Enjoy!

Chapter Four

As the hours passed by, she noticed the sun had reached its peak in the sky and knew it was time to wake Charlie from her nap. She tiptoed into Charlotte's room, careful not to disturb her peaceful slumber. Gently, she brushed her hand against Charlie's cheek, coaxing her awake with soft whispers and tickles that melted away any remnants of sleep. Hunger pangs began to gnaw at her stomach, reminding her it was time for a snack before lunch. Together, they descended the stairs, their footsteps light as feathers on the carpeted steps. Suddenly, a loud ring echoed through the house, breaking the tranquility of the afternoon. With an exasperated sigh, she made her way to the door, already knowing who would be waiting on the other side.

"Frank," Mercedes huffed as she stood in the door frame, her arms crossed tightly over her chest.

He took a step forward, determined to see his grandchild. But she wouldn't budge, her hand pressed firmly against his chest.

"What do you want?" she asked, rolling her eyes and shifting her Charlie to her other hip so he could see his grandfather.

Frank's face softened as he looked at his granddaughter, cooing at her and earning a big smile in return. "Hey there sweetie, how's Pop Pop's little princess?"

Mercedes remained skeptical, narrowing her eyes at him. She reluctantly opened the door wider to let him inside. Just as she was about to close it behind him, a familiar hand stopped her and pushed the door back open.

"Hey there gorgeous," Noah said with a charming grin as he entered the house.

"Get the fuck away from my house!" She said pushing him as hard as she could and when he was away from the door she quickly shut it and locked it then walked over to her father and took her daughter from him.

"You can leave, and don't you dare come back," she warned her father. Frank, scowled at her and reached for Charlie, but Mercedes stepped back and gave him a stern look.

"Little girl don't talk to me like you've lost your damn mind!" Frank said giving his daughter a mean look and reaching for Charlie but Mercedes moved back and matched his look with an even darker one.

"Get out of my house, and if you bring him back here again, I will unleash legal wrath on you that you won't even remember having a child!" she threatened. "You had no right to bring Noah here after I made it clear how I felt about him. The fact that you are still in a relationship with him is wrong and hurtful, but I know you don't care. So just leave." Mercedes stood by the door, waiting for her father to follow suit.

"I'm not leaving until you speak to him," he barked, slamming himself onto her couch. Mercedes flinched and forced a nod before escaping into the kitchen, hastily texting Tina and her mother for backup. As she settled Charlie into her high chair for a snack, her heart raced with dread as she heard her father's heavy footsteps approaching. She quickly grabbed some snacks from the fridge, trying to distract both herself and her daughter from the looming storm.

But it was no use. Her father barged into the kitchen, his face contorted with rage. She could practically feel the heat radiating off of him.

"So you're done acting like an ungrateful-"

"Frank, why the hell did you bring that boy here?" Jill's voice cut through the tension like a knife, causing Mercedes to jump and nearly drop the snack in her hand. She watched in horror as her mother stormed into the kitchen, confronting her husband for his recklessness. Fear and guilt clawed at Mercedes' chest as she desperately wished for them to just leave and spare her from their explosive arguments.

"Jill, not now!" Frank growled, his voice dripping with disdain. "She needs to learn that she doesn't have the right to destroy a good man like Noah. She's nothing but a stuck-up bitch who thinks she's entitled to everything and can treat a man like a dog."

Mercedes' eyes blaze with fury. "You know what? I'm sick and tired of this! Ever since I married Noah, you've treated me like a burden, an inconvenience in your perfect little fantasy world. And when I finally had enough and divorced him, you had the nerve to blame me for his infidelity. You think I asked my husband to fall out of love with me? To treat me like garbage the minute he found someone else? And then to question if our child was even his? I loved him with everything I had, but it was never enough for him. And now that he suddenly wants to come back into my life, you think I should just welcome him with open arms? No way! You are no longer welcome in my life or my child's life because SHE is MINE and mine alone. Noah signed away all of his rights, he made that choice on his own. And now because he's feeling regretful, I should just forget all the pain he caused me? Not a chance." Mercedes' voice trembles with anger as she stands up for herself and her daughter.

"Little girl-"

"I AM NOT A LITTLE GIRL ANYMORE! It's time you accepted that fact, FRANK!" Mercedes screams, her voice trembling with anger and hurt. "You are in my house and you will show me respect! Now either leave peacefully or face the consequences of underestimating me!"

"Mercedes Diane Jones, you will not speak to your father that way. He may have made a mistake but he's still your father." Jill intervenes, hoping to diffuse the tension between her husband and daughter.

"No, Mom," Mercedes steps closer, her stance fierce. "This is not a mistake. This is a choice. He can either choose me as his own flesh and blood or he can continue to prioritize Noah, but if he does, I will cut him out of my life and the lives of any human I physically brought into this world."

"You don't get to decide if I'm in either of your lives," Frank retorts, his eyes flashing with anger. "And you will start allowing Noah to see his child or face the consequences."

Jill gasps at her husband's words while Mercedes glares at him with fire in her eyes. The tension in the room is palpable as they stand in a standoff, each one refusing to back down.

Tears traced a path down Mercedes' cheeks as she watched her father, Frank, just stand there in front of her. She couldn't take it anymore. The hope she had been clinging onto for so long shattered into a million pieces, leaving behind only a deep-seated anger and frustration.

"You think you have some kind of hold on me? News flash, Frank, I am a lawyer!" Her voice rose with each word, dripping with venom. "Do you really believe anyone will represent you or Noah? You're not the only person in this room with connections in this town. But the difference is, my reach surpasses yours. I have connections here and in countless other places that it would take you years just to find someone willing to speak to you."

She stepped closer to him, her eyes blazing with determination. "I will ruin your name in ways you can't even imagine. The moment your voice is heard, they will turn you away in disgust." A sly smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she continued, "I am damn good at my job and even better at maintaining my connections. So go ahead, do your worst. But be prepared for my wrath because it will BLOW YOU AWAY!"

But Frank stood his ground, meeting her intense gaze until he realized she wasn't bluffing. He slowly backed away, nodding his head in defeat.

"Two can play that game, Jill let's go!"

"What? No, I'm not leaving." She replied, looking at him like he was crazy. Tina burst into the house and shot Frank a look before running over to Mercedes who just gave her a slight nod.

"Jill, let's leave. She doesn't want me in her life anymore and that includes you too. You are my wife first, and she will not disrespect me. If you choose to stay, then you are also disrespecting me." He stood by the door, waiting for his wife who was torn between her husband and child. Jill looked at Mercedes, who had a tough expression but pleading eyes.

"Baby, please just-"

"Bye moma." Mercedes shook her head and turned away, hiding her tears from her parents. Tina comforted her daughter and guided her to sit down, then stood in front of Jill.

"Don't worry, I'll stay with her tonight and call you tomorrow." Tina smiled reassuringly at Jill before reluctantly walking towards her husband who wore a smug smirk on his face.

With a loud slam of the door, Frank stormed out of the room. Tina watched him go before walking over to where Mercedes sat with her baby, Charlie. As she leaned in for a hug, Charlie grabbed onto her mother's hair and playfully tried to put it in her mouth, causing both women to laugh.

"She's my ultimate stress relief," Mercedes said, wiping away a few stray tears and reaching for her baby.

"She's just like you," Tina replied with a smile.

Mercedes let out a heavy sigh. "I don't know what else to do, T. I've tried everything with him and he still treats me like I did something wrong. I just want my old daddy back - the one who would stay up late with me and eat cookies, the one I could talk to about boys and we would just laugh at silly things. But ever since Noah came into our lives, everything changed. It's like he finally got the child he always wanted and when I divorced him, it ruined his perfect image."

She shook her head, trying not to cry again as she spoke. The weight of her words hung heavily in the air between them, a reminder of the struggles she faced in her relationship with her father.

"Let go, Mercedes. You have a child to take care of, and she shouldn't see this toxic relationship as the norm." Tina's hand rubbed her shoulder, comforting yet firm in its message.

Mercedes nodded, knowing her friend was right. She couldn't keep letting Noah treat her this way. He had even found out where she lived despite her efforts to keep it a secret. She rolled her eyes, dreading the fact that she would have to admit Tina and their other friend Sam were right about Noah all along.

Tina noticed her eye roll and raised an eyebrow. "What's going on now?" she asked.

"I have to call Sam and basically eat my words," Mercedes replied with a soft chuckle.

"Well, we both know how much you love doing that. I'll take Char Char and go play with her while you make us some lunch," Tina said with a smirk.

"Wait, I never said I was cooking for you!" Mercedes called after her friend with a laugh. But she was grateful to have Tina there as her closest and dearest friend. Charlie adored her "auntie" Tina and Mercedes trusted her completely with her daughter.

She shook her head and pulled out her phone, nervously dialing Sam's number. She hoped he wasn't the type to gloat about being right like she had heard. As she waited for him to answer, she couldn't help but notice his deep, sexy voice on the other end of the line.

"Hey, is this Sam?"

"Yep, it's me. What's up Mercedes?"

"Not much, just needed to ask you for that information you offered earlier."

"Oh sure, what happened?"

"Well, my dad unexpectedly showed up and..."

"Oh no. I'll come over right away."

"Wait, no need to rush. It's not urgent or anything."

Fury burned through her veins as she stood there, staring at her phone in disbelief. Did this motherfucker really just hang up on her without a care in the world? Her blood pressure rose as she clenched her fists, struggling to maintain control. After a moment of deep breaths and counting to ten, she finally let out a sigh and made the decision to order takeout for herself and Tina for their lunch.

As she approached the play area where Tina and Charlie were happily playing together, she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy for their carefree joy. She took a seat next to them, watching with a mix of admiration and longing before Tina broke the silence.

"You know I can have him taken care of right?" Tina asked calmly, bouncing Charlie up and down on her lap.

A dark smirk crossed her lips as she considered Tina's offer. "Girl...you watch way too much Crime TV," she chuckled before continuing, "and I don't want him dead...just to live up to his responsibilities. Noah fought me tooth and nail until he found out she was pregnant."

Tina's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Have you talked to him since then?"

"No, I've gone out of my way to avoid him. He doesn't deserve any of my time or the chance to explain himself... he cheated and I didn't even retaliate. Well, okay, maybe I implied that Charlie wasn't his biological child but only because he accused me of cheating first." She responded with a smile as Charlie let out a giggle.

"I think it would be best for both you and Char to come stay with me for a little while. Just until things settle down again. And before you say no, just consider it, okay?"

"Fine, I'll think about it. But I know you just want baby girl to stay over there." She said, rolling her eyes playfully.

"Well, I can neither confirm nor deny that statement," they both chuckled, continuing to play with Charlotte and chat about trivial matters. Their meals arrived and they settled in to watch a movie in the living room. Everything was going well until Charlotte decided to grab a handful of Mercedes' food and attempt to feed it to her. Tina couldn't contain her laughter and made no effort to stop Charlie as she continued to decorate Mercedes' face and hair with bits of food.

Mercedes winced as her daughter's tiny fingers tangled in her hair, yanking and pulling. "No! No!" she cried out, trying to pry the little girl's grip loose. Finally, Tina came over and burst into laughter before coming to Mercedes' rescue, freeing her hair from the grasping child.

Tina's laughter echoed through the room as she stood up from the floor. "I guess sitting on the floor wasn't the best idea," she said, still chuckling. "I'll go get her cleaned up while you take care of that." Mercedes rolled her eyes at her friend's antics and began wiping down the table. As she heard a knock at the door, she assumed it was her mother and walked over to open it. But when she saw that it wasn't her mother standing on their doorstep, she took a step back in surprise.

Frank needs ta goooo!