J & P Book 3 - Please Don't Leave Me

Prologue - February 2003 - Five and a half years ago

So far that weekend they had done little else than talk, make love, talk some more, make love some more, and talk again. It was by now Sunday afternoon, and the two of them were sitting in the lounge of Patrick's little semi-detached house, cosying up in front of his fire away from the February chill outside. They were by now totally comfortable with each other once again, and exhausted.

"So, are we definitely going to do this?" Patrick asked Jenny, with a serious expression on his handsome face as he peered down at her.

"Yes," Jenny said, looking back up at him with a beam. "We are." Not only did she owe this to him, but her unborn child needed a future too.

"In that case, I have two requests," Patrick said, looking sternly at her. "And if you agree to them, then I'm happy with the arrangement."

Jenny gazed at him, still in awe at him for accepting her so readily after everything she had put him through only two months before.

"Firstly, we must tell everyone that I'm the father," he said. "Do you think that would work?"

Jenny nodded. She'd only told one person that she and Patrick had never been intimate. Well, they had now. "It would work, but my family, and Lucia, might suspect otherwise. They know a little bit about what happened before... before he went away."

"But do they know that you..."

"They know I stayed over that night," Jenny confessed, not looking at Patrick. "But I didn't tell them that we.... Only his mum... and you... know that for sure." She felt awkward discussing this subject with him. She didn't want to remind him about what he had overheard that evening, she still felt embarrassed and guilty about it.

"Well, we can worry about that if it becomes a problem," Patrick said, calmly and soothingly, rubbing his hand along her arm. "Secondly, and this is so important Jenny, you need to stop looking for him. I know you want him to know about the baby, but he's gone. He doesn't want you to find him. He knows where you are, and so if he ever comes looking for you, then that's different, and I'll understand. But for now, you need to move on. You need to stop talking about him. Then you need to try and stop thinking about him."

"That's where you come in," Jenny said, softly. "This weekend has definitely helped with that, don't you think?" She raised her eyebrows at Patrick. She'd certainly had an enjoyable weekend with him.

Patrick smiled seductively at her. "Well then. You keep your promises to me, and I'll keep my promise to you. The one I made at the log cabin. I will never hurt you, Jenny."

Jenny kissed him, content with the arrangement. Life needed to go on, for the sake of her unborn baby. All of a sudden, the most important person in her life had changed. This was no longer a person now lost to her, but his child, growing inside her. A child who needed a father, be it biological or otherwise. Jenny had spent the early part of her childhood without a father, and she was adamant that history was not going to repeat itself.

She was also certain that this was what Paul would want her to do.