Just as a little warning, this chapter is a little on the sad side. So, I will apologize in advance for that. I also wanted to give a huge shout out to Alexa for being amazing and saving this story. This was originally going to be the final chapter, but she gave me an idea so that the story wouldn't end on such a sad note. Btw, you can read her stories on here xXbrokensmileXx24. She is absolutely amazing and is an awesome writer! :)
As always, thank you soooooo much for all the reviews! I am so glad that you guys are always so excited to give me feedback and I absolutely loving hearing it all! You guys are all amazing! I hope you guys continue to love this story as it reaches its finale.
"No, daddy! Don't wanna go!" Arianna screams.
"Sweetie, your mom will here soon. Don't you want to see her?"
"No!" Arianna stomps, defiantly.
"But you haven't seen her in a while. Don't you miss her?"
Arianna looks up at her dad, with tears sliding down her face and nods. "No leave you."
"Baby girl, everything will be okay. I will be right here. I am not going anywhere."
"Stay wif you."
"You need to go with your mom. She has missed you. She wants to spend time with you. And wants to take you back home. Okay?"
Arianna shakes her head no. "Don't wanna!"
There's a knock on the door. Will knows the time has come where Arianna has to go back with Gabi. He takes a deep breath, trying to maintain control of his emotions. But his daughter isn't making this easy on him.
Every cry. Every tear. Every lip quiver. It all just breaks his heart. And he doesn't know how to make his daughter understand that this is how it has to be. That as much as he wants Arianna with him all the time, that's just not an option right now. And that's really not being fair to Gabi. They share custody of her. Although, 'sharing' isn't really the term Will would use. But that doesn't really matter. Even if he could have full custody of her, he wouldn't want that. Ari needs Gabi in her life, as much as he wishes that wasn't true.
Arianna has wrapped herself around Will's leg, holding on for dear life. She's been like this all morning. She has clung to his side ever since they got up. Will had a hell of a time trying to use the bathroom with Ari refusing to leave his side.
"Baby, I have to get the door. Can you let go?"
"No!"
Will leans down and tries to lift her off of him. With a little bit of effort, he is able to do so. But instead of setting her down on the floor, he pulls her into his arms. He knows how much this hurts her. And he is trying to do everything he can to make this transition as seamless as possible. So holding her is the only thing that is helping either of them. Will was not prepared for how hard this was going to be. It's not like I haven't done this all before, Will thinks. So why does it seem to get harder every single time I have to hand my daughter back over to her mother.
Will walks toward the door with Arianna in his arms. She has her face buried in his neck. He can feel the wetness of her tears against his skin. She has her arms tightly around his neck and the rest of her body curled into his.
"Hey, Gabi. How's your mom?" Will asks as he opens the door.
"Fine," Gabi grumbles. "She ready to go?"
"Just about."
"Well, hurry up. I would like to get her home."
"Gabi, she is having a hard time with this, okay?"
"A hard time with what?" Gabi asks, annoyed. "I'm her mom. She shouldn't be having a hard time."
"Well, I am her dad. If you haven't forgotten."
Gabi rolls her eyes at Will and says,"Oh, trust me. I haven't forgotten."
"So, she's having a little trouble wanting to leave."
"Don't wanna," Arianna mumbles into Will's neck.
"Don't wanna?" Gabi asks.
"She doesn't want to leave. She wants to stay with me."
"Well, that's absolutely out of the question."
"No leave daddy! No leave daddy!" Arianna begins crying out repeatedly.
"Arianna, stop this tantrum. You are coming home with me," Gabi explains sternly.
"No, daddy!" Arianna begins to wail.
Gabi has never seen her daughter act like this. And she has absolutely no clue on how to handle it. Gabi begins to soften a bit towards Ari, because she has missed her terribly. But what she feels more terrible about is how much she liked not having to worry about her. She trusts Will with Ari, so she felt kind of free to not worry about how things were going with them while she was gone. She forgot what it was like to be a 22-year-old with no real responsibilities and she liked it. Maybe that is why she has had this attitude ever since she got back to Salem last night. She wasn't ready to go back to being a mom responsible for a three-year old.
"Ari, don't you want to see your mommy?" Gabi asks.
Arianna peeks her head out to look at Gabi. She smiles and whispers,"Hi, mommy."
"Hi, baby. Don't you want to come back home with me?" Gabi asks, sweetly.
Arianna shakes her head no. "Wanna stay wif daddy."
Gabi finds herself getting angry at her daughter. She always knew Arianna was a daddy's girl, but this hurt. Her daughter was choosing to be with Will over her.
"Arianna! We are going back home. That is where you belong."
"No. Daddy and Sonny. Stay wif daddy and Sonny!"
"Sonny? As in your boss, Will?" Gabi asks, incredulously.
"Yes. As in my boss. That would be Sonny."
"What is she talking about?" Gabi spats out.
"Me and Sonny are together," Will says, nonchalantly.
"And Brian? What happened to him?"
"Not that this is any of your business, but we broke up."
"Well, thank God for that. And it is absolutely my business. If it affects my daughter, then I need to know."
"We are not going to have this discussion in front of her. Do you understand me?"
"Excuse me?" Gabi asks, taken aback.
"You heard me. We are not going to have this discussion with Ari here."
"Whatever, Will," Gabi huffs. "Get her stuff so we can go."
"Okay, baby girl. Can you go in your room and grab your bag?"
Will feels Arianna's grip around his neck get tighter and she begins shaking her head no. Will decides to just take her with him back to her room to grab her stuff. He can hear his daughter start to cry again.
"Shhhh. Baby girl, it's all going to be alright, okay?" Will whispers to her as he rubs circles on her back.
Arianna nods her head in assent. Will is going around the room to pick up anything that is left on the floor that Gabi may need with his free hand. After he gets the bag all done, he sets it by the door. He then sits on his daughter's bed with her in his arms so he can say his goodbye to her in private.
"Hurry up, Will!" Gabi screeches from the living room.
"We will be out in a minute."
Will pulls his daughter off of him and sets her on his lap. Blue eyes meet blue eyes, as he looks into her eyes. Her blues eyes are clouded with redness and tears. Her face all puffy from crying. Will hates to see his daughter this sad. He has never seen her this upset before. Which makes it even harder for him to figure out how to make it all better.
"Hey, baby girl," Will whispers, trying to force a smile on his face.
"Hi, daddy," she whispers.
"You know I love you so much, right?"
Arianna nods her head and whispers,"moon an back."
Will laughs and says,"that's right, baby girl. I love you so much. But you have to go with mommy, okay?"
Arianna shakes her head and whispers, "stay wif you."
Will looks at his daughter with sad eyes. "Your mommy misses you so much. She just wants some Ari time, like we had when she was gone. It's her turn, okay?"
Arianna shakes her head no again. "Daddy Ari time."
"We will have so much daddy/ari time, baby girl. Don't you worry. I wouldn't give that up for the world."
Arianna nods her head. "Sonny Ari time?"
Will laughs at this and says,"You can also have as much Sonny and Ari time as you would like."
Arianna smiles weakly at Will. This is the first smile he has seen since the zoo yesterday, which makes him feel a little bit better. The ache in his chest isn't so raw, at least for a moment.
"But, baby girl. You have to go with your mom. Okay? And if you want to see me or talk to me, just say the word. I will be there so fast, okay?"
"No leave daddy. No leave," Arianna begins sobbing.
"You have to go with mommy. Please, can you do this for me?"
Arianna nods her head slightly, as tears roll down her face.
"Okay. Give me the biggest hug and kiss you can muster. Then mommy will take you home."
Arianna jumps in his arms and begins is stroking her hair and hugging her closely. Not wanting to let go in the slightest. Will lets the tears escape his eyes as his daughter remains in his grasp. Once he can pull himself together, he takes a deep breath and does his best to muster a smile.
"Okay, baby girl. Time to go with mommy. Will you be my brave girl for mommy?"
Arianna nods her head, sadly. Will picks her up in his arms and walks out to the living room, grabbing her bag at the door. Will hands his sobbing daughter over to Gabi.
"If she needs anything, just call me. Okay?"
Gabi nods and turns to leave.
"Baby girl, I love you."
"Lob you too daddy. No wanna go," Arianna continues crying out.
Will closes the door behind him. He leans against the door and falls to the floor. He can hear his daughter crying out for him as they leave the hallway. He finally gives in and lets the tears fall freely, as he rests his head on his knees.
When Will is all cried out, he stands up to retrieve his phone. He needs Sonny right now. Will texts his boyfriend
Can you please come over? Arianna just left. And I could really use my boyfriend.
The first thing Sonny does when he gets to Will's apartment is take him in his arms. Will grabs on to him and refuses to let go. After a couple of minutes, Sonny ushers them over to the sofa. Will rests his head on Sonny's lap, as Sonny cards his fingers through Will's hair.
"How are you doing?" Sonny whispers as he wipes the tears falling down Will's face.
"Horrible," Will sighs, tearfully.
"How bad was it?"
"She wouldn't leave my side all morning. And she just kept crying. She would repeat 'no leave' all morning. And I didn't want her to leave, Sonny. I didn't want my baby girl to go back with her mom."
"I know you didn't."
"It was so hard. She cried all morning and I didn't know how to make things better. That's my job as her father. To make things better. I felt like such a failure, because I couldn't protect her from the hurt again."
"Hey," Sonny whispers, tilting Will's chin with his fingers so they were looking each other in the eyes. "This wasn't your fault. You are amazing with her. She has you wrapped around her little finger."
"I know," Will smiles through the tears, looking back down. "I just wish she didn't have to leave."
"I know."
"By the way," Will smiles, looking into his boyfriend's deep brown eyes. "She definitely wants some Ari/Sonny time very soon."
"Oh, deal. Just as long as I can get some Will/Sonny time."
"Oh, you can plan on it!"
Sonny leans down and places a soft kiss on Will's forehead as they sit there in silence. Sonny continues running his fingers through Will's hair and it doesn't take long before Will falls asleep on Sonny's lap. Sonny looks down at his boyfriend with sadness. He wishes there was something he could do to make it all better.
"Shhhhh," Sonny whispers to his sleeping boyfriend. "Everything is going to be all right. I just know it."
