The Cost Of Winning

FIANNA'S POV :

As I'm standing here surrounded by broken glass , holding my daughter , the last person I ever expected to see again appears in the doorway . Ashley looks absolutely shocked when he sees me , but after only a few seconds his expression changes to one of anger .

"What the HELL do you think you were doing , keeping my kid away from me ?"

"No , Ash , she's MINE ! You made it very clear that you weren't interested in being a parent , so don't try to pretend otherwise ." , I respond , as calmly as possible . I don't want to raise my voice and scare Brenna .

"That's bullshit and you know it !" , he bellows . " If I'd actually known that you were serious , you know I would've done whatever I needed to do to take care of my kid !"

"What kind of stupid excuse is that ? Why would I say it if I wasn't serious ? Come on , Ash , I know you can do better than that ."

Brenna burrows her face into my neck and whimpers , and Andy grabs Ashley by the shoulder and says , "Dude , you need to lighten up , you're scaring the kiddo . Not cool !"

He snaps his head toward Andy , opening his mouth as if he's going to say something , then pulls in a deep breath , and lets it back out , obviously trying to regain his composure .

"I'm sorry , Brenna , I didn't mean to scare you . I won't yell anymore ." , he says , while still glaring daggers at me . "But this is going to stop , Fianna . I have the same rights that you do ."

"Technically speaking , no , you don't ." , Miki informs him . "Your name isn't on the birth certificate , so you have no legal standing whatsoever ."

"What the hell , are you a lawyer all of a sudden , Miki ? " , he says exasperatedly .

"No , but my uncle is , and I worked a couple of summers in his office , so I do know what I'm talking about ." , she replies . "So you might as well get off your high horse and stop acting like your usual asshole self , that's not gonna fly here ."

She then turns to Ryan , and says , "Babe , it's your choice . Either THIS goes , or I do . And if I do , I won't be back ." When she says this , I'm not sure which of us is more shocked , me or Ryan .

Ryan turns to Ash and says , "You need to go , man . We'll talk about this later ."

"I'm not fucking going anywhere until I get this straightened out !" , Ashley says , his voice starting to raise again .

Miki gives him a nasty grin and says , "You have been asked to leave by the property owner . If I have to call the cops , you'll go to jail . Try me if you think I won't do it , Purdy - boy !"

"Ash , come on ! You are not helping yourself right now ." , Andy tells him . "This is not going to get you anywhere . We need to go , Ryan said he'll talk to you later . Give him a chance to straighten things out , OK "

He finally allows Andy to pull him out of the doorway , but before he goes , he looks at me and says , "Don't think this is over , because it's not . Not even close , Fianna . Enjoy it while you can ."

He and Andy start toward the door , and Juliet looks at me , and says . "We always wondered where you went , Fi . I'm glad you're OK , and that baby is absolutely darling ."

"It's nice to see you , Jules , and thanks for keeping her out of here earlier ." , I reply , and she turns to follow the guys out .

When we hear the sound of the car starting , Miki and I fill Ryan in on what happened back in LA , and Miki turns to me and says , "Well , he's gone now , hon , it's over with ."

"No it isn't , Mik ." , I tell her . "For whatever reason , he's got it in his head that he wants to play daddy now , and he won't give up as long as he feels like we're keeping him from getting what he wants . That's what matters , after all . I'm just not looking forward to having to explain things to Brenna when he gets bored and decides he's not interested in HER anymore , either ."

ASHLEY'S POV :

"What the fuck was that , dude ? You're taking HER side ?" , I shout at Andy as we get into my car , with Juliet driving , as they both decided I'm not capable right now . Hell , they're probably right .

"No , I'm not taking her side , Ash , but getting your ass arrested would defeat your own purpose ! All that would do is prove to people that you can't be trusted to be around the kid . Is that what you want ?"

"What I'd like to know is how you plan to get around the fact that you originally denied that she was yours , Ash ?" , Juliet inquires from the front seat .

"Fuck , Jules , you all know I didn't know she was fucking serious !" , I yell in frustration .

"But can you convince a judge , or whoever , of that ?" , Andy wonders .

How the hell did this even happen ? Where the hell does she get off thinking she has any right to do this ? No. Just fucking NO ! We'll damn well find out how much little Miss Miki knows about what my rights are . If they think they've got a chance of keeping me away from my daughter , they need to do some more thinking .

We get back to my house , and I can't fucking sit still , my nerves are completely shot .I would absolutely LOVE a drink right now , but I want my head clear if Ryan calls , now that I've gotten the point that Andy made awhile ago , there's no way I'm gonna hand Fianna any more excuses to keep me away from Brenna .

Brenna . I would've expected as much . Her dads name was Brendan , and she always said that if she had kids , she'd name the first one for him . I have no idea what her middle name is , but if Miki was telling the truth , and my name isn't on the birth certificate , that means that her name is Brenna Chandler , not Purdy . Damn , I hate that !

My phone rings , and I scramble to answer it . "Hello ."

"Ash , we need to talk ." , Ryan informs me ."Where are you right now ?"

"We're at my place , I'll text you my address if you want to come over ." , I say .

"Go ahead and send it as soon as I hang up , I'll be there in half an hour or so ."

He hangs up , and I text my address . Maybe I'm being overly optimistic , but I can't help but hope that he's managed to get those two stubborn females to see reason . I guess I'll find out when he gets here .

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