Chapter 9: On her Own

Mike came home to find Mather sleeping in his crib. "Maya?" He called out. Maya came out of the kitchen with an apple in her hand. "How did it go with Mather today?" He asked.

"Take a look for yourself," she replied.

Mike walked over to his son with a smile and picked him up from the crib. "Don't wake him up now, Mike, I just got him to sleep," Maya whined.

"You whine more than the baby does," Mike commented with a smile.

Mather woke up and grabbed onto Mike's uniform. "Now you woke him up," Maya commented. Mike smiled.

"I'll take care of him for the rest of the night," he assured her.

"Thanks," Maya sat down and rubbed her forehead.

"You okay? You don't seem yourself today."

"Go take a look in the guestroom."

Mike walked up towards the guestroom and he saw Ashley asleep on the bed. "What is she doing here?" He asked quietly.

"She had nowhere else to go," Maya replied.

"Shouldn't she be back on Earth with her husband?"

"She left Andros."

"What?"

"Sit down and I'll explain everything."

Mike sat down and Maya explained everything to him. "We have to tell Andros," Mike said once she was finished.

"We can't Mike. We tell Andros that she's here she'll run away again to somewhere we won't be able to find her again," Maya pointed out.

She reached over and held Mather's tiny hand with a sigh. "What are we supposed to do, Maya? Keep her here until she wants to go home?" He asked.

"We keep her here until she figures out what to do. We can't throw her out, Mike," she replied.

Mike sighed as he held his wife's hand. "Okay, we'll let her stay, but until she figures out what to do," he answered. Maya smiled and pressed a kiss against his lips. Mather let out a whimper and Maya sighed.

"I'll go up to feed him," she informed.

She took Mather into her arms and went upstairs to feed him.

Ashley woke up and she went by the room to see Maya sitting on the bed with Mather in her arms. "Whoa! I'm sorry," she apologized. Maya laughed slightly.

"Wait until you start doing this," Maya answered.

"I saw Mike downstairs. Did you tell him?" Ashley asked.

"Yeah, I did."

Maya sighed. "Mike wasn't very thrilled at first, but after I explained it, he agreed to let you stay," she explained. Maya looked Ashley. "Could you hold him for a second so I can fix my shirt?" She asked.

"Sure," Ashley replied.

Ashley took Mather into her arms with a smile on her face. "Hey, Mather," she cooed. The baby opened his eyes and held onto Ashley's shirt.

"He looks like his father," Maya commented.

"You make it sound like a bad thing," Mike commented when he came in.

Ashley smiled to see Mike. "Hey, Mike," she greeted. Mike smiled at Ashley.

"Hey, Ashley," he answered.

He walked over and took Mather into his arms. "Hey buddy," he greeted. Mike then looked up at Maya. "By the way, Leo and Karone are on their way here," he informed.

"Why are you telling me this now?" Maya asked.

"It slipped my mind," Mike replied.

Ashley sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I have to go," she informed. Ashley then left the room.

"Ashley don't go," Maya called out.

Mike watched her go. Maya looked at her husband. "What?" He asked.

"Mike! You know that when Karone sees Ashley here she's going to contact Andros," Maya replied.

Ashley grabbed her stuff and went down the stairs. "ASHLEY WAIT!" Maya called out. The door closed and Ashley quickly went down the street. However, Leo and Karone were coming up the street just as Ashley was walking down it.

"Ashley?" Karone called.

Ashley stopped and let out a sigh. "Ashley!" Karone gasped. She hurried over and embraced her sister-in-law. "We've been so worried about you," Karone told her. Ashley pulled back. Karone then saw it in her face. "Ashley, what are you doing?" She asked.

"I'm leaving," she replied.

"Where are you going to go?" Karone asked.

"As far away from here as possible," she replied.

Leo grabbed Ashley's arm. "Ashley, please stay," he insisted. Ashley shook her head.

"No, you guys are going to contact Andros and tell him where I am. I don't want him to find me. I don't want me to be found," she snapped.

Karone stared at Ashley in disbelief. "I just want to have this baby without Andros there. I want to find out if this baby is his or not by myself," she insisted. Karone rubbed the back of her neck. Tears fell down Ashley's face and she leaned against the wall of another building. "I just want to be left alone," she told them. Karone looked at Leo. Leo kneeled in front of Ashley when she sat down on the ground.

"Ashley, Andros has been worried sick about you for the past two days," he told her.

"He can't know where I am, Leo. Don't you get it? It's all my fault that this happened to me and I have to suffer this by myself."

Karone sat next to Ashley. "I let Todd do this to me. It's my fault. I don't want Andros to go through the pain of knowing that this baby isn't his," Ashley explained.

"But you don't know that," Leo insisted.

Ashley wrapped her arms around herself. "I want to have this baby on my own and find out who the father is by myself," she insisted.

"How can you find out who the father is without any DNA from either Andros or Todd?" Leo asked.

"There's scanners that can find out if there's Karovan in the blood or not," Karone replied.

Ashley nodded and wiped the tears from her face. "Please, don't tell Andros where I am. Please," she begged. Karone wrapped her arms around Ashley and pulled her into a sisterly embrace.

"We won't," Karone answered.

"Karone…" Karone cut Leo off.

"We're not going to tell him, Leo," she put in.