Chapter 9: Fears and Insecurities

Stephanie was waiting for Gwen to get back and was shocked when she saw her friend burst in tears as soon as she closed the door.
“Oh, my God! Gwen, what happened?” She came running to grab Gwen, who was now on the floor.
It was like all her energy and strength had been drained from her body.
“I don’t know what I was thinking…” she said, more to herself than to her friend.
“What do you mean? What happened? Did he say anything bad to you? I’m gonna cut his…”
“No!” Gwen interrupted her after a hiccup. “I… I messed it up, Steph. I told him… about Cody.”
Stephanie looked at her in panic, which only made Gwen cry louder.
“Calm down. We… We’ll think of something. But you need to calm down first. Come here, I’ll get you a cup of water,” Stephanie said, putting Gwen on the couch and running to the kitchen.
A few minutes passed before Gwen could talk like a normal person again.
Stephanie asked her to explain everything that happened during dinner, which wasn’t a dinner at all, since they didn’t have the chance to eat thanks to Vivienne.
As Gwen explained the evening’s events, she could tell her friend was making mental notes and putting the pieces together inside her mind.
She even interrupted Gwen a few times to curse Vivienne, which Gwen didn’t mind. The truth was that Stephanie was the only person who knew the whole truth about Gwen’s departure, and she promised not to tell anyone.
Back then, Gwen didn’t tell the whole truth to her friend, because she knew Stephanie was going to try to stop her from running away.
But after Cody was born, Gwen freaked out and asked her to pay a visit and help a little. Stephanie flew immediately to meet them, and Gwen felt the need to share the whole story with someone. She wasn’t capable of bearing all that alone anymore.
That’s why she was so grateful to her best friend. What was going to become of her if she didn’t have Stephanie in her life?
“Okay. We won’t talk about this b*tch Vivienne now. Let’s save that for later. We need to think about the possibilities about the Cody situation and, you know, everything that comes with it.”
Gwen nodded, feeling too weak to respond.
“So… For what we know about Finn, he’s not a vindictive guy, but that could’ve changed during these last few years. Let’s assume he won’t sue you or anything.”
“What?” Gwen asked in shock. “Do you think he could do that?”
“Well, I’m not a law expert, but I’m pretty sure he can do anything he wants with the money he has.” Stephanie explained, making Gwen even more nervous than before.
“But… Calm down, I didn’t finish yet,” she continued. “When he reaches out to you, maybe you could be a little less defensive and a bit more… Open to his suggestions, if we could put it that way.”
“What do you mean?” Gwen questioned, confused.
“Maybe he wants to try co-parenting. That wouldn’t be a bad idea actually. Cody would have a father and you could use some extra money. You know, put him in a nice school. I mean, he is the heir of Finn’s company after all,” Stephanie explained. “He could take over some day.”
“Oh, my God. No! You know that’s not possible, Steph. You know why.” Gwen refuted the idea immediately.
Stephanie raised her brows.
“Do I? I mean, the kid is alive and we do have the law by our side on this matter. A DNA test is more than enough to prove Cody’s paternity. You can’t run away forever, Gwen.”
Gwen swallowed with difficulty. She knew that. But she didn’t have the courage to stand up for herself. Not on that matter anyway. She knew pretty clear all she would have to face if she wanted Cody to have everything he had the right to inherit.
“Okay. Here’s what you’re going to do. When Finn contacts you again, which he already said he will do, and I’m assuming it won’t take long, you’re going to go and listen to what he has to say.” Stephanie suggested.
“You know I can’t tell him what he wants to know,” she complained.
“I know. You don’t need to tell him why you left. You can simply say that you’re only going to discuss things related to Cody.”
That sounded like a reasonable advice, so Gwen went to bed feeling a little less nervous.
On the next morning though, while she was pouring some milk for Cody, Stephanie came to the kitchen carrying a bouquet of yellow roses.
“I told you it wouldn’t take long. These are for you,” she said, handing the gift to Gwen.
She didn’t need to read the card to know who sent them, but she was afraid about what was written inside it. Putting aside her deeper thoughts about the meaning of yellow roses, Gwen opened the little envelope.

“I apologize for how I mistreated you yesterday. I know I shouldn’t have accused you of anything, but hope you understand my frustration.
I would love to have lunch with you today so we can discuss Cody’s custody and maybe figure out the best way to tell him about me. I’m assuming he doesn’t know yet.
Anyway, I’ll pick you up at 1.
Sincerely,
Finn”

“Ha! Now he thinks I’m at his mercy? Like I don’t have anything else to do with my life?” Gwen complained to Stephanie, who was also reading the note behind her shoulder.
“Well, remember we talked about you being more opened to suggestions?” she teased with her brows raised.
“If this was a suggestion and not just him scheduling something without consulting me!” Gwen uttered, outraged.
“You’re not busy anyway, so stop looking for things to complain about. Just go to this d*mn lunch.”
“Hey! You can’t say that. Mommy, Aunt Steph said a bad word.” Cody pointed his finger to Gwen’s friend, reminding both of them that he was still present.
“I'm sorry, Cody. Anyway,” she turned to Gwen again. “Just listen to what he has to say, alright? He mentioned custody, so maybe you should be more concerned about that.”