One More Chance (Chance, Part 2) Read online

  “How do you know he doesn’t remember?” he asks hastily.

  “I know he doesn’t based on what he said. Please Brody, you promised me you wouldn’t say anything.”

  “I’m about to have a niece,” he says looking happy.

  “Yes you are, but please, you can’t tell him, you can’t tell anyone,” I beg.

  His smile quickly goes away, “So you plan on telling people you had a one night stand and got knocked up and what? Raise this child on your own?” he asks angrily.

  “Not alone, I have you, Kenzie, and Quinn to help me.”

  “He deserves to know Hails.”

  “I know, but why destroy his future?”

  “Because he’s having a baby,” he argues.

  “He will have babies with Nina. Please Brody.”

  “Fuck,” he says as he stands up and paces the floor. “You knew about this?” he asks Quinn.

  “Yes I did, when Hails started getting morning sickness.”

  “How did you not tell me?” he asks angrily.

  “It wasn’t my place to tell you or anyone,” she says defending me.

  “You’re my girlfriend; you can’t keep shit like that from me.”

  “Brody stop,” I say as I stand up, “Don’t be mad at her. I made her promise before you two ever started dating. It was my news to share when and with whom I wanted to share it, not hers.”

  “You need to tell Liam,” he demands.

  “No I don’t and you won’t either, you promised Brody.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Plus, I’m leaving in a few weeks to go to London.”

  “You can’t seriously be leaving for London now,” he says like I’m crazy.

  “Yes I can and I am. Kenzie’s going to come and visit me. I have a doctor set up over there already. It will be fine.”

  “Holy shit, I can’t believe this is happening,” Brody says while still pacing.

  “Please Brody; you have to promise me you won’t say anything. I need to hear you say it.”

  “Fine, I promise I won’t say anything for now,” he says with a stern look, “But you eventually need to tell him, or I will,” he says with a determined look.

  “Thank you.”

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Before I know it, school is over and I’m packing to head to London. “Are you sure you’re going to be alright?” Quinn asks for the eighth time.

  “Yes. I have everything already set up. I’m good,” I say as I’m excited to leave.

  Brody comes barreling through the door, “I don’t think you should go. I think you should stay here,” he says sternly.

  “It’s only a few months, it will be fine,” I remind him.

  “No, you shouldn’t be pregnant and thousands of miles away with no one there with you,” he says with a worried look.

  “She’s not going to be alone,” Kenzie says as she comes through the front door.

  “What?’ I ask confused.

  “I’m going with you. I got my passport and talked to Mom and Dad and they even felt more comfortable with me coming along so you aren’t by yourself,” she says with a smile.

  “Guys, I’m twenty-one years old, I got this. I can do it on my own.”

  “But you don’t have to,” Quinn says softly.

  “Plus, when you come back, we’ve figured out our schedules so there’s always someone here with Lily,” Brody states proudly.

  “What?”

  “You aren’t doing this by yourself; we are going to help you raise her. We are here for you and Lily,” Quinn says with a smile.

  “You are going to tell Liam though,” Brody says with a knowing look.

  “He’s happy, let him be happy,” I state.

  “I’m pretty sure he’d be fucking excited to know he’s going to become a dad,” Brody states matter of fact.

  “But he wouldn’t. Liam and I talked about it the night we found out he was engaged, he said he loves kids, but doesn’t want any yet. He wants to be married first. So I’m doing what is best for him.”

  “Best for him or best for you?” Brody asks, looking frustrated.

  “How is it best for me Brody?” I ask getting a little mad.

  “I don’t know. I just know I’d be pissed if I was having a kid and wasn’t told about it. I know he will be too when he finds out, because he’s already missed so many doctor appointments and he’s going to miss the birth too. I don’t know if he’ll ever forgive you for that once he finds out,” Brody states truthfully.

  “Okay, enough talk about this. Who knows, maybe things could change but for now, I’m going to miss the shit out of you and you better call me when you get there and get settled,” Quinn says as she comes up and hugs me.

  “I love you Quinn, thank you for everything you’ve done for me so far. I don’t know what I would do without you,” I whisper back as a few tears fall.

  “You won’t have to worry, because I’m not going anywhere.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Group hug,” Brody says as he comes over throwing his arms around Quinn and me. “I’m going to miss the shit out of you Hails. Please be careful and take care of my niece. I need you guys to come back in one piece.”

  “We will,” I say with a smile.

  “We need to get going,” I say to the two of them.

  “Let’s go,” Quinn says as Brody grabs my bags. We walk outside and load the car up so Quinn and Brody can drop Kenzie and me off at the airport. The drive doesn’t take too long and before I know it, we are at the airport.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Brody asks.

  “It’s an internship; yes I want to do this. It will be fine, plus Kenzie’s going to be there too,” I smile, letting him know it will all work out.

  “Fine, I’m just worried, that’s all,” he says.

  “And I love you for that,” I say as I give him one last hug. “I’ll see you in a few months.” We say goodbye to each other and Kenz and I head inside towards the gate we will be flying out of.

  “I’m so excited,” Kenzie says joyfully.

  “Thank you for coming.”

  “I couldn’t let you go that far by yourself. I know I’ve been a shitty sister, but I’m different now, you’ll see.”

  “I have seen. You’ve been great.”

  “You may not think so in a minute,” she says with a look.

  “Why?”

  “I agree with Brody. You need to tell Liam. He has missed so much already, don’t make him miss everything when Lily’s born.”

  “You didn’t say anything did you?” I ask nervously.

  “No, but I think you should when we get home.”

  “You do realize his season will be starting when we get home. He won’t be around anyway.”

  “Guys in the NFL have babies all the time, he can still be a dad and play football Hails.”

  “He needs to focus on his career and playing football, not on me and Lily.”

  “What happened to you?” she asks stunned.

  “What do you mean?”

  “You would never have thought about keeping a baby away from their parent, yet that’s exactly what you’re planning to do,” she says hastily.

  “It’s not that I want to do it, it’s what’s best for everyone.”

  “How is Lily growing up without her dad, what’s best for her?”

  “I don’t know. I’ll think about it, can we please not talk about this anymore?” I ask frustrated.

  “Yeah. We have a few months until we come back. Let’s just hope Liam’s not married by then.”

  “So what if he is. He’s going to marry her anyway.”

  “You do realize he still loves you, right?”

  “No, he doesn’t, I heard him a long time ago tell Brody that he doesn’t love me and that I need to move on.”

  “What? When?”

  “The night I drove back to school to move out of my house.”

  “Did he know you hear
d that?”

  “No, so I know it wasn’t just to hurt me, he meant it.”

  Thankfully, our gate is called to start boarding. We get onto the plane and buckle up before taking the long flight for our new adventure.

  “Holy shit; this is where you get to live for three months?” Kenzie asks as she checks the place out.

  “Sure do and it’s where we live,” I tell her happily.

  “What?”

  “I talked to my boss here and told him what was going on and I had a feeling you were going to be coming along, so he gave me a bigger flat, so you have a room too.”

  “That is awesome. I love your boss,” she says as she heads towards the bedrooms.

  Knowing how Quinn and Brody are, I call Quinn to let her know we’ve arrived.

  “Hey, are you there?” Quinn asks.

  “Sure am and it’s beautiful, well the flat is anyway,” I say happily.

  “Okay good. I want daily updates woman…on you, your job, and on Lily.”

  “Got it. Let Brody know we’re here safe and sound.”

  “Will do, he just ran to get some dinner.”

  “That’s fine, it’s getting late here, so I’ll probably crash soon, but I will keep you posted, I promise.”

  “Okay good, talk to you soon,” she says before disconnecting the call.

  I start my new internship in two days so Kenzie and I sightsee and take a bunch of pictures for keepsakes. Before I know it, it’s time to start my job. I wake up and head into the office I’ll be working out of for the next few months. “I’m here to meet Mr. Zellers,” I say to the receptionist.

  “Your name?” she asks.

  “Haley Lawrence.”

  “One moment,” she says before picking up the phone. “Go back down this hallway right here,” she says pointing to the hall I just entered in, “and it’s the last door on your left, he’ll be waiting for you.”

  “Thank you,” I tell her before hurrying down the hall.

  The door is open, so I knock anyway to get his attention, “Come in Ms. Lawrence.” I enter the room and see Mr. Zellers, who is unbelievably sexy and much younger than I ever imagined.

  “Hello Mr. Zellers,” I say as I make my way towards this sexy man to shake his hand.

  “Please call me Aidan,” he says as he shakes my hand, “Have a seat,” he says. “I want to thank you for coming and for also telling me that you’re pregnant. I’m going to be honest, if the school would have known; they would not have sent you so far away.”

  “I didn’t know, so it’s okay, I want to be here.”

  “Good. I know you mentioned you have a doctor here for the few months you are in London, just let me know what dates and times and we will work around your appointments,” he says surprising me.

  “That won’t be an issue, I can schedule around when I work.”

  “No need to. We can work around them.”

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  “Now as for the job, you do know this is a paid internship, where you will be meeting with various athletes and agents. There will be some late nights depending on what event is going on. Will that be a problem Ms. Lawrence?”

  “No, no problem at all, Sir.”

  “Good. Now your first assignment, you are going to be meeting with Michael Worthington, the rugby player. His team made it to the finals. I want you to draw up a list of questions to ask him and show them to me before the end of the day.”

  “Absolutely,” I say excitedly. Michael Worthington is an amazing rugby player and he’s easy on the eyes too. Women everywhere love him.

  “You are going to be using the office across the hall from mine. It’s open and everything you need should be on the desk. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns,” Mr. Zellers says.

  “Thank you Mr. Zellers,” I say as I get up from the chair.

  “Call me Aidan,” he says with a stern look.

  “Yes, Sir.” I say before walking out and across the large hallway. I enter the room and turn the light on, surprised that it’s so large of a room. The desk is a mahogany color and looks beautiful. The walls are decorated with lovely mosaic paintings. I sit down on the chair and see all the information I need to use to log into my computer. I boot it up and log in when it comes up. I pull up a word document to type the questions that I will be asking Mr. Michael Worthington.

  After about two hours, I have thirty professional questions typed up. I print the document and head over to Aidan to hopefully get his approval.

  I knock on his door,” Yes?” he yells.

  “Hi Aidan, I have a list of questions I thought you could possibly look over,” I say as I walk into his office.

  “You’re done already?” he asks, looking displeased.

  “Yes, Sir.” I say as I hand him the questions.

  He takes the printout and looks over them one by one, never saying a word. When he’s done he lays the papers on his desk, “Those are very appropriate questions. It looks like you’ve done your homework. I’m very impressed Haley.”

  “Thank you, Sir.”

  “Well since that didn’t take long, you can look over a few other things for me,” he says as he hands me a stack of papers. He explains to me what he wants me to do with them, and I take them and head back over to my office.

  Once my work day is done, I make the short walk home and find Kenzie outside looking around, “Hey, whatcha doing?”

  “Oh, just looking at something. The structure of this flat is amazing.”

  “It sure is,” I say as I admire our flat.

  “How did your first day go?”

  “Great actually. My boss is cool as hell and he’s hot.”

  “Oh yeah? How hot?” she asks intrigued.

  “Not enough for you to cheat on your boyfriend.”

  “I’m single, we broke up last week,” she says, like it was yesterday’s news.

  “What? Why?”

  “Because I knew I was going to be here. Not seeing someone for three to four months is a long time.”

  “You didn’t have to come,” I state.

  “I know; I wanted to.”

  “But you can’t sleep with my boss Kenz,”I say seriously.

  “Don’t worry I won’t. I’m sure there are plenty of hot men around,” she says with excitement.

  The rest of the night is spent filling Quinn and Brody in on the job, as well as calling Mom and Dad too. I hang up with Mom and Kenzie starts, “When are you going to tell Mom and Dad you’re pregnant?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “They are going to be grandparents, you need to tell them.”

  “I let them down. They are going to be disappointed in me.”

  “No, they won’t. Yes, I’m sure they would have wished you waited until college was over, but things happen. They love you no matter what, Hails.”

  “I’ll tell them by the end of the week.”

  “Good.”

  The first week of the job flies by and it’s already Friday afternoon. “Have any fun plans this weekend?” Aidan asks.

  “Probably sightseeing with my sister.”

  “That’s always fun. Have a great weekend and I’ll see you next week,” he says as he walks back towards his office.

  Aidan Zellers is a good six feet tall; he has dark brown hair, almost black with smoldering gray eyes. He looks fit and muscular in the dress shirts he wears. His thighs also show some muscle through his slacks. Wow. I can’t let Kenzie near Aidan or I’m in for a world of trouble.

  Chapter Seven

  The first month of my internship has been amazing. I absolutely love my job. I get to interview people, as well as travel around the city. London is breathtaking and I wish I wouldn’t have to leave to go back home in two months.

  “You need to tell Mom and Dad,” Kenzie says frustrated.

  “I know, I’m going to now, I’m just nervous,” I say before picking up my cell phone.

  “It will be fine.”

 
; “Sure, easy for you to say,” I state as I dial the house number.

  “Hey sweetie,” Mom says, obviously looking at the caller ID.

  “Hi Mom,” I say nervously.

  “How’s London?”

  “Amazing. Kenzie and I went site seeing and it’s so beautiful here.”

  “Make sure to take pictures, I want to hear all about it when you come home,” she says jubilantly.

  “I will, Kenzie’s going crazy with taking photos, so there will be lots to show you.”

  “Good. How’s the job going?” she asks every time we talk.

  “Great, I love it,” I say trying to sound excited.

  “Sweetie, what’s going on?” she asks, calling me out.

  “Mom, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  “Okay, what is it?” she asks worriedly.

  “I’m pregnant,” I squeak out.

  “Pregnant, what? Since when?” she asks sounding anything but thrilled.

  “I got pregnant in December,” I state truthfully.

  “December,” she practically yells, ‘It’s June Haley, why are you just now telling me?”

  Tears start flowing quickly, “Mom, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to let you down.”

  “Sweetie,” she says in a calmer voice, “You didn’t let me down, I just didn’t expect it. I wish you would have told me sooner.”

  “I didn’t want to disappoint you,” I say through the tears.

  “You aren’t disappointing me or your father. Tell me about your pregnancy honey.”

  “I didn’t find out I was pregnant until March, but I found out I’m having a little girl,” I say excitedly.

  “A baby girl?” Mom coos.

  “Yeah, and I plan to name her Lily.”

  “That’s a beautiful name sweetheart.”

  “Thanks Mom. I’m due at the end of September, so I’ll be back in plenty of time before she’s born,” I say reassuring Mom.

  “Sweetie, that’s great and I’m glad to hear it, but Haley who is the father?” she asks softly.

  “Umm…,” I stutter.

  “Haley, you can tell me anything you know that. What’s going on?”

  “I need you to not tell anyone, not yet anyway, please Mom,” I beg.

  “I won’t tell anyone, but tell me what is going on,” she says a little more demanding now.

  “Liam’s the father; he doesn’t know it yet though.”