The Cost Of Winning

ASHLEY'S POV :

It's been a little over a month since the "incident" at Fianna's place , and things have gone fairly well since then , fortunately . We've managed to sort of work out a system between the two of us for how to deal with Bren , at least as far as setting rules for her . Surprisingly , though , she actually let Bren go ahead and keep the earrings . We've been able to be civil to each other when I have my visits with Brenna , and I'm hoping that by the time we get with the court person about my weekends next month , she'll be okay with me having her alone .
Right now, I'm in my office at APFI , working on some paperwork that I need to catch up on , when my receptionist calls in and says , "Ashley , there's a woman on the phone who says that it's urgent that she speak to you . She sounds a little frantic ."

"Did she give a name ?"

"I think she said Fiona ."

Fianna ?! Why the hell is she calling me , saying it's urgent ? "Put her through ." , I say , and she transfers the call .

"Fianna , what's wrong ? Is Bren okay ?" , I ask her .

"Ash , I'm sorry to bother you , but is there any chance at all that you could go pick up Smidge , there's some sort of problem at the day care , and I can't get away from work ." , she says , sounding extremely stressed .

"What's wrong ? Is she hurt ?"

"They said no , but apparently something's wrong . Usually Miki or Ryan pick her up if I can't , but they're out of town right now , so I was hoping you might have time ."

"You know I'll always make time for her , Fi . She comes first , everything else can wait ." , I say . "Is it the same place that Ryan picked her up from that first day ?"

"Yeah ,that's it . I'll call back and tell them you're coming . Make sure you have your ID , they won't let you take her if you don't , since you've never picked her up before ." , she tells me .

"Got it ! I'm leaving right now ." , I say , grabbing my keys off the desk and walking out of my office . I tell my receptionist that I probably won't be back today , and sprint out to the parking lot . Shit, I'm glad I didn't decide to ride my bike today !

I drive to the daycare , and see several other cars there , and people leading little kids out , or carrying some of the smaller ones , and some of them look like they've been crying . I walk inside and see a chunky man , who looks like he might be in his fifties , standing in the entryway .

I walk over to him and say , "Excuse me , I'm here to pick up my daughter . Do you know where I can find her ?"

"What's her name ?" , he inquires .

"Brenna Chandler"

"Right , Fianna called to say you'd be coming . Do you have some ID?"

I show him my license , and he motions for me to follow him inside . We walk in , and I see Bren and a couple of other kids with a short , plump woman , about the same age as the man , and all of the kids seem to be pretty upset .

As we get closer , Brenna looks up , sees me , and bolts toward me , shrieking , "Daddy !" , at the top of her lungs . She flings herself into my legs , and I reach down to pick her up .

"Where Mommy ? Me wants Mommy !" , she sobs into my neck . "Don't wants Mommy go byebye !"

"Sweetie , Mommy's at work ." , I tell her , trying to calm her down . "She hasn't gone anywhere , she'll come and get you when she's done ."

This doesn't seem to have any effect at all , she just keeps crying into my shirt and saying she wants her mommy , so I turn to the daycare people and ask , "What the heck is this about ? What happened ?"

The woman , who is wearing a nametag that says "Miss Kim", sighs , and asks , " Has Brenna talked to either of you about a girl named Ivy ?"

"Yeah , she's mentioned her a few times , apparently they're friends ." , I say .

"Yes they are , they're almost inseparable when they're here . I don't know if you're aware of the fact that Ivy's mother has been on active duty with the Army in Syria , but unfortunately ..." ,she says , trailing off at the end .

"Oh , crap ! That poor little kid !" , I say .

"Yes , poor Ivy . Unfortunately , when her grandmother came to pick her up earlier , she was a bit ... hysterical . I can't blame the poor woman a bit , but it upset the children ." , adds the man , whose nametag says "Mr . Bobby".

" Okay , I understand perfectly ." , I reply .

"I'm glad to hear that ." , Mr . Bobby says . "Not all of the parents have been so understanding , Mr , Purdy ."

I walk outside and put Brenna in her carseat , which she doesn't care for at all , and she fights me until I call and leave a message for Fianna to call me ASAP . Then she finally lets me buckle her in , and we go to my house .

I carry her inside , put her down on the couch , and go to the bathroom for a washcloth to clean her face . I sit down and hold her in my lap while I wash her up , and she looks up at me and says , "Why Mommy not come here ? Me wants her ."

"She'll be here as soon as she can , cutie ." , I tell her . "You know that Mommy goes to work , today isn't any different ."

"Theres not no pop - booms at her's work , wight , Daddy ? So them cants eat Mommy , cans them ?", she asks me .

"Nope , no pop - booms , I promise ."

" And yous don't say wies to me , wight ?"

"That's right , Bren ." , I say . "Daddy will never lie to you ."

My phone rings , and I see Fianna's number , so I hit the button and hand it straight to Brenna . She talks for a couple of minutes , then says goodbye , and tells me , "Mommy say if we watches a moobie , then her will be here when we is done . You watches moobie wif me , Daddy ? Pwease ?"

"Of course I will , hon . I'm going to go get us something to drink , and then we'll find a movie , okay ?" , I say .

She nods , so I go to the kitchen and get her a little bottle of juice , and a bottle of Starbucks for myself , and bring them back to the couch . She snuggles up next to me , and I manage to find "The Secret Life Of Pets" , on one of the movie channels , so we decide to watch that .

As the movie is starting , she looks at my bottle , and says , "Daddy , yours juice wooks not good ."

"This isn't juice , Bren , it's coffee ."

"Mommy say coffee is ucky !" , she informs me .

"No , Mommy doesn't like coffee , I remember ." , I say . "But that's okay , not everybody likes the same thing ."

We settle in to watch the movie , and just before the end credits start rolling , I hear a car in the driveway .

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FIANNA'S POV :


I pull into Ashley's driveway , and before I'm even halfway to the door , it flies open and Smidge comes hurtling toward me .

" Mommy ! Yous here !" , she yells , grabbing onto both of my legs . "Me misses you , don't wants you go byebye !"

I pick her up and kiss her on the forehead . "Baby girl , I didn't go anywhere except to work ." , I say . "You know I wouldn't go anywhere without you ."

"Come inside , Fi , and I'll tell you what happened ." , Ashley says from the doorway .

I follow him inside , and he hands me a Dr . Pepper and motions for me to sit down . I sit down on the couch , with Bren clinging to me like a limpet , and he explains what happened to Ivy's mom .

"Oh , that poor baby ! She's barely even old enough to understand what's going on ." , I say . "She's not much older than Smidge , we just went to her third birthday party a couple of weeks ago ."

"Yeah , apparently it upset a lot of the kids , I'm not sure many of them really understood what was happening , they just knew it was bad ." , he responds .

"Daddy pwomises me that theys not no pop - booms at yous work , so them cants eat you , Mommy !" , she announces . "Him says that him will no say wies to me , so is him wight ?"

"Yes , he is , there aren't any of those at my work ." , I tell her , which seems to make her feel a bit better .

I look over at Ashley , and say , "Thanks for going to get her . I hope I didn't take you away from anything important ."

"Fianna , there IS nothing more important !" , he informs me . "I don't care what I'm doing , she comes first , everything else can wait ."

When he says that , I feel terrible . He's actually got an entire business to run , and he dropped everything to go to Bren , and I couldn't even make myself leave work .

It almost seems like he's reading my mind , because he says , "I know you can't always drop everything , I get that , and neither can Ryan and Miki . It's easier for me , since I'm my own boss . So don't think I mean that as a criticism , because I don't , okay ?"

Before I can answer him , his phone rings . He looks at it , then pushes the button and says , "Hey , Pop , how are you ?" , so I know he's talking to his grandpa .

"Yeah , that's still the plan ." , he says , then he listens for a few seconds , and gets sort of a startled look on his face .

"Uh , I don't know if I can do that , Pop . I'll do my best , but I can't make any promises right now ." , he says . He talks for a few more minutes , then ends the call , still looking a bit shell - shocked .

"Is everything all right ?" , I ask him .

He doesn't respond for a few seconds , then he asks me , "Fi , what sort of plans do you guys have for Thanksgiving ?"

"Well , we're closed for the whole week at work , but for the holiday itself , nothing particular. We usually go to Miki's , but they're going to Ryan's folks this year . Why do you ask ?"

"I've made plans to go home , Pop isn't in the greatest health , so I'm trying not to miss anything major . Just now , when I was on the phone , he asked me to bring Bren with me , so he can have a chance to meet her ." , he says , somewhat hesitantly .

My first instinct is to say "NO !" , but then I think for a minute . I'd give anything if my dad and my grandma had gotten the chance to know Brenna , and Ashley's grandma never got the chance , either . So it wouldn't really be fair not to let him get to know her .

He's looking at me , sort of biting his lip , and I say , "Well , by that time , you'll have your weekends , so I guess we could arrange for that to be one of them ."

"Thanks , I appreciate that ." , he says , still looking a bit nervous . "But here's the thing . They want you to come , too ."

Whaaat ?!

"Ash , they DO know that we're not together anymore , don't they ?" , I ask him .

"Yes , they know . But you are her mother , and they'd kind of like to meet you , and see what you're like . Plus , I don't think that either of you would enjoy being away from each other for that long . Especially after today ."

I think about this for a minute or so , then I tell him , "Go ahead and call him back . Tell him we'll come . I would've loved for my grandma and my dad to be able to know her , so it would be selfish of me not to let him have the chance ."

He leans over and actually hugs me , saying , "Thank you , so much ! I really hated the idea of disappointing him , I owe you big time !"

"You're welcome , Ash . Now go call him , so he's not worrying ."

As he grabs his phone again , Bren taps my arm , and I look at her . "Daddy happy now ?" , she asks .

"Yes , I think he is ." , I say . "Maybe we can all try to be friends now ."

"Mommy and Daddy be fwends some more ?" , she says . "Now me is happy , too !"

And after all , that's the most important thing .

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