krzykty57789
Cadet
Title: Lips of an Angel
Author: Me *Katy*
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None, AU
Final Word Count: 6,736 excluding lyrics
Summary: But they had gotten a taste of what it was like to be with one another, and their desires were obviously not fulfilled in that one night.
A/N: This is a ONE PARTER, but it's divided into three parts. Each sections signifies a different period in their lives.
Well, my girl's in the next room
Sometimes I wish she was you
I guess we never really moved on
It's really good to hear your voice saying my name
It sounds so sweet
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak
And I never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel
One
“Hi,” Sydney whispered, rolling over on her side to face the man in bed with her.
“Hey,” he said just as softly as she did, moving his hand to caress the barely freckled, pale skin of her arm and shoulder.
They were silent for a moment before she sighed resignedly, “Michael, I have to go home.” She didn’t look at him as she said this, instead focusing on the glittering gold ring on her left hand.
Michael managed to catch her eye before saying, “I know.”
They locked gazes for a long, electricity-filled moment before Sydney slowly began to climb out of the king sized bed.
Michael rolled over to his back, running a hand over his face, the platinum ring catching on his nose.
The ring was supposed to be a symbol of his undying love and commitment for his wife, but the women he loved, the women he had just made passionate love to, was ironically not his wife.
When Michael caught Sydney’s eye once more, she was fully dressed and was working on putting her pumps back on.
"Sydney,” he called out, her brown eyes meeting with his vibrant green ones. Sydney raised an eyebrow and he motioned to a spot on the bed next to him.
Once she was seated, he captured her lips in a kiss that only experienced lovers could share. “Syd,” he sighed. He didn’t break their silent vow not to say it, not to say those three words.
“I know, Michael,” she cast her eyes downward, “I know.”
With that, she stood up and walked out of his bedroom, not looking back.
Michael had never imagined he would be the sort of man to do this; the sort of man to cheat on his wife, but he never counted on meeting Sydney Bristow either.
Three years earlier, an old friend from college, Danny Hecht moved back to LA. Naturally, Michael wanted to visit with his old college roommate. So Michael, his wife Alice, Danny, and Danny’s new bride, who turned out to be Sydney, met for dinner.
Things were innocent enough.
Michael was attracted to Sydney, but how could anyone not be? She was absolutely gorgeous. Michael even admitted to himself, he would have asked her out had they both been single.
But life didn’t work that way; both were happily married.
The two couples continuously hung out over the next two and a half years. Michael and Danny had quickly remembered why they had been best friends in college, and Sydney and Alice even hit it off.
During their multiple double dates, Michael began to really get to know Sydney. It worried him a little when his slight crush did not fade over time, but Michael knew it was no big deal – it wasn’t like Sydney returned the feelings.
The trouble began on a rainy night, nearly thirty months after Sydney and Michael had met. Alice was in San Francisco on yet another work trip; Danny was working at the hospital.
By fate, or what some might call plain bad luck, Sydney and Michael ended up at the same bar and restaurant where the two couples often frequented.
After a dinner with pleasant conversation and a dozen too many drinks, the friends decided to share a cab home.
Michael wasn’t quite clear on how it happened, but the next morning he woke up with his best friend’s wife in his bed. To make it worse, they were both naked and it was completely obvious what had occurred the night before.
They had had an affair – something both said they would never have under normal circumstances, but in one drunken mistake, they had forgotten all their morals.
After waking up to a killer hangover and getting over the post-sex shock, Sydney and Michael agreed to pretend that it never happened and to never speak of it again.
But they had gotten a taste of what it was like to be with one another, and their desires were obviously not fulfilled in that one night.
Just three weeks after the ‘incident’, the two married couples were on a double date, much to Sydney and Michael’s chagrin.
Their contact was completely innocent -- a simple brush of the hands, accidentally bumping feet – but the actions were enough to make Sydney want him again and him to want her.
Ten minutes later, their needs were fulfilled in a small coat closet. Once again, they swore it could never, would never happen again.
Three days later, Michael was on her doorstep while Danny was at a medical conference.
They continued to tell themselves that that was the last time, but it was never the last time.
Sydney and Michael had turned into the dirty cheaters that they always said they never would.
Eventually, the stopped pretending that they would end it, and just accepted the fact that they couldn’t stay away.
They loved each other, that was excuse enough, or that’s what they told themselves, even if they never even confessed their love to the other.
Sydney put the finishing touch on dinner just as Danny waltzed through the door at eight-fifteen that evening.
Sydney played the part of the perfect housewife as she set the table while he cleaned up after a long day at work.
Dinner was nice, normal. They talked about their days, work, Sydney’s afternoon – excluding her hour spent at the Vaughn household, and their plans for the weekend.
It was comfortable and nice, but it wasn’t full of passion and interest like a dinner spent with Michael.
Sydney cursed herself for that thought; she couldn’t compare the two men. Danny was truly a good, kind man and he didn’t deserve someone like her. He deserved so much better, and here she was complaining to herself.
Sydney was lucky to have Danny, she continually told herself.
Dinner at the Vaughn’s was much like supper at the Hecht’s. Michael and Alice shared a carton of take-out Chinese that Alice had picked up on her way home from work.
Alice was Vice-President at a continually growing marketing firm, causing her to work long hours and to go on several business trips.
She was absent the majority of the time. It didn’t make her a bad wife in Michael’s eyes, it just meant many lonely nights.
Perhaps that was one of the reasons he was so enamored by Sydney, who was a self-proclaimed homebody, just like him.
Then it hit him, Michael had compared them once again.
He was obviously lost in thought when Alice snapped him out of his trace by calling his name several times.
“Sorry,” Michael muttered in apologize, not meaning it. “What were you saying?”
Alice gave him a soft, slight smile, “I asked ‘What did you do today?’.”
Michael gulped barely, not even visible to Alice. He hated it when she asked that question, especially on days like that day – a day spent with Sydney.
“You know, the usual,” Michael shrugged off the question. “I graded some papers,” had sex with one of your best friends, the usual Michael added to himself guiltily.
"Oh, papers.” Alice said in a semi-disapproving voice.
Another thing Sydney and Michael had in common was their shared profession of middle school teachers. They both shared a love for teaching and children, something Michael’s wife didn’t seem to understand.
She didn’t get why he picked a low-paying, reward-less (to her) job. Alice always told him that he was stuck in a job with no room for improvement, and that was not a good place to be. When she said this, Michael always rolled his eyes and ignored her. He loved his job, and at least he had Sydney who understood that.
He mentally groaned to himself, Michael had done it again; comparing the two women once more.
Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday had become their days – the days where they would meet at the other’s house or even in a hotel room. On those days, Danny worked the late shift and Alice had important meetings – even though she seemed to have those everyday.
The days weren’t set in stone. Some weeks they would get together an extra day, others they would only see each other once, but as a general rule, they had their meetings on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
This Thursday was like most others.
When Michael walked into Sydney’s house, he was surprised when she didn’t greet him at the door.
Shrugging, he walked up the stairs, pulling off his jacket in the process.
When he walked into Syd’s room, he found her in bed, but instead of attempting to seduce him, she was clad in flannel and a thermometer was hanging from her mouth.
“Oh baby,” he sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed and placing a hand to her forehead. She was burning up.
Sydney frowned, taking the thermometer out of her mouth and reading the temperature: one-oh-one point two.
“I was fine yesterday,” Sydney muttered bitterly. Michael wrapped an arm around her shoulder, kissing her forehead gently. “I’m sorry I ruined our day.”
“It’s okay,” Michael smiled at her reassuringly. “Your health is more important than anything.” After a few minutes, Michael announced, “I’m going to go home, I think I have some papers to grade anyway.”
Sydney stopped him by grabbing his hand, “Stay, at least for a little while. I hate being alone when I’m sick. And he’s out of town.” An unspoken rule between the couple was never to mention Danny or Alice during their time together. They found that if they did, the guilt became too much.
“Syd…”
“Michael, just… please, stay with me.”
Michael knew he couldn’t deny her, he didn’t even know why he fought it to begin with. After nodding his head, agreeing to stay, Michael slipped off his shoes and crawled under the covers with Sydney.
She immediately cuddled next to him, where she fell asleep minutes later.
When Sydney woke up the next morning, she was shocked to have someone’s arms around her. She knew it wasn’t Danny immediately – he hated to cuddle or even face her when they slept. After a minute, she realized that Michael had stayed with her while she was sick.
Climbing out of bed gently, so she didn’t wake Michael, she padded into the bathroom. Syd took her temperature and was relieved to find it had gone down to almost normal.
By the time she crawled back into bed, Michael was already awake and staring at the ceiling. “You’re still here.” Sydney stated as more of a question.
“Yeah, I called last night and told her I had a couple drinks and was sleepin’ at Eric’s.” Michael yawned, stretching his arms above his head.
Sydney smiled at him slightly. “Thanks,” Syd mumbled quietly, wrapping her arms around his waist in a hug-like manner.
“Are you feeling better?” Michael asked gently, moving his hand so he could feel her forehead. It certainly did feel cooler than it had last night.
Sydney nodded, “Yeah.”
After a few minutes, Sydney smiled slyly, “So I was thinking”
“Uh Oh,” Michael added in.
Sydney glared at him, “There’s no class today because of that fieldtrip… which means we have the day off.”
“Yay,“ Michael said in a somewhat-sarcastic manner.
“Well, if you don’t want to spend the whole day with me, fine.” Sydney said, crossing her arms across her chest.
Michael chuckled, rolling over so his body was lying on top of hers with their faces inches apart. “I definitely want to spend the day with you.”
"Good,” Sydney smiled, pulling him down for a passionate kiss.
Moments later, Sydney couldn’t help but break the kiss and burst out laughing. “Michael, why are you wearing Spongebob boxers?”
Michael blushed, “They were the only clean pair!” he exclaimed.
“That’s pathetic.” Sydney chuckled. Michael grinned cheekily, removing the subject of discussion and tossing them to the floor.
“Better?” he asked. Sydney replied with a husky ‘yes’ and pulled him into another fiery kiss.
Their day together was special, but things had to return to normal sadly. The ‘return of normal‘ resumed with Danny’s homecoming.
Sydney greeted her husband with a kiss to the cheek as he walked through the door late Saturday morning. ”How was your conference?”
Danny shrugged, “A bunch of doctors in one room, arguing the whole time; not exactly my idea of a good time.”
Sydney chuckled, “I’m glad you had fun then,” Sydney teased, helping him carry the bags to their room.
“So what did you do while I was gone? You didn’t go paint the town or anything did you?” Danny asked, his turn to joke.
Sydney shook her head and laughed, “No, I stayed home the whole time. I had a fever Thursday night, but it was no big deal. I was fine Friday, but I just hung out.”
“Well, I’m glad you feel better.” Danny smiled, “And it’s good to see you cleaned up while I was gone,” Danny jested sarcastically, as he glanced around the bedroom to find Sydney’s clothes strewn everywhere, a wet towel on the floor, and the bed unmade.
Sydney smiled cheekily.
“So I get to wash my clothes and my sloppy wife’s,” he poked out his tongue as he began to pick up the dirty items off the floor.
He paused when he found a pair of boxers underneath the bed. With a frown he asked, “Syd, what are these? And why do they have a yellow square man on them?”
Sydney chuckled nervously, trying to think of a lie as fast as possible (as much as she hated lying to Danny, it’s not like she could tell him the truth). “That’s Spongebob,” she explained, before adding, “And those are mine. I bought them a while ago to sleep in, and then I lost them--”
“Well, it is easy to loose things when you just throw your clothes on the floor,” Danny interrupted.
Sydney giggled, “Yeah, and I’ve been looking for them. I can’t believe they were under the bed the whole time!” Sydney gasped fakely, though it seemed like a real gasp to Danny.
“You’re so silly,” Danny stated, kissing her sweetly on the lips.
Sydney smiled and breathed a sigh of relief – that was a close call.
Two
And so life went on as normal. Sydney and Michael continued their relationship; Alice and Danny remained clueless.
Sydney should have known that something would happen – something like this. She should’ve known that she would have to fess up eventually.
She didn’t imagine that it would be this soon though.
“Are you sure?” Sydney repeated, looking at the doctor hopefully. The doctor nodded, causing Sydney to focus on her hands awkwardly.
It had been just a regular check-up, but now – now everything was different. “I’ll see you in a month Sydney.”
Sydney mumbled her goodbyes, and as if on autopilot arranged another appointment and drove home. How much longer it would be her home, she wasn’t sure.
Surprisingly Danny was home before her, preparing dinner and singing off-tune to the radio. Sydney couldn’t help but smile slightly.
“How was your appointment?” Danny asked.
Sydney shrugged, “Fine.”
Danny’s brow furrowed, “Are you okay, Sydney?”
Sydney sighed, “Actually, I need to tell you something.” The way she said this – the sad tone of her voice – Danny was instantly concerned.
“What is it?” he questioned, a frown occupying his usually smiling face. Sydney opened her mouth to answer when a timer went off somewhere in the kitchen. Before she could get a word in, Danny disappeared into the kitchen to check on dinner. “It’ll still be a few… so, um, what did you want to talk about Syd?”
Sydney took a deep breath, “Sit down, Danny,” she told him gently. He eyed her curiously, taking the seat across from her.
After a long minute of silence, Sydney announced in a low voice, “I’m pregnant.”
Danny’s frown immediately turned into a beam as he grabbed her hand across the table, “That’s wonderful Syd! We’ve always talked about having kids, and…wait,” Danny froze when he saw her still grimacing. “Is the baby okay? Are you okay?”
Sydney sighed, knowing her next few words would completely break his heart. “Danny, the baby isn’t yours.”
With those five words, Danny violently dropped her hand and his face turned into a hard glare. “What!?” he yelled angrily. His anger quickly turned to denial and he asked, “Are you sure? Is there a chance it’s mine?”
Sydney shook her head, “The doctor said it was conceived around January 2nd. You were in Atlanta at that medical conference,” Sydney explained in a detached voice.
Danny’s glower returned as he pushed his chair away from the table and stormed out of the house, slamming the back door as loudly as possible.
Sydney heard his car tires screech as he sped out of the driveway.
With that, Sydney buried her head in her hands and cried.
Michael grumbled and groaned as someone repeatedly banged on the front door at almost two o’clock in the morning.
He paused to throw on a tee-shirt before looking through the peep hole. His brow furrowing, he noticed his best friend swaying on his front step – obviously intoxicated.
Michael swung open the front door, quickly ushering Danny inside and to the living room where he could question Danny about his early morning visit.
“Is everything okay, Dan?” Michael asked once Danny was seated safely on the couch.
Danny shook his head, “Sydney…”
Michael’s face instantly fell. Was something wrong with Sydney? He finally managed to choke out, “Sydney?”
Danny looked up at Michael, meeting his eye for a second. All Michael could see was the sadness and disappointment that lurked in Danny’s dark blue eyes. “Sydney’s pregnant.”
Michael gulped. Sydney was pregnant, him and Sydney had… could it be his? “Isn’t that a, um, good thing?” Michael asked, referring to his best friend’s state of drunkenness and his sad nature.
“It’s not my baby. Sydney had an affair. She had a frackin affair.” Danny’s anger returned as he stood up and began to pace. “She’s my wife, man, and she cheated on me with some asshole and she’s having his baby.”
Michael’s eyes widened in shock, if it wasn’t Danny’s then it was his. Suddenly he couldn’t breath.
“Do you know who… who it was?” Michael asked, seemingly curious, but really wondering if he should be concerned for his life.
Danny shook his head, “I just can’t believe this. I thought she loved me. I thought she loved me,” Danny repeated over and over again until he eventually passed out.
Michael sat in shock for most of the night, staring at the wall across from him. He didn’t know how to process this – Sydney was having his baby, he was going to be a father and the mother wasn’t his wife.
Oh God, he thought, Alice. She was going to find out now, just like Danny had.
When had his life turned into such a mess?
When Sydney finally stumbled downstairs the next morning, she was shocked to find Danny sitting at the kitchen cable, cup of coffee in his hands, a thick stack of papers in the other.
“Danny,” Sydney gasped, shocked to see her husband after her revelation last night.
“These are divorce papers,” Danny said shortly, ”I was going to leave them here so I didn’t have to see you, but I wanted… I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt first. I wanted to see if there was a reason.“
Sydney sighed, not speaking until after she had poured a glass of orange juice and was seated across from Danny. “There isn’t a good reason. I, just, I love him and it happened and there is no excuse for it.”
“How long?“ Danny gritted out, setting the papers on the table.
“Almost eight months,” she whispered, crossing her arms over chest self-consciously. Danny nodded, sliding the papers across the table and standing up to leave. Sydney stopped him with a quiet, “Danny.” He spun around and faced her, meeting her blood shot eyes.
“I’m so sorry Danny. I never wanted to hurt you; I do love you. I’m sorry,” she mumbled, breaking eye contact and focusing her eyes on her fidgeting hands.
“I’ll be back in a few days to pick up some of my things,” Danny said shortly before walking out of the house and out of Sydney’s life.
Sydney didn’t see Michael or Danny for days.
Finally, five days after discovering she was pregnant, there was a knock at the door.
Sydney was surprised, yet not surprised, to see Michael standing there. “You’re pregnant,” he stated before any ‘hello’s’ or polite ‘how are you’s?’.
Sydney nodded, “Five weeks.”
“Danny told me it wasn’t…”
“It’s your baby Michael,” Sydney confirmed for him, knowing that was what he was waiting to hear.
Michael smiled slightly, “Good.”
“Good?” Sydney choked out. “Explain to me how this is good, Michael. We’re married to other people. Well, for now. My husband left me. That’s not good. And how are we going to explain to our families that we were having an affair and that I’m pregnant. I fail to see the good in this situation.”
“Shut up Sydney,” Michael chuckled.
“What!?” she gasped indignantly.
Michael took her hand in his own, “This is good. God, Syd, I love you, okay. I know you know, but I need to say it. I love you. We’ll make this work.”
Sydney smiled at him, “I love you too.”
“See, it’s good,” he muttered before brushing his lips against hers.
The broke apart smiling, but quickly regretted that kiss when they saw Danny standing in the driveway – apparently there to pick up his things.
Before Michael could attempt to explain, Danny had approached him and punched him square in the jaw. “Danny!” Sydney exclaimed.
“You bastard. You slept with my wife. You were my best friend and you SLEPT WITH MY WIFE!” Danny yelled at a loud decibel.
By this point, several neighbors had walked outside to see what all the commotion was about. Sydney quickly tried to quiet Danny so he didn’t make a scene, but he wouldn’t listen to her.
“I hate you. I hate you both,” Danny shouted, kicking Michael in the side when he tried to stand.
After his proclamation, he climbed into his car and sped away.
Sydney felt tears prick her eyes as she knelt down to check on Michael, “Are you okay?” Michael nodded through gritted teeth.
“So he didn’t take the news well…” Michael tried to joke a moment later, but stopped when Sydney glared at him.
“So I told Alice…” Michael announced somewhat sadly the next day when he walked into Sydney’s kitchen.
“How’d she take it?” Sydney cringed.
Michael pointed to his forehead, “She threw her wedding ring at my head.”
“That well?” Sydney smiled softly, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
Michael gently kissed her forehead softly, moving his hand to caress the still-flat plane of her stomach.
"She said she was going to her lawyer first thing in the morning,” Michael added.
Sydney nodded against his chest, “So I guess we’re both going to be divorced soon.”
“It looks like it,” Michael said, his breath whispering across her forehead. They both shared a sad smile, before breaking apart – Sydney to finish dinner, Michael to set the table.
Despite their impending divorces, Sydney and Michael couldn’t have been happier. They were finally free. They were having a baby!
It wasn’t the best of circumstances – in fact, they were pretty shitty circumstances – but they could finally be together. They didn’t have to sneak around or hide it from anyone.
Sydney and Michael knew the next months would be the hardest of their lives, but they didn’t care as long as they had each other.
Three
Things were far from easy. Sydney and Michael dealt with the pain of the divorces, and tried to build their relationship.
Both divorces were final a short month before the baby was born, and Sydney and Michael immediately went to the courthouse for a small, very private wedding.
The only attendees were their parents and Sydney’s sister.
And the parents were almost reluctant to show.
With obvious reason, their parents were less than thrilled with the choices their children had made. Jack even threatened to disown Sydney, but in the end, he couldn’t – he loved his daughter and unborn grandchild too much.
Eventually, everyone came to accept the choices Sydney and Michael made, but they were still a very taboo subject in both households.
In fact, that whole episode in their lives had been mentioned less than a handful of times in nearly fifteen years.
Until one day when everything would change.
“Smile Bethany,” Sydney encouraged her fourteen year old daughter. “You love your grandparents; it’s not like its torture.”
The teenager groaned, while her ten year old brother smirked, “She’s just mad that she’s not allowed to see Andrew today,” Joshua said in a sing-song voice.
“SHUT UP!” Bethany exclaimed, shoving her brother in a manner that was anything but loving.
“Children,” Michael said, quieting his two feuding kids with just that one word, though both children glared at him. “You know you aren’t supposed to stress out your mother.” Michael reprimanded, motioning to his wife’s eight month pregnant stomach.
Sydney and Michael certainly hadn’t planned on having a third child, especially at the ages of forty and forty-two, respectively.
But they had learned over their relationship that things did not go as planned and that you had to go with the flow of things.
So that’s what they did, and they were actually really happy with the idea of another baby around the house.
When Michael reminded his children not to ‘stress their mother’ they both rolled their eyes. It was a phrase they had heard numerous times in the previous months, especially since this was considered a high risk pregnancy because of Sydney’s age.
Even Sydney had to fight the urge to give her husband an eye roll.
Changing the subject, Sydney told her family, “We need to leave; we’re going to be late.”
The kids shuffled to the car, while Michael stole a quick kiss from his wife before walking into the kitchen to grab his keys off the counter.
Twenty minutes later, the family of four arrived at the elder Vaughn’s home. Amelia greeted them at the door with hugs and kisses as she ushered them inside. Immediately, she demanded Sydney to go sit down.
Like mother, like son, Sydney thought with a smile as she waddled into the dining room. The dining room table was already set when Sydney sat down, and there was already food sitting on the table.
Shortly after Sydney sat down, the rest of the family joined her in the dining room, Amelia bringing up the rear while carrying a large plate of roast beef.
Over dinner they chatted about the kids’ classes and what sports they were playing, also they talked about Sydney’s pregnancy and the fact that Michael and Sydney refused to find out if it was a boy or girl.
“Oh yeah, Michael, you’ll never guess who I saw a couple days ago. That snotty, ice queen ex-wife of yours… she was asking about you.” Bill said this so casually, not even realizing that three sets of eyes were glaring at him, and the two youngest people at the table were looking at him confused.
It took him a minute to realize why everyone was staring at him, but then it clicked and he mumbled a few choice words under his breath.
“Ex-wi...wife,” Beth finally stuttered out, looking between her parents for reassurance that this wasn’t true, that her grandfather had just spilled his beans and made it all up.
"Sweetie, we’ll talk about this later,” Sydney said quickly, taking a deep breath. She wasn’t ready for this today; she wasn’t ready for this conversation any day.
Bethany shook her head while tears formed in her eyes, ”No, I want to know what grandpa meant. Was Daddy married to someone else before he married you?”
Sydney and Michael glanced at each other, trying to reassure the other with just their eyes, but it didn’t help much.
After a long, awkward moment of silence, Michael told his children, ”Yes, I was married to a woman named Alice for three years before I was with your mother.”
“I can’t believe you never told us,” Josh said, looking like he might throw up at any moment.
Sydney sighed, resting both hands on her stomach, “There’s something else you should know too.” Everyone’s eyes turned towards Sydney, and she cleared her throat loudly, before saying, “I was married too… before your father.”
Beth’s eyes widened as she pushed away from the table and ran down the hall.
Josh stayed at the table, but his eyes remained focused on the intricate lace pattern on the tablecloth.
After a minute he asked, “Why didn’t you tell us before now?” his voice was almost a whisper, and Sydney’s heart broke.
Michael noticed his hormonal wife was close to tears and answered, “It’s complicated, we’ll talk more when we get home.”
Josh nodded.
The four adults took a minute to finish their meals, but no one had an appetite anymore, so they excused themselves to the kitchen where Bill quickly apologized, “I’m so sorry. I forgot that they didn’t know...”
“It’s okay, I mean, we should have told them years ago, but we’ve just been… avoiding it,” Michael sighed, rubbing his temples with the palm of his hands.
"I’m going to try to get Beth to talk to me,” Sydney said quietly. She found her oldest daughter locked in the bathroom.
Lucky for Sydney, there was a key for emergencies such as these and she let herself in. She sighed loudly when she saw Beth leaning against the bathtub with tears streaming down her cheeks.
Unable to sit on the floor, Sydney chose the next best thing – the toilet – to sit on. The mother-daughter pair sat in silence for a minute, while Sydney softly stroked Beth’s shoulder length chestnut colored hair.
“Why did you keep it a secret?” Beth finally sniffled minutes later.
“Your father and I aren’t proud of our failed marriages… and we never knew how to tell you. I guess I was hoping you’d never find out.”
“Oh,” the younger woman said quietly.
After a brief hesitation, Sydney told her oldest child, “If you have any questions, just ask, okay?” Beth nodded, but didn’t say anything else. “Are you ready to go home?” Beth nodded and let her mother wrap an arm around her shoulder as they exited the bathroom.
“Mom?” Beth asked softly as she walked into her parent’s bedroom. Sydney sat up slowly so she could see her daughter. “Were you asleep?”
Sydney shook her head, “Your brother or sister won’t stop kicking long enough to let me sleep.”
“Oh okay, um, I have a question.”
“Shoot,” Sydney said, motioning to a spot on the bed next to her.
Beth sat down cautiously, “You know when we were cleaning out Dad’s office a few months ago for the nursery… and there was a box I wasn’t allowed to see, are the divorces… is that why I couldn’t see inside the box, because it had stuff in there about them?” Sydney nodded and Beth let out a breath of relief, “Okay, good, I thought it was porn or something!”
“Bethany Anne!” Sydney exclaimed in a scolding tone, though she laughed as she said this.
Beth giggled for a moment, before turning serious once more, ”Can I look at the pictures and stuff? I’m just… curious, I guess.”
Sydney leaned over and kissed the top of her daughter’s head, “Yeah, have fun.”
Beth remembered her father putting the box on the top shelf of the hall closet, and with a smile, she discovered he hadn’t moved it.
She quickly pulled it down, carrying the box into the living room where she set it down on the floor and lifted the lip.
Inside, there were mostly photo albums, but there were a few mementos like a ratty old tee-shirt and some CD’s.
The first photo album Beth pulled out was the last in chronological order. Most of the pictures were from 2005, but one picture in particular made her freeze.
It was from the middle of February 2006, and if she had done the math right, she was conceived in January of 2006, but in this picture, there was her mom holding the hand of her ex-husband, while her dad had his arm wrapped around the waist of his ex.
Beth began to inwardly panic. Something wasn’t right here – what if her dad wasn’t her biological father and her mom’s ex-husband was her real father? Or maybe she was over thinking this, she could have been born prematurely, making her conception months later, that could be it.
Trying to be calm, she walked into the kitchen where her dad was fixing dinner.
Michael noticed her standing in the doorway out of the corner of his eye, “Is everything okay, honey?”
“Um, I was just wondering something… Um, was I born like… early or late or on time or what?”
Michael thought for a second, “You were ten days late, oh, and I remember your mom was so cranky. She was ready for you to come out…” he chuckled.
Beth giggled nervously, “Oh… okay.”
Michael eyed her curiously, something wasn’t quite right, but he couldn’t place it.
By dinnertime, Beth had worked herself up so much she was nearly in tears. Sydney immediately picked up on this, and questioned her oldest, “Beth, what’s wrong?”
Beth felt a tear fall from her eye as she spoke in an oddly calm voice, “You could’ve told me that he wasn’t my real father,” her eyes darting between her fidgeting hands and Michael’s face.
Sydney’s eyes narrowed in confusion, “Where did you get that idea, sweetie? Your dad is your real father…” Sydney trailed off.
“You don’t have to lie anymore!” Beth yelled, “I saw the pictures, you were still married when I was conceived, which means that my real dad is out there somewhere!”
“Beth, Michael is your biological father. Your real dad… he’s sitting across from you.”
“But how is that possible?” Beth asked as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Michael and Sydney shared a look before Michael told his youngest child, “Josh, go your room.“
“But I want to hear the rest of the fight,” their ten year old son whined.
“Joshua, go to your room right now.” Michael said in a much sterner voice. Josh knew his dad meant business and quickly ran off to his room.
“What’s going on?” Beth asked in a very paranoid manner.
Sydney sighed, “Your father and I are not very proud of how we handled things years ago. We were both married. Your dad and my ex-husband Danny were best friends. The four of us… Danny, Your father, his wife Alice, and me were all really close. And despite everything, we fell in love.”
“Oh God,” Beth muttered under her breath.
Sydney grasped her husband’s hand for support as she revealed one of her darkest secrets, “Your father and I had an affair.”
"Oh my God,” Beth breathed out, shocked. “I just… I can’t believe you did that. Your always telling me how bad cheating is and all this moral dignified felgercarb,”
“Bethany Anne!” Michael scolded her.
“It’s all felgercarb, you obviously don’t believe what you’ve been telling me.”
Sydney felt hot tears in her eyes as she tried to plead with her daughter, “We learned from our mistakes… we’re trying to keep you from making the same mistakes we did.”
“How do I know that? How can I ever believe another word you say?” Beth yelled before running off to her room and slamming the door shut.
Michael called after Beth but it was no use. Michael turned to comfort his wife, but instead of emotional pain found her in a whole different sorts of discomfort.
“Jesus,” he muttered to himself, “I told them not to stress you out, now look what happened! You’re in labor.”
Sydney groaned, “Just… take me to the hospital already.”
Michael nodded in submission, climbing up the stairs two at a time. First, he grabbed Sydney’s pre-prepared bag for the hospital then called the children to come out of their rooms.
Josh was standing in front of his father a second later, but Beth remained in her room.
Michael banged on the pink door to Beth’s room, yelling, “Bethany, get out here right now. We’re going to the hospital.”
"I’m not going,” she shouted back.
“Bethany Anne Vaughn, get your ass out here right now.” Michael yelled in frustration and anger. Beth quickly opened the door to her room. She had never heard her father use that tone of voice with her, and he had especially never cursed in front of her.
Both children sheepishly followed their father down the stairs and to the car.
Ten minutes later, the growing family rushed into the hospital. Sydney was sent to a room to wait for the doctor, while Michael filled out papers.
A few minutes later, a nurse announced to the father and two children that Sydney’s doctor had seen her and it would still be a couple hours, but invited them to go visit.
Michael and Josh were eager to see Sydney, but Beth sulked the whole way down the hall.
“I’m only three centimeters,” Sydney whined when Michael walked into the room.
“Mommy, you’re a lot bigger than three centimeters!” Josh exclaimed with an eye
roll. Sydney and Michael both laughed while Beth stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest.
After a few minutes of visiting, Michael announced that he was going to call their parents. Josh went with him so he could get a snack from the machines in the hall.
“Beth, smile,“ Sydney gently demanded her sullen daughter. “You’re going to have a baby brother or sister soon.”
Bitterly, Beth mumbled, “How do I know this is even my real brother or sister?”
Sydney’s smiling face instantly turned to a glare, “I don’t ever want to hear something like that from you again. I love your father very much and would never do that to him. I haven’t even kissed another man in fifteen years.”
“Sorry,” Beth muttered quietly.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Beth was, surprisingly, the one to end it. “Why did you do it then? Didn’t you love your husband?”
Sydney sighed, “Yeah, I loved him, but I wasn’t in love with him, and then I met your father and I instantly fell for him, and I didn’t know how to handle everything. I made some bad choices. It took me a long time to forgive myself, even after Danny forgave me.”
“Oh.” Beth said softly.
Sydney smiled at her daughter, but that smile quickly contorted as a contraction hit her. She groaned loudly and squeezed the rail of the bedpost since her husband wasn’t there to lend his hand.
Beth immediately rushed to her mother’s side in concern, “Are you okay, Mom?”
“It was just a contraction, sweetie.”
“Oh okay.” After a few minutes, Beth grabbed her mother’s hand and squeezed gently, “I don’t know if this means anything, but… I forgive you too.”
“That means a lot to me.” Sydney grinned. Their moment was interrupted by the guy’s return. Michael instantly saw the smiles on his wife and daughter’s faces.
Michael stared at the happy site for a minute before asking, “Everything okay in here?”
"Great,” Sydney and Beth answered simultaneously, sharing a secret smile. And things only became greater as they welcomed Matthew James Vaughn into the world hours later.
With the birth of their son and the truths their daughter learned, Sydney and Michael realized this was a new beginning and a new era in their lives, and neither could have been more thrilled.
[Fin]
Author: Me *Katy*
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None, AU
Final Word Count: 6,736 excluding lyrics
Summary: But they had gotten a taste of what it was like to be with one another, and their desires were obviously not fulfilled in that one night.
A/N: This is a ONE PARTER, but it's divided into three parts. Each sections signifies a different period in their lives.
Well, my girl's in the next room
Sometimes I wish she was you
I guess we never really moved on
It's really good to hear your voice saying my name
It sounds so sweet
Coming from the lips of an angel
Hearing those words it makes me weak
And I never wanna say goodbye
But girl you make it hard to be faithful
With the lips of an angel
One
“Hi,” Sydney whispered, rolling over on her side to face the man in bed with her.
“Hey,” he said just as softly as she did, moving his hand to caress the barely freckled, pale skin of her arm and shoulder.
They were silent for a moment before she sighed resignedly, “Michael, I have to go home.” She didn’t look at him as she said this, instead focusing on the glittering gold ring on her left hand.
Michael managed to catch her eye before saying, “I know.”
They locked gazes for a long, electricity-filled moment before Sydney slowly began to climb out of the king sized bed.
Michael rolled over to his back, running a hand over his face, the platinum ring catching on his nose.
The ring was supposed to be a symbol of his undying love and commitment for his wife, but the women he loved, the women he had just made passionate love to, was ironically not his wife.
When Michael caught Sydney’s eye once more, she was fully dressed and was working on putting her pumps back on.
"Sydney,” he called out, her brown eyes meeting with his vibrant green ones. Sydney raised an eyebrow and he motioned to a spot on the bed next to him.
Once she was seated, he captured her lips in a kiss that only experienced lovers could share. “Syd,” he sighed. He didn’t break their silent vow not to say it, not to say those three words.
“I know, Michael,” she cast her eyes downward, “I know.”
With that, she stood up and walked out of his bedroom, not looking back.
Michael had never imagined he would be the sort of man to do this; the sort of man to cheat on his wife, but he never counted on meeting Sydney Bristow either.
Three years earlier, an old friend from college, Danny Hecht moved back to LA. Naturally, Michael wanted to visit with his old college roommate. So Michael, his wife Alice, Danny, and Danny’s new bride, who turned out to be Sydney, met for dinner.
Things were innocent enough.
Michael was attracted to Sydney, but how could anyone not be? She was absolutely gorgeous. Michael even admitted to himself, he would have asked her out had they both been single.
But life didn’t work that way; both were happily married.
The two couples continuously hung out over the next two and a half years. Michael and Danny had quickly remembered why they had been best friends in college, and Sydney and Alice even hit it off.
During their multiple double dates, Michael began to really get to know Sydney. It worried him a little when his slight crush did not fade over time, but Michael knew it was no big deal – it wasn’t like Sydney returned the feelings.
The trouble began on a rainy night, nearly thirty months after Sydney and Michael had met. Alice was in San Francisco on yet another work trip; Danny was working at the hospital.
By fate, or what some might call plain bad luck, Sydney and Michael ended up at the same bar and restaurant where the two couples often frequented.
After a dinner with pleasant conversation and a dozen too many drinks, the friends decided to share a cab home.
Michael wasn’t quite clear on how it happened, but the next morning he woke up with his best friend’s wife in his bed. To make it worse, they were both naked and it was completely obvious what had occurred the night before.
They had had an affair – something both said they would never have under normal circumstances, but in one drunken mistake, they had forgotten all their morals.
After waking up to a killer hangover and getting over the post-sex shock, Sydney and Michael agreed to pretend that it never happened and to never speak of it again.
But they had gotten a taste of what it was like to be with one another, and their desires were obviously not fulfilled in that one night.
Just three weeks after the ‘incident’, the two married couples were on a double date, much to Sydney and Michael’s chagrin.
Their contact was completely innocent -- a simple brush of the hands, accidentally bumping feet – but the actions were enough to make Sydney want him again and him to want her.
Ten minutes later, their needs were fulfilled in a small coat closet. Once again, they swore it could never, would never happen again.
Three days later, Michael was on her doorstep while Danny was at a medical conference.
They continued to tell themselves that that was the last time, but it was never the last time.
Sydney and Michael had turned into the dirty cheaters that they always said they never would.
Eventually, the stopped pretending that they would end it, and just accepted the fact that they couldn’t stay away.
They loved each other, that was excuse enough, or that’s what they told themselves, even if they never even confessed their love to the other.
~
Sydney put the finishing touch on dinner just as Danny waltzed through the door at eight-fifteen that evening.
Sydney played the part of the perfect housewife as she set the table while he cleaned up after a long day at work.
Dinner was nice, normal. They talked about their days, work, Sydney’s afternoon – excluding her hour spent at the Vaughn household, and their plans for the weekend.
It was comfortable and nice, but it wasn’t full of passion and interest like a dinner spent with Michael.
Sydney cursed herself for that thought; she couldn’t compare the two men. Danny was truly a good, kind man and he didn’t deserve someone like her. He deserved so much better, and here she was complaining to herself.
Sydney was lucky to have Danny, she continually told herself.
~
Dinner at the Vaughn’s was much like supper at the Hecht’s. Michael and Alice shared a carton of take-out Chinese that Alice had picked up on her way home from work.
Alice was Vice-President at a continually growing marketing firm, causing her to work long hours and to go on several business trips.
She was absent the majority of the time. It didn’t make her a bad wife in Michael’s eyes, it just meant many lonely nights.
Perhaps that was one of the reasons he was so enamored by Sydney, who was a self-proclaimed homebody, just like him.
Then it hit him, Michael had compared them once again.
He was obviously lost in thought when Alice snapped him out of his trace by calling his name several times.
“Sorry,” Michael muttered in apologize, not meaning it. “What were you saying?”
Alice gave him a soft, slight smile, “I asked ‘What did you do today?’.”
Michael gulped barely, not even visible to Alice. He hated it when she asked that question, especially on days like that day – a day spent with Sydney.
“You know, the usual,” Michael shrugged off the question. “I graded some papers,” had sex with one of your best friends, the usual Michael added to himself guiltily.
"Oh, papers.” Alice said in a semi-disapproving voice.
Another thing Sydney and Michael had in common was their shared profession of middle school teachers. They both shared a love for teaching and children, something Michael’s wife didn’t seem to understand.
She didn’t get why he picked a low-paying, reward-less (to her) job. Alice always told him that he was stuck in a job with no room for improvement, and that was not a good place to be. When she said this, Michael always rolled his eyes and ignored her. He loved his job, and at least he had Sydney who understood that.
He mentally groaned to himself, Michael had done it again; comparing the two women once more.
~
Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday had become their days – the days where they would meet at the other’s house or even in a hotel room. On those days, Danny worked the late shift and Alice had important meetings – even though she seemed to have those everyday.
The days weren’t set in stone. Some weeks they would get together an extra day, others they would only see each other once, but as a general rule, they had their meetings on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.
This Thursday was like most others.
When Michael walked into Sydney’s house, he was surprised when she didn’t greet him at the door.
Shrugging, he walked up the stairs, pulling off his jacket in the process.
When he walked into Syd’s room, he found her in bed, but instead of attempting to seduce him, she was clad in flannel and a thermometer was hanging from her mouth.
“Oh baby,” he sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed and placing a hand to her forehead. She was burning up.
Sydney frowned, taking the thermometer out of her mouth and reading the temperature: one-oh-one point two.
“I was fine yesterday,” Sydney muttered bitterly. Michael wrapped an arm around her shoulder, kissing her forehead gently. “I’m sorry I ruined our day.”
“It’s okay,” Michael smiled at her reassuringly. “Your health is more important than anything.” After a few minutes, Michael announced, “I’m going to go home, I think I have some papers to grade anyway.”
Sydney stopped him by grabbing his hand, “Stay, at least for a little while. I hate being alone when I’m sick. And he’s out of town.” An unspoken rule between the couple was never to mention Danny or Alice during their time together. They found that if they did, the guilt became too much.
“Syd…”
“Michael, just… please, stay with me.”
Michael knew he couldn’t deny her, he didn’t even know why he fought it to begin with. After nodding his head, agreeing to stay, Michael slipped off his shoes and crawled under the covers with Sydney.
She immediately cuddled next to him, where she fell asleep minutes later.
~
When Sydney woke up the next morning, she was shocked to have someone’s arms around her. She knew it wasn’t Danny immediately – he hated to cuddle or even face her when they slept. After a minute, she realized that Michael had stayed with her while she was sick.
Climbing out of bed gently, so she didn’t wake Michael, she padded into the bathroom. Syd took her temperature and was relieved to find it had gone down to almost normal.
By the time she crawled back into bed, Michael was already awake and staring at the ceiling. “You’re still here.” Sydney stated as more of a question.
“Yeah, I called last night and told her I had a couple drinks and was sleepin’ at Eric’s.” Michael yawned, stretching his arms above his head.
Sydney smiled at him slightly. “Thanks,” Syd mumbled quietly, wrapping her arms around his waist in a hug-like manner.
“Are you feeling better?” Michael asked gently, moving his hand so he could feel her forehead. It certainly did feel cooler than it had last night.
Sydney nodded, “Yeah.”
After a few minutes, Sydney smiled slyly, “So I was thinking”
“Uh Oh,” Michael added in.
Sydney glared at him, “There’s no class today because of that fieldtrip… which means we have the day off.”
“Yay,“ Michael said in a somewhat-sarcastic manner.
“Well, if you don’t want to spend the whole day with me, fine.” Sydney said, crossing her arms across her chest.
Michael chuckled, rolling over so his body was lying on top of hers with their faces inches apart. “I definitely want to spend the day with you.”
"Good,” Sydney smiled, pulling him down for a passionate kiss.
Moments later, Sydney couldn’t help but break the kiss and burst out laughing. “Michael, why are you wearing Spongebob boxers?”
Michael blushed, “They were the only clean pair!” he exclaimed.
“That’s pathetic.” Sydney chuckled. Michael grinned cheekily, removing the subject of discussion and tossing them to the floor.
“Better?” he asked. Sydney replied with a husky ‘yes’ and pulled him into another fiery kiss.
~
Their day together was special, but things had to return to normal sadly. The ‘return of normal‘ resumed with Danny’s homecoming.
Sydney greeted her husband with a kiss to the cheek as he walked through the door late Saturday morning. ”How was your conference?”
Danny shrugged, “A bunch of doctors in one room, arguing the whole time; not exactly my idea of a good time.”
Sydney chuckled, “I’m glad you had fun then,” Sydney teased, helping him carry the bags to their room.
“So what did you do while I was gone? You didn’t go paint the town or anything did you?” Danny asked, his turn to joke.
Sydney shook her head and laughed, “No, I stayed home the whole time. I had a fever Thursday night, but it was no big deal. I was fine Friday, but I just hung out.”
“Well, I’m glad you feel better.” Danny smiled, “And it’s good to see you cleaned up while I was gone,” Danny jested sarcastically, as he glanced around the bedroom to find Sydney’s clothes strewn everywhere, a wet towel on the floor, and the bed unmade.
Sydney smiled cheekily.
“So I get to wash my clothes and my sloppy wife’s,” he poked out his tongue as he began to pick up the dirty items off the floor.
He paused when he found a pair of boxers underneath the bed. With a frown he asked, “Syd, what are these? And why do they have a yellow square man on them?”
Sydney chuckled nervously, trying to think of a lie as fast as possible (as much as she hated lying to Danny, it’s not like she could tell him the truth). “That’s Spongebob,” she explained, before adding, “And those are mine. I bought them a while ago to sleep in, and then I lost them--”
“Well, it is easy to loose things when you just throw your clothes on the floor,” Danny interrupted.
Sydney giggled, “Yeah, and I’ve been looking for them. I can’t believe they were under the bed the whole time!” Sydney gasped fakely, though it seemed like a real gasp to Danny.
“You’re so silly,” Danny stated, kissing her sweetly on the lips.
Sydney smiled and breathed a sigh of relief – that was a close call.
Two
And so life went on as normal. Sydney and Michael continued their relationship; Alice and Danny remained clueless.
Sydney should have known that something would happen – something like this. She should’ve known that she would have to fess up eventually.
She didn’t imagine that it would be this soon though.
“Are you sure?” Sydney repeated, looking at the doctor hopefully. The doctor nodded, causing Sydney to focus on her hands awkwardly.
It had been just a regular check-up, but now – now everything was different. “I’ll see you in a month Sydney.”
Sydney mumbled her goodbyes, and as if on autopilot arranged another appointment and drove home. How much longer it would be her home, she wasn’t sure.
Surprisingly Danny was home before her, preparing dinner and singing off-tune to the radio. Sydney couldn’t help but smile slightly.
“How was your appointment?” Danny asked.
Sydney shrugged, “Fine.”
Danny’s brow furrowed, “Are you okay, Sydney?”
Sydney sighed, “Actually, I need to tell you something.” The way she said this – the sad tone of her voice – Danny was instantly concerned.
“What is it?” he questioned, a frown occupying his usually smiling face. Sydney opened her mouth to answer when a timer went off somewhere in the kitchen. Before she could get a word in, Danny disappeared into the kitchen to check on dinner. “It’ll still be a few… so, um, what did you want to talk about Syd?”
Sydney took a deep breath, “Sit down, Danny,” she told him gently. He eyed her curiously, taking the seat across from her.
After a long minute of silence, Sydney announced in a low voice, “I’m pregnant.”
Danny’s frown immediately turned into a beam as he grabbed her hand across the table, “That’s wonderful Syd! We’ve always talked about having kids, and…wait,” Danny froze when he saw her still grimacing. “Is the baby okay? Are you okay?”
Sydney sighed, knowing her next few words would completely break his heart. “Danny, the baby isn’t yours.”
With those five words, Danny violently dropped her hand and his face turned into a hard glare. “What!?” he yelled angrily. His anger quickly turned to denial and he asked, “Are you sure? Is there a chance it’s mine?”
Sydney shook her head, “The doctor said it was conceived around January 2nd. You were in Atlanta at that medical conference,” Sydney explained in a detached voice.
Danny’s glower returned as he pushed his chair away from the table and stormed out of the house, slamming the back door as loudly as possible.
Sydney heard his car tires screech as he sped out of the driveway.
With that, Sydney buried her head in her hands and cried.
~
Michael grumbled and groaned as someone repeatedly banged on the front door at almost two o’clock in the morning.
He paused to throw on a tee-shirt before looking through the peep hole. His brow furrowing, he noticed his best friend swaying on his front step – obviously intoxicated.
Michael swung open the front door, quickly ushering Danny inside and to the living room where he could question Danny about his early morning visit.
“Is everything okay, Dan?” Michael asked once Danny was seated safely on the couch.
Danny shook his head, “Sydney…”
Michael’s face instantly fell. Was something wrong with Sydney? He finally managed to choke out, “Sydney?”
Danny looked up at Michael, meeting his eye for a second. All Michael could see was the sadness and disappointment that lurked in Danny’s dark blue eyes. “Sydney’s pregnant.”
Michael gulped. Sydney was pregnant, him and Sydney had… could it be his? “Isn’t that a, um, good thing?” Michael asked, referring to his best friend’s state of drunkenness and his sad nature.
“It’s not my baby. Sydney had an affair. She had a frackin affair.” Danny’s anger returned as he stood up and began to pace. “She’s my wife, man, and she cheated on me with some asshole and she’s having his baby.”
Michael’s eyes widened in shock, if it wasn’t Danny’s then it was his. Suddenly he couldn’t breath.
“Do you know who… who it was?” Michael asked, seemingly curious, but really wondering if he should be concerned for his life.
Danny shook his head, “I just can’t believe this. I thought she loved me. I thought she loved me,” Danny repeated over and over again until he eventually passed out.
Michael sat in shock for most of the night, staring at the wall across from him. He didn’t know how to process this – Sydney was having his baby, he was going to be a father and the mother wasn’t his wife.
Oh God, he thought, Alice. She was going to find out now, just like Danny had.
When had his life turned into such a mess?
~
When Sydney finally stumbled downstairs the next morning, she was shocked to find Danny sitting at the kitchen cable, cup of coffee in his hands, a thick stack of papers in the other.
“Danny,” Sydney gasped, shocked to see her husband after her revelation last night.
“These are divorce papers,” Danny said shortly, ”I was going to leave them here so I didn’t have to see you, but I wanted… I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt first. I wanted to see if there was a reason.“
Sydney sighed, not speaking until after she had poured a glass of orange juice and was seated across from Danny. “There isn’t a good reason. I, just, I love him and it happened and there is no excuse for it.”
“How long?“ Danny gritted out, setting the papers on the table.
“Almost eight months,” she whispered, crossing her arms over chest self-consciously. Danny nodded, sliding the papers across the table and standing up to leave. Sydney stopped him with a quiet, “Danny.” He spun around and faced her, meeting her blood shot eyes.
“I’m so sorry Danny. I never wanted to hurt you; I do love you. I’m sorry,” she mumbled, breaking eye contact and focusing her eyes on her fidgeting hands.
“I’ll be back in a few days to pick up some of my things,” Danny said shortly before walking out of the house and out of Sydney’s life.
~
Sydney didn’t see Michael or Danny for days.
Finally, five days after discovering she was pregnant, there was a knock at the door.
Sydney was surprised, yet not surprised, to see Michael standing there. “You’re pregnant,” he stated before any ‘hello’s’ or polite ‘how are you’s?’.
Sydney nodded, “Five weeks.”
“Danny told me it wasn’t…”
“It’s your baby Michael,” Sydney confirmed for him, knowing that was what he was waiting to hear.
Michael smiled slightly, “Good.”
“Good?” Sydney choked out. “Explain to me how this is good, Michael. We’re married to other people. Well, for now. My husband left me. That’s not good. And how are we going to explain to our families that we were having an affair and that I’m pregnant. I fail to see the good in this situation.”
“Shut up Sydney,” Michael chuckled.
“What!?” she gasped indignantly.
Michael took her hand in his own, “This is good. God, Syd, I love you, okay. I know you know, but I need to say it. I love you. We’ll make this work.”
Sydney smiled at him, “I love you too.”
“See, it’s good,” he muttered before brushing his lips against hers.
The broke apart smiling, but quickly regretted that kiss when they saw Danny standing in the driveway – apparently there to pick up his things.
Before Michael could attempt to explain, Danny had approached him and punched him square in the jaw. “Danny!” Sydney exclaimed.
“You bastard. You slept with my wife. You were my best friend and you SLEPT WITH MY WIFE!” Danny yelled at a loud decibel.
By this point, several neighbors had walked outside to see what all the commotion was about. Sydney quickly tried to quiet Danny so he didn’t make a scene, but he wouldn’t listen to her.
“I hate you. I hate you both,” Danny shouted, kicking Michael in the side when he tried to stand.
After his proclamation, he climbed into his car and sped away.
Sydney felt tears prick her eyes as she knelt down to check on Michael, “Are you okay?” Michael nodded through gritted teeth.
“So he didn’t take the news well…” Michael tried to joke a moment later, but stopped when Sydney glared at him.
~
“So I told Alice…” Michael announced somewhat sadly the next day when he walked into Sydney’s kitchen.
“How’d she take it?” Sydney cringed.
Michael pointed to his forehead, “She threw her wedding ring at my head.”
“That well?” Sydney smiled softly, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug.
Michael gently kissed her forehead softly, moving his hand to caress the still-flat plane of her stomach.
"She said she was going to her lawyer first thing in the morning,” Michael added.
Sydney nodded against his chest, “So I guess we’re both going to be divorced soon.”
“It looks like it,” Michael said, his breath whispering across her forehead. They both shared a sad smile, before breaking apart – Sydney to finish dinner, Michael to set the table.
Despite their impending divorces, Sydney and Michael couldn’t have been happier. They were finally free. They were having a baby!
It wasn’t the best of circumstances – in fact, they were pretty shitty circumstances – but they could finally be together. They didn’t have to sneak around or hide it from anyone.
Sydney and Michael knew the next months would be the hardest of their lives, but they didn’t care as long as they had each other.
Three
Things were far from easy. Sydney and Michael dealt with the pain of the divorces, and tried to build their relationship.
Both divorces were final a short month before the baby was born, and Sydney and Michael immediately went to the courthouse for a small, very private wedding.
The only attendees were their parents and Sydney’s sister.
And the parents were almost reluctant to show.
With obvious reason, their parents were less than thrilled with the choices their children had made. Jack even threatened to disown Sydney, but in the end, he couldn’t – he loved his daughter and unborn grandchild too much.
Eventually, everyone came to accept the choices Sydney and Michael made, but they were still a very taboo subject in both households.
In fact, that whole episode in their lives had been mentioned less than a handful of times in nearly fifteen years.
Until one day when everything would change.
~
“Smile Bethany,” Sydney encouraged her fourteen year old daughter. “You love your grandparents; it’s not like its torture.”
The teenager groaned, while her ten year old brother smirked, “She’s just mad that she’s not allowed to see Andrew today,” Joshua said in a sing-song voice.
“SHUT UP!” Bethany exclaimed, shoving her brother in a manner that was anything but loving.
“Children,” Michael said, quieting his two feuding kids with just that one word, though both children glared at him. “You know you aren’t supposed to stress out your mother.” Michael reprimanded, motioning to his wife’s eight month pregnant stomach.
Sydney and Michael certainly hadn’t planned on having a third child, especially at the ages of forty and forty-two, respectively.
But they had learned over their relationship that things did not go as planned and that you had to go with the flow of things.
So that’s what they did, and they were actually really happy with the idea of another baby around the house.
When Michael reminded his children not to ‘stress their mother’ they both rolled their eyes. It was a phrase they had heard numerous times in the previous months, especially since this was considered a high risk pregnancy because of Sydney’s age.
Even Sydney had to fight the urge to give her husband an eye roll.
Changing the subject, Sydney told her family, “We need to leave; we’re going to be late.”
The kids shuffled to the car, while Michael stole a quick kiss from his wife before walking into the kitchen to grab his keys off the counter.
Twenty minutes later, the family of four arrived at the elder Vaughn’s home. Amelia greeted them at the door with hugs and kisses as she ushered them inside. Immediately, she demanded Sydney to go sit down.
Like mother, like son, Sydney thought with a smile as she waddled into the dining room. The dining room table was already set when Sydney sat down, and there was already food sitting on the table.
Shortly after Sydney sat down, the rest of the family joined her in the dining room, Amelia bringing up the rear while carrying a large plate of roast beef.
Over dinner they chatted about the kids’ classes and what sports they were playing, also they talked about Sydney’s pregnancy and the fact that Michael and Sydney refused to find out if it was a boy or girl.
“Oh yeah, Michael, you’ll never guess who I saw a couple days ago. That snotty, ice queen ex-wife of yours… she was asking about you.” Bill said this so casually, not even realizing that three sets of eyes were glaring at him, and the two youngest people at the table were looking at him confused.
It took him a minute to realize why everyone was staring at him, but then it clicked and he mumbled a few choice words under his breath.
“Ex-wi...wife,” Beth finally stuttered out, looking between her parents for reassurance that this wasn’t true, that her grandfather had just spilled his beans and made it all up.
"Sweetie, we’ll talk about this later,” Sydney said quickly, taking a deep breath. She wasn’t ready for this today; she wasn’t ready for this conversation any day.
Bethany shook her head while tears formed in her eyes, ”No, I want to know what grandpa meant. Was Daddy married to someone else before he married you?”
Sydney and Michael glanced at each other, trying to reassure the other with just their eyes, but it didn’t help much.
After a long, awkward moment of silence, Michael told his children, ”Yes, I was married to a woman named Alice for three years before I was with your mother.”
“I can’t believe you never told us,” Josh said, looking like he might throw up at any moment.
Sydney sighed, resting both hands on her stomach, “There’s something else you should know too.” Everyone’s eyes turned towards Sydney, and she cleared her throat loudly, before saying, “I was married too… before your father.”
Beth’s eyes widened as she pushed away from the table and ran down the hall.
Josh stayed at the table, but his eyes remained focused on the intricate lace pattern on the tablecloth.
After a minute he asked, “Why didn’t you tell us before now?” his voice was almost a whisper, and Sydney’s heart broke.
Michael noticed his hormonal wife was close to tears and answered, “It’s complicated, we’ll talk more when we get home.”
Josh nodded.
The four adults took a minute to finish their meals, but no one had an appetite anymore, so they excused themselves to the kitchen where Bill quickly apologized, “I’m so sorry. I forgot that they didn’t know...”
“It’s okay, I mean, we should have told them years ago, but we’ve just been… avoiding it,” Michael sighed, rubbing his temples with the palm of his hands.
"I’m going to try to get Beth to talk to me,” Sydney said quietly. She found her oldest daughter locked in the bathroom.
Lucky for Sydney, there was a key for emergencies such as these and she let herself in. She sighed loudly when she saw Beth leaning against the bathtub with tears streaming down her cheeks.
Unable to sit on the floor, Sydney chose the next best thing – the toilet – to sit on. The mother-daughter pair sat in silence for a minute, while Sydney softly stroked Beth’s shoulder length chestnut colored hair.
“Why did you keep it a secret?” Beth finally sniffled minutes later.
“Your father and I aren’t proud of our failed marriages… and we never knew how to tell you. I guess I was hoping you’d never find out.”
“Oh,” the younger woman said quietly.
After a brief hesitation, Sydney told her oldest child, “If you have any questions, just ask, okay?” Beth nodded, but didn’t say anything else. “Are you ready to go home?” Beth nodded and let her mother wrap an arm around her shoulder as they exited the bathroom.
~
“Mom?” Beth asked softly as she walked into her parent’s bedroom. Sydney sat up slowly so she could see her daughter. “Were you asleep?”
Sydney shook her head, “Your brother or sister won’t stop kicking long enough to let me sleep.”
“Oh okay, um, I have a question.”
“Shoot,” Sydney said, motioning to a spot on the bed next to her.
Beth sat down cautiously, “You know when we were cleaning out Dad’s office a few months ago for the nursery… and there was a box I wasn’t allowed to see, are the divorces… is that why I couldn’t see inside the box, because it had stuff in there about them?” Sydney nodded and Beth let out a breath of relief, “Okay, good, I thought it was porn or something!”
“Bethany Anne!” Sydney exclaimed in a scolding tone, though she laughed as she said this.
Beth giggled for a moment, before turning serious once more, ”Can I look at the pictures and stuff? I’m just… curious, I guess.”
Sydney leaned over and kissed the top of her daughter’s head, “Yeah, have fun.”
Beth remembered her father putting the box on the top shelf of the hall closet, and with a smile, she discovered he hadn’t moved it.
She quickly pulled it down, carrying the box into the living room where she set it down on the floor and lifted the lip.
Inside, there were mostly photo albums, but there were a few mementos like a ratty old tee-shirt and some CD’s.
The first photo album Beth pulled out was the last in chronological order. Most of the pictures were from 2005, but one picture in particular made her freeze.
It was from the middle of February 2006, and if she had done the math right, she was conceived in January of 2006, but in this picture, there was her mom holding the hand of her ex-husband, while her dad had his arm wrapped around the waist of his ex.
Beth began to inwardly panic. Something wasn’t right here – what if her dad wasn’t her biological father and her mom’s ex-husband was her real father? Or maybe she was over thinking this, she could have been born prematurely, making her conception months later, that could be it.
Trying to be calm, she walked into the kitchen where her dad was fixing dinner.
Michael noticed her standing in the doorway out of the corner of his eye, “Is everything okay, honey?”
“Um, I was just wondering something… Um, was I born like… early or late or on time or what?”
Michael thought for a second, “You were ten days late, oh, and I remember your mom was so cranky. She was ready for you to come out…” he chuckled.
Beth giggled nervously, “Oh… okay.”
Michael eyed her curiously, something wasn’t quite right, but he couldn’t place it.
By dinnertime, Beth had worked herself up so much she was nearly in tears. Sydney immediately picked up on this, and questioned her oldest, “Beth, what’s wrong?”
Beth felt a tear fall from her eye as she spoke in an oddly calm voice, “You could’ve told me that he wasn’t my real father,” her eyes darting between her fidgeting hands and Michael’s face.
Sydney’s eyes narrowed in confusion, “Where did you get that idea, sweetie? Your dad is your real father…” Sydney trailed off.
“You don’t have to lie anymore!” Beth yelled, “I saw the pictures, you were still married when I was conceived, which means that my real dad is out there somewhere!”
“Beth, Michael is your biological father. Your real dad… he’s sitting across from you.”
“But how is that possible?” Beth asked as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Michael and Sydney shared a look before Michael told his youngest child, “Josh, go your room.“
“But I want to hear the rest of the fight,” their ten year old son whined.
“Joshua, go to your room right now.” Michael said in a much sterner voice. Josh knew his dad meant business and quickly ran off to his room.
“What’s going on?” Beth asked in a very paranoid manner.
Sydney sighed, “Your father and I are not very proud of how we handled things years ago. We were both married. Your dad and my ex-husband Danny were best friends. The four of us… Danny, Your father, his wife Alice, and me were all really close. And despite everything, we fell in love.”
“Oh God,” Beth muttered under her breath.
Sydney grasped her husband’s hand for support as she revealed one of her darkest secrets, “Your father and I had an affair.”
"Oh my God,” Beth breathed out, shocked. “I just… I can’t believe you did that. Your always telling me how bad cheating is and all this moral dignified felgercarb,”
“Bethany Anne!” Michael scolded her.
“It’s all felgercarb, you obviously don’t believe what you’ve been telling me.”
Sydney felt hot tears in her eyes as she tried to plead with her daughter, “We learned from our mistakes… we’re trying to keep you from making the same mistakes we did.”
“How do I know that? How can I ever believe another word you say?” Beth yelled before running off to her room and slamming the door shut.
Michael called after Beth but it was no use. Michael turned to comfort his wife, but instead of emotional pain found her in a whole different sorts of discomfort.
“Jesus,” he muttered to himself, “I told them not to stress you out, now look what happened! You’re in labor.”
Sydney groaned, “Just… take me to the hospital already.”
Michael nodded in submission, climbing up the stairs two at a time. First, he grabbed Sydney’s pre-prepared bag for the hospital then called the children to come out of their rooms.
Josh was standing in front of his father a second later, but Beth remained in her room.
Michael banged on the pink door to Beth’s room, yelling, “Bethany, get out here right now. We’re going to the hospital.”
"I’m not going,” she shouted back.
“Bethany Anne Vaughn, get your ass out here right now.” Michael yelled in frustration and anger. Beth quickly opened the door to her room. She had never heard her father use that tone of voice with her, and he had especially never cursed in front of her.
Both children sheepishly followed their father down the stairs and to the car.
Ten minutes later, the growing family rushed into the hospital. Sydney was sent to a room to wait for the doctor, while Michael filled out papers.
A few minutes later, a nurse announced to the father and two children that Sydney’s doctor had seen her and it would still be a couple hours, but invited them to go visit.
Michael and Josh were eager to see Sydney, but Beth sulked the whole way down the hall.
“I’m only three centimeters,” Sydney whined when Michael walked into the room.
“Mommy, you’re a lot bigger than three centimeters!” Josh exclaimed with an eye
roll. Sydney and Michael both laughed while Beth stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest.
After a few minutes of visiting, Michael announced that he was going to call their parents. Josh went with him so he could get a snack from the machines in the hall.
“Beth, smile,“ Sydney gently demanded her sullen daughter. “You’re going to have a baby brother or sister soon.”
Bitterly, Beth mumbled, “How do I know this is even my real brother or sister?”
Sydney’s smiling face instantly turned to a glare, “I don’t ever want to hear something like that from you again. I love your father very much and would never do that to him. I haven’t even kissed another man in fifteen years.”
“Sorry,” Beth muttered quietly.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Beth was, surprisingly, the one to end it. “Why did you do it then? Didn’t you love your husband?”
Sydney sighed, “Yeah, I loved him, but I wasn’t in love with him, and then I met your father and I instantly fell for him, and I didn’t know how to handle everything. I made some bad choices. It took me a long time to forgive myself, even after Danny forgave me.”
“Oh.” Beth said softly.
Sydney smiled at her daughter, but that smile quickly contorted as a contraction hit her. She groaned loudly and squeezed the rail of the bedpost since her husband wasn’t there to lend his hand.
Beth immediately rushed to her mother’s side in concern, “Are you okay, Mom?”
“It was just a contraction, sweetie.”
“Oh okay.” After a few minutes, Beth grabbed her mother’s hand and squeezed gently, “I don’t know if this means anything, but… I forgive you too.”
“That means a lot to me.” Sydney grinned. Their moment was interrupted by the guy’s return. Michael instantly saw the smiles on his wife and daughter’s faces.
Michael stared at the happy site for a minute before asking, “Everything okay in here?”
"Great,” Sydney and Beth answered simultaneously, sharing a secret smile. And things only became greater as they welcomed Matthew James Vaughn into the world hours later.
With the birth of their son and the truths their daughter learned, Sydney and Michael realized this was a new beginning and a new era in their lives, and neither could have been more thrilled.
[Fin]
brother! 