The Cost Of Winning

FIANNA'S POV :

"Find out what ?" , I inquire , as Ash pauses the movie , and turns on the speaker on his phone .

He looks at me , and says , "You know I had Dina hire a PI , to see if we could get something to shut Claudia down , right ?" I nod , and he continues . "Apparently , he found something pretty big , and she wants to tell both of us at once ."

"Daddy , why yous turns off the moobie ?" , Bren pipes up from where she's seated between us .

"Because Mommy and I have to listen to an important phone call , cutie , and we don't want to miss anything ." , he explains . "So why don't you go color a picture , and we'll finish it as soon as we get off the phone , okay ?"

She hops off of the couch and goes to her table , and Ash says , "Okay , Dina , we're both here . What's wrong ?"

"Well , I don't know if I'd say that anything is actually wrong , but there's definitely been an interesting spin put on the whole situation ." , she replies . "Fianna , how surprised would you be to know that your mother has been married a total of five times , including your father ? And that she has a criminal record ?"

"To be honest , I'd be more surprised if she didn't ." , I tell her . "And I can't be too shocked about the husbands , either . She's always been the type to want somebody to take care of her , instead of doing anything for herself . What has she been arrested for , anyway ?"

We hear computer keys clicking , and then she says , "Well , let's see here ... , Claudia Elaine Butler Chandler Perez Carlyle Rhodes Nguyen . Between 2008 and November of last year , she's had arrests for fraud , bigamy , disorderly conduct , unauthorized use of a credit card , larceny , and harassment . And before that , she actually spent three years in prison in Colorado . That's the one I need to talk to you about , because there are ... issues , and I need to know how you want to deal with them ."

Ash and I look at each other , and he says , "Dina , you're not trying to tell us that she killed somebody or something , are you ?"

"No , fortunately it didn't get that far , but it could have . She was picked up on December 15th , 2003 , on a charge of felony child endangerment , for leaving a sixteen - month - old infant in a car , for several hours , while she was drinking and playing blackjack in a casino . This was Colorado, in December , the temperature was in the single digits , and the security video showed that she'd been inside for at least five hours when a dealer who had just finished his shift went to the parking lot and saw the kid in the car next to his . He called security , and they wound up busting the window while they waited for the police to get there , because the baby's lips were turning blue ."

I hear a growling sound coming from Ash , and I feel my stomach trying to flip over , even though I can't actually say that it surprises me . She left me alone several times , even when I was sick , so how could it , really ? But then a new thought pops into my mind . "What the hell was she doing with a baby , anyway ? I can't imagine her agreeing to babysit for somebody , even if they were stupid enough to let her ."

There are several seconds of silence , and then Dina says , "Fianna , she wasn't babysitting . The baby in the car was hers , by her third husband , who now has sole custody . That was your half - brother ."

Excuse the hell out of me !?

I feel Ash slide his arm around my shoulders , and he asks , "Are you sure about this , Dina ?"

"Yes , I checked everything when I saw that report , and I even spoke to the ex - husband . I have to be honest , and tell you that he was as surprised to hear about Fianna as you guys are to hear this . But , he did ask me to find out if you'd be willing to speak to him , apparently he wants to talk to you himself before he tells the boy about any of this ."

"Hell yes , I'll talk to him !" , I shout , which earns me a startled look from Bren . "When can we set it up ?"

"I can contact him again , and if you're all right with it , I'll give him your number , and have him call you ." Ash opens his mouth to say something , but before anything comes out , she adds , "And before you say anything , Ashley , I've already run a complete background check on him . He's a legitimate businessman , no criminal record , and he's willing to fully cooperate in any way to get this woman off your backs ."

I say , "Yeah , give him my number , Dina . Tell him he can call anytime ."

She recites my number , to be sure it's correct , and when I tell her it is , she promises to call him right away , and ends the call . I lean back on the couch , trying to absorb what I've just heard , and Bren climbs up into my lap .

"Yous am otay , Mommy ? Yous wook wike yous feel ucky ."

I wrap my arms around her , and say , "I feel fine , Smidge , I'm just surprised , that's all ."

Ash wraps his arms around both of us , and asks , "Are you sure , babe ?"

"Yeah , I'm sure . Did not see that coming , though . From what she said , he must be about fifteen , or close to it , and this is how I find out about him ! Do you remember what she said to you when she was here ? 'I'm the only family she has left.' What crap that was !"

"I know , Fi , but you know now . Talk to this guy when he calls , and we'll figure out what we need to do for the two of you to get to know each other . But right now , lets relax , and let Bren finish her movie , it's not going to do you any good to sit here and brood on it before he calls ."

I sit back with them , and he restarts the movie , but I don't register much of what's left , because my brain is a million miles away . For twenty - two years , I've thought I was an only child , and for the last five years , that Bren was all the family I had left , and now I suddenly have a brother , and I'm not quite sure how to process everything .

The movie ends , Ash goes to the kitchen to start dinner , and Bren goes along to "help" him . I go to the computer to check on my orders , and get some things organized on there . I get that finished , and just as I turn the computer off , my phone rings . I look at the screen , and i don't recognize the number , but I answer anyway . "Hello ,"

A man's voice comes through the phone , saying , "Hello . I'm calling for Fianna Chandler ."

"I'm Fianna . Who's this ?"

"My name is David Carlyle . I had a phone call from an attorney earlier this afternoon , and from what I understand , I was your stepfather at one time , and you're apparently my son's sister ."

"Yes , she told me that , too . Does he know ?"

"I talked to him , and explained the situation , before I called you .", he responds . "You have to understand , I remarried when he was almost four , and she's the only mother he really remembers . He knows about Claudia , because I didn't want him to find out from someone else , but he doesn't have any real memory of her , which I'm kind of grateful for , considering what happened ."

"I totally understand , she left me home alone several times before she finally got caught , but nothing like that . He wasn't too badly hurt , was he ?"

"No , fortunately the blackjack dealer found him before there was any permanent damage . He was a bit hypothermic , but there was no frostbite or anything . But the doctor's said if he'd been there another couple of hours , it could've been a whole different story ."

"That's good . But what about now ? What can you tell me about him ?"

"Well , it's a tradition in my family for the oldest boy to have the same name , so he's David Benjamin Carlyle , the Fifth , but we call him Ben , and he'll be fifteen in August . He's basically a typical teenager , but he'll probably want to tell you some things himself , if you'd like to talk to him."

"Yeah , I would , if you're sure you're okay with it ." , I tell him . I see Ash standing in the dining room door , and I give him a thumbs - up , so he knows everything is all right .

"Of course I'm okay with it ! And even if I weren't , he's about ready to run in here and rip the phone out of my hand , so I'm going to go ahead and give it to him now ."

I hear some mumbling , and then a different voice comes through the phone . "Hi , this is Ben . Dad says that you're my sister , that we have the same birth mom ."

"That's what they tell me , too . It's nice to talk to you , I wish I'd known about you sooner , I've always thought I was an only child ." , I tell him .

"Yeah , me too . This is kinda weird , that I'm actually somebody's brother !"

I giggle , and say , "Well , I can do better than that , actually . You're also someone's uncle , how does that sound ?"

"You have kids ? Dad didn't tell me that ! Boys or girls ? And where do you live ?"

"I have one , her name is Brenna , and she's almost three . And we live in Nashville , with my boyfriend , who's Bren's dad ."

"We were going to go there for a vacation once , but Dad broke his leg , and we didn't get to go . I bet it's fun , though ." He goes quiet for a few seconds , then says , "Hold on a sec ! Your name is Fianna , your baby's name is Brenna , and you live in Nashville ... You're dating Ashley Purdy , aren't you ?"

"Yes , I am . I take it you've seen some of the stuff on social media , then ."

"Yeah , that , and I saw you guys on that award program , where he weirded everybody out telling them about the baby . There are some girls at my school who are jealous of you , but they're just immature . It's not like the guy is gonna want a high - school girl , anyway . If you don't mind , I don't think I'm gonna tell anybody about this just yet , or I'll probably have to change schools !"

Ash and Bren come over to stand next to me as I talk to him for another half hour or so , until they call him for dinner . We arrange a time the next evening to Skype , so we can actually see each other , and say goodbye .

"Yous feel gooder now , Mommy ?" , Bren asks . "Daddy say you's talkin' to yous bubby , thats yous just finded . Was him hidin' froms you ?"

"No , the mean lady that came here hid him from me , but I found him now , and maybe one day he can come to visit us . That's your Uncle Ben , and I hope we can all get to know each other soon ."

Ash picks her up , and I follow them into the dining room , getting Bren into her seat while he brings the food from the kitchen . As I cut her chicken for her , she informs me that she helped make dinner , because after Ash put the chicken on top of the mixture of yogurt and chopped apples he'd made up , he let her lay slices of orange over it before he put the pan in the oven .

He reaches across the table and gives my hand a squeeze , and says , "I never thought I'd hear myself say this , but maybe Claudia showing up wasn't entirely a bad thing . If she hadn't , you probably still wouldn't know about your brother ."

"Yeah , I guess you're right , as long as she doesn't do it again . And we probably have enough to blow her little act right out of the water , too . Having her criminal record out there isn't going to do anything for her credibility . Not that she had any to begin with , anyway ."

He promises to start on that right after we eat , and I dig into my meal , thinking about how great it feels to finally know that Bren and I aren't the last of my family , after all .

Notes