Chapter 11

"Alright, Arie." Jasina smiled and proceeded to answer every one of her daughter's questions. Such as, where had she been all this time prior to coming back to Houston. That one had been hard to answer, but she did it since she hadn't been in one place for too long. Then there were the questions of her favorite music, movie, and little things like that.

"And yes, I did name you after my favorite Disney movie." She stated with a smirk, remembering when Arielle had told her that when they first saw each other in the shop.

"Okay, so why is it spelled with two L's and an extra E instead of A-r-i-e-l?" She demanded after hearing that, mentally vowing to never let Toni know this or she'd have to pay up five bucks, spelling out the original spelling of the name.

"Because she thought that was too plain." Mark spoke up, remembering the name discussion quite well. He hadn't been happy when she announced their baby was going to be named after a damn fish, but...He'd lost that battle.

"I wanted it to be different." Jasina replied, remembering that conversation with Mark as well. He was so hell bent on not naming their daughter that, but she won out with her hormones. Jasina couldn't stop smiling, remembering how he'd rubbed her feet afterwards since she put the silent treatment on him. Mark hated that punishment, but it worked effectively. "Arie is a pretty nickname though sweetie." She assured her softly and pressed her forehead against the side of her head, closing her eyes.

"Dad how much longer? I'm starving." Arie demanded, getting up to walk over and hug him, trying to butter him up to avoid the spanking she figured she had coming later.

"You're always starving." He growled, looking down at her. "You need new jeans girl, I can see your ankles."

"Mom can take me!"

"Um...Arie sweetheart, I don't live around here anymore."

Jasina didn't want to hurt her daughter, but she also wanted to be honest with her. She seen the sadness in Arielle's eyes and sighed, raking a hand through her hair, going to say something else when the pizza arrived. It would have to wait until later as she watched her daughter grab her own pizza and sat down in the chair beside her while Mark got them paper plates. She took it from him and took two slices, setting her Sprite down and began to eat slowly. Jasina wasn't much of an eater nowadays.

Arielle was wolfing down her pizza.

"Girl, slow your butt down, ain't nobody going to snatch that from you." Mark said, watching her. She had his appetite that was for sure, but he couldn't see where it was going because she was tall and skinny as a bean pole.

"I'm hungry!"

"I've noticed, try taking time to chew though."

Jasina laughed softly and shook her head, remembering how Arielle had eaten two plates of spaghetti and three pieces of garlic bread before she was full the previous night. Jasina finished one slice of pizza and was full. Not only that, but she had a feeling she would be crying later on and didn't want her stomach too full.

"Thank you for dinner, Mark." She quietly said, placing the piece she didn't touch back in the box and threw her plate away in the trash, smiling as she watched her daughter inhale her large pizza.

Mark had watched Jasina like a hawk, noting she had only eaten one piece of pizza. He knew she had stated she had cleaned up her life, she had said so in her articles, but one slice of pizza? She was a bit on the thin side and he couldn't help, but wonder if she wasn't as clean as she said. Drugs made people thin right? So did depression another voice reminded him, studying her again. That was more likely the case.

"One slice?"

"Yes, I'm not very hungry." Jasina replied quietly, knowing the pizza wouldn't go to waste, and raked a hand through her hair after Arielle was done eating. She had finished nearly half of the pizza, which made Jasina shake her head. Definitely her father's appetite. "Okay sweetie, I really have to go now." She said, knowing she had to get out of there so she could go to her hotel room. Trish had called her, saying Steve was staying the night with her, which she didn't mind. She sighed as Arielle took her hand, walking out of Mark's office, and bent down to hug her tightly again. "Here's my number." She said, pulling back to hand her a card the newspaper in Austin had given her, kissing her forehead. "You call me for anything, I don't care if it's day or night, alright?"

"Oh, I will!" Arielle stared down at the card, committing the number to memory and smiled brightly, slipping it into her back pocket, tossing her arms around Jasina's neck. "Thanks, mom!"

If Arielle didn't call Jasina at least three times an hour, Mark would be surprised. He had a feeling his telephone bill was about to skyrocket.

"You're welcome, sweetheart." She whispered, pulling back again and cleared her throat as she stood up. "Be good for your father and no more running away." Her voice was stern for a second before kissing the top of her head. "I love you Arielle, never forget that." She looked up at Mark, not even needing to say anything before walking out and slipped inside her car. Once inside, Jasina let the tears flow as she started the ignition and pulled out of there, her hands trembling on the wheel and tried to get her vision to clear.

Arielle felt her dad's hand on her shoulder, sighing and tilted her head back to look at him, green eyes meeting green eyes. "I'm in trouble when we get home, aren't I?"

"Loads."

"Oh well, it was worth it. Did you know by bus it takes a day and half the night to get to Austin?"

"Did you know that's about as long as it'll take until you're gonna be able to sit on your ass again?"

"Aww hell."

After arriving at the hotel, Jasina took a shower before slipping into a pale blue nightgown, wiping her tears away. She knew Mark was going to let her back in Arielle's life, but that didn't make the hurt of being away from her any less painful. Or him. She loved Mark, but knew they would never reconcile. At least she had her daughter. Jasina was going to be thankful and grateful for what life had thrown at her as she sat on her bed. After crying for an hour straight, Jasina finally laid down and stared up at the moon, silent tears falling, though she had a smile on her face.

~!~

"I'm going to get her back in Houston."

Steve watched his pregnant girlfriend pacing, trying to coax her back into bed. He had thought he'd never be one to find a full term pregnant woman sexy, but...Maybe he was hormonal too. "Honey, come back to bed..."

"I'll offer her a job with a lot of money...No! I'll talk to her editor and-"

"Trish?"

"She belongs here, she has a little girl here, yeah, I'm doing it."

~!~

The following day, Jasina was up at eight o'clock, wearing a blue jean denim skirt with a lavender top. She walked out of her hotel room and looked up, raising an eyebrow at the sight of a VERY pregnant Trish Stratus coming toward her. "Oh my god, look at you!" She smiled as the two embraced tightly before pulling back, her bag already in the car, seeing the happiness radiating off of Trish. Pregnancy definitely suited her. "What are you doing here?"

"I figured I'd have my baby in your lap." Trish said seriously, watching as Jasina's jaw dropped and giggled. "I'm just kidding, though that could very well be the case if little Steven JR in there doesn't stop kicking mommy's bladder!" She rubbed her stomach gingerly. "I want you to come back to work for me, Jasina." She then said, staring at her friend. "And I'm really not going to take no for an answer."

"Trish, I don't know-" Her eyes widened when another truck pulled up behind her car, raising an eyebrow, and felt a bright smile cross her face when Arielle jumped out and ran over to her. "What are you two doing here?" She asked, bending down and hugged her daughter tightly, kissing her forehead. Arielle was the light in Jasina's life as she slowly stood back up, facing Mark and Trish. "I have my job back in Austin to think about not to mention my apartment and all of my things there. Not to mention I have nowhere to stay out here, sweetie..."

"Trish said you might need some help making your decision about your new job."

"Old job, new salary."

Mark leaned against Trish's car, arms folded over his chest.

"You can resign, you did it to me. And we'll get you a new place. I'll put you in a penthouse, you're COMING back to Houston!"

"Besides, I'm here in Houston, right dad?"

"Yep."

"Well, now this really isn't fair. You have the cutest green eyes ever pleading with me not to mention a pregnant woman with hormones." Jasina joked, tears in her eyes, and nodded with a big smile. "I'll come back to Houston. I can't stay away from my little girl." She hugged her to her side, running her fingers through her hair. "Besides, we have to go shopping for new jeans. And I'm paying for them." She grinned when Arielle squealed, her eyes looking over at Mark, not believing how delicious he looked. Age had been wonderful to the man before she looked at Trish. "When do I start?"

"You have two days to get your ass back in Houston." Trish said sweetly, glancing back at Mark, arching an eyebrow at Jasina. "He does fill them jeans out don't he?" She murmured, watching with a grin as Jasina's cheeks flushed.

"What's that mean? Hey dad, your jeans are too tight!"

"As long as the vitals ain't losing circulation I'll be alright."

"Trish!" Jasina groaned as she shook her head, rolling her eyes, though her cheeks were tinged red. "Alright, but I'm going to need a U-Haul..." She raised an eyebrow when Arielle cut her off, telling her she could use her father's truck. "Ummmm Arie, you're going to have to ask your father. You can't just expect him to do something, sweetheart." She tapped her nose and watched as Arielle walked over to Mark, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Daddy?"

Her sweet tone of voice didn't fool him for an instant. Mark arched an eyebrow behind his sunglasses, dropping down to one knee when she tugged on his shirt. "What, lil darlin'?"

"Mom can't afford a U-Haul, we need to haul her stuff for her." Arielle said in a hushed whisper.

"Oh, really."

"So we need to go help her move."

"I am going to hire that little girl to help me sell ads for my paper."

Jasina was trying so hard not to laugh as she watched her daughter play her ex-husband like a fiddle. "I don't blame you, she's quite convincing." She whispered back in Trish's ear, shaking her head. She watched with adoration as Arielle's kept whispering to her father, leaning against her car and watched as Trish got in her car, telling her two days or her ass was grass. Jasina nodded, telling her to have her office ready because she'd be back in action. When Arielle was done talking to her father, she trotted over and crooked her finger, causing Jasina to bend down. "What's the verdict?"

"He says he'll do it on the grounds I pay for the gas." Arielle said frowning, her dad had turned her game on her and that wasn't as funny as her doing it had been. "I think he knows I was hustlin' him."

Mark had his face buried in his arm, laughing his ass off.

Jasina couldn't stop herself from laughing and nodded, patting her head gently. "I'll pay for the gas." She assured her daughter, shaking her head and walked over to him. "You are evil." She stated, seeing Mark was laughing harder, and felt Arielle grab her hand. "Okay so how are we doing this?"