You'll meet Tessa's former best friend in this chapter. :) But the next chapter is where the fun begins! :) I promise!

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"How long have we been together, Tessa?" Cash asked mysteriously as we sat across from each other in a classy, expensive restaurant. He was wearing a tailored suit that made him look edible, his hair gelled up and blue eyes sparkling with mischief. I was wearing a green dress that hugged my slim body with my hair done in an up-do, a few loose curls hanging loose.

I looked pretty, or at least I hoped I did. My make-up wasn't overly done and I had made sure the dress I had picked emphasized my tan legs. And my strappy, black heels gave me the extra height I needed that lost made my legs look long as well.

"Eleven months," I said slowly, wondering where he was going with this. And I wasn't sure what to make of that look in his eyes. I didn't really like surprises much.

"And in that eleven months, you fell in love with me like I fell in love with you, right?" he continued. His words sent butterflies fluttering in my stomach and I felt that warm feeling I always got when he said the big L word.

"Of course," I murmured, reaching over. Cash met me half way, grasping my hand in between his and squeezing gently.

"Tessa, I know you might think this is going too fast, but I love you so much. I don't think I can wait any longer." He stood, pulling me up onto my feet as well and gazed at me with a tender look in his light colored eyes. At the moment, my heart seemed to stop. Cash slowly knelt down on one knee and everyone went quiet. The restaurant that had been murmuring before was now completely silent as everyone stared at us. "Tessa, in the past year, you became my love, my life, my everything. Will you make me the happiest man alive by agreeing to marry me?"

There were tears in my eyes by the time he finished and when I swiped at my cheeks, not caring about my make-up. When the blurriness faded, I noticed the velvet box he held in his hand, snapped open to reveal a platinum, princess cut, engagement ring that had a beautiful, sparkling diamond right on the top. He had remembered I didn't like flashy things and had gotten a decent size ring instead of one with those huge rocks I'd seen some of his colleague' wives wearing.

I knew I was taking a long time to answer, but it had literally knocked the breath out of me that he had proposed. That was the last thing I had expected. Cash was shifting on his knee, looking at me with nervous eyes. "Tessa?" he questioned.

I snapped out of it and barely just stopped myself from screaming out loud. "Yes," I whispered, breathlessly. "Yes, I will marry you." A smile lit Cash's face and he slid the ring on my third finger on my left hand.When that was done, he stood up and pulled me into his arms for a loving kiss.

There was applause through the restaurant and I pulled back to rest my forehead on his shoulder, blushing with embarassment. Cash laughed and hugged me tight.

"Thank you, Tessa, for making me love and feel love in return."

-

The next day, I went to check out my new house with Tanner.

I was glad to see that most of Tanner's things had been placed inside the nursery already, even though they weren't exactly in orderly fashion. I knew I wouldn't be able to move everything by myself, because I wasn't really physically strong, so I decided I'd ask the teenage guys I'd seen skating and playing ball in the neighborhood to help me out.

The house was really homely. The rooms weren't too big, but the living room was spacious enough for Tanner to play around in and the yard was decent sized as well. Overall, I loved our new home and my baby seemed to like it as well as he cooed, with his eyes lit up in joy, a smile stretching out his pouty lips.

"You like your new home, darling?" I asked, cradling him close. "Isn't it beautiful?" Tanner only replied by making adorable gurgling noises, tugging on my loose locks. I smiled at him and walked out, closing and locking the door to the house behind me. "We need to do some shopping, don't we?" I crooned. "But first, mommy needs to get a job."

I went for the obvious choice and drove to the diner that my friends and I used to occupy our time at all the time when we were in high school. It was popular and always busy, so I hoped that there was some kind of hiring there. Even though Cash said he'd send child support every month, I didn't want to rely on him. And I would only touch that money strictly for Tanner. I had help and support - I didn't need him.

When I arrived at the diner, I took out the little, baby car carrier and strapped Tanner into it, lifting it by the handles. I walked inside the diner, smiling at the young young who held it open for me and looked around at my childhood hang out place. It was mostly the same, except the paint was fresher and there were more pictures framing the walls.

I walked towards the counter, glad to see there wasn't a line and smiled at the teenage waitress. Her name tag had the word Lucy on it. "Hello," I greeted, smiling at her. "Is Damien or Shay available?" I asked, hoping at least one of diner owners were. They were a really sweet middle aged couple and knew me since I was just a toddler.

"Damien is in his office. Why?" she asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow at me. But when she saw Tanner, her eyes softened the slightest bit at his cooing and baby babbles.

"Will you please get him? Tell him that Tessa Ryan would like to speak to him," I requested politely.

Lucy nodded, though she looked a little hesitant. She walked towards the back and knocked on the door before stepping in. She was gone for at least four minutes before Damien barged out, still tall, still big in general and as intimidating as ever.

"Tessa Mackenzie Ryan!" he boomed, unintentionally attracting the attention of everyone in the diner. They all looked at him and then me. I blushed a little. "Well, it's been a very long time," he said. "Too long of a time," he added. Then his eyes flickered down and widened as he noticed Tanner. Damien crossed the distance between us. "You and I, we have some talking to do, missy," he said, taking the baby carrier from my hand and leading me to his office. I saw Lucy and some of the other waitresses giving me curious looks.

After closing the door behind us, he set the carrier down on his practically empty desk and sat down on his seat, just staring at Tanner with an astonished look on his face. Damien and Shay hadn't been able to have children because of some problems in their past that they hadn't shared with anybody. Damien gently ran his large, calloused hand down Tanner's cheek, before finally looking at me with a warm smile.

"He has your eyes," he said.

I nodded. "All of his other features are his father's, though." Damien's eyes flickered to my left hand, no doubt searching for a wedding ring. I had mailed my engagement and wedding ring back to Cash's office a day before I had left. I smiled a little sadly. "I got divorced about a month ago. The father isn't in the picture anymore," I explained.

"Our little Tessa, married, divorced and a mother? Things have certainly changed in six years," he noted.

"Yes they have," I agreed. "But I came here for a reason, Damien. I don't have a job and I was hoping..."

Damien set his hands down on his desk right in front of him. "Done," he said straight away, knowing that what I was going to ask for was a job. "You know Shay and I would do anything for you," he said. "We really missed you, Paige and all the others coming in and creating a ruckus in here." Damien grinned.

I laughed and got up, walking around to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you, Damien. I really appreciate it! I can start in a week? I have to buy new furniture and decorate my new house."

Damien ruffled my hair. "Okay, kiddo." Damien looked over at Tanner again. "Now what is that little man's name?"

-

An hour later, after a heartfelt reunion with Shay because she was always an emotional person, I was on my way back to my parent's home with a very sleep baby in my company. I dropped him off with a kiss and got back in my car to head to the mall. It wasn't a long drive, which I was grateful for because more time alone meant more time to think about Cash and how he had broken my heart. When I arrived, I locked my car, grabbed my purse and walked towards the main entrance.

It was cool inside and I shivered because I was only wearing a casual, blue dress that came up to right above my knees with strappy white sandals. I rubbed my arms and walked through the mall, looking for a store where I could buy a bed, couches, tables. I knew there had been one the last time I was here, but that was six years ago.

I was looking around and not walking where I was going, so when I bumped into someone, I was knocked backwards, yelping in surprise. I didn't hear any thumps, so obviously the other person had caught him or herself in the nick of time.

I looked up, apology written all over my face. "Oh gosh, I am so sor-." Then my voice trailed off when I noticed who it was. I shakily got to my feet and stared at the girl - no, woman, I had grown up with. "Paige?" I asked.

Paige stared back at me, her right hand protectively cupping her bulging stomach. "Tessa, is that you?"

"Oh my gosh, Paige!" I cried, throwing my arms around her. Her arms came around me as well and then we were hugging in the middle of the mall and there were tears in my eyes and dripping down my cheeks. "Oh, God," I sobbed.

"I can't believe it's you," she breathed. "Do you have any idea about how much I missed you?" She pulled back only a little and wiped her eyes. I swiped at my cheeks to brush away the tears.

"I missed you, too," I said sincerely.

Paige got an angry look on her face and punched my shoulder. Hard. One thing about Paige was she didn't mess around. She was the violent, aggressive one in our friendship while I was always going to for the civil road. I didn't like fighting and she did. We evened each other out. "If you missed me, why did you stop calling me?" she demanded. "First year of college, we're still best friends. Then, you just distance yourself!" she exclaimed angrily.

My face fell and her resolve softened for a minute. But then she was back to glaring at me. "I know, I know. I was wrong. College took up all of my time, Paige and I guess I got caught up in the high, you know. It was really wrong of me, but I guess...I didn't have time for everyone else anymore. It was all about me." I frowned as I realized how selfish that sounded. "But I'm back now, Paige. And I want my best friend again, Paige. And I want to meet my godchildren." I put my hand over her stomach.

Paige pouted at me. "Who said they were your godchildren?" she grumbled.

I smiled weakly at her. "Is there another best friend I should know about?" I teased. Even though I felt incredibly anxious. I didn't want her to replace me because even though I had lost contact with Paige, I never made another best friend. Not someone I trusted all my secrets with and told everything to.

"No," she muttered. "Unfortunately. It'd serve you right."

I squealed like a little girl and hugged her tightly. "I'm really happy to hear that, Paige!"

"Oh, okay, okay. Just stop crushing me," she whined, but she was laughing.

I smiled, too. "So what are you doing here?"

"Baby shopping. You?" We began to walk in the direction Paige was going.

"I need some things for my new house," I explained.

Paige nodded, understanding. "Come on, if you help me, I'll help you. And we need to catch up. You have to tell me what you have been up to and why you are suddenly back," she said, grabbing my hand and swinging it back and forth like we used to do when we were teenagers.

"As you wish, Your Highness," I said, bowing to her mockingly.

She slapped the back of my head and I winced, but I was still smiling. I was going to get my best friend back.