The CEO's Mistake (Editing)

13: Chasing Shadows From The Past

Ethan and Penny ushered Skylar out of the house before she could break down again. Ethan suggested they make a day out of it and looking at Penny's excitement at being able to hang out with both her parents, together, Skylar couldn't say no. She pushed the news from the morning to the back of her mind and decided to enjoy the beautiful, sunny New York day.

Their first stop was the Bronx zoo and Skylar could feel Penny's excitement, turns out it was contagious. Ethan bought their tickets and the three of them walked in, Penny grabbing both their hands in her tiny grasp. They looked like a real family and unaware as they were, they did not notice people near them looking at them and admiring their perfect little family. It didn't help that the couple was noticeable wherever they went, Ethan in his casual outfit of a white shirt, blue jean, and sunglasses which made him look like the definition of cool and Skylar in a white bandeau top and pink floral mini skirt. But what caught everyone's attention more than anything else was the little blonde haired angel between the two of them dressed in a cherubic white summer dress with lacy cat ears perched on her head.

Since it was the weekend, the zoo was teeming with families, Skylar, and Ethan struggling to keep up with Penny who was running from one exhibit to another. They looked at each other and smiled. "My mom says that I was the same as a kid," Skylar told Ethan.

Felix cleared his throat, "I um...I thought your parents are no more?" It came out as more of a question because he didn't want Skylar to know that he had looked into her background.

Skylar tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear and smiled at him weakly. She amended, "My foster mom. My birth parents died when I was four and I was in foster care for a year before my parents adopted me."

Felix nodded in understanding. It felt so much better to find out things about her when she was the one to tell him instead of someone else. He was enjoying getting to know her and was finally seeing her in a new light, a part of him wished he had paid more attention to her before. Penny had finally stopped in front of the penguin exhibit and was staring at the little birds with her tiny palms on the glass and awe in her eyes. Ethan picked her up and placed her on his shoulders so she could get a better view. Penny clapped her hand in glee and called Skylar over to see. "Mama look! Daddy Ethan is carrying me! I see everything now!!" Skylar stood by and looked on as the doting father pointed out the penguin chicks to his enthralled daughter who was listening to him attentively.

It was at times like this that she felt a pang of guilt for hiding Penelope from Ethan. Back then, she had thought him cold, cruel, selfish and incapable of loving anyone except himself. She had been so confident in her belief that he would make a terrible father, she had convinced herself that she was only looking out for her daughter's best interests. Maybe she had been wrong about him.

But now...now that Ethan had proven himself to be a capable father, she wanted him to be a part of Penelope's life.

By the end of their walk around the zoo, Penny was on a sugar trip. She'd conned Skylar and Ethan with her puppy dog eyes into buying her tons of candy and she had managed to fit almost half of it into her tiny body. As a consequence of which she was hopping and jumping around while they had their lunch at a popular eatery in downtown Brooklyn. Ethan and Skylar were engrossed in their own private bubble, laughing and chatting over iced teas and paninis. It was only broken when Penny ran into someone's legs and squealed excitedly.

"Daddy!" Skylar and Ethan turned to where the sound came from and upon seeing the person standing in front of them, the blood drained from Skylar's face. Stefan stood next to their table with an elated Penny in his arms. Skylar couldn't maintain eye contact with him because she was too terrified of what she would see in his eyes. Would it be disgust? Hatred? Or regret?

Ethan was the first one to react. "Stefan! Hey...It's a surprise seeing you here."

"Clearly," Stefan said bluntly, pretending as though he hadn't seen the hand that Ethan had held out to him. Penny who was perched in his arms frowned at the tension surrounding her parents and tugged on Stefan's shirt to catch his attention. Realizing that he had the toddler clinging on to him, Stefan placed her on the ground and gave Skylar a brittle smile.

"Can we talk outside for a minute?" He asked Skylar before turning to the woman who had been standing next to him the entire time and had somehow still gone unnoticed by all of them. Kendra looked entirely bored with the conversation and when Stefan told her he would meet her back at 'his place' she nodded and walked out, not giving any of them so much as a glance.

"Okay." Skylar nodded and walked out behind him after telling Ethan that she would be back soon.

Outside, the air was terse with awkwardness, neither of them knowing what to say to each other, the silence gradually choking them, the same way it had been for the last few days.

"Let's-" Both of them began to speak at once. Skylar sighed and gestured for Stefan to say his piece first.

" Listen, Skylar, I think we shouldn't be engaged anymore. Both of us need time away from each other to think and sort things out." Stefan's voice was devoid of all emotion, his eyes which had always been so expressive now looked hollow. Skylar felt guilt pricking at her, she was the one responsible for his current state.

She felt tears welling up behind her eyes but she blinked them away and nodded. "Yes....I-I think that would be the right thing to do. For us and for Penelope." She took off the beautiful ring he'd given her when he proposed and placed it in his hand.

"Are you dating h-him? Ethan?" Stefan asked. But Skylar wouldn't say anything or even look at him. He wanted her to see the pain, the heartbreak that he had tried so hard to hide from her.

"Okay." His voice came out a mere whisper. He bent down to place his lips against her forehead, the kiss was the lightest brush of a goodbye. When he had finally walked away and didn't look back, she let those tears fall down in a stream that didn't seem to want to stop.

She finally composed herself and walked back into the restaurant towards her daughter and the father of her child who was waiting for her. Ethan could imagine what might have transpired outside and so couldn't find it in him to ask her anything in her vulnerable state. But their little one who was innocent to the workings of the adult world couldn't help herself.

" Mama, where did Daddy go?" She asked.

Skylar flinched at her words. What was she supposed to tell her daughter? She thought for a minute before saying," Baby...Now that you have your real daddy back and you love him so much, it's not okay to call Stefan daddy anymore. But you can call him Uncle Stefan. Okay?"

Penny was about to bombard her mother with even more complex questions when Ethan distracted her with a bowl of her favorite chocolate ice cream sundae. When he saw the gratefulness shining in Skylar's sad eyes, he gave her a soft smile and squeezed her hand to reassure her that he was still here, he was never going to leave her.