Finally Finding Out (Completed) ✅

Six

Steph’s eyes fluttered open, and she saw her daughter sitting on Jordan Knight’s lap. “Get your hands off of my child!” She snapped without thinking. Jordan pulled back as if she had slapped him. Her daughter looked at him with fear in her big brown eyes. Steph sat up quickly.

“Come here, sweetie, I’m sorry.” She took her daughter from Jordan. “What are you doing back up here?”

“You forgot to give me the money for my piano lesson,” she sniffed, drying her tears.

“You’re right. I did forget. Jon, hand me my purse, please?”

“How much is it?” Jordan pulled out his wallet.

“Well, nothing changes, does it?” Steph snapped savagely. “The first to pull out their wallet wins.” She wrote out a check and kissed her daughter’s cheek. “Now, run on down to Grandma. I’m sure she’s having a fit right now.”

“Mommy, who are these men?” The child asked as they stood up.

“This is Jon, and this is Jo…Mr. Knight,” Steph told her, catching herself. “This is my daughter, Marcie,” she told the men.

The little girl scowled. “Oh, Mommy, I hate that nickname!”

“Promise me you won’t say anything about this to Grandma, okay? I’m fine, and we don’t want her to worry. Pinkie swear?” She held out her little finger. Her daughter took it solemnly. To her, this was the equivalent of swearing on a stack of Bibles.

“Okay, Mommy, I promise.” She gave her mother one last kiss, smiled at Joe, gave Jordan a wary look, and then ran out the door. Steph closed it behind her, and glared at Jon.

“What the hell is he doing here?” She asked angrily.

“Michelle and I thought…”he stammered 

“Oh, Michelle and you thought? So, now it’s some kind of conspiracy to ruin my life?”

“Stephanie! he needs to know!” Jon shouted.

“Will the two of you stop talking about me like I’m not here?” Jordan finally yelled in exasperation.

“Steph, Michelle is worried about you, and so am I. You’ve got to settle this.” Jon turned to Jordan. “You’ve got a lot to answer for. I’m going down to the car. We’re not leaving until the two of you talk!” He stormed out.

The silence between Steph and Jordan was unbearable. She had dreamed of the day she’d see him again, but she wasn’t as happy as she always imagined she’d be. He was just as sexy, but his face had lost its boyishness save for his dimples  Jordan looked tired and confused, which was exactly how she was feeling.

“Please, sit down,” she said finally. He sat on the sofa, and she collapsed onto a nearby chair.

“I’m sorry we burst in on you like this. I had no idea what was going on.” Jordan moved to pull a Barbie doll out from under one of the sofa cushions. He smiled. “So, you have a daughter.”

“Yes, and a son,” she said nervously. “They’re twins.”

“Wow,” he said simply. “I never had children.” The words chilled her to the bone. Did that mean he wasn’t interested in children, or just hadn’t found the right woman, or…

She stopped thinking as he slowly moved to sit closer to her. “I guess one of the reasons Jon brought me here was to explain what happened that fall.” He took her hand, which was shaking. “Stephanie, I really did love you. It wasn’t a lie. Part of me still does love you. I just couldn’t deal with all the stress of touring as well as worrying about what you might see and hear on TV. It was just easier to let it all go.”