Hope you like it. :) I'll try to make the chapters longer!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I woke up in the middle of the night, with sharp pains in my stomach. Gasping, I put my hand over my round belly and tried to breathe in and out, my eyes shut tight.

"Tessa? Baby, you okay?" Cash asked, sitting up and looking at me worriedly.

"The baby's coming," I ground out as another contraction shot through me. Cash cursed and got out of bed, pulling on a tee shirt and throwing on a sweater over it as it was still winter and cold. He grabbed the baby bag and came over to help me up. Just then, something wet splashed down from my 'down there'.

I looked up at Cash wide-eyed. "Hospital?" I whispered.

He nodded and helped me change as quick as I could into loose pants and one of his shirts. Then he picked me up and carried me to the car.

The next four hours were a blur. All I remembered was pain, more pain, me screaming, Cash whispering to me and my mom telling me what a good job I was doing. Then finally, I felt relief and heard a cry.

When the nurse handed me my son, I had tears in my eyes. I looked at his wispy, brown hair and lovely, green eyes. I was so filled with love for this little human being that Cash had blessed me with. My heart seemed to be bursting with it.

"Cash, he's so beautiful," I sobbed, clutching my tiny baby in my weak arms. "Thank you. Thank you so much." I lifted my head to him and brought his face closer to mine so I could kiss him. My tears melted into his skin.

"He has your eyes," Cash commented after the kiss, leaning over my shoulder to get a good look at the baby. Our baby.

"And he has your hair. And nose. And lips. And everything." I smiled.

"What do you want to call him?" he asked, stroking the baby's fine hair.

I stared at my son's green eyes for a moment before finally coming to a conclusion. "Tanner. Tanner Calvin Gallagher."

Cash looked at me surprised. "You want to give him my name?" he asked.

"Yes," I laughed. "You're his daddy."

There was a moment of silence and then Cash gently lifted Tanner from my arms. The way he cradled the baby, it was so loving, tears instantly sprung up in my eyes. I was so happy. I lay back tiredly and the last thing I saw before I fell asleep was Cash pressing his lips to Tanner's forehead.

-

I was at the park for a long time because not only did Tanner started crying when I tried to put him in the stroller, but I made some new friends.

One of them was a single father, Devin who knocked up his girlfriend at seventeen only for her to run off after the birth of their daughter. He was nineteen now and even though he was five years younger than me, he was mature way beyond his years. So I enjoyed his company.

His little girl, Bailey, was adorable at one year old. She was a replica of her daddy, with his hazel eyes and curly blonde hair. She also had his natural tan skin, something I was jealous of, because I had to spend hours in the sun to get a tan.

Looking at Bailey waddling around, playing with her toddler friends made me wish I had a little girl, too. Cash and I had talked about children before, before we'd even got engaged and he'd always wanted to be a father, but wanted to wait a while. Then I wondered - maybe it was the unplanned pregnancy that had made him leave. And if so, why couldn't he have at least told me?

I shook thoughts of Cash from my mind and focused on Devin. He was handsome, I noticed, so I could imagine him being the popular guy in high school with all the beautiful girlfriends. I liked that he wasn't superficial, though and we connected through being single parents.

Even though he was a few years younger than me, he was mature and I really liked talking to him. He was like a breath of fresh air. I didn't know him from my past - he was completely new to me and that was welcoming.

We finally parted, though, when I got a text from Paige to meet her at her home. When I glanced at the time, it was four, which I was surprised by. I'd been at the park for so many hours. I felt a little guilty leaving Devin, but he had work anyway, so we hugged and I left with Tanner, who finally stopped fussing and latched onto my hair, trying to chew on it.

I walked back inside my one-story house and put the blanket and picnic basket away. I threw Tanner's baby bag over my shoulder and held Tanner in one arm with his head on my shoulder, about to head about to head out to the car when my phone began to ring.

I didn't bother looking at the caller ID and instead slid my thumb across the screen, puttting the phone to my ear. "Hello?"

"Tessa!"

Holy crap. I almost dropped the phone or Tanner or both, but I managed to keep hold of both. I laid Tanner down on the couch and he grabbed his little booties, trying to bring them closer to his mouth. I tried to smiled at him, but the worry at having my ex-mother-in-law call me made it a little shaky.

"Hello, Kathryn," I murmured wondering why she was calling me.

I could hear the disapproval in her voice as she spoke. "I'm not happy with you, Tessa."

"Um," I stammered, not knowing what to say, but she began to talk, interrupting me.

"You should've came to me as soon as Calvin left," she said, angrily. "Instead, I have to find out that I lost my daughter when my son comes in with some...some...tramp!" she exclaimed and the disgust in her voice made me almost laugh. Almost. Instead,I ended up choking up as the full meaning of her words sank in. Calvin was with another woman. Tears blurred my eyes.

"I thought you knew," I spoke quietly into the phone

Kathryn sighed. "Tessa, love, I'm so sorry. I don't know what's gotten into him. He loved you so much - anyone could see it. What brought this divorce along?" she asked gently.

I gulped and tried not to burst out crying. I had to be strong for my baby. Tanner would sense my discomfort and would begin to fuss and I didn't want that to happen when he looked so peaceful, trying to chew his bootie with his mouth, smiling up at me with his mossy, green eyes cherublicly.

"I don't know, Kathryn. It just...happened." I turned away from Tanner and wiped the tears that had begun to gather in my eyes.

I could imagine Kathryn scowling. She was a headstrong woman and didn't take lightly to being left out of the loop. "I kicked him out, though. I won't have him disrespecting you and my only grandson."

"He's your son, Kathryn," I told her.

"Calvin is a fool, that's what he is. No son of mine would turn his back on his child. I won't have it. As long as he continues to be an idiot, I'm not letting him in my home," she replied stubbornly. I knew there was no changing her mind and I couldn't help, but feel just the tiniest bit smug that Cash wasn't getting away with leaving his family.

"What does Caleb have to say about that?" I asked, referring to my former father-in-law.

There was some shuffling from the other end of the line. "He doesn't agree with me turning Calvin away, but he isn't siding with him either. We both miss you, Tessa. Please don't make us pay for our son's mistake and keep our Tanner away," she pleaded.

I swallowed. "Of course not. I'm at Springfield. You can come visit anytime," I assured her.

Kathryn sounded wistful when she spoke. "I was devastated when I learned I couldn't carry another child after Calvin, Tessa. And then you came along and you were the daughter I'd always wanted. That still hasn't changed."

This time a tear slipped down my cheek. "Thank you, Kathryn," I murmured. We were both silent for a little while; there was nothing else to say. So we exchanged good-byes and I hung up. I scooped up Tanner again, playfully squeezing his foot, making him laugh. I smiled at him, pressing my lips to his hair and walked out to my car. Paige texted me her address and I already knew the way since that was a rich neighborhood and all the best parties used to be held around there.

Paige's house was the only one painted blue in the midst of white colored homes. It was such a Paige thing to do, I had to laugh. I got out of the car and picked up Tanner, leaving his bag in the car and walked to the front door. He cooed, fascinated as I rung the doorbell and the sound chimed through the house.

An attractive blonde-haired, blue-eyed man opened the door and I was rendered speechless. Paige definitely knew how to pick them. Jay - I'm guessing this was her husband - was gorgeous. He was all tan skin and lean body and nice lips with a little, barely noticable, but cute cleft on his chin.

There was genuine friendliness in his eyes as he smiled at me. "You must be Tessa. It's really nice to meet you. I've been hearing about you for a long time," he said to me.

A blush swept across my cheeks and the corners of my lips tilted upwards. "Yes, and you're Jay. It's nice to meet you, too."

"And this is Tanner, right?" Jay turned his attention to my baby who was shying away from this new man and trying to hide in my shoulder.

"Yeah. He's a little cautious around new people," I said apologetically.

Jay smiled reassuringly. "That's okay. Come on in. Paige is waiting for you inside."

I walked into their beautifully decorated living room. It wasn't too crowded and there was plenty of space to move around in. And enough space for two children to play around. As I looked at the fireplace, one picture instantly caught my attention.

It was me. Me and Paige, arms around each other, cheeks pressed together, in our graduation uniform, bright smiles on our faces. I had the exact same picture in my house, only it wasn't up in a frame. I suddenly felt guilty - how could I have so easily forgotten the people who had loved me so much?

"Hey, Momma," Paige said to me, grinning. She was sitting on the couch, eating diced fruit from a green bowl. "Is that my godson?" she asked. "Give him here!"

I laughed. I kind of expected that. Paige sat up, struggling a little with her big stomach and held out her arms. Tanner went into them willingly and with no resistant. I watched in awe because he always put up a fight when strangers tried to hold him.

"See? He loves me already. I can't believe you deprived this child of my amazing company for so long. You're a fool," Paige told me simply as she crooned to Tanner and he babbled away to her. Jay smiled at us, excused himself and left somewhere into the house. I honestly didn't mind him leaving. I could talk to him another time. I just wanted to spend time with my new-old best friend.