EXONERATION (INTERFERENCE) by Kimberly Schwartzmiller Page A

you were already married. Why did you marry him? Why didn’t you wait for me?” he asked, obviously feeling like I’d done something wrong.
    “You didn’t come back! Y ou left and didn’t come back! I did wait. I prayed for you to come back to me.”
    “You married Parker! You married him!”
    “I was lost and alone, and I had a baby to think about.”
    “Is his name on my daughter’s birth certificate?” he asked, holding me close.
    I looked down. “Yes.”
    “What do we do now?” he asked.
    I reached down and grabbed my dress, pulling it over my head. “I don’t know. I don’t know how to include you in Shannon’s life.”
    “What about your life?” he asked.
    “What about it? I’m a married woman.” I sighed. “A married woman that just committed adultery.” I walked over to the window again.
    “You’re mine, Rebecca. You always have been. That little piece of paper doesn’t mean anything.”
    “Evidently…”
    “What does that mean?”
    “Nothing.”
    He stood up and walked over to me. He was breathtaking. I had to force myself to look away or I’d find myself back in his bed. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed my neck. “God, I missed you. You don’t know how many nights I laid awake thinking of you, trying to remember your smell, how you taste. I’d close my eyes and imagine you in my arms.”
    This only made me angry. I pulled away. 
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing. I have to go.”
    “We still have to talk.”
    “I’ll um, I’ll try to figure something out. You can see Shannon on Wednesday. Parker doesn’t get back until late Wednesday night.”
    “You’re not going to tell him?”
    “Tell him what?”
    “About us.”
    I turned to face him. “There is no ‘us.’ That ship sailed a long time ago…when you left.”
    “Are we back to that again?”
    “What else is there? You left…I had to move on.”
    “So, that’s it? You’re going back to Parker?”
    “I have to. It’s my life.”
    “I won’t sneak around, Rebecca. Leave him…divorce him. Come back to me, please.”
    I looked up into his eyes. “Shane…this wasn’t a reunion, this was closure. That’s all.”
    “I don’t believe that. You still love me, I know you do.”
    I couldn’t deny that, but I wasn’t going to freely admit it, either. “I’m married!”  I snapped.
    “Divorce him! We belong together, you know it! I love you!”
    He said those words again. I couldn’t let him do that to me, not now. I wasn’t a kid anymore. I had a kid, and I had to protect her. I couldn’t allow him to be a part of her life, to have her depend on him…love him, only to watch her heart break when he leaves again.
    “You can see Shannon, because she’s your daughter. But, she’s never going to know that you’re her father. Parker’s her father…for all intents and purposes.”
    “That’s not good enough. She’s mine!”
    “NO! She’s mine! You lost that title when you left!”
    “You know I had no choice.”
    “I don’t know anything! All I knew was that I was alone…and pregnant.”
    “I didn’t know. You were on birth control…I thought, I mean I never even considered that…”
    “I forgot to get the next shot on time. I was busy planning our wedding, and going to school, and…trying to find moments alone with you,” I sighed. “I didn’t even know I was pregnant. Well, I knew, I guess, but I couldn’t face it. I ignored it and lied to everyone about it. It wasn’t until my water broke and the contractions were coming non-stop that I finally had to admit it.”
    “I’m so sorry. I would have been there if I could have. You know that, right?”
    “How would I know that? ” I closed my eyes, trying to regain control of my emotions. “Look, I’ll figure out ways for you to see Shannon. But, she can’t know who you really are. That’s the deal. Take it or leave it!” I said, standing tall.
    “Not good enough.”
    I reached down and grabbed my bra and