The Unexpected Journey-A Prince Harry Fan Fic

Chapter 185

The tension in the room had taken over everything, it had settled into the bones of everyone around that table.

Sitting tall and stoic in her chair next to Harry, Maddie tried not to fidget. She tried not to rub at the makeup on her face, tried not to run her fingers through her well-coiffed hair. Tara had spent nearly an hour working to get her look just right, she would hate to destroy it because of nervous anxiety.

Even if it was the third day in a row she had sat in that chair getting prepped for the press.

Even if it was the third day in a row that the bomb they had been expecting hadn't dropped.

Letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding, she looked down at her hands clasped together in her lap; her fingers playing mindlessly with her wedding ring, twisting around her engagement ring.

The room was enormous; a sitting room at Saint James Palace that they had taken over as a makeshift war-zone. It easily held two large conference tables and chairs, easily held the small sitting area in the corner, the lighting equipment, the cameras, the multitude of people who had been gathered–for the third day in a row. It was enormous, but Maddie felt claustrophobic; shut in. Clearing her throat she looked up and around, taking in the stress filled faces of those who had been assembled around them. Attorneys. Public Relations experts. Thomas. And Andrew Bradley.

When she and Harry were told they were going to do an interview the day the story about Cassandra and the baby dropped, they were given only one allowance. They could choose the reporter. Maddie had clung to the one element of control and she had insisted on Andrew Bradley. He had been kind to her on the trek, he had protected her reunion with Harry–one of the bigger, more intimate moments of her life, and he had taken their first family portraits after Lilli was born.

She trusted him. As crazy as it sounded for her to be saying that about a member of the press–especially at this time in their lives–she trusted him.

And, in turn, so did Harry. So there he sat in the tall wingback chair across from the sofa where Harry and Maddie were situated. The mass of their entourage was scattered about, behind the scenes–waiting for the word Go.

Waiting for the story to run. For the third day in a row. It had been stressful on everyone. The first day the room had been running on a crazy, adrenaline sort of high. When the story didn't break like they had expected, it had stunned them. But they had regrouped on Day Two; waiting pensively for the news to hit.

And when it didn't, the irritation began to settle in. And now, on Day Three of waiting–anger and frustration was beginning to seep into the room. And Maddie could feel it in her bones.

Trying to relax, trying to ease up, Maddie took a deep breath–as much of one as she could muster.

She hadn't been breathing normally for awhile now, since that night that Bishop had dropped it all in their laps.

Since the moment his words had deflated every resolve she had built up.

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Foxgrove 5 Nights Earlier

The room deflated in an instant. All of the energy, all of the passion, all of the life sucked right out of the room as Bishop's words landed. And quite suddenly, everyone was absolutely, eerily still. Nobody was moving. Nobody was breathing.

It was so quiet that the air seemed to crackle around them.

But in Maddie's mind, in the part of her brain she could still hear over the pounding of her heart, it was much much louder.

That the baby is yours. That the baby is yours. That the baby is yours.

She couldn't stop the constant loop that ran at double speed; those words that carried with them the biggest hit the two of them had taken since they had married. She couldn't stop herself from hearing them and she couldn't stop the way her insides were crumbling as she thought over all that those words were about to impact.

Maddie tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but it was too tight, too parched to do any good. The seconds ticked by in what felt like forever as she tried to focus her eyes, as she tried to see Harry.

As she tried to really see him. But it was so hard. The room as dark and his eyes were darker and...Jesus, were there tears in her eyes. Blinking at the blurriness in her vision, she took a breath and opened her mouth to speak.

But there were no words. She had nothing.

"She's..." Harry's voice, dark and sinister and sounding not so much like him, cut into the thick silence. "She's really pregnant? This isn't just some...some sick, fucking theatrics?"

"She's really pregnant," Bishop nodded once; all business as he kept his eyes glued on his best friend. "They've seen Doctor records; blood tests, ultrasounds and..."

Harry held up his hand, shaking his head quickly; not wanting more details than he needed–more than he could really handle at the moment. With his eyes fixed on some point off in the distance, purposefully avoiding Maddie, he asked, "how far along is she?"

"Thirty-eight weeks." Bishop's answer hit Maddie in the gut. She didn't need to do the math, none of them did. The wave of that particular reality hit the room with a force they all felt and Maddie reached out to the table in front of her, needing it to steady herself from the dizzy way her mind felt.

Harry took only five seconds to absorb it, and then he took three steps over to the landline sitting on the built in shelf behind him. Without looking back to either of them, he reached for the phone and dialed. As much as she wanted to close her eyes and take a moment, as much as she wanted to go back upstairs and pretend this wasn't happening, Maddie couldn't take her eyes away from Harry.

As she watched him, her heart began to break. Because even as he tried to stand tall, his shoulders began to slump, his head began to hang. His body began to give way to the heaviness of what was running through his mind, to the gravity of what was happening for them now.

And this–this horrible, despicable, lie that was going to change so many more lives than those in this room–this was happening.

When Harry began to speak, his voice was a deep, low hum. Maddie could barely make it out over the ringing in her ears. She knew he was calling Thomas and she knew what he was telling him–as much as he could over an unsecure line, as much as he needed to to get him out there in the middle of the night.

Maddie glanced around the room then, suddenly aware of just how much the night was about to change. No more easy weekend in the country with their friends. In a matter of an hour, she suspected she was going to have a full house; Thomas, attorneys, Spin Doctors. She looked down to the floor, her forehead beginning to throb.

"Maddie..." It was Bishop; his voice soft and low and trying for comforting as he reached out to her. "Maddie, I..." His hand closed over hers but she jerked hers back; an innate, protective reflex that had set in the moment she realized they were about to be attacked.

"I'm sorry," she looked up to him with wide eyes, her head shaking as she caught her reaction. "Bishop, I'm..."

"Don't be," he tried to smile, holding his hands up in front of him. "I understand. Are you..."

"No," she shook her head, the tears she had managed to shake away before returned and she wavered. "No." Her voice was more forceful this time, as though she were commanding herself not to lose it, as though she were ordering away the tears, the worry, the sick feeling in her stomach.

Harry's phone call ended with a click of the phone, a thunk as Harry hung up. Turning away from the shelves, he looked to the tall windows that lined the far wall. His jaw flexed and his arms crossed over his chest. "They're on their way," rather he couldn't or wouldn't–he wasn't looking over to the two of them. "In an hour, we're going to..." He cleared his throat and looked down to the ground. With a breath, he looked up to the windows. "I think I'm going to take a walk."

"Harry..." Maddie's voice cracked as she took half a step towards him.

But a small shake of his head, a lift of his hand, kept her from going to him. "I need some air. I need a minute to just..." He trailed off, his face flooding with emotion as he frowned. And then he moved away from the both of them. "I'm going to step outside for..."

"But..." Maddie moved again, wanting to stop him, wanting to go with him; wanting him. But just as he stepped out of the room, Ella stepped in; completely unsuspecting.

"There you are!" Her smile was wide as she looked directly at Maddie; oblivious to the feel of the room. "Lilli's nearly passed out but I wasn't sure if there was anything else I needed to do before I put her down and..." And then she caught it; the tension radiating off her husband, the ill look in Maddie's eyes. "Hey, are you two okay?"

Blinking at tears, Maddie shook her head. "No. I just..." She glanced towards the house, towards Lilli and then, with her bottom lip tucked between her teeth, she looked to where Harry had disappeared.

"I'll go," Bishop stepped forward, the look in his eyes sympathetic, the warmth of his hand on her arm comforting this time. "You go take care of Lilli. I'll go after Harry."

As torn as her heart was, she knew Bishop was right. Wiping at her eyes, stuffing down her own worries, her own questions, her own insecurities, Maddie took a breath and left the room; a confused and concerned Ella reading the look on Bishop's face and following right behind her.

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The air was colder than Harry thought it should be at this point in the summer; a heavy chill hanging over him as he walked further and further from the house. He wasn't sure where he was going, he wasn't sure what he was doing. All he knew for sure was that he was suffocating there in that office and if he didn't move, he was going to explode.

He was going to fucking lose it.

He heard Jim fall into step behind him but didn't bother to turn and greet him, didn't even think about letting him in on what was spiraling around him. In the small part of his brain that was still thinking rationally, he had the utmost gratitude for Jim's ability to be with him without having to be involved. Had he had more peace of mind, he might have told him so. But things being as they were.

His breath was coming up in quick, heavy bursts as he put physical distance between himself and the house. They reached the bottom of the hill, passed over the taller, thicker grass at the far end of the yard. As they crossed into the line of trees, as he pressed into the more heavily wooded part of his property, he heard Jim come to a complete stop and spin around; flashlight and sidearm rising up into the night. Harry looked back, momentarily paused on his path away from it all.

"Stop right there." Jim's voice was cold and authoritative and even if he didn't know what was happening that night, he knew something was happening and he wasn't taking any chances. Just as he knew Arthur had moved in closer to the house, he moved in closer to Harry. "Who's there?"

"Ian James Bishop the Third." Bishop stepped into the beam of the flashlight, his hands held up in front of him and his best attempt at smug smiling across his face, taking a chance that humor might ease some of the tension. He was wrong. Neither Harry nor Jim cracked a bit of a smile.

"Sir?" Jim turned to Harry with raised eyebrows, easing up only a little. Though he lowered his weapon, he kept the flashlight right on Bishop's face as he waited for Harry. Only when he finally nodded, did Jim stand down. Lowering the flashlight, he met Harry's eyes for a beat and then nodded off to the side where he would be.

And there they were; Bishop and Harry, just on the edge of the woods. Cold and dark and ominous.

With his arms folded over his chest, Harry stood tall in front of Bishop, his eyes looking right at his best friend. "Go ahead and ask."

Bishop didn't even blink as he mirrored Harry's stance, his voice. "Ask what."

"You know what." Harry tossed back, his shoulders squaring.

"No," Bishop shook his head, his lips twitching up just slightly. "I won't."

"Come on Bishop," Harry's voice rose. "We're out here in the middle of the fucking country, in the middle of the fucking night and the sky is fucking falling. Just go ahead and fucking ask."

"No," Bishop let out a puff of a laugh as he stood up to this great force that was Harry of Wales. "I don't fucking care what you say. I am not going to ask you if that baby is yours."

"Everyone's going to ask, Bishop. Everyone." Harry looked up towards the house. "Thomas. My father. They're all on their way out here. You know they're going to ask. The attorneys and the publicists and the fucking..." Harry tried to tamp down his fury and in its place moved a great, overwhelming sadness. His eyes pulled away from the house as his shoulders drooped, as his head sagged. "And my wife. My..." Tears rose to his eyes, bile to his throat. And the great Harry Wales wavered there in the dark night. "I don't know if I can handle Maddie asking me if..." When his eyes lifted to meet Bishop's, they were young and afraid and the saddest Bishop had ever seen them.

And Bishop felt his heart sink. His head tipped to the side in sympathy, his hand pressing to his chest as he took a step in. "Maybe she won't."

"Come on..." Harry shook his head.

"Maybe she won't."

"You wouldn't?" Harry lifted his eyebrows. "After all of the bullshit that that..." Harry couldn't find the right word for Cassandra; bitch, whore, life-ruining wench. None of them seemed to do her justice. "After all that SHE's brought into our lives, after all that's happened, you wouldn't ask? Not even once?" Harry looked so scattered, so scared. "Fuck Bishop...I would ask and I know better."

"Yeah..." Bishop let out a sigh, his shoulders shrugging slowly. "I suppose I would ask. But Maddie, she's...she's a better person than you and I are."

"She is." Harry agreed with a whisper. He stood still for a moment, struggling with all that was trying to take him down. Looking up to his best friend with a pleading sort of look in his eyes, he nodded to him. "Please. I need the first person to ask me to be somebody who knows that I could never..." He swallowed and pulled his shoulders back. "Please Bishop, could you just..."

And Bishop caught it. With an ache in his chest, he nodded and did what his best friend was asking him to do. "Did you sleep with her?"

As tears watered heavy in his eyes, he shook his head. "No. Not even once."

"So the baby...it can't be yours?"

"No," Harry whispered. "It's impossible."

"Okay."

"Okay." Harry nodded, looking at his feet as he tried to pull himself together, as he tried to bring it back to center. "And you...you really believe me?"

"I really believe you," Bishop answered without a beat. "Without a doubt, without suspicion, without any sort of reservation. I believe you."

"I swear to God Bishop, I'm so afraid that you're going to be in the minority..."

"Yeah," Bishop nodded, wishing it weren't true. "But the people that matter..."

"I know," Harry agreed; hating that this was his consolation. "I know."

Bishop took a breath and looked up at the house, remembering the look on Maddie's face, the confusion in Ella's. "They're on their way?" He looked to Harry who was looking up at the house, mentally preparing himself for anything that could be waiting for him inside.

"Yes," Harry nodded. "They'll be here sooner rather than later."

"Thomas? Attorneys? Palace officials?" Bishop checked off the usuals.

"Yes, yes, yes..." Harry took a breath. "My father."

"Yes..." Bishop sighed. "Listen, if you need a walk, you should go but I think that maybe I should head back in and..."

"No," Harry shook his head. "I need to check in with Maddie. I can't imagine what she's..." He trailed off, stopping himself from wishing he could pull his wife out of this mess, stopping himself from wondering if she wouldn't be better off in Bendal married to a local who didn't drag her through the layers of bullshit he had.

"Come on," Bishop's hand was supportive as it rested on Harry's back, his eyes focusing in on him. "I know what you're thinking..."

"You have no idea what I'm thinking."

"Yes I do," Bishop shook his head as they both began to walk back. "And it's much too late to un-marry her, even if it were possible. And at any rate, she'd kick your ass for even thinking you could send her away from...all of this. She's much too stubborn for that." Harry's eyes flashed wide as he looked at his best friend who allowed as much of a smirk as he could muster. "No idea what you're thinking? Please. I know you better than you know yourself." Patting his back, he nodded his head to the house. "Come on. Let's go gear up."

Harry and Bishop had arrived back at the house just as the convoy began to roll in. The first to arrive was Charles. Already out in the country for the weekend, his trip was exceedingly shorter. When he stepped from his car, his aura was all business, though concern had settled into his eyes. Buttoning his suit coat, he looked between Harry and Bishop; his brow furrowed as he nodded to the later.

"Mr. Bishop. I should have guessed you would somehow be a part of this..." He shook his head, still mostly in the dark. "Whatever it is."

"Yes Sir," Bishop swallowed, nodding his head with a sheepish smile.

"Do either of you care to bring me up to speed?" His hands folded in front of him, his gaze settling back on his son.

"Of course," Harry nodded, stepping aside and gesturing towards the door. "I'll show you back to the office and bring you in." Glancing up to Bishop, he lifted his eyebrows. "Will you show the others where we are?"

"Of course," Bishop nodded, taking a step forward and holding out a folder Harry had only then realized he had. "Take this with you. This has...everything I know."

Harry's eyes shifted down at the folder, disgust etching into the lines of his face. With a nod he snatched it up and with a low, muttered "thank you", he stepped back into the house with his father at his side.

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It took Maddie longer to put Lilli down than it normally did. She rocked her, she fed her, she even hummed a bit of her favorite lullaby. But Maddie guessed her daughter could sense the tension, she guessed she was feeding off of her own anxiety and worry. As much as she wished she could take a deep breath and clear her head, she simply couldn't. Not with Harry out of the house, not with the way he had taken off.

She tried to relax, tried to push pause on the disaster that had begun in the office. Bishop was with him, she reminded herself. And though that normally would have given her a bit of relief–nobody loved Harry like Bishop did except for maybe her–it wasn't working quite as well as it normally did.

Eventually Lilli gave in to the exhaustion, to the sheer will of her mother, and she passed out; her little head bobbing, her red curls bouncing as sleep won out and she drifted off to a deep slumber. Maddie was careful as she settled her into her crib and she took an extra moment staring down at her, she took an extra kiss to her chubby little cheeks, took an extra stroke to her soft mess of hair and she prayed that this innocent little girl wouldn't be forced to deal with this chaos that she was about to go face.

And then, with the monitor in her hand, she stepped out of the nursery and closed the door behind her.

"Alright." Ella was standing right outside the door; rigid and worried. With her arms folded over her chest and her foot tapping worriedly, she lifted her eyebrows. "What in the hell is going on downstairs?!"

"Right now?" Maddie took a breath and moved away from the door, heading towards the stairs. "Nothing. Unless the boys have come back in." She peered down the stairs. "Have they come back in?'

"I don't know. I've been up here waiting for you," Ella's hand stalled Maddie. "And I was talking about before. What was going on downstairs when I walked into that room? And don't tell me nothing because I know you're lying and..."

"Cassandra's back." The matter-of-fact tone of Maddie's voice threw Ella off, causing her to take a step back. "She's..." Maddie blinked, her eyes beginning to well up. "She's been behind nearly all of the hits that have been thrown at us lately and the next one that's coming is the fact that she's pregnant. She's...she's..."

"Pregnant." Ella breathed. "But..." She shook her head, not connecting all the dots.

"She says that the baby..." Maddie gulped, refusing to cry about this. Not there, not now. Not yet. "She says that it's Harry's."

"Oh my God." Ella's hands moved to her mouth as she took another step back. "Is it?!"

"No!" Maddie's eyes narrowed, her shoulders pulling back. "You can't really be asking me if my husband..."

"No! I don't know!" Ella answered, her eyes as scattered as her mind was as it tried to wrap around this. "Some husbands do and..."

"Mine doesn't." Maddie shook her head as she took a step towards her best friend, her steps halting as she heard voices downstairs; a loud muffled, male sound that brought her careening back to the present. "They're back. They're here..." She whispered, taking to the stairs with Ella right behind her.

"Maddie I'm sorry. I didn't mean that Harry would," Ella followed her down the stairs. "I just had to ask and..."

"He doesn't Ella," she shook her head, stopping in the foyer to take a breath. Turning to her best friend, she met her eyes and with absolute conviction, she shook her head again. "He didn't. He wouldn't...he couldn't. And it's not even about his loyalty to me. It's...his reverence for fatherhood. He....he couldn't."

"Okay," Ella whispered, watching as Maddie pulled herself together, as she stood tall and straight and looked down the hallway, back at the office. "Okay."

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It took Maddie three tries before she could bring herself to step back into that room. She had handed Ella the monitor, making her swear she would come and get her if Lilli needed anything and then, she had stood there in the hallway, staring at the dark wood door.

First she reached for the doorknob, ready to walk into whatever was happening on the other side.

But she stopped.

Then she lifted her hand, ready to knock.

But she stopped. And she felt ridiculous. This was her home. This was her husband and no matter who was on the other side of that door, neither of those things were going to change.

With a deep, heavy breath in, she reminded herself just who she was, she reminded herself of all of the things she knew for sure and she opened the door and stepped right inside.

All conversation came to a halt when she moved through the door and closed it behind her. All eyes snapped up to her and every single one of the men in the room–including her father-in-law with a warm sympathy in his eyes–rose to their feet.

And for a split second she thought she just might lose it.

But her eyes sought his and when she found them, she found her steadiness.

"I'm sorry I'm late," her voice cracked as she spoke to him. "I was putting Lilli down and it took a little longer."

With a shake of his head, Harry moved to take a step towards her, his hand stretching out to bring her in. But at the same moment one of the attorneys at the other end of the table spoke up.

"Actually," his voice came out louder than he intended in the silence that surrounded him. "I'm sorry Ma'am. Maybe it would be best if we spoke to the Duke alone? At first?" With a misguided confidence and an air of authority about him, he glanced around the room for the support he was sure was going to be there.

With a twisted expression on his face, Harry stood taller. His hand falling away from Maddie as his eyes glared across the room. "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry Sir," he nodded his head to him. "I simply thought it might be best if we had a moment alone before she..."

"SHE," Harry cut in with a clenched jaw and a red face, the tension inside of him soaring. "She is my wife."

"Yes Sir," the attorney grew nervous. "I'm sorry. I thought you might be able to speak more freely if..."

"I can speak more freely in front of her than I can in front of you." He pointed his finger at him angrily, furious at the suggestion, at the assumption that was behind it. "Now if there's something you think needs to be said..."

"Henry," Charles spoke up, his voice comforting, even in the most dire of situations. He watched as his son stood down–but only just a little bit–and he turned to his daughter-in-law. "Madeline," he moved to kiss her cheeks, to hug her close. "Come on in Darling. We were just sorting through this file of information Mr. Bishop has...acquired. Please join us." With a look to the rest of the people in the room, he pulled out the chair between him and Harry and he motioned for her to take a seat.

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The hours that were spent in that office that night comprised one of the longest, more grueling nights in Maddie's recent memory. Going over everything they knew, every bit of information they had, and putting together a plan of action had drained every single one of them; emotionally and physically. And when it was finally all over, when they finally showed the last person out the door, Maddie wasn't sure she had anything left inside of her to give to anyone else.

And then she turned around to face him and her heart sank. It had been so much easier to think about it all in an abstract way when they were in a room full of people. But now, in their foyer with their friends asleep upstairs and the baby monitor she had taken back in her hand, Maddie couldn't escape how very real this all was.

"Monday afternoon then?" Her voice was soft as she spoke, her shoulders shrugging slightly as she watched him lock the door and turn back into the foyer.

"Monday afternoon," he answered with a nod, coming to a stop in front of a long table under a painting on the wall.

"Saint James Palace..." Maddie whispered. Right after the story dropped at noon.

"And Andrew Bradley," Harry leaned back against the table, his shoulders heavy with the weight of the world as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Maddie nodded her head, the wall she had put up between her feelings and reality was beginning to fall. "It's a date."

"Ha." Harry let out a bark of a laugh, his eyes lifting to her as they softened, as he softened. "Wouldn't you rather just...run away with me?"

"Run away? With you?" She smiled, the tears in her eyes beginning to well up. "Of course. Where would we go?"

"Wherever you want," he shook his head, his own emotions getting the best of him. "We could go back to Bendal or to Colorado or to France. We could go to France. When we were younger, Bishop and I used to play at his parent's home in the country and we had this fort..."

"A fort in France?" Maddie smiled, her hands reaching out to him. "That's where we're going to live the rest of our lives?"

"I could think of worse things," he shrugged, sniffing at the tears in his eyes as he lifted her hands into his.

"Me too," she gulped back the sobs she felt building her throat. "But...I don't speak any French. Do you speak any French?"

"Not really," he shook his head, blinking. "But Bishop does."

"So now Bishop's coming with us? When we run away?" She took one last stab at a smile but her resolve was beginning to fade as Harry pulled her closer.

"I don't know," he whispered, his lips turning down as his emotions washed forward. "Maddie..."

"It's never going to be over....is it?" She beat him to the punch, her eyes welling over as tears began to fall. "This story she's invented. It's never going to go away. Is it."

"No." Harry shook his head, his eyes mirroring hers; his heart breaking with hers.

"Even after there's a baby, even when it looks nothing like you, even when the paternity test comes up negative..." She trailed off, her teeth biting at her lip to keep from falling apart.

But it was too late for Harry; he wasn't as strong as she was. Not this night. Not this time.

"Did you just..." His hands lifted, pressing her fingers to his chest. "Maddie...did you just..." He let out a breath and lifted his eyebrows. "When?"

And she caught it; his relief, his gratitude. "Yes," she nodded, her fingers tapping his chest underneath his hand. "Without a doubt, when. Of course...when. Harry, there hasn't been one second that it's been even close to an 'if' for me. Not one. Not one."

And that did it. With her hands gathered against him, Harry's hold gave way. His head bowed, his shoulders slumped and he began to weep. Maddie's arms moved around him in an instant, pulling him in; wrapping him up in her. She wished she could protect him, in the most instinctual, literal way possible, she wished she could shield him from this moment in their lives, from these lies that were about to be broadcast for the entire world to see, to judge.

As her husband cried there in her arms, Maddie felt such loss. Loss of privacy, loss of control, loss of the truth. Her heart broke for him, for the assumptions that were going to be made about him, for the stories that were going to be told.

And she had never in her life hated somebody like she hated Cassandra. She had never before wanted to see a wrathful vengeance exacted quite like she did in this moment.

"I'm so sorry Harry," she whispered against his hair, wiping at the tears on her cheeks as she tried to comfort him. "I'm so sorry this is happening. I'm so sorry she's doing this."

"No," Harry shook his head, lifting his eyes to look at her. "Don't you apologize Maddie. Jesus..." He wiped at his eyes, his hands moving to her shoulders, rubbing warmth into them before smoothing down her arms. "I just...if it were just me in this, it would be one thing. But it's not. It's you..." His hand moved to her face; sweet and loving as his thumb swiped over her cheek. "It's Lilli..." He gulped. "And it's this baby..."

"Hey..." Maddie pulled his hand from her face into her fingers, bending to kiss it as she looked up at him.

"This baby who has a father somewhere," Harry shook his head. "This baby that didn't ask for his mother to be a lunatic, who didn't ask for any of this." He sucked in a deep breath and blew it out. "This baby's going to have to live with the fallout of this for the rest of his life."

"I know," Maddie nodded, her throat closing tight as she thought of this poor child who would forever live in the shadow of Harry. Despite the paternity test results, they both knew the harsh truth. This would follow every single one of them around for the rest of all of their lives.

Maybe even longer.

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