"I understand this mediation's a formality." Dan spoke to his and Karen's lawyers. This custody mediation meeting was a long time coming and, yet, was still a surprise. "But in my defense, I'm providing a safe and stable environment. Two parent, loving."

Ava had absolutely no idea that she would end up in this position after school. To her, it had been a normal day. She walked to school with her friends, spent time in the classroom, went to recess, spent more time in the classroom, and then went home.

She had plans to play baseball with Carter and some of his friends. She'd been wanting to play with them for a while, but the guys never let her. It took a lot of convincing on Carter's end for this to finally happen and Ava wasn't happy in the slightest, having to bail out at the last minute.

She also wasn't happy that she was the only one who didn't know that this was going to happen.

If she had, she would've told her mother about the conversation she had with her father long before this.

Now it was too late.

She wished the adults in her life would open their mouths and tell her the things she needed to know.

Everything would be a lot easier.

"That said, I understand, sometimes, things aren't always as they appear. Your name is Roger?"

"Doug." Karen's lawyer corrected.

"Doug." Dan smiled, making Lucas and Ava shake their heads. "I'm not sure there's a courtroom in the country that'd have a problem with the home I've made for my children."

"Yeah, of course." Doug nodded, looking at the files he had received. "Uh, but, I do have a couple of questions."

"Okay."

"Can you tell me why you've never paid any child support to Karen? Or offered any financial help for Lucas and Havana-Rose?"

"I did offer. But uh, their mother forbid my involvement. Financially and otherwise."

"I see."

"That's crap." Karen rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry?"

"That's a load of crap." Karen clarified.

"Okay….."

"I didn't take his money, because to him, money is power and power is control. And he would have used it in the same manipulative manner that he always does! Lucas and Ava are my children! And they have been every single day of their lives, and there's not a court in this country, Dan, that's gonna fall for your jerk of a suit and crooked smile, and your awful frat boy haircut!"

Ava and and Lucas shared a look of exhaustion.

This was terrible.

Their mother had very literally, just lost it.

"Lucas?" Doug asked the teen, feeling it was better to ignore the outburst. "Where do you want to live?"

"I want to live..…with my father." Lucas hesitated before saying.

He knew how much it would hurt his mother, but it had to be done.

"If the boy wants to live with his father, then there's absolutely nothing I can do." Doug spoke apologetically.

"Alright." Karen nodded, a tired look on her face. "Fine. Ava, let's go."

"Although, there is the matter of Dan's request for joint custody of your daughter." Dan's lawyer said.

"What?"

"Mr. Scott is filing for joint custody of your daughter."

"And what are his chances, considering he abandoned his two children?"

"According to these files, Mr. Scott has done pretty much all he could to be a part of your daughter and your son's life. On your daughter's behalf, I have multiple files for custody that were dropped at the last minute. Any particular reason?"

"I always worked up the nerve to fill them out, but I didn't want to confuse the kid." Dan explained. "She had never seen me, we never met. Through no fault of my own. So I just did it year after year, until she got old enough to make a decision on her own."

"And by no fault of your own….?" Doug inquired.

"I mean when the child's mother found out she was pregnant, she didn't bother telling me. When she finally gave birth, she didn't even try to contact me. Instead, she contacted Karen, and had her raising my daughter. It wasn't until about a year or two later, that she did contact me to tell me about her. And my brother was the one who had sent me some pictures so that I could see what she looked like."

"I see." Doug was shocked to say the least. He hadn't known that detail.

And neither had Ava.

Dan hadn't even known about her.

He said that their history was complicated, but she didn't think it was this….messy.

"I also have receipts for baby essentials, letters marked, 'return to sender'….…Actually, I did some digging and Ms. Roe, legally, while you may have custody, you are not the child's mother. Her biological mother never gave up parental rights. In fact, further pushing on Mr. Scott's behalf could force you to lose custody entirely. Actually, being that you kept the child from her biological father all these years does not bode very well for…" Dan's lawyer continued, but trailed off when Dan motioned for him to stop.

He really didn't want Ava to hear any of this. He didn't want her view of her mother to change.

But it was too late.

"Mom?" Even Lucas was shocked.

All those times that Ava had asked and wondered about their father, and their mother had either quickly changed the subject, or just shot her down completely because she didn't want her to know about the man who abandoned her.

But he hadn't. It had all been a lie.

"I was young, and I was scared." Karen tried to explain herself. "I did what I thought was best at the time."

But there was no reasoning with Ava. She was hurt.

More hurt than she had ever been.

"You lied to me." She looked at her mother with such look of betrayal, it physical pained Karen to have to be on the receiving end.

All these years, Ava thought that she was adopted.

She thought that Karen was her mother and now she was finding out that everything she knew was a lie!

"Sweetheart—"

"—You lied!" Ava choked back tears. "And I believed you, because you promised me!"

"Ava….honey….."

"You promised!" Ava shot up out of her seat and raced out of the building, ignoring their frantic calls.

Lucas made a move run after her, but Dan stopped him.

"Don't."

And under normal circumstances, Lucas might have snapped at him, or told him that he didn't know his sister as well as he did, but this time, he listened.

He listened because he knew his sister.

He knew that she was hurting and she didn't quite understand how to process her emotions. So she needed to physically burn herself out.

He knew, because they were alike that way.

"I never wanted this to happen this way." Dan told them.

And the funny thing was, Lucas believed him.

Ava was the type of person that lit up a room, just by popping her head through the doorway. She wasn't the type of person you would ever want to see upset. Nobody would think to give her any reason to shed even a single tear.

And Dan Scott, with all his flaws, was no exception.

"Ava, where's your mum?" Andy asked the child, holding baby Jenny, once she got home.

He and Karen were supposed to babysit for Jake, who was out on a date with Peyton.

Since the mediation was running a little late, he ended up babysitting by himself, which was fine.

Jenny was sweet.

When Ava didn't respond and marched straight into her mother's room, he furrowed his eyebrows, but just assumed that she was upset and needed time to herself.

Ava grabbed her mother's desk chair and dragged it to her closet, well aware that there was a box at the top of the shelf that she wasn't allowed to look at.

She had tried once when she was about five years old, but her mother had busted her and warned her to stay away from it.

She told her that she'd show her what was inside when she was much older.

On her quick getaway, Ava had put two and two together and figure that whatever was in that box, had something to do with what was being kept from her.

So, taking the box off the shelf and sitting down on the floor, Ava opened it.

It was full of letters.

Every single one of which were addressed to her.

Every. Single. One.

She opened one in particular that had been from Nathan, dating back to when he was eleven years old.

Dear Havana-Rose,

Dad told me that you're my sister. I have already have an older brother and we don't really know each other….we can't stand each other. Maybe having a baby sister will be different. Uncle Keith sent us a picture of you. You're not bad looking for a girl, I guess. You can't even read this. You're not even two yet. This was dumb, but Dad said that I should right write down what I want to say to you, because maybe your mom will read it to you when you get bigger. Anyway, I just thought you'd wanna know that you have another brother besides Lucas. He must be torture.

Your brother, Nathan.

Oh! P.S. When you grow up, I'm gonna teach you how to play basketball, so get ready.

Ava sniffled and angrily wiped at her free falling tears, before opening another one.

Dear Rugrat,

That's my new nickname for you. Everyone has a nickname for their little sisters, but they're all mushy. So I decided to call you Rugrat…or Squirt. I'll have to think about it some more. That's not why I'm writing this. We just met at one of my basketball games with Luke. Ms. Roe even let me hold you for a minute. You tried to pull on my hair and grab my nose, but I'll let that go because you're just a baby. You're really giggly, aren't you? I hope we can see each other again. I promise I'll be the best big brother (Well, besides Lucas, I guess), I'll do anything to keep you smiling. It makes me happy. Anyway, that's enough sap. Enjoy your yogurt or whatever it is babies eat these days.

Love, Nathan.

In the envelopes, were school pictures of Nathan at the age he was when he had written the letters.

He and Lucas were definitely brothers, and they were without a doubt, Dan's sons. Their eyes were the same shade of blue.

Why would her mother keep all of this from her? Why would she lie about it?

Not only did she isolate her from her father, but she kept her away from her brother.

She didn't know what she was feeling.

She was confused, and angry, and she felt like crying, but the next minute she felt like throwing herself on the floor and beating her fists onto the hardwood.

And she almost did.

Havana-Rose,

It's your birthday. You're getting so big, so fast. Just know that even though we don't see each other, even if we never meet, I love you and I'm thinking of you. Now eat all the cake you can hold in that two year old tummy of yours. You're getting to be a big girl now, so that pacifier has to go away soon. Your uncle told me how much you love that thing. We all have that one thing we can't seem to let go of. Trust me, this isn't one of them, kid. You'll thank me in a few years.

Happy birthday, Babygirl.

Love always, your father.

That letter was the last straw and she hadn't even read all of what was in the box.

Ava let out a loud sob and shoved the pictures in her pockets, leaving the mess behind in her mother's room

She didn't really care though. She wanted Karen to see that she had found everything. She wanted her to know that she knew.

"Ava, darling." Andy caught sight of her tears and grew concerned. "What's the matter?"

"N-Nothing." Ava shook her head. "I-I have to go."

"Ava!"

She didn't know where to go, but she had to leave.

She couldn't go to Lucas. He would probably try to get her to speak to their mother and she just wasn't in the mood right now.

Her uncle would just call her mom and send her home or something. She didn't want to take the chance.

And who's to say that he wouldn't be upset with her for wanting to spend more time with Dan?

She didn't want to see her father right now. She couldn't.

Nathan had his own set of problems to deal with and he didn't need her crying all over him like some stupid baby.

Ava knew exactly who she needed.

Haley.

Haley made everything better.

But Haley wasn't home. She was on tour and Ava didn't even know if she was ever coming back.

For now, she was alone.