Troy, Gabriella and Isabella were sitting on the couch watching a movie, having put the younger kids to bed. Suddenly Troy's phone rang, it was a face-time request from Dominic. Troy looked at Gabriella, silently asking if he should answer since they hadn't talked to Dominic since he brought Ashton to Albuquerque. He sighed when she nodded and answered the call.

"Hey Troy."

"Dominic."

Dominic sighed. "Look I know we haven't spoken since Albuquerque and I know you're probably still angry -"

"Angry? Dominic you brought my wife's ex-boyfriend who raped her to meet us, gave him ammunition to try and take our daughter away and he tried to kill us at East High, so yeah I think I have reason to be 'angry' at you."

"I know... Are they with you?"

"Gabriella and Isabella are here, our youngests are in bed."

"Ok... Look don't hang up and don't hate me for this but Ashton's here and he wants to speak to you guys. He's changed and he wants to apologise for what happened."

Gabriella stood up and walked away, making Troy sigh. "Fine, but if he says one thing wrong, I'm hanging up."

Dominic handed the phone over and Ashton was shown on the screen. "Hi Troy, is Gabriella there with you?"

"No, she understandably doesn't want to talk to you."

"Yeah that's fair, I deserve that. Look I'm sorry for what happened all those years ago. I'm sorry for what I did to Gabriella and I'm sorry for everything I did to you guys in Albuquerque. I regret what happened and I've gotten help, I don't expect you to say anything, I just wanted to tell you guys that I'm sorry." Troy nodded in response. "I know this is probably too much to ask and if you say no, I understand but would I be able to talk to Isabella?"

Troy turned to his daughter. "Do you want to talk to him Angel?"

"Not really but I have to, there's things I need to know that I can only hear from him."

He nodded slowly. "Ok um do you want me to leave so you can talk to him alone or?"

"How about you go check on mom and when you come back, my conversation with him ends?"

"Alright Bella, I'll be back."

"Ok Dad." Isabella took the screen from Troy and saw Ashton on the screen. "You wanted to talk?"

"Hi Isabella, I don't think you remember me but I'm your dad."

"You're not my dad, any guy can be foolish enough to get a girl pregnant but that doesn't make you my dad. I have one and he's in the other room with my mom."

Ashton sighed sadly. "I remember hearing you say something similar the first time I met you. You've grown up so much, you're beautiful Bella."

"First off, it's Isabella to you and secondly, I take after my mother."

"But you've got my eyes."

Isabella shook her head. "I prefer to think that I have the same eyes as my dad, brother and sister."

Ashton sighed. "Look Isabella -"

"No, I don't want to hear it. I want you to answer my questions then I never want to hear from you again." Ashton nodded slowly. "Why did you do it? How could you hurt my mother like that? Not only did you hurt her enough in Minnesota, then you have the audacity to come to Albuquerque to try and take me away from her for some sort of sick twisted revenge and to come back a few months later with a gun. What makes you think I would ever want to talk to you or even know you?"

"I don't know, I can't explain it to you Isabella."

"You're a sick twisted human being and I am disgusted that I have to share any DNA with you. You are a horrible person who hurt my parents and I will never forgive you for that. You aren't my father, you never were and you will never be." With that, Isabella hung up the call and buried her face in her hands.

Troy and Gabriella entered the room before rushing to Isabella, seeing her upset state. "Baby Girl, what's wrong? Did he say something?"

Isabella shook her head and turned to her mother. "I'm sorry Mama, if I was never born then you wouldn't have gotten hurt and you wouldn't have had to worry about Ashton."

Gabriella's eyes widened before she pulled her daughter into her arms. "Don't ever say that again Isabella Claire, don't ever apologise for that. Angel, you know I love your dad, Ari and Aidan infinitely but you are the best thing that ever happened to me and you wanna know why? Because if you hadn't been born then I wouldn't have moved to Albuquerque and I wouldn't have met your dad or had Ari or Aidan. As terrible as what Ashton did to me is, I was never once ungrateful that I had you and if I had to do it all again, I would because I know in the end I would be happy with my husband, daughters and son."

"I love you Mama."

"I love you too Sweet Girl."

"It's getting late, I think I'm gonna go to bed. Good night Mama, Daddy, I love you."

Troy responded. "Good night Baby Girl, we love you too."

When Isabella left to go to bed, Troy pulled Gabriella onto his lap and hugged her. "Are you ok Baby?"

She nodded. "I just couldn't do it. I never wanted to see him again after what happened and I hate that Bella had to talk to him."

"She's a strong girl Brie and she's got a heart of gold. Bella loves you so much and I know she didn't want to talk to him either. She just had questions that she needed him to answer and I know she doesn't want anything to do with him again."

"I know, just the thought of him around my baby girl -" Gabriella visibly cringed before her eyes connected with her husband's. "Baby, you've been the best dad I could've asked for for our three kids and you've been the most amazing husband a girl could have. I love you so much."

"I love you too Beautiful, you're an amazing mother to our three kids and I'm the luckiest guy in the world to have a gorgeous wife like you." They cuddled up on the couch to finish the movie that was interrupted, knowing that from this moment forward, they'd never hear from Ashton Montgomery again.