Chapter 9

In a split second Kelly's eyes flied open, the sleep that she strived for just mere second ago was suddenly the last thing on her mind. Her head was spinning and she had no idea how to react. She never expected Dylan will have the guts and show up in hospital, before she could say or do anything the scene in front of her evolved.

"Daddy?!" Ava repeated her eyes glued to her father whom she only knew from photographs.

"Hi, Ava." Dylan let out, swallowing hard. This was not what he expected; he never expected his daughter would know who he was. Although in hindsight after what Kelly went through with her own father and Jackie, there was just no way she was going to do the same to her own daughter.

"Mommy! Daddy is here!" Ava said turning her attention from Dylan to Kelly, her dark eyes glued to her mother.

"Yes, he is sweetheart." Kelly smiled at her daughter sweetly, but when her eyes turned to Dylan he could quickly see the pain behind her smile. It felt almost unbearable, he knew the bare sight of him was causing her pain at the moment yet he had no idea how to deal with it any other way except being there for their daughter and for her as well, sometimes you just have to walk through all the pain to make it all better.

"Mommy I told you daddy will come back." Kelly could see a bright smile on her daughter's face, the first genuine smile in days and no matter how hard she found it to deal with her own emotions after Dylan appeared in her life again from thin air, she was glad the bare sight of him could cheer up her daughter a little.

"Oh, yes you did. You must have really wished hard for him to come back Ava." Kelly noted standing up from her sacred place and moving towards her daughter's bed.

"Yes, I did." Ava confirmed quickly, her eyes shining brightly again as she turned back to her father. "Are you going to live with mommy and me now?"

Dylan had no idea how to answer his daughter's question. Hell yes, he'd have loved if he and Kelly were a couple and could give their daughter a home and a family they never had while growing up, but he was fully aware that he threw all of that out of the window the moment he decided to leave them alone, no matter how good his intentions were at that time. He looked at Kelly helplessly hoping she could answer the question for him somehow.

"Not yet, Avie." She said softly, brushing her daughter's dark hair away from her face soothingly.

"Why not mommy? Uncle David and Aunt Donna live together with Rose and Emma, and Aunt Andrea and Uncle Brandon live together too with Hannah and Isaac. Why can't daddy live with us?" Ava asked and the tears were threatening to fall.

Kelly sat down on the side of her daughter's bed with a soft sight, taking her free hand into hers. "Do you remember what we talked about a few days back? How we talked with Aunt Andrea that you will have to stay here in hospital for a while, until your tummy is all healthy and does not hurt you anymore?"

Ava nodded her head in reply.

"See and I'll be here with you, so daddy would be at home all alone while we are in hospital." Kelly explained.

"You are right mommy." Ava agreed finally deep in thought and Kelly breathed a sigh of relief, she knew that Ava was going to bring up living situation again in the future, but at least for now there was a valid reason why Dylan was not living with them.

"Daddy?" Ava asked again.

"Yes, Ava?"

"Will you come to visit me and mommy while I'm at hospital?"

Dylan moved away the teddy bear that he set on the bed previously and sat down on the other side of his daughter's bed. "Every day." He confirmed, watching as his daughter's lips curled up into a smile. His eyes met Kelly's again and he could see the same pain as he did minutes earlier. It was going to take a while before things were going to get any better between them, not that he expected anything else.

Andrea listened to Isaac's never ending flood of words while driving back home, next to her in the passenger seat Hannah has been all silent the whole drive and knowing her daughter she was sure that the flood of words coming from her brother in the back seat had nothing to do with it.

Stopping the car in front of their house, Hannah disappeared inside before Andrea got Isaac out of the car another rather untypical behavior on her daughter's part. Andrea wrinkled her forehead in worry, she'll have to talk to her rather sooner than later.

Getting inside the house she was surprised to find Brandon already home. "What happened to Hannah?" He asked before kissing Andrea hello.

"No idea." Andrea shrugged looking towards the stairs as they could hear the door to Hannah's room being shut.

"Can you keep an eye on Isaac while I talk to Hannah?" Andrea asked turning her attention back to her husband and handing the little boy to him.

"Sure." Brandon said looking after her worryingly.

Knocking on Hannah's door, Andrea waited for her daughter's reply. When nothing came she decided to open the door anyway. "Han? Can we talk?" She asked peeking inside. Seeing her daughter lay in bed with her head buried into a pillow she was sure that Hannah was crying. Walking inside she closed the door behind her.

"Had something happened in school, Hannah?" Andrea asked sitting down on her daughter's bed before she put her hand on Hannah's back soothingly. But instead of soothing her daughter it had the opposite effect and Hannah pushed her mother's head away moving to the opposite side of the bed and away from her mother.

"When were you going to tell me?" Hannah yelled at her mother with a tear stroked face.

"When was I going to tell you what?" Andrea asked not having the slightest idea what Hannah had on her mind.

"That dad is moving to New York." Hannah cried out.

"What?" Andrea asked looking at her daughter stunned.

"He sent me a message while I was waiting for you." Hannah explained chocking on her tears.

Andrea felt like yelling or kicking something or better someone. "I'm sorry, Han. I knew that Sandra had a job interview over the weekend in New York, but I had no idea that she got the job."

Hannah curled up into a ball on the bed and no matter how tense the situation was Andrea had to smile inwardly at that sight. It was something that Hannah used to do ever since she was a little girl.

"I love him, but sometimes I wish he wasn't in my life at all." Hannah said quietly.

"No matter what he does, I'm sure he loves you Hannah." Andrea assured her daughter although at the very same moment she had no desire to defend her ex-husband in front of their daughter.

"Yes, in a very twisted way." Hannah let out a sigh sitting up again. "I'm sorry about before, mom. I was mad at him and I took it out on you. I mean, I know that in the last few years he has not been a hands on father as Brandon is, and the relationship between us is not that close, but I was rather disappointed that he didn't even had the decency to call me, but send a text instead."

"And you have every right to be disappointed." Andrea confirmed moving forward and giving her daughter a hug, this time Hannah did not fight her and melted into her mother's embrace. This was the last thing that Andrea would expect Jesse would do, but obviously he had no desire to care about their daughter's feelings anymore and that pure thought saddened her.

The hospital room door closed with a soft thud after Kelly and Dylan stepped out of their daughter's room. Ava finally fell asleep minutes before exhausted after the long day and the treatments. Somehow Dylan expected a heated fight the moment they'd step outside, but it was not coming. Instead Kelly leaned back against the closed door, looking just as tired as their daughter did moments ago…she had no power to fight him or anyone else at that moment, but he still needed some answers.

"How did she know who I am?" He asked softly, eyeing his ex-girlfriend.

"I showed her your pictures as soon as she started asking about her father, the first time a year or a year and half ago." Kelly massaged her temples moving towards a bench a few meters away from the door to their daughter's room. "I never wanted her to think that she had no father…her father just wasn't here with us." She said softly resting her head in the palms of her hands.

"I'm sorry, Kel." Dylan let out, for the first time fully realizing how difficult it must have been for Kelly after he left.

"I never wanted to be like Jackie, that moment you left I made a promise to myself that no matter what my feelings and thoughts about you were going to be, in front of her you were always going to be her father who loves her, but can't be here with us. And if she was ever going to thing that her father is an asshole that left us alone, she'll have to come to that realization all alone and never hear it from me, my family or our friends." Kelly pulled her legs up wrapping her arms around them.

"Asshole sums it up nicely." Dylan agreed looking at Kelly who has closed her eyes for a moment.

"Yes, it does." She confirmed, slowly opening her eyes again and taking in his face before her sight drifted away to the two guys seated on a similar bench few feet away, whom she now knew were her and Ava's bodyguards.

Dylan followed her line of sight and when his eyes drifted back to her face, he could see her looking straight at him again. Even without saying a word he knew exactly what she was thinking, this was another thing he had to take care off if their daughter's dream of a family should ever come true.

Standing up, he pressed a quick kiss on Kelly's cheek. "I'll see you two tomorrow." He spoke before turning around ready to leave.

"Dylan?" Kelly called after him softly, waiting for him to turn back around. "Thanks for coming today, seeing you was the first thing that made her smile again."

"Anytime, Kel." He said softly before turning back towards the elevators and walking out leaving her alone.

Drinking the last gulp of her wine Andrea set the glass on the floor next to her looking into the fireplace. The kids were finally asleep and the fight between her and Brandon was nearly forgotten, so it was a quiet evening for the two of them. She felt as Brandon took her hand into his, intertwining their fingers, but she made no effort to look away from the flames. "I feel like a fool." She said finally.

"Come on, Andrea. This one is all on Jesse."

"Yes, but I had a child with that guy, married him, trusted him and no matter how things ended between us, I always thought he was a good father to Hannah. Boy how wrong have I been all those years?" Andrea said resting her head against the couch.

"That still does not make you a fool, even people we know very well might change and there is nothing we can do about it." Brandon reasoned with her.

"Yes, they can…the most ironic thing in all this mess is that even after handling things this poorly his daughter still loves him and even admits that he might love her as well, albeit in a very twisted way." Andrea let out a sigh.

"Well, Hannah might not be that far off from the truth." Brandon mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Andrea asked, her numbed mind jumping straight back to life.

"I met him on my first evening in New York." Brandon admitted.

Andrea let out a groan. "That's it. I swear I'm calling your boss first thing in the morning, you are not traveling anywhere for months to come…first Dylan, now Jesse."

"Well I do have a negative streak lately…" Brandon admitted letting out a soft chuckle.

"Oh, yes…so spill the beans Walsh, what happened in New York? I assume the meeting didn't end with a polite hello and how are you?"

"No, it didn't." Brandon confirmed still not elaborating any further. Back in New York he told Jesse that if he wanted to open this topic, he would have to do it by himself, but by the look of things that was not going to happen. "He wants me to adopt Hannah." Brandon said finally.

"What?" Andrea stared at her husband, for the umpteenth time that day feeling speechless.