"Brooklyn Johnson versus Dorian King" across the top of the papers curved Lincoln's lips downward in a deep frown as he thumbed through the file. Brooke had been served recently by her ex-husband for sole physical custody of Melody King. Dorian was accusing Brooke of being negligent. That was a ridiculously preposterous claim.

Recollections of the conversations Lincoln overheard between Brooke and her ex husband came to mind. He pressed his eyes closed as the angry, hateful and abusive words replayed. This guy was a real piece of work. Scanning the papers further, Lincoln saw that Brooke was now commissioning the courts to find her ex and claim back child support.

Good.

The soft singing had stopped which caught his attention. Righting all the papers and closing the file, Lincoln put it back exactly where it was.

Brooke emerged from the front bedroom practically tiptoeing as she closed the door softly behind her. She found Lincoln standing in front of the unlit fireplace staring at the portraits hanging on the wall.

"Thank you for waiting," Brooke whispered softly on a sigh stopping a few feet away from him. She sensed he was upset the whole night and wanted to give him space.

When Lincoln pivoted to face her, hands again shoved in his pockets, he noticed how tired she appeared. The week must have been rough on her especially considering the stress added by the legal aspect now dumped on her lap.

He faced back toward the pictures and let out a heavy sigh. "I should have seen the resemblance."

"She's my mini-me," Brooke smiled brightly as she gazed up at her daughters portrait. It was taken earlier in the fall when Melody was the same age as Brooke in her own childhood portrait. "I honestly don't know where she gets the blonde hair from, though. The blue eyes are most likely paternal genes."

Lincoln turned back to her, eyes downturned in pain as he exhaled through his nose. "Why didn't you tell me, Brooke?"

Anger flared inside her faster than Brooke expected. Brows furrowed deeply as she turned to face him.

"Why didn't I tell you?" She repeated in a hiss. "Let's see... the first night we met what did you have to say about single moms?" Tapping her chin dramatically, she looked up at the ceiling thinking. "Oh yes, that they give lame excuses to flake like not having a babysitter, they are clingy, desperate for attention and over eager to find someone to do everything for them. Does that about cover it?"

"I wasn't referring to you," He defended lamely, his cheeks flushing as his adam's apple bobbed.

Brooke sighed in irritation. "I tried to tell you that not all single moms were like that but you brushed me off."

"You had plenty of other opportunities!" He snapped, shaking an accusing finger at her.

"Like when, huh?" She countered, crossing her arms under her chest. "After I broke down because of a phone call from my ex? When you cornered me in a karaoke room? Or when you were on top of me?   Any of those times would have seemed like I was desperate to keep you, getting over attached or, what word did you use?  Clingy.  Then you were spouting sonnets about wanting only me. It will never be only me!"

Lincoln shifted his feet and glanced down momentarily as he released a tense sigh. "You should have found a chance, any time at all to tell me."

A long moment of silence passed before Brooke shrugged. The only sound was the soft ticking of the wall clock. "You're right."

"What?" His green eyes instantly flicked up to meet her calm gaze.

"I said you are right," She repeated her voice sounding defeated. "The fact of the matter is, I probably should have just told you that night we first met at the nightclub. You would've walked away, not given me the time of day and we wouldn't be here."

"Brooke, I'm not saying-" Lincoln tried but Brooke raised a hand to silence him and continued.

"The truth is, I was scared," She confessed, shrugging again. "I had never felt so harshly judged by your comments. Never in a million years would I have guessed you were going to show up at my school and ask for my number let alone coffee. If someone had told me we'd end up at a cabin for an accidental romantic weekend, I would have laughed bitterly in their face. Even more so if they had told me I'd end up falling for you, too."

She scoffed, rolling her eyes and tilting her face to the ceiling blinking away the hot tears. Inwardly, Brooke scolded herself for admitting that out loud. Could she sound anymore desperate or pathetic? Lincoln stayed frozen in his spot, jaw clenched and emerald orbs locked on her every move.

"Once we really got talking," She continued, her voice much softer, gentler. "I discovered I could be Brooke the woman around you. Not the teacher, not the mom, not the divorcee or abuse survivor but simply a woman...and I really enjoyed that rarity. I just...I got scared."

"What did I do to scare you out of telling me?" Lincoln asked, flinching as if she had stung him.

"Everything," Brooke smiled through a sigh, extending her hands toward him. "You made me feel things I have never felt before. It terrified me because I didn't, still don't, want to lose it. I had no way of knowing if this would work out so I figured why bother telling you, letting you into our lives just to have you walk out shortly after hurting not only me but my daughter as well? Melody gets very attached to people. In the long run, she would be the one most hurt by your leaving. She doesn't have a relationship with her dad nor does she remember him. Any man I introduce to her, she would attach to as a father figure. I have to protect her from that heartbreak she's too young to understand if the guy doesn't stick around. Is it so terrible I wanted to see if we had any chance of longevity?"

Emerald orbs narrowed to slits as Lincoln crossed his arms over his chest. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

Brooke visibly flinched, eyes narrowed to slits. "Of course I was," she whispered, hazel eyes shimmering with a fresh onslaught of tears. "If... when you came to visit I was going to tell you at dinner."

"You would have waited nearly another month?" He ground out.

"I felt it was news important enough to tell in person," Brooke defended, wrapping her arms protectively around herself.

Lincoln ran a frustrated hand through his hair. Many thoughts raced through his mind. Anger intermixed with them, still upset that she didn't find some opportunity to tell him this news. That idea, he was stuck on.

Sensing the tension thickening and rising along with her anxiety and heart rate, Brooke decided to rip the bandaid off for him if Lincoln was too chicken to do it himself.

"Look," She sighed, eyes flicking down as she shifted nervously on her feet. "I know this is a lot, you clearly are really upset and frankly, I don't blame you. Let me just make this clear right now. If you are hesitating any bit of taking on my baggage of a kid, there is the door."

To add emphasis, Brooke pointed at the ominous front door adjacent to where they were standing. Contrary to the relief she guessed would be feeling, Brooke felt terror race through her body. Terror that he would indeed walk, contradicted by the fear he would actually stay.

Lincoln's nostrils flared with the deep intake of breath filling his lungs. Was she really giving an ultimatum right now? She kept the secret, she was caught! Now she was giving him the choice to either suck it up and turn a blind eye to the lack of honesty or leave and give up on them?

"I need time," came his gruff, gravelly answer. He kept his gaze on her, noting her sharp intake of breath.

Giving a slow nod, Brooke swallowed hard. She glanced down so Lincoln wouldn't see the tears burning to fight for escape. Pity was never acceptable. He had never given it and there was no way Brooke would allow it now. With a single nod of acknowledgement, Brooke lowered her hand and stepped aside giving Lincoln a clear walkway toward the door.

For a moment, Lincoln hesitated. Did he really want to walk away from this? She was trying to protect her child. Knowing a bit of what Brooke had been through, wasn't it reasonable for her to be skeptical? Couldn't he accept that? On the other hand, what had he done to earn the distrust? Plenty, but hadn't he made up for it?

He parted his lips to say something but then clamped shut, his jaw tightly clenching. Instead of saying anything, Lincoln forced himself forward and strolled toward the door. His hand gripped the handle, hesitating again as he squeezed his eyes closed. If he walked out this door, there was no guarantee he would ever get Brooke back. It was a great risk.

Still, without a backward glance, he thrust the door open, stepped through and closed it behind him with finality.

Brooke flinched at the sound of the door slamming. Eyes closed, the tears fell freely. She clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle the sob that wracked her body. In a moment of desperation, Brooke sprinted toward the door, sprawling her fingers across the cool wood.

Hand curling into a tight fist, Brooke slammed it against the hard surface, growling through her sob in bitter fury that Lincoln did exactly what she feared would happen when she told him about her daughter.

"Mommy?" The soft, sleepy voice of Melody broke through Brooke's emotional breakdown.

"Yeah, honey?" Brooke replied, furiously wiping the tears and forcing deep breaths of air into her lungs before she turned around to give a weak smile at her daughter.

Melody rubbed her sleepy eyes and stepped into the archway closer to Brooke. "Mommy, what's wrong? Are you crying? Where is Lincoln?"

"He uh..." Her lip fand voice quivered. "He had to get going, sweetie."

"Did you fight?"

"You could say that," Brooke half heartedly smiled but it quickly faded.

The baby blue orbs looked sadly up at her mother. "Did he leave because of me?"

"No! No, of course not!" Brooke answered, trying her best to be calm and reassuring.

Now Melody's lip trembled as tears welled. "But you said if he didn't want me as baggage to leave and...he left."

"Oh, Melody!" Fresh tears fell down Brooke's cheeks and Melody's as Brooke knelt to embrace her daughter. "You are not baggage!" She stated firmly, squeezing the child tighter. "Honey, I..."

Brooke hesitated, keeping her hold on Melody firm. How could she explain this to a five year old? This wonderful bundle was so intuitive at times, understanding ideas and concepts at a deeper level than most children her age. So, Brooke chose to be honest. Shifting her hands to hold Melody's upper arms, Brooke drew back to meet her child's vibrant, expressive eyes.

"I should not have referred to you as baggage," Brooke confessed. "You are not baggage to me. You are a blessing that I am so thankful every day I have in my life. I don't want to imagine where I would be without you. If Lincoln or any other man can't handle we are a package deal, then as painful as it may be, we let him walk. We deserve better."

Throwing her arms around her mother, Melody clung her tiny body to Brooke, mumbling an "I love you, Momma."

"I love you, too," Was her instant reply. "Let's go to bed."

Scooping her daughter up, Brooke rose and carried Melody to her bedroom content with sharing the large bed with her daughter. In a few short years, Melody would be too cool to have sleepovers with her mom or snuggle so these moments were precious and treasured.

On the other side of the door, Lincoln pressed his forehead to the cold surface hearing every heartfelt word. His hand clenched in a fist from his long contemplation over knocking to seek reentry. Each word hit him like a bullet. Melody had heard everything. Both adults had assumed she was sleeping. Now he understood a little better the caution behind Brooke's decision.

When he heard the declaration of going to bed, Lincoln knew he lost his brief moment of opportunity, that last fleeting chance to reconcile. Dejected, he shoved his fist back into the pockets of his jeans and slowly stepped away from the cold barrier.

*Hides*  Please don't hate me lol

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<3