Chapter 22: If Only

Dahlia and Trent find themselves in a rather unusual situation... Following their steamy affair, Dahlia is pregnant with Trent's child even though she is still married to his father Miles. Trent is living in the Mars house with Dahlia and Miles, and also with his wife Hannah and their daughter Lucy.
Still with me?



The pregnancy was initially Trent's idea but, as her bump began to grow, Dahlia started to feel excited about her impending motherhood and so she made sure to read up on the subject.



With pregnancy causing her to miss work, Dahlia invited her boss over to the house and was able to talk her way into receiving a promotion.



She also invited her brother Camden over so she could tell him her good news. Camden had recently moved out but the siblings had remained close during this time, and he was only too happy to congratulate his sister.



Dahlia's twin sister Jenna also popped round to the house at this time, though she had sadly returned to a default EA hairstyle (boo, hiss).



As the night arrived other family members materialised in the house, with the first appearance of Mayana's ghost since her death.



Ghost conga!



Ahem. Trent spent his time working hard to advance in the Political career.



He also celebrated a birthday as he grew up into an adult.







Elsewhere, Dahlia reasoned that it was probably a good time to tell Miles that she was pregnant (although it was only too obvious by this point).



*Deep breath*



If Miles suspected that the child wasn't his he didn't say so. Instead he just congratulated Dahlia and went back to writing some novels.
Ignorance is bliss indeed, which is why ignorance is often a choice we make to protect ourselves.



With so many people living in the house it was often impossible for Trent and Dahlia to find any time alone together.



When they did have a moment they found themselves falling into each other; each gasp of contentment barely enough to sustain them until the next breathless encounter, each touch trembling and hungry; a form of elation only dampened by the fact that they knew it wouldn't last.



In these moments Trent was finally able to tell Dahlia how happy he was, how proud he felt to have her in his life, how much he was looking forward to the arrival of their baby.



He was able to push thoughts of Hannah and Lucy from his mind for the most part, after all, with Dahlia in existence what else could there be?



Before long the pregnancy drew to a close and Dahlia went into labour.



She and Trent rushed to the hospital, keeping this secret from the other members of the family of course.



And later they returned home with a new baby boy- Laurent : )

Laurent was born with the Brave and Good traits.



Dahlia made sure she was there at all times to look after her son.
As a workaholic she did sometimes pine for the office, but caring for Laurent was enough to keep Dahlia happy for now.



Trent too was a workaholic and so spent most days at his job. However, as soon as he was done he would rush home to see his son.



Miles also took the time to care for Laurent, after all he didn't know that the baby was not his son and was in actual fact his grandson : o



Before long it was Dahlia birthday.



With the onset of the sparkles Dahlia became a fully grown adult.



The next day it was also Lucy's birthday, as she grew up into a teen.







And before long it was Laurent's birthday too.



Wows, he definitely takes after his dad doesn't he?



With Laurent a toddler Dahlia found herself loving him more and more each day. Just looking at his little face reminded her so much of Trent and how happy he made her. Now all she wanted was for the three of them to be able to spend some time together.



And so, the next morning Trent took the day off work to go with Dahlia and Laurent to the beach.



Whilst he was there Trent took the time to teach his son to walk.



And Dahlia watched them, feelings of love and contentment warming her.
She realised then this was the happiest day of her life.



For the first time in a while, Dahlia and Trent were able to fully embrace each other without fear of anyone watching.
And as they stood together a realisation began to set in- they knew what was going to happen next...



They were going to leave their partners.



Dahlia knew it meant leaving everything behind- her friends, her career, the house that had been in her family for generations- but she also knew that it would be worth it just to be with him.



Trent knew that there was a chance that his daughter would never forgive him for what he was about to do, but he just had to risk it.



And so, Trent and Dahlia began to plan their move to Riverview.







In the evening the lovers were able to join in the bedroom as everyone was out for the evening.
As they lay entwined they daydreamed- knowing that tomorrow they'd be safe in another town, together at last.



After their rendevous Trent left to go to the gym and Dahlia sat down to do some work, hoping to secure her job for when she moved to Riverview.
But maybe Dahlia was a bit too involved with work, maybe she should have been paying attention to what was going on upstairs...







Eventually Dahlia heard Laurent's anguished cries, but by this time it was already too late- the social worker had arrived. A few seconds later and Laurent was gone from the house forever.



When Dahlia realised what had happened she could barely contain her distress. One silly stupid mistake and her son was gone.
Dahlia's world began to fall apart.



Trent arrived home in time to see the social worker take Laurent away. He burst into frustrated tears as he realised there was nothing he could do to save his son.



He looked to Dahlia for an explanation; angry and desperate to know how this had happened.



And when she told him the truth, that she just hadn't heard Laurent's screams, Trent fairly exploded.
Of course he loved Dahlia, but Trent couldn't live with what she had done.



And so Trent said goodbye to his life; his love- the bitter tears rising until they threatened to choke him.



It hurt him, my god it hurt him, but Trent knew he had to give his family, his marriage, another chance. He had already lost one child, and he didn't think he would be able to cope with losing another.
That night, Trent, Hannah, and Lucy left.



Poor Dahlia. Ruined by the loss of her child and her lover, how will she go on with her life? Find out in the next chapter of The Mars Family Legacy, coming soon.


You can find the original on the story board here- feel free to rec that if you've enjoyed this : )