Holy shit.

Creed was not wrong. She actually was happy he found me again.

“Okay, Chelle, gotta say you’re kinda freakin’ me out,” I admitted.

Her body gave a start then her lips twitched. “There it is, he didn’t tell you much about me.”

I grinned. “He did. I just didn’t believe him.”

Her lips tipped up but she didn’t commit fully to the smile before they untipped and she said softly, “You can believe him.”

I had to say, this was pretty cool and since it was, since she put it out there, since she paid two hundred dollars to do it and since she did really care a lot about Creed, I gave it to her.

“He’s my world. I’ve been lost for sixteen years without him. Lost, broken and lonely. Having him back makes me feel whole again. I’d die for him.”

“I hope you don’t have to but… good,” she replied.

I grinned at her. “I hope I don’t have to either. That would suck.”

She gave me a small grin back before she looked at my satchel then back at me. “Okay, well, I um… that’s kind of all I wanted to say or, uh… to hear. I don’t want to take up too much of your time so I’ll just head out.”

I nodded and stepped aside so she could pass. I followed her down the short hall and stopped away from the door where she stopped, hand on the handle, her head tipped down to look at it. She stood there a beat like that and didn’t move so I was about to call her name before her head snapped up and, not taking her hand from the handle, she turned to me.

“He didn’t tell you.”

Oh crap. This wasn’t good. Not only that she was clearly about to impart something on me that Creed had not gotten around to telling me but the look on her face that said not good things.

“Chelle, I don’t think –”

“It’s very him not to tell you,” she cut me off to say.

“If there’s something you’ve figured out he hasn’t told me, maybe we should let Creed tell me.”

“He might not and you should know. I know you don’t know already because you aren’t angry. You aren’t acting like a bitch.”

Okay, seriously did not like this.

“Again, how about we let Creed tell me.”

She ignored me. “He’s a good man. He feels guilt he shouldn’t feel. I did it to myself.”

“Chelle –”

“I deliberately got pregnant with Kara in order to trap him into marrying me.”

Holy shit!

I stared, mouth hanging open and everything.

Unfortunately, words kept coming through her lips.

“I knew he didn’t love me. I always knew he didn’t love me but I loved him. Too much. I did that to him and he loves Kara, Brand and when I got pregnant I knew something was wrong. He was battling with something in his past. He didn’t tell me what it was but I knew it was holding him back from living a full life. So I got pregnant, convinced him to try to get on with his life and he settled for me. I knew it the whole time, Sylvie. He’d never gotten over you, though I didn’t know the issue was you, and if I hadn’t done that to him, he’d still be alone. He could have come to you free and clear. You could have your own kids you’d named those names. It could have –”

“Please stop,” I interrupted her and before she could begin again I kept going. “I gotta say, it isn’t cool, doing that to a man, not deliberately. Shit happens, I get that but deliberately?” I shook my head. “And babe, I can tell you get that he feels shit for breaking your heart but there’s no going back now. There’s only forward and this is between you and Creed. You need to sit down with him and talk. It isn’t fair to any man to carry the load he’s carrying from breaking it off with you when the whole time you knew it was a possibility.”

She turned fully to me. “I’ve talked to him, he won’t listen.”

There it was. The reason she was telling me this.

She wanted me to intervene.

I had to put a stop to this and pronto.

“Right,” I began, “this is new, for you, him, me and we gotta feel this out as we go along but I can say at this juncture I’m uncomfortable with being a Creed, Chelle go between. If you’re here to corral me into helping you two work out your issues, just saying, again giving you the honesty, I got enough to deal with right now with Creed back in my life, things at home at the same time hoping your kids like me. I can’t be that for you and I’m not sure I ever want that role. If you want it, you gotta do it yourself. I’m not saying I don’t want to be involved in things as they crop up down the road. I’m going to be a member of this family and, babe, not to hurt you but Creed and I’ll be building our own. But I get there will always be a Creed and Chelle that raise two great kids and although you got your man and Creed has me, you two have to keep your shit together so you can do your best job raising those two kids and that doesn’t involve me. It doesn’t involve your man. It involves you and Creed. You with me?”

She studied me then replied quietly, “I’m with you, Sylvie.”

I nodded then continued, “We got a job, you, me, Creed and your man, to be cool always for your kids. You probably know Creed had a revolving door of father figures and my stepmom was a loser. No kid deserves that and I never wanna do that to a kid, especially not kids that are Creed’s. So let’s find ways to figure that out so they don’t feel this and just know they have a lot of love centered around two great parents who want the best for them.”

I saw her eyes warm before she told me, “I think we can do that job.”

“I know we can,” I returned.

She held my gaze then nodded before saying, “I’m glad you feel that way, Sylvie, because that’s the way I was hoping it would be. Every, uh… ex-wife who’s a Mom always fears when her ex finds another woman and what that will bring. I’m pleased it brought you.”

I grinned again and stated, “You trapped him or not, babe, he got you pregnant so he did choose you so let’s just say Tucker Creed has good taste.”

She grinned back. “Yeah, let’s say that.” At my nod, she finished, “I should get going.”

“Later, Chelle.”

“’Bye, Sylvie.”

She turned to go but I stopped her by calling her name and she turned back. “Just out of curiosity and if it’s personal between you two, you don’t have to tell me but why do you call him Tucker?”