in the slightest. He followed her up and walked in to find Rebecca cradling a whimpering Danielle.

In a matter of a few seconds, Danielle stopped her whining and stared up at her mother, almost instantaneously calming down. "Hi, baby."

Rebecca whispered to her so softly that Colby almost missed it. Her back was turned towards him, but she could still feel his presence. She gently wiped away a tear on Danielle's cheek as she ran her fingers through her baby girl's curls.

"You have to go to bed, my love." Rebecca spoke softly with a loving gaze before she turned around, and it all went hard.

She walked past Colby with Danielle still in her arms, and he followed her quickly. "Where are you going?"

Rebecca rolled her eyes, "To get her a bottle."

"She's not hungry." His head shook, "I already tried."

Rebecca just ignored him as she moved around the kitchen. She prepared what she needed to while Danielle babbled nonsense, filling the silence.

"Here you go." Rebecca gently placed the bottle on her lips, and Danielle was quick to grab at it and drink happily.

Rebecca looked up with a victorious glare, and Colby looked at the little girl unimpressed. "I swear I tried five times."

"Six times a charm." She spoke blandly, passing Danielle back off to Colby.

His eyes widened as she walked to the front door, "You're leaving?"

"I did what I needed to." She replied, not in the mood to deal with Colby's antics.

He followed her, "Rebecca-"

"No." She spoke simply, not interested in hashing things out at this time. 

"Rebecca." He gently wrapped his fingers around her wrist, making her freeze. "Please."

Rebecca found both him and Danielle staring at her intently. Her gaze bounced between the two, and she let out a deep sigh. "You have five minutes."

She rolled her eyes, making her way back into the kitchen in frustration. She was tired, mentally exhausted, and somehow her soul felt like it was drained. Rebecca grabbed herself water from the fridge, while Colby placed a quiet Danielle in her crib.

When he came down, he immediately started to plead his case. "You know I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I was just stressed with work and-"

"And we don't all have to deal with work?" Rebecca's gaze was closed off as she replied, looking past him.

"I know." He nodded, "It's just... normally I have you with me to help take some of the stress away."

She finally looked at him, and his heart sank. "Everything was boiling up for too long, and you know my parents, and then it all went to hell at the wrong time."

"That shit hurt Colby." Rebecca looked down at the floor, and Colby couldn't tell if it was because she was trying to hide tears or because she just really couldn't stand him anymore.

"I know... and I just want you to know it wasn't- my anger wasn't directed towards you." Colby sighed, "I made a mistake. I don't expect you to forgive me because I'm a dumbass. But I just wanted you to know..."

"Okay." Rebecca spoke after strained silence. "Is that it?"

Colby had to stop himself from seeming too stunned. Of course, he knew it was going to take a while for Rebecca to get past his outburst, but he still didn't expect her to be this dismissive. "Yeah, that's it."

"Okay." She repeated with a deep breath before walking back to the front door.

Before he even had time to structure a sentence in his mind, Colby saw Rebecca leave without another word.

He stood still, staring at the door in hopes she'd waltz back in. When he really put it into perspective, the idea of her actually forgiving him seemed minuscule. "Shit."

He trudged upstairs and went to make sure Danielle was okay before he inevitably passed out from exhaustion. He saw the little girl laying down and staring at the ceiling.

He walked in quietly and bent down beside the crib. Colby reached his hand through one of the slats and gently traced Danielle's palm. "Dada."

She quietly spoke to him with an assortment of random syllables she could pronounce, and he chuckled. "Mama."

"Kiddo..." He looked down at his lap when the little girl watched him. Colby knew she couldn't understand him, but it still felt better to talk to someone rather than nobody. "I am so deep in the dirt I might as well already call myself dead."

The little girl giggled, and Colby rolled his eyes. "It's not funny... I'm gonna fix it. Mark my words, bean."

He watched the little girl doze off quickly as he continued to speak quietly, and he nodded to himself. "I have to."

Colby walked through the now silent and peaceful halls into his cold and empty bed. He rolled onto his side and stared at the pictures on his nightstand.

He looked at the picture of him, Rebecca, and Danielle all smiling together. His eyes travelled over a bit more, and he looked at a picture of Rebecca and him when they first started out at the company together.

They were happy and didn't have a single clue about what was going to hit them in the future. Colby knew he wouldn't change a single thing, and he hoped Rebecca felt the same.

Colby rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling, and for the rest of whatever was left of the night, he only thought about Rebecca.