Chapter 6: A visitor
It was early morning when someone rang the doorbell. When Bridget opened the door, she couldn’t believe her eyes. “Urs!”
“Hi.” For a moment they just stared at each other.
“Ehm… you want to come in?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yes, please.”
Bridget walked to the kitchen. “Coffee?”
“That would be great.”
Her hands were shacking when she poured the coffee. She handed him a cup and their fingers touched. Urs smiled at her. “There’s still chemistry between us.”
Bridget looked at her feet.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked gently.
“I didn’t have your number or anything.”
He sighed. “Yeah… I know. I’m sorry about that. Can I see her?”
“Sure. She’s still asleep, so be quiet.”
Bridget went upstairs. She opened the door to the nursery and let him in. Urs walked to the crib and he felt tears welling up in his eyes. “She’s beautiful.” He softly caressed her cheek. “What’s her name?”
“Hope.”
“I like it. Bridget… How could this happen? I mean… I thought you were on the pill.”
“I was. But I had the flu 2 weeks before the concert. And I guess it had an influence.”
Urs looked at Bridget and saw her standing at the door, her eyes filled with tears. “Why did you keep her?”
“I couldn’t… Maybe if it had been someone else’s… I…”
“I want to be part of her life.”
“No.” she said firmly.
“I am her father.”
“I know, but I can’t stand the thought that you and Valerie would take care of her. Do you know how difficult it is for me to look at her and see your face?” Bridget couldn’t hold back her tears any longer.
Urs swallowed and walked to her and gathered her in his arms. “I’m sure we can work something out.”
“Are you gonna tell Valerie?”
“Yes. I can’t keep this from her.”
“I know. But I don’t want…” she breathed heavily.
Urs caressed her back, his heart racing, his mind struggling with emotions. “We’ll work it out. Somehow.”
Hope stirred in her crib and started to wake up. Urs released Bridget and walked over to his daughter. “Hi, little one.”
He looked at Bridget. “Can I…?”
She nodded.
Urs carefully picked up his child. It seemed like he was used to it.
“I’m your daddy.”
Hope looked at him with her eyes wide open and grabbed his finger. Urs smiled but when he looked at Bridget, he saw tears running down her cheeks.
“Bridge?” he asked confused.
“I… I can’t…”
She ran out and he heard her slamming a door. He put Hope back in her crib and walked out of the room. Urs moved through the hall, until he came at a closed door. He knocked when he heard her sob. “Bridget?”
Urs opened the door and saw her sitting on her bed, her arms around her knees, crying. He sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulder.
“Don’t. Please. Don’t make it any harder then it already is.”
He sighed. “What do you want me to do? You want me to leave?”
“Yes… No… I don’t know.”
He hugged her and rubbed her back, whispering words of comfort while she was crying.
“I’m sorry.” She said after a while.
“So am I. If I had known…”
“You would have asked to get rid of it.” She said softly.
He looked at her, shocked. “What? No! I would have been here. Supporting you! You really believe I would have asked you to get rid of it?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know you.”
He sighed. “I know. We’ll work this out. I don’t know how, but we will.”
Bridget nodded. She stood up when she heard Hope cry. “She’s hungry.”
“Can I feed her?” he asked.
“I’ll warm up her bottle. You can bring her downstairs.”
Urs kissed the side of her head. “Thank you.”
Urs sat down on a kitchen chair, his daughter in his arms. Bridget handed him a bottle and stood back while he was feeding her.
“You’re good at this.” She said.
He smiled, looking up at her. “I’ve practised on my nephews and nieces.”
The doorbell rang. When Bridget opened she saw Kathleen standing there.
“Hi hun!”
“He’s here.”
“Urs?”
Bridget nodded.
“You want me to leave?”
“No, stay. Please. I can’t do this on my own, Kathleen. I…”
She hugged her. “Oh hun… I know it’s hard.”
“I love him.” Bridget whispered.
“I know, hun.”
Kathleen walked into the kitchen and smiled at the man. “Hi, I’m Kathleen.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Urs. But I guess you know.”
She nodded. “Yes, I do.” Kathleen sat down and looked at Urs. “So, why are you here?”
“Because I wanted to see my daughter.”
“And what’s gonna happen next? You’re going back to your girlfriend, leaving your daughter and Bridget on there own?”
Urs sighed. “Look, Kathleen. I don’t know what the future will bring, but they won’t be on their own. I’ll support them.”
“I don’t want your money.” Bridget said.
Kathleen looked at her. “Hun…”
“No!” Bridget shook her head. “I can manage on my own.”
Urs looked at her. “That may be so, but I’m not gonna let you do this on your own. I’ll pay my share and I will be part of her life. One way or the other.”
Becky saw he meant it and once again she felt the pain in her heart.
After a while he stood up and handed Hope to Kathleen. “I’m sorry, but I have to go now. We have a concert in Germany tonight.” He gave Bridget a card. “My number. Call me.”
He saw her hesitating. “Can I have yours?”
“Urs, I…”
“Please?”
She nodded. “Ok.” She took a piece of paper and wrote her number down.
“Bye Kathleen. Bye little one.” He kissed his daughter and walked to the front door. Before he walked out, he stroke Bridget’s cheek. “I’ll call you. I promise.” He kissed her soflty on the lips. “Bye.”
“Goodbye, Urs.”
Chapter 7: A difficult decision
While Urs drove to Germany, he kept thinking about Bridget and Hope. What was he supposed to do? When he saw his child, he immediately fell in love with her. She was a part of him. A part of him and Bridget.
Bridget… he smiled when he thought about her. The attraction between them was still there. Every time he looked in her eyes, he lost himself. He never believed in love at first side, but the day he met Bridget, everything changed.
Urs sighed. Valerie… They were together for almost three years now. Could he throw all that away for a woman he barely knew? Yes, he loved Valerie. But their love had become so obvious. He knew her and he knew what to expect. But was that what he wanted?
When he finally arrived at the venue, the guys were waiting for him.
“How did it go, buddy?” David asked.
Urs sat down on the couch and looked at his friends. “She’s so beautiful. And so sweet.”
“What are you going to do?” Carlos asked.
“I don’t know.” Urs sighed. “I want her to be part of my life.”
Seb looked at him. “Have you told Valerie yet? And what about Bridget?”
“I honestly don’t know, Seb. No, I haven’t told Valerie yet. I have to do that in person, not by phone. And Bridget…” he hesitated. “I don’t know. I like her a lot. And she is the mother of my child. But…”
“But you hardly know her.” David nodded.
“Yes. I need time to think about all this.”
“You know we are here if you need to talk.” Carlos said.
“Thanks guys.”
After their concert in Helsinki they had 2 days off. Urs decided to go to France. He had to talk to Valerie.
When he arrived home, she was in the kitchen. Startled she looked up when he came in. “Urs! What are you doing here?”
“Hi. I need to talk to you.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked worriedly.
Urs took her hand. “Let’s sit down.”
They sat down on the couch in the living room. Urs was still holding her hand.
“I don’t know how to tell you this.”
“Tell me what?”
He sighed. “Last year, when we were in Brussels… I… I slept with someone.”
Valerie gasped and pulled back her hand. “What?”
“I can’t explain why or… But the thing is… She got pregnant. And she kept the baby.”
“Oh my God. Is she blackmailing you?”
Urs shook his head. “No. I didn’t even know till a few days ago. She was in Antwerp and gave me a letter saying that I am the father of her child.”
“Do you believe her?”
“Yes. It is my child. She has my eyes and my mouth.” He smiled.
“So, it’s a girl?”
“Yes.”
It was silent for a while.
“What are you going to do? And what about us?” Valerie asked softly.
“I don’t know. It is my child, so I want to be part of her life.”
Valerie stood up. “I want you to leave. It’s over.”
“Val… Please…”
“No, Urs. I thought I could trust you, that you weren’t like the others. But this…”
He stood up. “It happened once.”
“Do you love her?”
He didn’t answer her and stared at his feet.
“I guess that means yes.” Valerie looked at him with tears in her eyes.
“Val…”
“Get your stuff and go.”
“I’m sorry, Valerie. I really am.”
“I guess it was over a long time ago.” She said quietly.
Urs took her hand. “I’m really sorry. You will always be very special to me.”
“Good luck. And I hope you’ll be happy.” She answered.
“I’ll send someone to get my stuff.”
She nodded. “Goodbye, Urs.”
“Bye, Val.” He kissed her on the cheek and left.
Chapter 8: Love
Urs sat in his car for a while, thinking. Eventually he started the engine and drove off. It was late afternoon when he arrived in Belgium. He hesitated before he rang the bell.
When the door opened he looked into those amazing green eyes and he knew he made the right decision.
“Urs!” Bridget said surprised.
“Hi. I had the day off and…”
She smiled. “You want to come in?”
“Yes, thanks.”
She walked to the living room. Hope was already in her pyjamas and sat in her bouncer. She was playing with the toy bar that was attached to it.
Urs kneeled in front of her. “Hi, there.” He tickled her feet. Hope looked at him and laughed happily.
“You want something to drink?” Bridget asked.
Urs turned around when he heard her voice trembling.
“Ehm… yes. That would be great.”
“A glass of wine? White one, that is.”
He nodded. “Great, thanks.”
While Bridget was in the kitchen, Urs lifted Hope out of her bouncer. He sat down with her on his lap.
Bridget came back to the living room and saw Urs with Hope. She felt her heart tug. They looked so great together. Her hands were shacking when she gave him his glass.
“You ok?” he asked softly.
She nodded. “It’s time for Hope to go to sleep.”
“Can I come?”
“Ehm… sure.
Urs carried Hope upstairs and put her in her crib. Bridget tugged her in and gave her a little elephant. Hope grabbed it in one hand and put the thumb of her other hand in her mouth.
“No pacifier?” Urs asked.
Bridget smiled. “No, she always throws them away.”
They stayed there until Hope was asleep. Bridget was well aware of Urs standing so close. Her heart was beating like crazy. Eventually she turned around and walked to the door.
“Let’s get back downstairs.”
Urs followed her. He sensed she was nervous. He didn’t know how to handle this. He so badly wanted to take her in his arms, but he knew that if he would do that, he’d probably scare her off.
When they sat on the couch, Urs took a deep breathe. “I broke up with Valerie.”
Bridget nearly chocked on her wine. “You did what?”
He nodded. “I told her about Hope and… Well… We broke up.”
Bridget stood up and started pacing around. “I… I was afraid this would happen. And I didn’t want to be the reason of all that.”
“You’re not.”
“Yes, I am. And now what? Everyone will blame me! Valerie, the other guys, your family and friends…”
“Bridget…”
“I shouldn’t have told you. I should have…”
“Bridge…”
“They will all hate me. And Hope? What’s gonna happen to her?”
Suddenly she felt two strong arms around her. Urs turned her around so she was facing him. “I love you, Bridget.”
Before she realised what was going on, he was kissing her longingly. Bridget kissed him back and they stood there for a long time, lost in each other. Urs released her when he tasted her salt tears.
“Sweetheart?”
“How can you love me? You don’t know me.”
“Oh sweetheart… I’ve never forgotten about you. I have thought about you so many times. And I hoped I would meet you again. Bridget, I want to be part of your life. I want to raise our daughter with you. Can’t we give it a chance?“ he asked.
“I don’t know, Urs.”
He sighed. “No one will blame you. Valerie and I were having troubles for a long time. I just didn’t find a reason that was good enough to break up with her.”
“And I’m a good reason?”
“You and Hope. Like I said, I want to be part of your life.”
“I’m so scared, Urs. You don’t know me. And I don’t know you. We shared one night together.”
“But it was great.”
“And what if you meet someone else? What if you have another one-night-stand?”
“Bridget, you were the first one. And I haven’t slept with anyone else since that night.” He caressed her cheek. “Trust me. Give me a chance. That’s all I’m asking. Let’s get to know each other. I don’t care how long it takes, but I want to be with you.”
She sighed. “I guess… we can try.”
Urs kissed her tenderly. The memories of last year came back and when Bridget looked at him, she saw the love in his eyes.
“I love you, Bridget. I really love you.”
“I love you too.” She whispered.
He smiled. “Good. Sweetie… can I stay with you tonight?”
She hesitated. “I guess… But do you mind if we just sleep? I’m not ready for anything else.”
“Of course not. I understand.”
They quietly made their way upstairs. When they got to the bedroom, Urs kissed her gently. He undressed her and lay her on the bed. He undressed himself and lay down beside her. Urs gathered her in his arms and stroked her back. She sighed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Do you know how many times I dreamt about this? I dreamt of it so many nights. I wished I lay in your arms so many times. Just sleeping next to you.” She whispered.
Urs held her close. “Well, I guess we can take care of that.” He kissed the top of her head. “Goodnight, my love.”
“Goodnight, Urs.”
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Thanks Pic By Fara & Tina Siggie