AN: You guys seem to like Anna Molly. She loves you guys too, you guys are keeping her alive (;
I cut this chapter in half, mostly because it's 1:33AM and I'm tired. But it's kind of long, so I'm sorry.
Again, thanks for the reviews. Enjoy.
--
Sophia's eyes were bright as her mommy pushed her in her stroller around the mildly crowded park. Anna Molly thought her daughter could use some outdoors time, so she took the privilege of taking her to the park for some nice California sun. Sophia loved every minute of it too- being the good baby that she was. All she did was giggle and clap her tiny hands at random kids playing.
"Sophie," Anna Molly sat down and took Sophia out of her stroller. She sat the one year old in her lap, smiling as Sophia kicked her legs. "Stop, babe. You can't walk yet."
Sophia looked up at her mom, smiling. She loved being outside. It was obvious she was a summer baby. She played with her mommy's necklace as Anna Molly looked around the park, soaking the winter sun.
Anna Molly kissed her baby's soft brown hair. She loved these moments- the moments she just sat and had quality with someone. She especially loved those moments with Sophia; everyone knew that she loved her baby more than anything in the world. Of course she'd love spending time with her. But of course, being human- and more importantly being a teenager- she had to feel lonely. At least once in awhile.
She had her friends, whom she knew would always be there for her and take care of her when she needed to be. She had Ashley, who she pretty much lived with when she wasn't at home. But of course, she had to crave the feeling of someone around her all the time. Heck, she was a teenage girl; of course she wanted to be in love again.
"Anna?" Peter Chesterton, looking like he always did, stood in front to Anna Molly and Sophia. His eyes were a dirty brown, matching his messy hair and his figure looked long and lean. Anna Molly looked up at the tan boy in front of her and frowned, he was the last person she wanted to see.
"Daddy!"Sophia smiled and clapped her tiny hands at her daddy. Peter smiled at his daughter, but he knew this was going to fuck his day up. Anna sighed. Today has officially been ruined.
"Daddy?" the girl that was on Peter's arm made a face and took her arm back from Peter. She shook her head; there was no way she was going to be taking care of a kid that wasn't hers. "I'm not going to be taking care of anyone's kid."
"Who said I wanted you to?" Peter rolled his eyes as he watched his date walk away. He knew this would happen. The girls wouldn't come to him anymore if they knew he had a kid. He turned back to face a frowning Anna Molly and a smiling Sophia. "What?"
"Nothing," Anna Molly looked around the park again, hoping Peter would just go away and leave her and Sophia alone. Sophia squirmed in her lap, making her frown. It was obvious she wanted to go with her dad.
Peter sighed. "Well, I have nothing to do today so I'll do you a favor and take her off your hands."
Anna Molly looked at him in disgust. She couldn't remember why she had fallen in love with him anymore. Or how she could even look at him. "What Peter, so you only want to take care of her when you don't have anything else to do?"
Peter shook his head. "That's not what I said."
"In a nutshell, it is," Anna Molly sighed. She hated doing this in front of Sophia. The last think she wanted her to see were her parents fighting.
Peter rolled his eyes. Women. When Sophia was born, he vowed to raise her to think nothing like a woman. He wanted her to be different; raise her to think rationally and not be so hard on the men for once. He wanted her to be good. He wanted to raise her to be a nice wife and such. If you could call seeing your kid once a week 'raising.'
"Well do you want me to take her?" Peter didn't know if he wanted to hear a yes or a no. A yes would mean he'd have to take care of a crying and pooping baby all day. A no would mean he'd have to give up his weekend.
"No, I don't," Anna Molly looked away again, hoping Peter would get the hint and leave.
Peter made a face, sick of her attitude. Now he wanted to take Sophia just to piss her off. "And why not?"
"Because I'm not going to be giving my daughter off to someone who doesn't even want her," she shook her head and tried to stay quiet. She failed. "I take care of her because I want to, because I love her- not because I have to."
Peter made an even more revolted face. Here he was, trying to be nice and do his ex a favor and this is what he gets? The nerve of her!
"Hey, I'm just trying to do you a favor here."
"Well don't bother then," Anna Molly rolled her green eyes and stood up, putting Sophia in her stroller. She frowned once Sophia got fussy.
"Where are you going?"
"Ashley's," Anna Molly answered. She knew that that was the one place she could always go. Explaining why she was home so early to her parents would be embarrassing anyway.
"Oh my god," Peter rolled his eyes. He hated Ashley obviously and wasn't afraid to show it. He hated her for stupid reasons of course; just because Ashley was gay and could get more girls than he could. "Do you want Sophia to turn into a lesbian? It's bad enough you fucking named her after that bitch."
Anna Molly turned to Peter with the most disgusted look he's ever seen her wear. He knew it was just the middle name, but he didn't think she took it as that big of a deal.
"Once, there's nothing wrong with being gay. Two, Ashley has been there for me AND Sophia more than you have and three, I'd rather have Sophia be a lesbian than be like you, Peter."
--
Ashley looked around the house, half surprised half confused. She could remember very well walking into the same house she did every year, but the inside was completely different. The mansion looked… alive for once. Last year, the mansion was barely furnished. All they had was two leather couches, a coffee table, and a bunch of mattresses to sleep on. The house was completely full now. Ashley couldn't help but make a face. The mansion didn't look so dull anymore.
It reminded her of one of those vintage English royalty houses. Ashley knew immediately that her mother had decorated everything- everything was read, her mother's favorite color. Every room had at least two plasma screens in it (probably her father's touch) and each of the 10 rooms were neat and tidy. The kitchen was full and radiant, much to Ashley's confusion. She couldn't remember seeing her mother cook her in life. But a Martha Stewart duplicate stood right before her.
Kyla too was confused, wondering what the fuck was going on. They had couches now; nice couches. Nice and expensive- just the way Mrs. Davies liked it. The large mansion looked completely remodeled on the inside; it looked like a new house even. She was starting to worry.
Ashley walked up the stairs with Kyla trailing behind her. She was intent on getting to her room ASAP. Despite the fact that all of the older Davies had up and moved on out by now, Mrs. Davies insisted on keeping their rooms just the way they were for the holidays. God knows they had enough rooms to do so.
Ashley barged into her room, expecting a guest room, or an office or something. Her mouth dropped a little once she saw that everything was exactly the way she left them. Her dark maroon walls still laid under the numerous posters, pictures, and magazine cut outs untouched. Her desk was in the same place, with her old Mac laptop resting atop with numerous pens and pencils scattered around it. Various articles of clothing lay on the floor and he bed was still unmade, just the way she left it. The only thing different was her window was shut.
Ashley sat her bag down and sat on her bed. She didn't know what to feel. She couldn't even tell if she was uncomfortable or not. She sighed and decided that the magical feeling of sleep was the right feeling for her.
--
Family day turned into family weekend, much to Nicole's joy. She loved Sarah's family- now a.k.a her own family more than anything, and she felt closer to her girlfriend's family more than she did her own. She was happy to be a part of it, and glad that she had a girlfriend that was so… welcome.
It made her proud.
Nicole couldn't be happier, honestly. She laid on Sarah's bed while Sarah sat, facing her but on her laptop. Mr. Edmund had told his children (and his future daughter in law) that they were going to be eating out tonight (no pun intended) so Sarah decided to have a little alone time with Nicole, also deciding that they really needed to talk.
"So," Nicole laid with her head against the headboard. She decided to bring the subject that had been on the back of her mind the day her girlfriend came back to California. She didn't know how to approach it though, so being Nicole, she decided to just go vulgar. "Are you ever going to tell me why you came back?"
"To you?" Sarah asked her eyes still on her laptop. Her hair was put up in a messy ponytail with her eyes covered with her black brimmed glasses.
"No, to here," Nicole sat up right, and pulled Sarah closed to her. Well, not really. She just pushed her laptop closer to her, so Sarah got closer to stay near. "I know you wanted to stay with your mom, Sare."
Sarah sighed. She was wondering when Nicole was going to bring this up. She knew that Nicole was in love with Mrs. Edmund. And Nicole even cried when her and Mr. Edmund got divorced and she moved across the country. It was the reason why Sarah had to 'come back' to California.
"She didn't want me there Nic," Sarah sighed and pushed her glasses further up her nose.
Nicole made a face. "That's not true. What makes you think that?"
"She told me," Sarah closed her laptop and looked down at Nicole. "She's not doing very well, and she just plain out told me that I had to leave."
Nicole made another face, more of a shocked one than anything. She didn't know what to say, or what she should say to make Sarah feel better. She loved Mrs. Edmund and always saw her as nothing but a saint. She didn't even know the details of their divorce; she always figured that it was too sore of a subject to ask Sarah about.
"Oh…" Nicole looked down, biting her pierced lip. She continued without stopping, just saying whatever came to mind," I don't think she didn't want you there, Sare. I guess she just wants to be alone right now. You know, get her life together before she's with her kids. You know, need to clean herself up for you guys."
Sarah smiled. She knew Nicole was never good at comforting, but she was doing pretty well now. She leaned down and kissed her, letting her know she appreciated it. Nicole gladly kissed her back, rubbing her cold hand over Sarah's neck because she knew it gave the girl tingles. She frowned when the smaller girl pulled back, smiling.
"I was going to come back anyway though," Sarah paused, looking down. "I can't handle being away from you for too long."
Nicole sat up and pulled Sarah into her, pushing her further so that their bodies were touching. She ran her fingers along Sarah's neck, "Well baby, your mom loves you. Maybe during break if you want to, I can fly us up to Ohio to see her, okay? If you want to, that is. But keep in mind, love; that you'll always have me. Kay babe?"
Sarah smiled and cupped her girlfriend's face, sliding her thumb along Nicole's cheekbones. "Okay, baby."
--
Allison Davies sighed as she opened the door for her and Dawn to walk through. She, being the only Davies in cooperated with the Davies' business didn't care much about the renovation. She's been seeing it every day for about four months now. Her eyes were tired, since she was dreading this get together as well, and she looked 5 years older than her real age, 25.
Dawn Davies looked excited though, as she walked through her front door. Her brown eyes were bright, and her smile was radiant. So radiant that she was now making money off of it, even though it pissed Raife off. No father would like his 15 year old daughters' body plastered everywhere. Dawn kept with it though; her father wasn't going to keep her from anything.
"Hey," Ashley greeted as she walked down the stairs, in lounge pants and an oversized see through white tank top. Allison frowned at her sister's appearance. She was looking far too thin. Dawn's smile only grew bigger though.
"Ashley," Allison greeted. She wasn't that happy to see Ashley, if she was being honest. Ashley rolled her eyes as Allison lightly patted Ashley on the shoulder.
"We're not brothers," Ashley moved to hug Dawn, whom happily accepted. Dawn, unlike her crabby older sister, was happy to see Ashley. She hated that she only got to see her during holidays and special events.
"I never said we were?" Allison sighed. Ashley just had to make it hard for her. "Where's Aiden?"
Ashley shook her head negatively and walked into one of the living rooms. Dawn sighed at Allison, knowing that she just asked because she knew it would piss Ashley off. Allison couldn't care less about Aiden. Dawn followed Ashley, sitting across from her while Ashley sat herself next to Cash. Allison stood by the fireplace, sighing.
"Kyla is sleeping. I think Ambrose is with Dad and Mom is at the store with Aunt Carol," Cash said yawning. "They're going to cook tonight."
No one said anything, not surprisingly. No one really had an appetite.
"I'm home," Aiden walked into the living room, smiling like the idiot he was. After his plane ride, he went to a friend's to change. Now for no reason at all, he was wearing a suit; a tuxedo suit. He frowned amongst only seeing his siblings. "Where is Dad and Christine?"
Ashley made a disgusted face at him. She never knew why, but she always hated that he called her mother by her first name. Even though it wasn't typically disrespectful at all, she took it as a flag of disrespect. He just royally pissed her off. The least he could do was have some respect.
"What the fuck are you wearing?" Cash made a face at Aiden's outfit.
"We're going out to eat," Aiden answered smiling. He didn't run it past Raife yet, but he was sure that he'd say yes.
"No we aren't," Cash made a face. "Mom is cooking."
"So?" Aiden asked, now making a face. Christine's cooking. Big deal.
To that, all of them made disgusted faces at their arrogant half brother. The nerve of him! Christine had been so welcoming to him, taking him in even though he was the daily reminder that her husband had an affair. How dare he be so disrespectful.
"She's going to prepare a meal for you, asshole. The least you could do was have some respect."
Aiden rolled his eyes. Here we go again. "Well, I'll ask Dad and if he says yes, we're going."
"Don't talk like you own us, Aiden," Cash shook his head at Aiden. This fucker has to be joking. "My- Our mother is going to cook tonight. I don't give a shit what my dad says. We are going to eat here, and we're going to eat what my mom cooks us."
"I'm not talking like I own you," Aiden lied. He even knew he was.
"Just shut up," Ashley butted in, hating when Aiden disrespected her mother. That was the one thing that set her off more than anything. "Look, my mom doesn't have to cook for you, but she is. You're not even her kid. In all honesty, you shouldn't even be here-"
"Why not, Ashley?" Aiden was just plain angry now. "If there's anyone that shouldn't be here, it's you."
"Two years ago, your name was Dennison," Ashley countered. "All you are if the result of my father forgetting to wear a condom before fucking a groupie."
Aiden rolled his eyes. "And what would you be? Last time I checked, you were ashamed to be a Davies. At least I wear the name loud and proud."
"Ha," of course Aiden was going to be the one to put that one on her. "Look, just because you share the same DNA with us now, does not mean you can go around acting like you own the place because you don't. Along with that, you're disrespecting my mother- our dad's wife. I don't give a fuck if you hate me or whatever, but you respect her. She took you in with open arms, and dealt with all the fucking bullshit that came with you. She didn't have to, but she did. So tonight, we're going to eat- in this house- a meal that my mother made. Plus, I'm sure that we- being Cash, Dawn, Allison and Ambrose would choose our mother over you any day. So shut the fuck up for once, and show some respect."
--
"Your brother is coming home soon," Paula Carlin stood in her kitchen, smiling on a beautiful Sunday morning. Her blue eyes were bright today, as they ate breakfast before they head over to church. Spencer looked up from her eggs, surprised. "Are you excited?"
"When?" Spencer started playing with her food again, she wasn't that hungry. All she wanted to do was talk to Ashley. Now that they were okay again, they were back to occasional texting and such. Spencer wouldn't admit it, but she was embarrassingly happy that Ashley had commented her picture yesterday.
"In two weeks," Paula beamed. She was so excited to have her boy come back, and not in a body bag. She hated that Spencer didn't seem at all excited, but she wasn't going to let that bring her down.
"Wow," Spencer sighed. She wasn't very close to her brother, but they were close enough for her to miss him. She scratched her blonde head and checked her phone, frowning once she saw that there was nothing new for her. "We should have a party for him or something."
"Oh no," Paula shook her head. She hated parties. "Maybe a dinner or something, he can invite his friends. No parties though."
Spencer made a face and bit her lip; she decided to go for it. "Could Ashley come?"
Paula's eyes went cold and she stopped mixing the pancake batter. She shook her head and kept going, not talking to her daughter throughout the rest of breakfast.
Spencer got her answer.
--
"Aiden, no," Raife Davies stood in front of his son. He had always felt bad for the kid, but tonight he couldn't do anything about it. "Christine is cooking, we can't go out."
"Whatever," Aiden said; he rolled his eyes and walked out. He wasn't even hungry anymore anyway.
Ashley stood in the doorway, having heard all of the father son interaction. It disgusted her, honestly. Aiden and Raife's relationship, that is. It pissed her off more than anything. She knew that Raife only treated Aiden better and tried to tend to his every need because he felt bad for not being there for his childhood. That was the reason why Raife showered the boy with money and fame, hoping to make up for the lost time. She hated that he was the reason why her father put the rest of his children on the back burner. Especially because Raife hadn't tried making up for anything in their life. He didn't even talk to them when he found out about Aiden, he was too busy showering Aiden. Had he not thought that maybe his other kids would need some comfort too?
"He's spoiled," Raife said sighing, he knew that Ashley had been standing there the whole time. He didn't mind, really. But he knew that it would only make Ashley hate her half brother even more.
"You're the one spoiling him," Ashley shook her head. "Of course he's going to get mad when he doesn't get his way. All he's been hearing is 'yes's from you, no shit he's going to be pissed when he hears a no."
Raife rolled his eyes. Ashley was just making it worse. He ignored her and went back to work. Ashley rolled her eyes too, not at all surprised at his behavior. She was used to it by now.
"Hey mom," She walked into the kitchen to find her and her Aunt Carol cooking. Well, more like arguing since they both didn't know how to cook.
Christine Davies smiled brightly at her daughter, excited to see her. Ashley wanted to frown at her mother, but she didn't because she knew it would hurt her dearly. Christine looked older than she really was, and so tired. She had bags under her eyes, but Ashley could tell that she had put make up on to try and cover it. She was looking smaller than usual too; thinner.
"Ashley," Christine stood on her tip toes and kissed her daughter on the cheek. She held her at arm's length and looked her over. Ashley was looking far too thin for her liking, but she took it as the sign as normal because Ashley was working now. Ashley smiled down at her mother, silently wanting to cry. She knew the past years had taken a toll on her mom, and it showed. All she wanted to do was hug her now, and apologize for all the time she spent away. "You look beautiful."
"You're beautiful mom," Ashley smiled, showing her teeth because she knew Christine loved it. Christine smiled. Even though she was never into favorites (especially with her own kids), she always favored Ashley. She knew that of all her kids, she knew that Ashley had the biggest heart and she loved her for it. She knew the reasons why Ashley tended to stay away from her family, and she didn't hate her for it. It just made her cherish the times she did have with Ashley.
"Dinners ready, darling."
--
Ashley sat with her head facing down, not really hungry at all. She knew her mom would make her eat anyway though, and she'd probably complain about her weight in the process. She just had a lot on her mind, really. From things going on with Spencer (she always tended to think of Spencer when she saw Aiden) to everything going on here, it gave her a bad headache. The feelings that came up when she saw her mom didn't help at all either. So didn't Aiden being an asshole.
"Well, dig in," Raife smiled and sat down. Ambrose being the typical 14 year old boy he is, looked bored as he sat to the right of his father. Christine and Raife sat at the heads of the table, while their children ate their meals silently. Everyone except Aiden, that is. Raife sighed. He knew that tonight wouldn't go well. "Aiden, eat please."
"I'm not hungry," Aiden answered, still bitter that they didn't go out to eat. Ashley and Cash's jaws locked. Again- pretty much being the same person- they both now just wanted to kick Aiden's ass. Ashley took the time to crack her neck, and tried her best not to look at her mom, afraid that if she saw a frown, she'd jump across the table and strangle the boy.
"Just eat it Aiden," Ashley said, her jaw locking as she took another bite of her roast. It tasted delicious, but she couldn't enjoy it with Aiden's voice in the room. It made her lose her appetite.
Aiden smirked. Ah, the perfect opportunity. "I'm hungry for Spencer."
"Ugh, that was so inappropriate," Kyla added before everyone dropped their silverware, everyone generally shocked at Aiden's words. Ashley looked like she was about to rip his head off though, so was Cash.
"What the fuck did you say?" Ashley asked, hoping that he'll say it again. It'll give her the okay to beat the crap out of him.
"You heard me," Aiden smirked, loving that he was getting Ashley so rounded up.
"I fucking dare you to say it again," Ashley's face went red with anger as Cash cracked his neck, knowing that soon he'll be having to pull Ashley off of Aiden… if he wasn't beating Aiden first, that is.
"I said that I'm hungry for Spencer, Ashley."
Ashley flew across the table.
Literally.