The Parent Trap

Chapter 36

Then my eyes met Chase’s, he was smiling at me.

Heat rushed to my face and neck. I couldn’t help recalling the dream I’d had this morning.

"Morning." he greeted.

"M-Morning." I stutter... Why was I stuttering?

I looked away so fast I pulled a muscle in my neck. I let out a hiss.

I needed to pull myself together. It was just a dream. I’d convinced myself it was just a dream.

I got back down out of my arms and ran back to her pancakes.

I watched her, trying to focus on my daughter and not her father.

"Carly?" Chase calls out to me.

"Hm?" I look at him.

"You alright?" he asks.

I nod. "Of course. Why wouldn’t I be okay?" I ask.

His brows furrows. "You don’t look fine." he walks up to me and it takes everything in me not to back away from him.

"I didn’t sleep well." I wasn’t lying. I’ve been awake since two this morning.

I walk past him and busied myself pouring me a cup of coffee. I was trying not to look at him and I needed the caffeine to keep myself from going back to sleep. I was scared I’d dream about Chase naked again.

I reach for the sugar when Chase did the exact same time and our fingers brushes against each others.

A jolt of electricity shot through me.

I bit back a gasp.

I pulled my hand back to quickly sending the spoon in my hand to the floor.

"I’m so sorry..." I bend to pick it up and throw it in the kitchen sink.

Chase blinks at me. "Carly what’s going on with you?"

"I-I. I’m just tired I didn’t get enough sleep." Heat floods my cheeks.

He looked genuinely confused. "What’s going on with you? You’re jumpy, like you’re afraid I’m going to attack you..."

"I just..." There was no way on God’s green earth could I tell him about my dream.

How could I possibly say, I’m sorry I may or may not have remembered the night we slept together and conceived our daughter. I saw another side of myself. Someone confident, happy and confident.

I stared at the countertop, unable to look him in the eye.

"I’m sorry I wasn’t paying attention." I tell him.

Chase didn’t say anything, but I could feel his eyes on me. Before he could question me there was a knock on the door.

Chase went to answer the door, while I finished making my coffee.

I realized how I liked my coffee. I liked three sugars, a lot of milk and strong.

I could hear talking so I went to look. A woman in a navy suit with stack of documents in her hand with two police offers stood in front of the door.

She was talking to Chase.

Chase stepped out of the way so they could come in.

The woman look at me and smiled. "Hello. My name is Rebecca Collins. I’m a family caseworker with Child Protective Services." She extends her hand and I do the same.

"Hello. I’m Carly Lewis..." I smile too. Thought every muscle in my body felt tight.

She looked around the living room. It was a mess, most of Stella’s toys were casually thrown about.

"We are investigating an emergency order your ex wife filed against you..." she explains.

Chase nods.

She makes notes on the document and walks toward the kitchen where Stella was eating.

Stella greeted them with a bright smile and asked them if they wanted pancakes she proudly explained how she’d helped make them.

As Rebecca was talking to Stella I stood beside Chase.

"What is going on?" I asked quietly.

He didn’t take his eyes off Stella. I could see his jaw clenched. "Amelia has filed for an emergency protective order against me alleging I was abusive towards her and Stella. She wants to take Stella away from me." he spits out.

The words felt like a bucket of ice water thrown over me.

"Do you mind if we saw Stella’s bedroom?" Rebecca asks.

Chase leads her away.

One of the officers stays with me and Stella.

Stella sits beside me, I took her hand in mine. I just got my daughter I wasn’t going to let Chase’s ex’s schemes to take her away from me.

"Will you be taking Stella away?" I ask.

She looks at me with pity. "It depends on what we find during the investigation. If we find that Stella is indeed in danger she will be placed in CPS’s custody. If the claims are unfounded she’ll stay here"

"Stella is safe here. Chase would never let anything happen to Stella. Stella is his whole world..." I had to say something.

The officer looks at me. "And who are you?" she asks.

"She’s Stella’s nanny..." Chase’s answer came instantly not giving me a chance to respond.

Stella looked between us and didn’t say anything.

"Mr. Jacobs we’ll be conducting the interviews shortly." Rebecca tells Chase.

She glanced toward Stella then toward me. "And you must be Carly Lewis. I’ll need to speak with you as well." she says

My stomach drops and my dream has long been forgotten. Just like that. The reality of our situation came crashing down on me.

It feels like I’ve woken up from a dream. I wished this was a dream.

I’d just gotten to know my daughter. I didn’t want to lose her when I just got her.

Chase offered his office for us to speak privately.

She closed the door behind us and we sat on the sofa.

"I know this must be a little difficult for you." she began to speak, her voice calm and reassuring. "I’m simply here to gather information so I can make an informed decision about Stella’s well being to the court." she explains.

I nod. "I understand." I fiddle with my hands trying to look calm.

She offers me a small smile before opening her notebook. "Could you tell me about your involvement with the Jacobs family?"

"I work as Stella’s nanny."

"And how long have you been employed by Mr. Jacobs?" she asks.

"Just over a month." I can’t believe it’s already been a month that I’ve been in Stella’s life.

"And during that time, how often have you interacted with him?" she asks.

"Every day. We normally go according to Stella’s schedule and he is very involved in Stella’s day to day life." I wasn’t lying.

She made a note. "How would you describe Mr. Jacobs as a father?"

I didn’t even have to think about my answer. "Chase is a great father. He always puts Stella first. He loves his daughter more than he loves himself."

Rebecca looked up. "In what way?" she asks.

"He plans his work around her whenever he can. He is home more than he is at work, he makes sure he’s home every night to have dinner with her, he listens intently when she explains everything she did that day. If he has to film at night, he waits until after he’s put her to bed before he goes out." I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. "He knows exactly how she likes her pancakes, which stuffed animal she sleeps with, and he knows how to comfort her when she’s had a bad dream..."

Rebecca noted something on her notebook. "Have you ever witnessed Mr. Jacobs lose his temper with Stella?"

I shake my head. "No..."

"Raise his voice at her?" she asks.

"No. Chase doesn’t raise his voice at anyone. Much less his daughter."

"Threaten her?" she asks.

"Never." I shake my head.

"Has he ever physically disciplined her?" she asks.

"No, Stella’s a good child she’s never been naughty. She hadn’t needed to be disciplined." I wasn’t lying.

Rebecca studied me for a moment. "And toward you?" she asks.

I blink. "What do you mean?"

"Has he ever intimidated you?" she asks.

I have no idea why but I let out a laugh. I put a hand over my mouth and shake my head. "No."

"Made you feel unsafe?" she asks.

I shake my head. "No. Honestly since I’ve been here, Chase has been nothing but kind to me. After everything, he makes me feel safe and he is patient with me..." I tell her.

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"I was in an accident that’s left me with no memory of who I am and Chase has been helping me find who I am and helped me in many ways..." I explain.

I thought back over the past few weeks, the misunderstandings, the DNA tests, the video of me leaving Stella. He make me feel unsafe or guilty for leaving Stella.

Rebecca rested her pen on her book and looked at me. "Since you’ve been in the Jacobs household has there ever been a moment where you feared Mr. Jacobs."

"So you’ve never been frightened of him?"

I smiled "No, honestly Chase had many times he could have been angry with me, but he’s been patient with me.

Rebecca smiled faintly before making another note, she flipped to a fresh page.

"You’ve met Amelia West?" she asks.

"Yes." I nod. The woman had made it clear she didn’t like me. And she was a mystery I didn’t want to solve.

"Can you describe those interactions?" she asks.

"There have only been two."

"Go ahead."

I took a slow breath.

"The first time she came to the house..." I let out an awkward laugh. "...she arrived before six in the morning." I tell her.

Rebecca looked surprised. "Unannounced?" she asks.

I nod. "Yes."

"She walked straight into Stella’s bedroom. That night Stella had difficulty sleeping so she demanded both Chase and I sleep beside her. We’d planned to leave once she was asleep but I’d fallen asleep not long after Stella."

Rebecca noted down what I’d said.

"What happened then?"

I rubbed the back of my neck, still embarrassed by the memory. "Honestly she screamed out scaring all of us. I regret how I reacted. But my body moved before I could react."

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"I pinned her to the floor."

Rebecca’s pen stopped.

"You... pinned Ms. West to the floor?"

Heat flooded my cheeks. "Yes." I nod feeling embarrassed. "I didn’t even realize I did it until Chase pulled me off Miss West." I sighed.

Rebecca remained silent, encouraging me to continue.

"Did Mr. Jacobs encourage your actions?" she asks.

"No." I shake my head.

Rebecca nods. "Did Mr. Jacobs become aggressive?" she asks.

"No. He left with Miss West soon after and she left.

"Did they argue?"

I shake my head. "I don’t know. I couldn’t move or think."

Rebecca made another note. "And the second interaction?"

I looked down at my hands. "Amelia arrived with another woman while Stella was out."

"What happened?" She asks.

"The woman claimed she was Stella’s birth mother." I tell her.

Rebecca frowned.

"Did Mr. Jacobs know this woman?" she asks.

I shake my head. "No."

Rebecca looked up.

"Amelia wanted Chase to call Cole and bring Stella home so she could introduce this woman as her mother." I confess.

"And did he?" she asks.

"No." I shake my head.

"What happened instead?"

"Chase asked the woman why she’d left Stella..." I tell her.

Rebecca’s pen paused.

"And?"

"Chase caught her in a lie." I realize this might make Chase look bad and I stopped talking. I shouldn’t have said that.

Rebecca waited patiently. But I didn’t say anything.

I swallowed hard and closed my eyes. "I’m sorry I shouldn’t have said that."

"It’s okay this would help Chase and not hurt him..." she tells me.

"How?" I ask.

"This shows Chase is protecting his daughter and it doesn’t put his ex wife in a good light. If she brought a woman with unknown origins to his home trying to introduce her to Stella knowing she wasn’t Stella’s mother it shows she doesn’t have Stella well being in mind..." she explains.

I nod and explain everything that happened that day.

The room filled with silence after I was done. I stared at Rebecca’s notebook, wishing I could see what she had written.

"Thank you for your time Miss Lewis. I still have to interview Stella..." She says standing up.

I rubbed my forehead. I nod getting up as well and walked out of the office feeling terrible. I hoped I didn’t make things worse for Stella and Chase.