"Hey" he smiled as he kissed my cheek and hugged me, "it's been so long" I complained as I took his coat and hung it up, "too long" he laughed as he made himself comfortable.

"How'd you get here so fast?" I asked as I began to boil the kettle, "I was only down the street" he responded, setting up the dusty PlayStation Tommy had bought for the penthouse but never used, "there's no bother, just take it home with you" I called from the kitchen, "no, I can get it to work" he smiled,

"Max, do you think we need it? He had like three already" I laughed as I carefully brought him a mug of hot tea.

"How are the kids?" He asked distracted as he lay down on the floor to get closer to the machine,

"fine, Robyn's beginning to properly 'walk'" I smiled, saying it sarcastically because when I mean 'walk' I mean waddling, "what about Lucy?" He asked, sitting upwards as we shared an awkward eye contact.

"She's-" "I'm sure she's-" we said at the same time to make it even more awkward than possible, "she's fine" I replied quickly, changing the conversation for the both of us.

"Any new girlfriends?" I asked, "nah" he smiled, "I don't have time for that shit, sides are all I need" he winked as I laughed so hard that tea came out my nose which made it happen to him as well.

"Why did we lose touch?" I asked as i cleaned myself off, recovering after the spill, "You know why" he sighed in disappointment, "Vanessa, I need to kn-" "Max, you bring this up every time we're together, Lucy is not yours" I lied, I didn't know if she was or not.

"Look at me" he ordered, "There's only one way of finding out" he said as we locked eyes,

"I've already done that, I don't want to get Tommy involved, it would ruin our careers" I said as he sighed, I can't find a part of me to get Lucy tested, I want to know but at the same time I don't.

"If you weren't so gorgeous it would be easier to tell who the father was" Max smiled as he inched closer, his lips only inches from mine, "Married" I coughed awkwardly, sticking my ring finger in his face,

"what about Robyn?" He joke smiled, "Ok she's 100% Tommy's" I laughed aloud as he finally got the playstation working, "voila" he smiled, handing me a remote as we began playing random games.

"I'm not gonna kiss you" I said sternly as I pushed his lips away with my finger, "you promised" he pouted, "I won fare and square" he smiled, "you cheated" I laughed, "plus that was never the deal" I smiled as he reached in again but I threw a pillow in front of my face,

"Stop" I laughed as I almost fell off the couch but he caught my arm, leaving a long pause in conversation, our eyes scanning the others. I fought the urge, it was near impossible.

"I'll stay in touch, I promise" I smiled as I kissed him on the cheek, he gathered himself and made me promise him something,

"Max, I can't do this to Tommy, what if she is his" I shrugged my shoulders, "It would ruin our relationship for nothing, plus when we... Tommy and I technically weren't even married" I made up an excuse, holding back tears.

"I need proof Nessa, if she is mine I'd like to at least meet her" he sighed before giving me hug, "you have met her, you're her godfather for goodness sake" I rolled my eyes as he nodded and silently left. I didn't know what to do.

I pulled up a picture of Lucy and Robyn up on my phone and studied their features, both looking identical to me as a child, Robyn had Tommy's sharp jaw and his eyes, Lucy didn't, she resembled me and me only. Frustration built up inside of me, What if when she was born I knew automatically that she was Max's? Would Tommy's and my relationship be over like that? Would I have been happier with Max?

"Hey Linda" I said into my phone,

"Hey Vanessa, How May I help you?" She asked, "Look Linda I know it's your day off but I need a favour and I need it now" I asked as she did what I said immediately.

"Thank you" I sighed into my phone, "they can be ready for you in the next hour" I heard her smile, proud of her fast work.

I didn't know if I really wanted to do this or not but seeing Max opened my eyes, I've gotta do this for Lucy.

I unlocked the front door and automatically wanted to leave again but I pushed myself through the large oak door, I walked up the glass staircase up to Lucy's bedroom where her and Nora were playing dolls with Robyn playing in an array of stuffed animals.

"Hey guys" I smiled as Nora stood up to great me but Lucy stayed sitting down at her playhouse while Robyn dove deep into the teddies, "careful" I warmed as I picked her up so she wouldn't suffocate in the mass of fluffy animals.

"Mrs Young, how was your day" Nora smiled as she took Robyn off of me, "Vanessa" I corrected her, "it was relaxing, thank you" I smiled, "is Tommy home?" I asked after a long silent pause, "Yeah, I think he could still be in the shed" she replied as I quickly left the bedroom.

I stepped into Lucy's bathroom and picked up her comb and slid it into my purse as well as heading to my bathroom and taking Tommy's. Lucy's was fine because it was easy to tell that it was hers and it was dark brown but Tommy's was a shade of blonde almost identical to mine so if something were to go wrong I would need extra proof but I needed to find a way to get more DNA.

"Hey" I smiled as I opened the sliding door to the shed, he had his headphones on and editing some song on his computer, obnoxiously chewing gum. "Hey" he bluntly replied as I pretended to enter the music room. I had to make it believable so I began to play the piano until I noticed the newly printed sheet music in front of me, I recorded myself playing The River Flows In You and just repeated it so Tommy thought I was distracted.

I slowly picked up the notes and began reading the lyrics we had written along with them, it was the piano I had played earlier for him before I left to the penthouse, the slow melody repeated in my head as I whispered the words to the song.

"Remember the words you told me, love me 'til the day I die
Surrender my everything 'cause you made me believe you're mine
Yeah, you used to call me baby, now you calling me by name
Takes one to know one, yeah
You beat me at my own damn game
You push and you push and I'm pulling away
Pulling away from you
I give and I give and I give and you take, give and you take
Youngblood
Say you want me
Say you want me
Out of your life
And I'm just a dead man walking tonight
But you need it, yeah you need it
All of the time
Yeah, ooh ooh ooh
Youngblood
Say you want me
Say you want me
Back in your life
So I'm just a dead man crawling tonight
'Cause I need it, yeah I need it
All of the time
Yeah, ooh ooh ooh
Lately our conversations end like it's the last goodbye
Yeah, one of us gets too drunk and calls about a hundred times
So who you been calling baby, nobody could take my place
When you're looking at those strangers, hope to god you see my face
Youngblood
Say you want me
Say you want me
Out of your life
And I'm just a dead man walking tonight
But you need it, yeah you need it
All of the time
Yeah, ooh ooh ooh
Youngblood
Say you want me
Say you want me
Back in your life
So I'm just a dead man crawling tonight
'Cause I need it, yeah I need it
All of the time
Yeah, ooh ooh ooh
You push and you push and I'm pulling away
Pulling away from you
I give and I give and I give and you take, give and you take
You're running around and I'm running away
Running away from you, from you
Youngblood
Say you want me
Say you want me
Out of your life
And I'm just a dead man walking tonight
But you need it, yeah you need it
All of the time
Yeah, ooh ooh ooh
Youngblood
Say you want me
Say you want me
Back in your life
So I'm just a dead man crawling tonight
'Cause I need it, yeah I need it
All of the time
Yeah, ooh ooh ooh
You push and you push and I'm pulling away
Pulling away from you
I give and I give and I give and you take, give and you take
Youngblood
Say you want me
Say you want me
Out of your life
And I'm just a dead man walking tonight" I read to myself before wiping away excess tears off my cheeks, did he really feel like this?

I sat opposite the piano and waited for silence to appear, I scribbled my name above the notes, the name of the song.

I slowly began playing music on the piano and joining lyrics with the song, connecting lines and adding pointers, making sure Tommy couldn't hear me, I changed words and notes to make it more catchy and believable. I finished up and almost left without what I needed,

"Where are you gonna put that gum? There's no bin in here" I asked, crossing my arms as if it bothered me, "Under the desk, I'll find somewhere" he replied distracted, I stuck out my hand as he placed the wet chewed up pink gum in my palm, I had to make it seem like I was pleased with him so I nodded and forced myself to close my fingers into my palm. I felt the gum quickly sticking to me, making it more difficult to peel it off.

"Perfect" I whispered.

(This chapter was long overdue😂 sorry I just started school but I'll be able to update more now so I'll try😂💜)