Ch.2

"When I was growing up, everyone use to say that we had the perfect family. That my parents loved each other enough that no one or nothing could ever come between them. If only they knew how wrong they were."

(Starting when Ashley was 6 years old.)

It seemed like any other day in the Turner household. The kids tucked away, fast asleep in their beds, the parents fast asleep in theirs, or at least it seemed that way. It was only 7:30 on a Saturday morning when she had woken up. She opened her eyes to the sunlight pouring in through her window. She stretched and yawned, before climbing out of bed. As she stood up and adjusted her eyes to the light in her room, she had realized that today was the first day of summer vacation. That made her happier than she could ever imagine. A smile crossed her face as she made a quick dash from her room and into her parents. She swung the door open and ran to the bed. She jumped onto the bed and onto the person under the comforter. She knew who it was as soon as she landed. The smile quickly grew as she stood up and landed on top of him once more before jumping onto the bed. The second time of jumping on him definitely woke in up. He laid there, smiling and waiting for the perfect moment. Once the moment came, he reached out, grabbed her and pulled her to the bed, before tickling her. She laid there, laughing, until tears fell from her eyes.

"Daddy! Stop!" she said in between laughs. He smiled again, before pulling her into a hug.

"Morning munchkin," he said.

"Morning Daddy," she replied, hugging him back. It was then that she noticed someone missing. "Daddy, where's Mommy?" she asked. He looked over, before sighing.

"I don't know Ash. Let's go find out though," he replied, as he pulled his covers off. As he stood up, she jumped onto his back and he carried her out. After twenty minutes of trying to find her, he had given up and they both waited on the porch steps for her return. He tried everyway to reach her. He tried her sisters, her father, his parents, her friends, her job, and even her cell, but no one had helped. Finally, after an hour of waiting, she pulled up in front of the house. When she had gotten out of her car, she was surprised to see them waiting. "Where were you? I tried everywhere to find you," he said, as she stopped in front of the stairs.

"I was at work, in a meeting," she replied. That hurt him that she had lied to him straight to his face.

He just looked at her before saying, "No you weren't. I called your job. The said that you hadn't been in all morning." Her face paled at that moment.

She stayed silent for a minute before saying, "Ashley, sweetie, why don't you go back inside the house. I have to talk to Daddy." Ashley, not really knowing what was going on, just nodded her head, before standing up and walking in. after the door was closed she looked back up at him.

"Ok, Phoebe, want to tell me the truth now?" he asked.

She just sighed before saying, "Cole, we need to talk."