Chapter 4: Ash

Once Lexa leaves, I head over to Callie's. I stop by the store and pick up a toy truck for Asher on the way and a bottle of wine for Callie. I am really nervous about meeting him and being alone with Callie because I don't know what to expect or what she expects from me. When I pull up in front of the townhouse, the door opens before I can get out of the truck. In the doorway stands Callie and Asher, I assume since it's a little boy. I get out and grab the gifts, close the door, and turn to walk up the walkway when I feel something slam into my legs. I look down, and the boy is hugging my legs, looking up at me with the most innocent grey eyes I have ever seen. I look over to Callie, and she is smiling.

I'm not really sure what to do, so I bend down to his level and say, "Hello, you must be Asher. My name is…."

He interrupts me, saying, "I know you, you my mommy that been away savin people. I been waitin my whole life to meet you."

I don't know what to say or do, so I just hand him the truck and look over at Callie, hoping she will help me out, but I guess she thinks me being uncomfortable is funny because she is laughing at me. Fine, I will figure it out on my own, then. I look down at Asher and say, "Asher, why don't you take me inside and show me around?"

He looks up at me and takes my hand while saying, "Okay, mommy but erraone, call me Ash. Come want to show my room."

Again, I'm speechless. So, Callie named him Asher so she could shorten it to Ash like mine. Maybe she really was taken by Robby. I follow the cute little Ash inside, where he shows me around the condo before taking me into his room. His room is full of toys skillfully placed around the room. He offers them all to me one by one while telling me everything he knows about each individual one. He is so full of energy and talks ninety miles an hour, but it is cute.

Around nine, Callie says, "Okay baby, it's bedtime. Go get your nightclothes on, and I will come to tuck you in."

"But mom, want to stay up with mommy." He says with a pout.

"Sweetie, you will see her again soon. Now go get ready for bed, and maybe you can talk mommy into reading you a bedtime story."

He looks at me and says, "Will you, mommy?"

I give Callie a look and say, "Sure thing, buddy. Go get dressed, and I will be in there in a few minutes."

He smiles and runs off to his room. I look over at Callie and say, "You play dirty, you know that?"

She looks at the floor and says, "I don't know what are you talking about?"

Before I can answer, Asher, yells, "Mommy, I ready for story."

I glance at Callie and say, "Right…We'll talk after storytime." I walk down the hall to his room, where I find him dressed and in bed, book in hand. I read him the book as Callie stands in the doorway watching. When I finish, I lean down and give him a kiss on his forehead and say goodnight. As I'm getting up off the bed, he grabs my hand and says, "Will you be here when wake up, mommy?"

Callie says, "No, baby, we talked about that, remember. Mommy is going to be staying at grandma's house, remember."

Asher looks at me and says, "Why can't you stay with mom and me?"

Callie starts to say something, but I interrupt her, "Buddy, I know it is hard for you to understand, but things are complicated for me right now. It will take some time for me to get used to being back home after being gone for so long, but I can promise you that I will be around, and we will spend some time together real soon. How does that sound?"

He says, "What so compacted? You home now, I want you stay with us."

Now I'm getting a little pissed at Callie, I look over at her, and she says, "Ash, we talked about this, and I told you that things are complicated between your mommy and me right now because of something I did in the past. I told you that if you wanted to meet her, you had to promise not to start this, remember? You promised to take things slow and not pressure Ashley. Now go to sleep, and we will talk more about this tomorrow, understand?"

He sticks out his bottom lip and says, "I member, I sorry mommy. Thank you for coming to see me hope to see you soon. Goodnight."

I smile at him and say, "It's okay, buddy. I'm sorry things are so messed up right now, but how about we make plans to spend all day Saturday together, and you can pick what you want to do?"

He perks up at this and says, "Really, you mean it?"

"As long as your mom says it is okay."

He looks over at Callie and says, "Mom, can I, huh, please can spend day with mommy?"

Callie smiles at me and says, "Sure, baby."

He starts bouncing up and down on the bed and laughing, and Callie looks at him and tells him that he has to go to bed now if he wants to go on Saturday. He immediately lays down and closes his eyes. She turns on his night light and turns the light off as we walk out of his room.

We go into the living room, and Callie pours two glasses of wine, and we sit on the couch. She looks at me and smiles, "He really likes you, Ashley. He hasn't stopped asking about you since I got home from DC."

"Callie, this is the exact reason I said I wasn't ready to meet him. Don't get me wrong, he is a cute kid, but I told you I don't know where things are going for anyone at this moment. I don't want him stuck in the middle of the situation with Lexa and us. You aren't playing fair bringing him into the equation."

"Ashley, what are you talking about. He was always part of our plan, maybe not how it happened, but…look, I understand things can't go back to the way they were. All I'm asking is you give me a chance and spend time with Ash. I see the way you look at him. He is getting to you already."

"Exactly! That's why I wanted to wait to meet him. I need to figure my stuff out first. Lexa and I are good together. If you hadn't brought him into the equation, I'm not sure I would've thought twice about committing to her. You know she asked me to marry her before we came stateside, but after talking to my mom and hearing all the crap you had told Asher, I told her I wasn't ready for that big of a commitment until I heard you out. Do you know what she said? She said that she wanted me to do what makes me happy and that she would wait on me until I told her not to. Can you believe that?"

"Ashley, I know I fucked up. I should have never believed Robby, but, in my defense, you trusted him too. That's not the point though, the point is I still love you. I have never stopped loving you, and I just want a chance to prove that to you. I'm sorry that I used Ash to get you here, but can you please just give me a chance. Just get to know me again, and if you decide to be with Lexa, I won't stand in your way but don't blame Ash. It was my fault. I was the one who told him you were his mommy."

My phone buzzes with a text from Lexa saying she is staying over at Octavia's tonight. Great, can this night get any better! How am I supposed to sleep without her beside me?

Callie says, "What's wrong?"

I look at her and ask her what she means. She says I made that face that I make when I don't like what's happening. So I say, "I don't know what you're talking about, but that was a text from Lexa saying she is staying over at Octavia's tonight."

"That's good. It means you can stay here, and we can get to know each other again."

"Fine, but I'm not staying the night because I don't want to confuse Asher any more than he already is."

"Deal. We will just talk for a while."