Christian and the twins were now 3 months old and each had their own personality. Christian was very laid back he never cried except for when he wanted to eat or be changed. Tyler cried a little more than Christian but he was still a good baby but Ryan he was just loud he cried all the time and got irritated very easily. Everyone seemed happy and Ashley had been so busy with the boys that she completely forgot about Randy's weird behavior. The phone started to ring and Ashley ran to answer it she had just put the baby to sleep and didn't want the phone to wake him up.
"Hello" she said.
Ashley could hear Trish crying in the background.
"Trisha what's the matter?" Ashley asked.
"He left" Trish manged through the sobs.
"Who left Trisha?" Ashley asked.
"R... randy he... he... he left me and the kids" she cried.
When Ashley heard this it felt like somebody punched her in the stomach. She never even thought Randy would do this. He had always said how much he loved Trish and couldn't wait to have a family with her there was something wrong here.
"Did he give you a reason?" Ashley asked.
"No he just said we were too good for him and he needed to leave" Trish replied. By now she had calmed down enough to be able to be understood.
"Do you want me to come over?" Ashley asked.
"No I want to be alone right now, my parents came and took the boys for a few days" Trish said.
"Ok well I'm going to track him down and kick his ass but if you feel like you can't stand being alone anymore just come over here" Ashley told her.
"Ok I will" Trish said her emotionless tone scared the shit out of Ashley. She would have to make sure that she sent John over to check on her later that night.
After about an hour of calling people who Randy might have been in contact with she called his parents. Ashley purposely saved them for last because she didn't want to worry them. She sat there thinking of what to say how do you tell someone's parents that their son left everything he once said was the most important in his life. She sighed and ran her hands through her now shoulder length hair. It seemed to take forever for someone to answer the phone but in reality it was only a minute.
"Orton residence Nathan speaking" Randy's brother said.
"Nate has anyone told you that you really shouldn't answer the phone that way?" Ashley asked. Nathan was 2 years younger than she was and Ashley treated him like a younger brother.
"Is there something you want or did you just call to lecture me?" he asked.
"Yeah I need to talk to your dad" she replied.
"Ok hold on let me go get him" Nate said.
Bob Orton took the phone from his son and greeted Ashley warmly.
"Bob have you seen Randy?" she asked.
"No why would I have seen him?" Bob asked.
"Well he left Trish" Ashley said. She explained the phone call she had gotten from Trish.
"That boy needs a good kick in the ass" Bob said
"Normally I would agree but he has been acting so strange almost distant" she said.
"Now that you mention it when he was here last his mother commented on some bruising he had on his arms and stomach and he practically bit her head off tell her it wasn't any of her business and that isn't like Randy at all" Bob recalled.
"I'm going to get to the bottom of this Randy wouldn't just leave I think we all know him better than to believe he didn't have a reason" Ashley said.
"Just be careful Randy might have gotten himself in some major trouble" Bob warned her.
"I can't just let him ruin his life I promise if I hear anything I'll call you" Ashley said.
"Ok and thanks for letting me know if he calls I'll have him call you and Trish" Bob said.
"John just got home so I have to go but again I'll call you" Ashley said.
"Ok bye" Bob replied.
Ashley hung up the phone and met John in the hallway leading to their living room. John noticed her mood was anything but happy when she greeted him. She filled him in on what was going on and he just shook his head.
"I should beat the shit out of him for doing that to Trish" he said
"I think there is more that we need to know I mean the Randy I know wouldn't just walk out on his wife and kids unless he had a good reason" Ashley said.
"Ash maybe you should leave this one alone it's none of our business" John suggested.
"Did they give up on us no so how do you expect me to give up on Randy the man is like my brother?" Ashley asked.
"But he's not" John pointed out.
"He the god damn closest thing I ever had!" she exclaimed.
"I ain't gonna be fightin' wit ya on this one so do what you gotta do ok" John said.
"Thank you for understanding" she said giving him a kiss.
"No where are my boys?" he asked.
"Chris is taking a nap and Talon is playing with his friend Alex down the street" she replied.
Later that night Ashley was giving Christian a bath. She had put Talon to sleep and now she was having fun watching her baby splashing around in the water. John walked into the bathroom with the phone.
"Randy wants to talk to you" she said looking grim.
Ashley left John to finish giving the baby a bath and went into their bedroom. She seated herself comfortably on the bed before she started to talk.
"Hello" she said.
"I need you to meet me" he said
"Where are you?" she asked.
"A little motel just off of Route 1 go to room 316 I'll be waiting for you" he replied.
Ashley threw a hoodie on and walked out of their bedroom. She met John in the hallway he was just finishing up the baby's bath.
"I'm going to meet Randy" she told him.
He nodded and told her to be careful. She kissed him and the baby before leaving the house and getting into the car. She drove to the place where Randy told her to meet him. She sat there for a moment controlling her emotions because at this moment she wanted to punch him in the face upon seeing him. She got out of the car and walked to the room she knocked on the door. He opened it and offered a weak smile.
"What's going on because you are not my favorite person right now" she said with her arms crossed.
"Remember when you asked me if there was something wrong and if I wanted to talk about it?" he asked
"Yeah" she replied.
"Well I want to talk now" he said.
"Listen I don;t have time for this there are so many people who are worried about you" she said.
"I'm dying Ashley" he said.
She was about to say something but she closed her mouth trying to comprehend what he had just said. Finally after about 2 minutes she was able to speak again.
"What?" she asked.
"I have acute lymphoblastic leukemia I'm dying" he said again.
"But you can't you are young and healthy" she said not wanting to believe what he said was true.
"I'm not I went to the doctor's office about 7 months ago because I wasn't feeling so good he said I might have it and ran some tests, I got the diagnosis two days ago" he told her.
"No I refuse to believe this you are going to live" she said.
"Ash it's no use" he replied.
"There has to be some way a bone marrow transplant" she suggested.
" I don't want people to see me like this" he said.
"I'd rather let them think I was an asshole than know the truth" he said.
"This isn't the way it is supposed to happen please Randy come home with me we'll go through this together as a family" she said.
"No I don't want Trish and the boys to see me like this" he said.
"Randy when I first met you I had nothing my home life was horrible and I felt like nobody cared about me but then I discovered that I had this big family and so many people who loved me and you have that too please just come home we won't let you die" she was pleading with him now. The tears were running down her cheeks she didn't bother to wipe them away.
"I can't" he said.
"I lost my papa I refuse to let cancer take another member of my family" she stated.
"Why are you doing this?" he asked.
She could finally see how weak he looked he had lost a lot of weight and it looked like he was having a hard time breathing.
"Because I love you and I remember a very smart person once telling me that John and I would always be a family so we would always be connected and the same thing goes for you and if I have to get John to come over here and pick you up and put you in the truck I will" she replied.
"What is me going with you going to solve?" he asked.
"We can help you" she said.
"I don't want to die in front of my sons" he yelled.
"It's better for them to know their dad died fighting to stay with them instead of running away and dying alone" Ashley spat.
"I called you because I thought you would understand I don't want to be pitied like you and your depression" he said.
"My depression isn't slowly killing me you need medical help please let me help you" she begged him once again. "if not for me then for Tyler and Ryan".
"I don't think I can stand on my own" he said.
Ashley helped him stand and part carried part dragged him to the truck.
"Hang on Randy I'm going to get you help" she said.
Randy's whole world was going black by the second. He never thought about dying so soon he always imagined dying an old man who had seen his kids grow up and have kids of their own. A tear slipped down his cheek before it all went black.
Ok end of chapter. Review and tell me what you think.