Chapter 1.09 Aftermath and Warning Signs

After she pulled on her clothes that were still on the floor, she noticed Alex getting ready too.

"Wait." She whispered, trying to hear whether or not Thomas was up yet, "He can't know you're here." She mumbled, frowning. 
Sighing, Alex responded with a quite "Fine. When does he usually leave?" He buttoned up his pants and turned around to face her.
"Usually quite early, he's alway gone by seven, and its about five-ish now." She mumbled. "I'll get ready and check if the coast is clear. You stay in here."

Thomas saw the birthday cake as he went to get his breakfast. No, it wasn't his birthday yet (Thankfully) It was Connor's. He remembered Erin saying that she only wanted something extremely small, preferably only the little family they were. However, with his work as demanding as ever, Connor's birthday had to be put off until later.

He went into the bedroom on the right, and picked up Rosie out of her crib,
"You'll be a good girl for Erin today, right?" He grinned.
She replied with "Ewin has a fwiend over!" She grinned back, as if the toddler somehow knew that Erin had an overnight visitor.
Thomas furrowed his eyebrows "I don't think she does, Princess... Erin doesn't know too many people very well."
Rosie was adamant though "She had a fwiend over!" She spoke stubbornly, annoyed and apparently angry about the small disagreement.
"Okay, whatever you say." He mumbled, and put her down. He went back into his own room and got ready.

As he walked out of his room, he was met to a fairly wide eyed Erin.
"Uh... Hey? What are you doing up this early, and ready?" He asked, a little suspicious.
She plastered on a smile, "Yeah, I'm fine." She answered to a question never asked. She then stumbled over words when she next said "Oh, uh, I uh couldn't sleep so I got up and got ready!" She added too much enthusiasm into it, making him narrow his eyes.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay? Maybe you should just stay in bed. I'll hire a sitter to look after Rosie." He mumbled, frowning.
"Huh? No. I'm feeling fine, like I said." She smiled at him. "Seriously, there's no need to worry."

"You know, Rosie said something fairly weird... I know it meant nothing though, I just found it odd." He murmured, looking at her,
"Oh yeah? What was she on about?" She tilted her head, as he began to realize where Rosie had picked that quirk up from.
"She was fairly certain that you had someone over last night." He chuckled.
Erin froze before laughing too "Ha, that's weird, really weird. Very imaginative. I'll go check that she and Connor are alright, and I'll let you go off to work." She smiled, briskly walking away.

As Thomas left, he had no idea that someone was watching as he left. 

Alex honestly didn't know how to feel about how Erin wanted to hide him. Maybe that was all this was and ever will be, just a mistake they both made. He couldn't picture himself not living in the city, and he knew that Erin wouldn't be willing to go back there with him... 

Maybe it would be for the best if they wouldn't be together.

"Don't tell any of this to your Daddy." She whispered to Rosie, as she picked her up. "I doubt you'll remember anyway." She frowned when she saw Alex was't still in her bedroom

"I saw him leave, I figured it was safe." He said, then raised an eyebrow to Rosie. 

"Okay, and she's Thomas's daughter." Erin explained.

"Her name's Rosie, apparently its a special name or something. I'm not so sure what it means but-"

"Keep her safe." Alex spoke abruptly, keeping his eyes on Rosie. He had a bad feeling about whatever was going to happen in her future.

Erin furrowed her eyebrows, noticing his eyes were trained on Rosie who returned the look. Both girls were giving him a confused look.

"You do realize she's a toddler, right?" She had to double check, finding what he just said rather bizarre. What was the worst a toddler could do? Rip off a teddy bear's head? Accidentally fall asleep on the floor? Erin just couldn't see what he meant.

"Bad feelings." He mumbled, looking back at Erin. "Just make sure you always know where she is, okay?" 

She nods "Okay..." She narrowed her eyes a little, still confused. "There's nothing of yours still left in my bedroom, is there?" She asked.

Alex shrugged "I'll go check." He mumbled, walking into the bedroom. Erin put Rosie down and followed him in.

She went up to him, and hugged him tightly "I'm really going to miss you." She mumbled, remembering how it felt having him around, and remembering how rotten she honestly felt after she had come here. Its not like she ever even tried to dive down into all that though.

"So, what is it between us?" He mumbled, pulling away. They both knew the answer to that, there wasn't much there anymore to be honest.

Erin frowned "Only friendship." She looked up at him. "Like before we started dating, and way before we got engaged." She then started to pull out of the hug.

"I guess this is it, isn't it?" She muttered, feeling as if it was the end of something. Well, it is. So much of her time was spent with him, and now it was all gone.

"Yeah, I guess." He pulled away fully, and then half smiled at her. "I guess I'll see you around? If you're ever back in the city at least." He said, then walked out again. Erin frowned, hearing the front door open and close. 

She put her back up to the wall, and slide down so she was sitting. She held her legs, sniffling. Maybe this was how it felt being the dumpee? After all, the times before she was always the one doing the walking out. It felt bad, and she really didn't like it.

After pulling herself together, she walked into Connor's room and picked him up. It felt weird knowing that today was his toddler birthday... How long was it going to be before he was a child? Or worse, a teenager? She really didn't want to think about that just yet.
"Hey birthday boy." She grinned, snuggling him close.

 Erin spent a while raking up all the leaves, it was bugging having them littering all of outside.  She made sure to stay near to the windows though, just in case she heard either Connor or Rosie cry. After a while, she went back inside and moved the birthday cake over on to the table. She noticed Thomas walking back in after work, and she went to get Connor from his room.

It was perfectly small, only their little family was there. Erin still found it difficult to believe her baby boy was going to be a toddler in a matter minutes. She kissed him on the top of his head, before blowing out the candle.

It stung Erin a little, seeing that Connor had his father's eyes. Almost the exact same eyes, the exact same stormy grey. It sparked a new fear which was in case he ever asked about his father, after realizing that the only guy ever around was Thomas.

She turned to look at him, frowning slightly. Obviously there was something bothering her, "We need to talk." She mumbled, "After the kids are asleep though."

Thomas furrowed his eyebrows, and nodded in response "Okay... Anything in particular?" 

"Later." She mumbled, and went to pick up Connor. Thomas took the hint, and went to find where Rosie had ventured off to.

She grinned at Connor, keeping her hand at the back of his head, just in case. She kissed him on the top of his head, still smiling "Come on, time for bed." She whispered, and carried him through into his bedroom.

"So, what is it you wanted to talk about?" He asked, looking at her. He was a little confused about why she wanted to talk to him so urgently, and why they had to wait until Rosie and Connor were asleep... 

"I want to talk about something with you." She stated, looking back at him.

"Which is...?" He asked again, frowning. He was honestly starting to get a little worried, whatever she wanted to say obviously wasn't easy for her to say. As long as she wasn't pregnant again, he'd be fine with whatever she was going to say.

"I'm a little concerned about Rosie." She mumbled, frowning. She honestly wasn't sure how exactly to say it without him taking too much offense by it. "I'm just a little worried in case she gets into trouble in the future... I just keep getting bad feelings." She mumbled, not mentioning what Alex had told her earlier that day. She honestly didn't want to mention Alex to him.

"She's just a toddler, it's not like she's running off getting drunk." He furrowed his eyebrows, looking at her. 

"I know, I just..." She hesitated, wanting to tell him but couldn't. "Just make sure she's okay." She mumbled, and walked off to her own bedroom. It had been a long day for her, and she just wanted to fall asleep. 

Chapter 1.08 (My) Old Flame                                                 

Chapter 1.10 Stupid, Smiling Sunflowers

______________________________

AN: Ha, another chapter that wasn't meant to be. Ah well, I thought this was kinda good.

Connor was originally a really light blonde, and I was really confused. So, I made him have the same hair colour as Erin. It made more sense that way at least.