A Tough Moment

Chapter Twelve

I smiled down at Georgia as she slept peacefully in her bed. She fidgeted slightly as I gently stroked her hair. It was going to destroy my family when they found out the truth, but I had to tell them. I couldn't keep avoiding Emma, she was already suspicious and even though it would destroy me to tell her, she had a right to know the truth. I sat back and leant against the wall. I'd have given anything for my result to be negative, just like Caleb's. Then I could have forgotten about the whole thing. But there was no escaping the reality of it.

Somehow the thought of telling Emma filled me with a deep sense of dread. I had no idea how she would take the news and talking about it with her would suddenly make the enormity of the situation sink in. I sniffed and quickly wiped the tears from my face.

"Daddy, why are you crying?" Georgia whispered. I hadn't even realised that she was awake.

"I'm not, it's okay baby." I said quickly, smiling falsely.

She stared at me for a moment, clearly trying to decide whether to believe me or not. I winced in horror as she burst out crying.

"Ssshh it's okay, Daddy's okay." I told her quickly as I squatted in front of her. She was making so much noise that Emma and Caleb would hear her. I wasn't ready to explain to Emma yet, I needed to get my head on straight first.

"Please be quiet Georgia." I pleaded as she continued crying.

Emma's POV

"Can you hear that?" I asked Caleb as I heard a commotion from upstairs.

"Hear what?" he frowned.

"It sounds like Georgia is crying." I sighed, quickly standing up.

I quickly climbed the stairs and walked into Georgia's room and saw that she was crying, despite Ethan kneeling in front of her attempting to calm her down.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking between the two of them.

"She won't stop crying." he sighed.

"What's she upset about?" I frowned.

He sighed and looked away from me.

"Ethan?" I asked again.

"It's nothing." he said quietly.

I looked between the two of them, my brain spinning. What could possibly have happened between the two of them? I frowned as I heard Ethan sniff.

"Are you crying?" I asked him.

"Ethan, what's going on?" I asked nervously, as I placed my hand on his shoulder.

He slowly turned to face me and gazed up at me. I couldn't help but gasp as I saw his tear stained face.

"Oh my god, Ethan." I whispered sympathetically.

I watched in horror as he wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his head against my chest.

"I'm so sorry." he whispered over and over again, my heart breaking at the anguish in his voice.

"For what?" I asked gently.

He couldn't answer me, as he was sobbing to much. His whole body shaking with force as he clung to me tightly. Warm tears rolled down my cheeks as I gently stroked his hair, trying in vain to give him some sort of comfort. I'd never seen him in this way before, in such a state of hysteria that he couldn't stop sobbing. What could possibly have happened to cause him this much pain?

My head snapped towards Georgia as I noticed her watching Ethan, a nervous expression on her face.

"Caleb!" I called loudly.

He didn't answer, but I knew from the footsteps on the stairs that he'd heard me.

"Jeez, what's going on?" Caleb breathed as soon as he entered the room.

"Could you take Georgia downstairs please?" I asked.

He nodded and reached for her hand, which she quickly took.

"Ethan and I need to talk." I muttered.