Rider was pissed at the outcome. He felt nothing was done to Veronica and doubted they'd heard the last of her. After they finished their drinks, they climbed on their bikes and headed home. That night they were lying in bed talking. "I need to tell you something." Ash explained. "Hmm?" Rider hummed. "You know how Gabriel has been saying mama, dada and bye bye? Well today he reached for me and called me mama. And then Faith did the same. After a few times AJ asked why they were calling me that instead of aunty Ash." Ashley explained. "I didn't know what to say. Cassie was there and she explained that since their real mommy went to heaven, and I was now taking care of them and loving them like her that they felt like I was just like a mom." Ash explained. "Ok." Rider replied. "How did you want to handle it? Because now AJ is calling me mom." Ash whispered. "Baby you are their mom now. It's not like Angel can ever come back. You're not replacing her. You're stepping in and taking
"You really think a locked door would keep me out in my house?" He smirked. She grabbed the towel and wrapped it around herself. "Thanks for reminding me it's your house!" She snapped. "You know I didn't mean it like that. Look maybe she just misunderstood what you were trying to say. Teens get a little dramatic." He replied. "No. There was no room for misunderstanding! I said she needed to change because it was inappropriate for her to wear her pajamas around AJ or you. Those were my exact words!” Ash retorted.“I’m extremely offended by your tone and accusations. That you would question me and believe I would be the type of woman she was hinting at really makes me wonder if you even know me?" Ash replied. Rider rubbed his hands down his face. He didn't know how to handle this situation. Ash was normally easy going and what she said made sense. "Look, if she bothers you that much, we'll look for a new sitter." He sighed. "Really?" Ash asked. Rider nodded yes. "Good. She's not a
She picked up Gabriel and took Faith's hand. They went to his room. He was on the bed crying. "AJ? Can we come in?" He nodded. "Faith brought you a toy." They walked in and Faith handed him the toy. "Thank you, Sissy." He quietly replied. Faith smiled and looked at Ash "Mama." Then Gabriel copied her. AJ looked sad. "What's wrong AJ?" Ash asked. "I don't want to call you Aunty Ash. I want you to be my mommy. I'm sorry! I'll be good." He cried. "AJ honey, you can call me whatever you feel comfortable with. If you want me to be your mommy, then I am.” Ash explained.“Just because I'm not your birth mom, doesn't mean I love you any less. And it doesn't mean I can't be your mom now." Ash smiled. "Ok mommy." He smiled and minutes later it was forgotten. Rider hadn't called her since that first day. He had managed a few quick texts. A little after 4am, Ash was woken up. She went to check on Gabriel first. Cindy was sitting in the rocking chair. Ash walked around to see what she w
"That's where you're wrong. Angel signed papers naming me legal guardian if anything happened to her. Me and Rider have 50/50 custody. You can check the courthouse." She explained. "They both signed off on it. WE will be leaving. Try to stop me taking MY kids and I'll involve the cops!" Ash warned. James nodded and walked away. Scarlett helped Ash get the kids ready and load their stuff into the SUV. "I like you. I didn't think you had any of your sister in you. Thought you too meek and too agreeable. But now I see your more dangerous than your sister was! Mild but calculating. I like that a lot! Good for you!" Scarlette replied. "Thank you. I sent Rider a text. I told him where we would be. If you see him make sure he got it?" Ash asked. "Will do. Be safe." Scarlett replied. Ash checked them in to a local hotel with security. They could afford to stay there for a while. Rider refused to let her pay any bills except groceries, so she had a nice sum in the bank. She'd even starte
"You got your head out of your ass yet?" Scarlett demanded. "Fuck." Rider murmured. "I know you ain't stupid enough to not believe 100% what comes out of your "old lady's" mouth!" She retorted. "Keep this shit up and you'll lose another." Rider winced as he caught the dig about his lack of support. He was just trying to wrap his head around everything. Scarlett got up and left. Maddie took the stool beside him. "I was there when Ash had to take all three kids with her to the salon to get gum out of her hair. She didn't feel safe leaving them with Cindy.” Maddie explained.“I went by a couple times and saw Cindy cooking while Ash took care of the kids. I saw Ash cleaning up Cindy's messes. And Cindy sat on her ass smiling the whole time." Maddie explained. "You know Ash better than anyone. Do you really think she'd lie about something like this? Is she the type of person who would destroy her home to get rid of someone?" Maddie asked. Rider couldn't look at her. He felt ashamed o
"Multiple fights and trouble throughout middle school. Mostly juvenile stuff. Freshman year of high school she stalked and bullied a girl who went out with a guy she liked. Sophomore year, she beat up 2 girls for going on a date with the same guy." Sam replied. "He transferred to another school. Her junior year she started dating another boy. Afterwards he broke up with her stating she was stalking him and accusing him of being with other girls. He started dating another girl." Sam continued. "She received a beating, harassing calls, her picture and number put on a porn site, and an auto accident where her brake line was cut. Cindy was expelled as the IP address on the stalking and security footage led back to her." Rider read from his report Ash had gave him. "Her grandpa made restitution to the family and part of keeping her from being arrested was that she seek counseling and do her senior year online at home. As you can see the other two guys were tall, dark haired, and blue ey
He pulled her in the room and pulled her against him. Her back to his front. The woman started dressing. A couple seconds later a prospect showed up in the doorway. "Escort this bitch off the property." Rider ordered. He handed the prospect her purse. "Check her license and add her name to the no-fly list at the gate. Make sure you tell them to memorize her face. She's not to be on this property again." Rider demanded. The prospect nodded then grabbed the woman by the arm and pulled her out of the room. Rider shut the door and locked it. Ash crossed her arms. She was too mad and hurt to speak. "I know that look. So, I'm going to explain what happened. She spilled fruit juice on me, and I came up here to change. I'll admit I was stupid and didn't lock the door. I didn't know she followed me." He explained. “Ok.” Ash replied."After I rinsed my shirt, I realized it was on my jeans and took them off. Since it was red, I knew it would stain. Then when I turned off the water, I heard
She was trying to remember her last birth control shot. With the Veronica situation and then the Cindy problems, she had forgot. If what she thought was true, she knew Rider was going to be pissed. He had said more than once he couldn't handle more than the three kids they had. Rider hadn't even mentioned marriage to her. The couple occasions they talked about kids he just said he couldn't think of more .He said the three they already had were a lot to deal with and enough. Ash never pushed the topic. She called Maddie and asked if she'd go to the pharmacy for her. The last thing she needed was to have someone see her buying a pregnancy test. A half an hour later Maddie arrived. Ash went to her door to let her assistant know she needed privacy. "Mrs. Wilder please hold all my calls for the next thirty minutes." Ash explained. She closed her office door. Thankfully Ash's office had its own bathroom. Maddie had bought her three. She took the tests and then laid them on the sink