Chapter 5; Jade

It wasn't long before Leah began to show.  She was really excited about being a mother.  I on the other hand wasn't so excited.  I had no idea how to be a father.  I was going to be so focused on my career as well that I probably wouldn't even have time to help Leah raise the baby.

She wanted a girl so badly that she was willing to try out any rumor she'd heard, including staying on a watermelon only diet.

Even on maternity leave the woman couldn't sit still.  She was always on a cleaning frenzy and she was developing an obsession with cleaning.

She had a certain look in her eye every time she'd walk past me, it was like she could sense I was feeling trapped in this relationship.  Like she knew I was in love with Shanna, and not her.

It was getting obvious to both of us though, that things weren't exactly working out anymore.  We could be standing side by side, yet seem like we were in separate universes.

Eventually the time came, and Leah went into labor.  We were both terrified, but I rushed her to the hospital right away.

We came home a few days later with a baby girl.  Her name was Jade, Jade Grey.

It was weird holding Jade.  She was so small and fragile and I didn't like holding her because I was afraid I'd drop her.  I didn't have the slightest clue how to take care of an infant.  I never really planned on being a father and I was probably going to be a useless one.  Leah seemed to know what she was doing thankfully and she loved Jade more than anything.

But I did feel a connection with her, that fatherly bond every dad has for their child.  It was such a powerful feeling, and there weren't words to describe it.

Leah let me go to a party a few days later to have some fun and unwind.  I hadn't expected to see Shanna there but I was so happy she was.  We had a lot of catching up to do.

We talked outside of the house for the whole party just talking and catching up.  It turned out she had a boyfriend named Wesley.  I'd be lying if I claimed I wasn't jealous, but I was still with Leah.

But suddenly I did something I wished I'd done a long time ago, I finally let go of everything I'd been holding back and I kissed her.  This may have been a big mistake though, as it had completely slipped my mind that there were paparazzi watching us.  It had been caught on camera and was soon to be put all over the world in magazines and TV shows, that we had both cheated.

When I got home from the party, I had found a heart wrenching surprise.  There was a note taped to the fridge from Leah, the paper had marks and smears on it from what appeared to be tear drops.

Dear Damien,

They say if you love someone, let them go.  I want you to be happy, and you're not happy with me.  So, I'm letting you go.  Don't try to find me, by the time you read this I'll be long gone, back in my hometown hopefully.  I'm leaving Jade with you, I need a fresh start and it would be much too painful to bring her with.  I'll never forget you two.  Make sure Jade knows I love her more than anything.  If she ever asks, tell her I passed away when she was a baby.  I don't want her to know the truth.  You better take good care of her Damien, I'll find out if you don't.

Love,

Leah

I couldn't believe what I was reading.  Leah had left.  For good.  And I had to raise Jade alone now.

Sure enough Jade was laying in her crib and Leah was nowhere in the apartment to be found.  It was just us two from now on.  But I had no idea what to do.

But I was going to have to find a way.  For Leah, I would raise Jade to be the best she could possibly be, even if it killed me or my career.  I would be there to protect her and catch her whenever she falls.  She was my responsibility now, and I would make Leah proud.  It was the least I could do to repay her for letting me go.

 I was able to be with the one I had always loved now, I couldn't thank Leah more for that  However, Shanna didn't have the heart to break up with Wesley, and somehow the pictures the paparazzi had taken hadn't seemed to bother him at all.  I didn't want her to keep sneaking around his back though.

Jade looked more and more like her mother each day.  Jade had Leah's brown hair and light brown eyes.  She seemed to be healthy and quite smart, meaning I had to be doing something right.  Shanna did help me out a lot.  At times it was a hassle to find a last minute babysitter so I could get to work, but over all it wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be.

Jade was the world to me.  She was the greatest gift I'd ever gotten, though it took a while to see it, I can't imagine my life without her.  I just wish Leah could see her.  I imagine it's probably killing her, not being able to see her own daughter.  I was so lucky.

Chapter 4; Surprise?

Like Shanna had said, Leah came over about a week later, and I was so happy about it.  I pulled her into a hug as soon as I saw her and thankfully she hugged me back.

      "I didn't take advantage of you Leah, I promise," I said.  "I'd never do that."

     "I k-know.  I'm sorry about leaving like that, I was just so confused and I had a horrible headache and yeah," she said nervously.  "Let's just forget about it, okay?"

     "Okay," I smiled.

We went upstairs and I gathered the courage to ask her something I'd been meaning to ask her for a while.

I got down on one knee and held out a box, she knew what this was and her mouth opened wide.

     "I was planning to make this more romantic, but I can't wait anymore.  Leah French from the moment I laid eyes on you I was in love,  um will you marry me?" I asked nervously, my hands were shaking badly, I had never been this nervous before in my entire life.

      "Yes!  Of course!" she said, the expression on her face was priceless.  I was so relieved.

I will never forget the way she looked at that ring on her finger.  I had never been happier, or at least that's what I thought.

We decided to get married right there, we didn't want a big wedding and the only one I would really want to be at my wedding was Shanna.  Leah didn't have many friends yet either since she hadn't been living in Sunset Valley for a very long time.  She was fine with it, she didn't want paparazzi overrunning the wedding anyways.

She got a job as a paper girl first thing in the morning, it was nice to have someone else helping to pay the apartment's high rent.

I was in a good mood for a change so I donated 1000 simoleans to a charity, very unlike me but I felt good about it.

Leah liked to think that she was the one changing me, and I sort of believed she was.

One night while we were cuddling on the couch watching a movie Leah turned to face me with a nervous expression on her face.

     "What's the matter?" I asked her.

     "Well I, uh, have some news."

     "Did you get that promotion you were working so hard for?"

     "No, I'm p-pregnant," she stuttered.

     "That's wonderful news!" I lied, my heart sinking through the floor.

Truth is, I realized something as soon as she had said it.  Looking back I wasn't sure if I actually loved her, I married her out of pure guilt for rejecting her offer to move in and making her think I took advantage of her.  She wasn't the one changing me, Shanna was.  But I was stuck now and there was no way out.

Chapter 3: Mistakes, Mistakes, and More Mistakes

Leah came over a lot in the next few months.  Our relationship was going strong and surprisingly my celebrity status wasn't getting her and unwanted attention as well.  We tried to keep our dates simple and hidden from the public and thankfully it worked.  On one particular night though, everything went wrong.  She was visiting at my apartment and out of the blue she said something that made my nerves shatter.
     "Damien I want to be able to spend more time with you, I was thinking maybe you'd like to move in with me?" she asked, I could tell it was hard for her.

     "Leah I don't think that would be a good idea, it would draw too much attention to us.  I thought that you didn't want that," I said, but mostly I just wasn't ready for that kind of thing.  I liked living by myself in my apartment.
     "Well I suppose you're right, I don't know what I was thinking," she replied, though I could tell she was hurt.
     "Look, how about we go to that club down by the beach?  I heard it's going to be really packed tonight and to be honest I don't really care if the paparazzi see us, I should be able to properly take my lady out for some fun," I smiled at her, hoping it would cheer her up.
     "Okay," she agreed with a smile.

So we went to the club and immediately hit the dance floor.  It was crowded and I was thankful, it was easier for me to avoid the paparazzi that way.  I could tell Leah was having a great time, and that made me feel a million times better.

We had decided to order some drinks, and I ordered us both the most expensive and strongest drinks they had.  That was a huge mistake.

Things started getting fuzzy after that, and the last thing I remember from the club was making out with Leah.

I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and dizziness.  I had a terrible hangover, but what was worse than that was Leah was next to me in the bed.  Though I was confused, bits and pieces of the events of last night started to gather in my head.  Oh no I thought to myself.

I started to get up slowly and quietly hoping not to wake her.  Maybe I could sneak out and lay on the couch to make her think that nothing happened, and hopefully she wouldn't remember anything.  But I heard stirring coming from the other side of the bed, and my heart sunk.

She lifted herself up off the bed, took one look around the room, and then stared directly at me.
     "Did we-" she said before I cut her off.
     "Yeah, we did," I sighed, lowering my head in shame.

Her skin got really pale, and a horrified expression grew on her face.
      "I have to g-go," she stuttered, then hurriedly she picked up her clothes off the floor and ran out of the room.
I felt horrible, I should have never took her out last night.  I should have just said yes and moved in with her.  Why was I so selfish?  Suddenly my phone began ringing.

     "Hello?" I asked.
     "Hey Damien, look I'm really sorry about how I talked to you at my last party," it was Shanna.
     "Oh, yeah don't worry about it Shanna, I'm never drinking again," I said, my head still in throbbing pain.
     "Why, what happened?" she asked worriedly.

I explained everything to her, how could I not?  She was my best friend and she was the only one who understood me.  Also she could see right through me, and always knew when something was wrong.  She knew the right things to say to cheer me up.  She could make me smile even at the worst of times.

And as usual, by the end of the conversation she had me smiling and feeling much better.  She had assured me everything would work out, I just had to give Leah some space and wait until she was ready to talk to me.  I couldn't believe that I almost lost Shanna for good, I was never going to do anything to put our friendship at risk ever again.

Chapter 2; Living the Dream, Well Almost

I was on my way to work when I met her.  I had missed my carpool and I wasn't in the mood to pay for a cab so I decided to walk.  I had never made a better decision.  As soon as I saw her I had an overpowering urge to go and talk to her, so I did.
     "Hello, the weather is lovely today, but not as lovely as you are," I grinned cheesily.
     "Damien Grey, right?" she said.  "I'm going to pretend that you never said that."
     "Wait how do you know my name?"
     "Your name has been floating around town Damien, you're a bit of a celebrity you know," she replied.
We continued to talk for a while longer until I really needed to get going again.  I didn't want to be late for work.  I did manage to find out a bit about her though,  her name was Leah French and she was new to Sunset Valley.
     "Leah I have to go to work now but I would appreciate it if you dropped by to vist my apartment later.  If I'm as famous as you claim you should have no trouble finding it," I said.
     "Fine, I think I can mange," she said.

After work I was pleased to see that Leah had actually came.
     "So did you have trouble finding the place sweetheart?" I asked her playfully.
     "Not really, it's the only apartment in town that's big enough to suit your ego," she said.
     "Well you're here now so let's go upstairs, shall we?"
     "Actually I'm really enjoying the music down here, can we stay?"
     "Sure, I'm a virtuoso myself," I smiled.

We talked about our interests and likes and dislikes for a while and it turned out that we had a lot in common.

     "Well Damien I have to go run some errands now but I actually enjoyed talking to you," she said.

     "Aw, alright Leah," I replied sadly.

She scribbled something down a piece of paper and handed it to me.

     "Here's my number, try not to call it too much," she winked.

     "Okay, well bye," I smiled, nervously accepting the slip of paper.

She came over again the next day, and I didn't even have to ask her.

     "Hey Damien, I was jogging past so I decided to drop in and visit," she greeted after I buzzed her into my apartment.

     "Well I'm glad you did," I smiled.

Just the sight of her made my stomach turn to butterflies.

    "Well Damien I actually came here to make something clear to you.  Obviously, you're interested in me.  I'm not saying that I'm not interested in you too, but I can't handle this Damien.  You're famous and I don't think that I could date a celebrity.  There would be too much pressure put on us and Damien you'll be seeing so many beautiful girls and I'm not sure if I'd be able to trust you.  I'm sorry Damien," she said.

    "If that's what you want Leah," I sighed, lowering my head.

    "Thank you, I suppose I should be getting back to my run now.  Please don't call me unless you're interested in just having a friendship, okay?"

I nodded, it felt like my heart had dropped through the floor.

I decided to disobey her words anyways and I invited her over the next day, just as a 'friend'.  She accepted.

I had a trick up my sleeve though, my guitar.  There was no way she'd be able to resist me after the song I was going to play just for her.

And it worked, I took her hands afterwards and she didn't pull them away.  The look in her eyes told me she was under my spell.

     "Leah, I promise I won't let fame get in the way of us.  I'll be completely faithful to you," I said.

     "Damien I don't kn-" she managed to say, before I cut her off.

I kissed her before she could say anything else.  The sparks flew like fireworks and I could tell she felt the same way I did.

We spent the rest of the night cuddling on the couch.  Everything was perfect, except for the argument with Shanna that was still fresh on my mind.  I didn't want to worry about that though, I wanted to enjoy every second with Leah.

     "Damien, do you really promise not to let the fame get to your head?  I'm really stepping out on a limb here," she asked, the fear in her eyes scared even me.

I wasn't sure how I'd handle the fame, I wasn't a huge celebrity yet but it was coming and we both knew it.

     "Leah, of course I promise," I replied confidently even though on the inside I was completely unsure.