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Once Upon a Lifetime – By Kazza Part 46
“Liz, please speak to me …….. I’m ……….. I’m scared I’m ………… loosing you.” He admitted honestly, blinking away tears that were rapidly forming in his eyes. At that very moment, Max felt very vulnerable. Suddenly he had no control over how Liz was going to react. Inside he was scared that Liz wouldn’t be able to handle the possibility he had a daughter, petrified she would run a mile, leaving him broken and devastated. He knew without a doubt that he couldn’t let that happen, he couldn’t let the best woman he’d ever known walk out of his life. He loved her too much, he couldn’t live without her. It scared him to know he relied on someone so greatly. He’d always been independent …….. that was until Liz Parker had stepped into his life, and changed him so dramatically. Now he needed her, more than he’d ever needed anyone before. He needed Liz’s support, and craved the love she normally showered him with. Something told him it was the only way he was ever going to get through the terribly awful and distressing situation he was in at that moment. She had to forgive him ………… didn’t she? “Liz?” He called quietly once more, looking at her face for any flickers of compassion thrown in his direction. Normally he could read her emotions easily, but not this time. He wasn’t sure if it was because he was genuinely scared, or because she really was shutting him out. “That’s ………… that’s a lot ……… to take in.” She whispered, her eyes filled with emotion. “I know ………….. I’m so sorry Liz.” He replied, wishing he could do something to make the situation better. Taking a deep breath, Liz lifted her fingers to wipe away the tears that had escaped down her cheeks. “She wants you to have a blood test right?” She said, her voice choked with emotion. “Yeah.” He breathed. “Then you’ve got to do it Max. We have to know once and for all whether this child is yours or not. We can’t live in ‘maybe’ land Max.” She informed him, her voice becoming stronger as the words trailed out.
“If I stand by you? Of course I’m going to stand by you Max, I love you. I won’t deny that this isn’t the perfect situation, but I’m not going to run away because of it. What happened between you and Tess happened a long time ago …….. long before I came into your life ……….. I’m not about to hold that against you. But, if that little girl is your daughter, then she has a right to know her father ……… and no matter how painful it will be for me, you deserve the right to get to know her and love her.” Liz replied, trying to sound strong for Max. Strong certainly wasn’t how she was feeling at that moment. Scared, confused, worried, they more adequately described her feelings right then. It was hard, she couldn’t help it, there was so much to take in, so much to try and process. Max, Tess and baby, they were certainly not things she’d been expecting to deal with when she woke up that morning. But, Liz also knew that the path of true love rarely ran smoothly. In an idea situation Max would have nothing to do with his ex, but this was anything but an idea situation. In her heart Liz knew she had to trust and believe in her boyfriend ……….. and that meant allowing Max to have a father/daughter relationship if the girl was indeed his daughter. Just the mere thought of it sent shivers down her fragile spine. “Oh god this is such a mess.” Max sighed, stepping in and putting his arms around her, grateful that she didn’t pull away from him this time. “All the more reason to take the test and find out for sure.” Liz replied, burying her head in his chest. Holding her tight, Max took in a deep breath. Feelings of being scared slowly drained away from his body, being rapidly replaced with relief. Liz wasn’t going anywhere ………. He wasn’t going to loose his beautiful girlfriend over this mess. That night, Liz laid in Max’s arms and tried to get some sleep. It didn’t come easy for her though; she had too many thoughts flying around her mind. What if the child was Max’s? What if Tess wanted him back? What if Max wanted to go back? It was the last thought though that brought tears to her eyes. What would she do if Max left her? How would she survive? She loved him with all her heart. It was a love so strong, love that before she’d known Max she hadn’t believed was possible. Before him, everyone in her life had cut her down, made her feel inferior and unworthy of such love. But Max had stepped in to her life like a knight in shinning armour and changed all that. The thought of him leaving tore at her insides, made her stomach churn and forced tears to slowly slip down her already glistening cheeks. She had a feeling that without Max …….. her life just wouldn’t be worth living. As he dozed lightly, Max was suddenly aware of a dampness on his bare chest. Opening his eyes, he looked down at Liz and realised it was her tears scorching his skin. “Liz?
Are you ok?” He whispered
softly in case she was still asleep. “You’re crying ………. What is it?” He queried. “It’s nothing.” She lied. “Please Liz, the only way we’ll get through this is if we’re here for each other.” He said. “I’m just being silly, really.” “Talk to me Liz. Whatever it is you’re upset over it, so that means it’s not silly!” Max insisted firmly. “I’m scared.” She blurted out finally. “Scared? Of what?” He queried. “Scared that ………. That you’ll leave me for Tess.” Liz finally admitted. “What? Oh god no Liz, no!” He cried, pulling her even closer to him. “There is no way on this earth that I am going to go back to Tess, ever.” He said, putting his hands on her damp cheeks and lifting her face so he could look into her tear-filled eyes. “I love you Liz, I will never, ever leave you. Please don’t ever think I’ll go back to her, whether Paige is mine or not. Don’t you understand what you mean to me? All I care about is you, I can’t survive without you. You make me whole Liz, I’m no-one without your love.” He admitted, tears of emotion streaming down his cheeks. Lifting her head up, Liz gently kissed his soft lips. With her actions, their emotion filled tears mixed and fused together, allowing them to share and combine their pain. Up until that day, their relationship had been plain sailing, only calm waters and loving filling their lives. But they both knew they were in the middle of stormy waters, a rocky ride was ahead of them before they could find peace once more. “We’ll
get through this together Max. Let
our love guide us.” Liz
whispered. “But promise you won’t shut me out, we have to ride the waves together. That’s what being in a relationship is about. We’re stronger when we are together.” She said wisely “I won’t shut you out ……. I promise.” He replied, kissing her tender lings again. Finally relaxing, Max and Liz fell into a deep, somewhat more restful sleep. They were both safe in the knowledge they weren’t alone, they could overcome the first major obstacle of their relationship, no matter what the outcome of the blood test. The following morning in the office, Isabelle could sense the pensiveness of her brother and his girlfriend. Although she’d asked him if everything was ok, Isabelle wasn’t totally happy with his response. She could tell things weren’t all rosy in Max’s ‘perfect’ world. Isabelle found it strange though, Max and Liz were obviously besotted with each other, she couldn’t understand what might have happened to shatter the perfectness of the love they shared. Although under normal circumstances Isabelle would have pushed the issue, she didn’t that morning. Something told her it was a problem Max and Liz needed to sort out for themselves. Watching her through his office window, Max couldn’t help but notice how bad Liz looked. He knew she’d only just recovered from the flu, but she had a pale complexion and gaunt look in her face. She looked sick, and he had seen her dash off to the bathroom more than once that morning. He deduced she was probably sick with the worry he’d caused. Heading back to his desk, Max mentally kicked himself for the umpteenth time for putting Liz through such hell. It was bad enough for him to try to come to terms with the possibility he was a father, but he couldn’t even begin to imagine how Liz was feeling. Taking a deep breath, Max picked up the telephone receiver. Flipping the card over in his fingers, he paused for a moment before punching in the telephone number. It seemed to ring for an age before it was finally picked up. In the background, before the person spoke, Max could hear the shrill crying of a child, his possible daughter he assumed. “Hello?” “I’ve been better.” He replied, pausing for a moment. “Ok Tess, you’ve got your way, I’ll do it. I’ll take the blood test to find out if Paige is my daughter.” He said firmly.
Part 47
“Ok Mr Evans, I’m just going to explain what this procedure entails and then we’ll proceed.” Doctor Janet Mohan informed him. “A person’s DNA is made up of 46 Chromosomes, 23 from the father and 23 from the mother. What we do is take a few drops of your blood, which are in turn placed into a gel matrix. We obtain a single fragment of your DNA from that and turn it into a nylon membrane. This is then placed against a film which, when developed, reveals black bands where the probes are bound to the DNA. This gives us your DNA string, and if you are the father, your daughter’s chromosomes will match 23 of yours.” The Doctor reeled off, watching Max pale slightly under her medical babble. His head was spinning, plain and simple. The doctor had explained the procedure in graphic scientific detail, but it went way over his head. Tugging gently at his tie, Max couldn’t shake the feeling of being slowly, painfully strangled. Taking in a deep breath, he felt his lungs starting to hurt. It felt like all the air in the room was slowly but surely being sucked out, leaving no oxygen left. Fear was slowly rising inside him also as he thought about the reason for which he was there. Paige. Max really didn’t know what he was going to do if she was his. Yes he had thought about what it would be like to have a baby with Liz, but this was completely different. He loved Liz with all his heart, and he was convinced he was going to spend the rest of his life with her. Marriage and children naturally went hand in hand with that. But he didn’t love Tess. He wasn’t even sure if he liked her after her admission of cheating, but there was little he could do. If Paige was his, Max knew he’d have to bury any hatred he felt towards Tess. However much it scared him, Max knew he couldn’t run ……….. he was adult enough to face up to his mistakes. Paige was just a child, she hadn’t chosen any of it, he owed it to the little girl to be a proper father to her if the tests came back positive. “Do I get an English transition?” He asked, trying to lighten the mood of the stuffy room. “Basically, if the map of your DNA matches half of the child’s then she’s your daughter.” Janet said simply. “How accurate are the findings?” Max queried. The last thing he wanted was to have the test and then Tess contest the results. He wanted it over and done with once and for all when the results came through.
He
was sitting in a large office, lightly coloured wallpaper, light oak furniture
and two fairly large windows. It
was a modern office, that screamed practicality and tidiness. Although Max knew it was important to have the test, part of
him couldn’t help but wish he could get up and run away. What if he was the father of the child? His life would be changed forever. “Then
let’s get this over with.” Max
replied anxious to get out of the suffocating room. Once Janet Mohan was confident Max understood all the details, they headed down the corridor into another room. It was cold and clinical, almost laboratory like. Offering him a seat in the only chair in the centre of the room, Doctor Mohan turned to prepare the needle. Max felt hot, he couldn’t deny it, being jabbed with needles wasn’t his most favourite pastime. “Ok
Mr Evans, if you could just lift your sleeve up for me please.”
Janet Mohan instructed, turning back to Max with a syringe in her hand.
Taking
his time, Max slowly unbuttoned and rolled up his sleeve, still wishing he could
bolt from the room. At that moment,
Max wished he’d accepted Liz’s offer of coming with him.
He’d thought it would have been silly to have her come too, he was a
grown man and they were only taking a sample of blood after all.
But he couldn’t deny the fear churning around in his empty stomach. “Ok,
now this will only hurt for a moment.” Doctor
Mohan informed him, before stepping in and proceeding to take the blood sample.
“Right,
it’ll take a few days for the results to come back, and I will call yourself
and Miss Harding when you need to come back in.” Janet added, before leaving the room. Pushing
open the large glass doors, Max stepped out into the cool January sun.
Drawing in deep breaths to fill his aching lungs, he was relieved it was
over. Now all he had to do was get
through the next few days until the test results came through, and then he’d
know one way or the other. Heading back to his car, Max had a feeling the next couple of
days were going to be very long. Pausing
from the typing she was doing, Liz glanced at her watch.
It was a little after 2.30pm, and she was sure Max’s blood test would
be over by now. Inside she wished
he’d let her come too, she didn’t like the thought of being shut out.
Glancing back up at her computer screen, she noticed various typos in the
short text she’d typed. “This
is hopeless!” She thought to
herself, she just couldn’t think of anything except Max. At
that moment, she heard the doors to Evans’ Associates swing open and Max walk
inside. Their eyes locked for a
moment before Max headed towards his office.
Waiting for a few moments, so as not to make it completely obvious, Liz
picked up some messages she needed to hand to Max and headed to his office. “You
ok?” She queried, stepping inside
and closing the door. “I
guess so.” He replied, looking
tired. “That’s the first part
over with, now all we have to do is wait for the results.” He added. “Was
it ok? I mean, did the doctor give
you any indication?” Liz asked,
needing something to grasp on to. “Yeah
………. I know.” She replied
sadly, handing the messages to Max. “Oh,
Isabelle asked if she could have a quick meeting with you ASAP, something about
the Armstrong case you’re trying in two weeks time.” Pausing
in his office for a moment, Liz could feel the room fill up with tension.
Looking at Max she could see how much it was all taking its toll on her
boyfriend. Liz
was used to Max being assured, strong, in control and somewhat of a protector.
But at that moment, she saw a completely different side to him.
She saw someone who was vulnerable, tired ………. and just as scared
as she was. In
her life the only person to lean on her was Liz herself, but she suddenly
realised she needed to be the strong one in their relationship for a while.
Max needed her to feed comforting thoughts and words of ‘it’ll be
ok’ to him. “I’m
here if you need me Max.” She
added softly, before heading out of the room. Sighing
to himself, Max glanced at the messages Liz gave to him before heading off to
face his sister. “
…………. So you see, there could be a potential hole in the opposition’s
case if they go with this line of questioning.”
Isabelle informed Max. They
were in the boardroom, discussing the case they were trying in a few weeks time.
It was high profile, and they were both working on it to make sure they
came away with a victory. “Right.”
Max replied vaguely. No
matter what he did, he couldn’t seem to get his mind on the case.
Isabelle’s words swam around his brain, but none of them seemed to sink
in or make any sense. “Max?
Are you listening to me?” Isabelle
queried. “Erm
…….. yeah, I’m listening.” He
replied, trying to bluff his way through the meeting. “Then
what was I just talking about?” She
asked pointedly. “Something
about holes in the case?” He
replied hopefully, glancing at his sister. “For
god sake Max, get a grip! This is a
really important case and if we screw up there’ll be hell to pay.”
She ranted “You’re
sorry? Sorry isn’t good enough
Max! Now what the hell’s wrong
with you? You’re never normally
like this, work is important to you. What’s
wrong?” “Nothing.”
He replied quickly. “Talk
to me Max, it’s obvious something has been bothering you for the last couple
of days.” Isabelle probed.
She
wasn’t used to seeing her brother in such a state, whatever the problem was,
it was certainly having a bad effect on Max. “Please
Is, just drop it. It’s a private
matter and I don’t want to talk about it.”
Max insisted, not wanting to spill his guts to Isabelle and have her
judge him over his mistakes. “A
private matter? Max I’m your
sister, maybe I can help. Talk to
me, at least then I’ll understand why you’re spacing out on me.” Isabelle pushed. “Ok,
fine! You want to know everything
about me Isabelle!” Max snapped.
“Tess called the other day; she’s got a little girl who she thinks is
mine. I was taking a DNA test
earlier, that’s why I wasn’t around for your meeting.
Satisfied?” He retorted. It
wasn’t that Max meant to take his problems out on Isabelle, more that her
continued delving into his personal life coupled with worrying about the test
had pushed him to the limit. “Oh!
………. Max, I’m sorry.” Isabelle
replied, wishing she hadn’t pushed the situation.
She’d expected Max to tell her he was having problems with Liz or
something, nothing to do with Tess and certainly nothing to do with a child. “Yeah
whatever.” He brushed off. “Max,
I really am. You’re right, it was
none of my business and I shouldn’t have pushed you into telling me.” “I’m
sorry too Isabelle, I shouldn’t have bitten your head off for showing concern
for me. It’s just I can’t get
my head round it. It’s hard
enough to know I might have a daughter, but with Tess …….. god this is such
a mess.” Max said, rubbing his
hands over his face to hide his emotions. “It’s
ok Max, it’ll be ok. Does
………. does Liz know? Was that
why you met with Tess yesterday?”
“They’d
carry on loving you just the way you are. You
made a mistake Max, we all do it, mum and dad won’t judge you on that.
But …….. but what do you mean if the child is yours?
Is there a chance it isn’t?” She
queried.
“With
Trey? Oh my god how could she!
She knew what a bastard he is, how could she betray you with him?” “Then
go ahead, be my guest, scream if it’ll make you feel better.”
Isabelle offered. “That’s
better Max. Don’t let Tess get
you down. Right now you can’t
influence those tests. All you can
do is not let it affect your life. Stay
strong and things will work out.” Isabelle
replied knowingly. That night, Max laid awake, tossing and turning. He couldn’t sleep, he just wanted the next couple of days to fly past. He had to know the outcome of the DNA test, he had to know if he had an irrevocable connection to Tess for life.
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E-mail me at : Kaznstu@btinternet.com
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