The Cripburn Complex, 1423 Arroyo Place, Southport, New Jersey.....
Charlotte Freedman was alone in her apartment as she contemplated what to do following her discovery of being pregnant. Her former lover Victor Harlowe had been killed due to a freak accident at his apartment building and his daughter had been staying in the care of a man revealed to her only at his funeral to be a man she spent quite some time with before Victor's demise and still had not known until then that the two men, who were both her lovers at one point, were brothers. It threw Charlotte through a loop unlike anything she'd ever known before as she was quite sure one of the brothers had sired her unborn child and it meant ongoing ramifications should it have been either of them. Victor being the father meant that Savannah had a younger sibling and that his secret relationship with her teacher would be exposed. Ron being the father would have possibly the same effect, but less of the betrayal sense that would come due to her mother's memory.
Charlotte sighed unable to escape the weight of her wayward thoughts.
She'd either be seen as an endearing Aunt or a Homewrecker in the eyes of Victor Harlowe's daughter and she wasn't much for either outcome as she'd been still in love with a dead man that had not even once admitted that he had loved her in return while he'd been alive.
Charlotte took a few moments to go about her place making sure everything was in order. She had taken a chance in approaching Ron directly in front of Savannah but she concluded that this was what was best for her unborn child. If Ron Hemming had indeed sired the child then the baby would know its father and if not, then Victor's closest relatives would know all there was to know about the child.
There was a knock at her front door and she suddenly felt as though she'd jump out of her skin. After taking a deep breath, Charlotte approached the door and opened it after regaining her composure. While her heart had been looking for the man on the other end to have been Victor Harlowe, she wasn't too surprised to see Ron Hemming standing on the other side a red rose in his hand and a serious expression filed across his handsome face.
"Ron," said Charlotte nervous around him when sober and in the light of day.
"Charlotte," he replied his wolfish charm still lingering. "You've invited me to talk, I take it?"
Charlotte nodded.
"I didn't know you and Victor were related," she said almost immediately.
"It's a half-blood bond," replied Ron.
"That's not..." began Charlotte. "I love him...or I was in love with him...even though he never..."
"Is there a point to this conversation?" asked Ron getting a bit annoyed with the discussion being about the dead wolf hunter.
"After our...encounter..." began Charlotte. "I'm pregnant."
Ron didn't seem all that surprised and guessed as much at the funeral.
"Looks that way," he replied.
"I'm thinking you could be the father," she said unsure how to put into words what she had been fearing. "And if not you...then..."
"Victor," replied Ron finishing her statement.
Charlotte nodded as tears began to stream down her cheeks.
"I've been holding this in for so long," she said sorrowfully. "And with him gone..."
"You figured telling me was the next best thing," replied Ron slightly insulted. "Being that were brothers and all."
Charlotte nodded as more tears streamed down her cheek. Ron sighed and tossed the rose onto the nearby end table and watched as she sat down on the sofa.
"It wasn't supposed to be you," she said still in tears. "If I had not gotten drunk that night, Victor and I would have been able to speak about this together."
"Look, this isn't any easier on me," growled Ron annoyed. "Think I wanted to knock you up, especially knowing that you were with Victor?"
Charlotte sighed realizing how terrible she must have sounded to him.
"I'm sorry," she said quickly. "But this isn't helping and I...was holding onto it for so long."
"Look...if the kid turns out to be mine then I'm here for you," said Ron evenly. "If not, then I'm still here for you."
Charlotte did not know what to say. She half expected him to storm out and never wanted anything to do with her or the baby after the way she treated him.
"It was one night," said Ron with a sigh. "No need to fall all over yourself over it and as you pointed out we were drunk so it's no big deal."
Charlotte seemed to be thinking along the same lines.
"And Savannah?" she asked with an arched brow. "What do we tell her about the baby?"
"Say it's mine either way," replied Ron with a smirk. "She'll believe it no problem."
Charlotte seemed more at peace with this turn of events.
"Alright," she said in agreement.
"Alright," replied Ron seemingly having come to terms with being a father for the first time in his life that he knew of, of course. "So now that we're passed the blaming and water works...I think I'll head out."
"Yeah," replied Charlotte feeling much more reassured about her future than before she had this talk with Ron.
Ron made his way toward the door unsure how he was going to handle being a father, or how he was going to inform his father that he had managed to sire a half-mortal child with possible Les Ferale blood flowing through its veins.
If he had been lucky, the boy wouldn't inherit any of his traits or tainted blood at all but there was seldom a time when Ron Hemming had been the fortunate sort. Even coming from Ireland and being Irish through and through he'd had a hard time finding any sort of fortunate outcome to what became of his life following his tragic birth and the death of his biological mother.
As he cleared away from Charlotte's apartment complex, he had hoped the child could at least have what he couldn't in the form of a real mother to see to his upbringing properly.