The Secret Baby

Chapter Seven

Thursday started like all the others, me rolling over to look at the monitor and find my little goofball doing something crazy. This morning, she was almost out of her crib. I took a screenshot of the image to post later on. I quickly went into her room before she fell out. I changed her diaper and got her dressed for the day.

As I gave her breakfast, I posted the image of her trying to escape with the caption 'Let the escaping stage begin.... My mom sent me a text telling me that if she's beginning to climb out of her crib, she may abandon her naps soon. I wanted to cry at that message. "Stop growing up," I told Ashtyn, kissing her cheek. "I want you to stay my little baby forever."

"Baby!" Ashtyn yelled. I laughed. She is so damn cute.

When five o'clock rolled around, I was ready for work and loading Ashtyn into her car seat to go to my parent's house. Luckily, my mom was out grocery shopping, so it was just my dad. "Hey sweetheart, how's it going?"

"Good. I let Jaxon visit with her on Tuesday." I confessed.

"How'd that go?"

I shrugged. "I feel like we're the other woman. He keeps kissing me, and I end up kissing him back. I know it's wrong, but we've always had such a strong connection." I explained. "I took your advice; he's going to sign a contract tomorrow, and Josie is going to help."

"Glad to hear." My dad said, pulling me in for a hug. "How did she respond to him?"

"It was like seeing her with you. I was ready to ball my eyes out." My dad just silently nodded. "I'll be here at eight-thirty in the morning. I'm going to give him a couple hours to visit with her. Can you help convince mom I need to get home by six on Saturday night? He wants to visit her on her birthday."

"I'll take care of your mom, dear. Go to work before you're late. Ashtyn, say bye to momma. She has to go to work."

"Momma ork." Ashtyn repeated. "No momma, no go." She pouted, shaking her head.

I pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her cheek and head. "I love you, my sunshine. I will pick you up in the morning, and we'll spend the day together, I promise. Bye, baby." I said as I handed her to my dad. He managed to distract her enough for me to slip out the door without her screaming about it. I always hate the drop-offs because she has such a hard time with me leaving anywhere without her.

I drove to work, dreading seeing him tonight. I hated this fucking secrecy. It has never sat well with me, and this is worse. I did my regular routine to open and let the night begin. I was alone at the bar again; we only got small crowds since it was only Thursday.

It was almost eleven when Jaxon walked to the tavern and ordered a drink at the bar. I poured him a glass and walked it over to the end of the bar where he was. As I handed him his drink with a smile, "Tomorrow morning 9 to 12, whenever you can. Nap at 12." I said before walking away to deliver more drinks to my customers.

I made my way back to the bar to grab more drinks. "How's she doing?" Jaxon asked as I passed him.

"Great, she got some alone time this afternoon with my dad, who is her most favorite person in the world," I replied, pouring a glass of ale from the tap.

"Has she asked for me?" He wondered.

I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "You're joking, right? To her, you're just some person she just met. She doesn't know you." I flatly pointed out. It looked like I slapped him when he just looked down at his drink without a word.

He stayed until the last call, not saying a word to me, and I was okay with that. I closed up and sent him home as Noah came out of the office to cash out the register. "Trouble with the missus?" Noah asked Jaxon as he walked him to the door. "Charlotte is wonderful, but not a solution to any relationship issues. Time for you to go home."

"Yeah," Jaxon muttered as he walked out. Noah walked me to my car as always that night. When we approached my car, Jaxon was standing next to it. "Charlotte, can you spare a minute?"

"Not now. I want to go home and sleep before I need to get my daughter." I replied, getting into my car.

"I'm in love with you, Charlotte. Always have been, always will be." He told me as I closed the door.

I drove home, trying to get his words out of my head. He never loved me; how dare he continue to play with my heart. How dare he come into my daughter's life and start playing games. I want nothing more than to rewind time and keep him from ever seeing her.

The following day, I woke up with my alarm, got dressed, and headed over to my parent's house. I got there as my mom was getting Ashtyn dressed for me. "What are you doing today that has you picking her up early?" My mom asked as I walked in.

"Josie and I are taking Ashtyn to the zoo today as a present. It was supposed to be a surprise." I replied happily. It was a lie, but I knew Josie would have my back with it.

"Zoo!" Ashtyn looked up at me, clapping; she loves the zoo. Now I need to take my kid to the zoo today; I really hope he arrives early enough to drive into the city to take her to the zoo.

We arrived at my house to see Josie pulling into the driveway. "Good morning," Josie called, stepping out of the car.

"Titi! Zoo!" Ashtyn called.

Josie looked at me, a bit confused. I rolled my eyes, "my mom was asking questions. It just popped into my head. I panicked." Josie laughed, shaking her head. We began up the walkway when he pulled up in front of the house. "Is it nine already?" I sighed.

"Just about, yeah," Josie muttered, unlocking the door for me since my hands were a bit full. Jaxon came hustling up the lawn to grab a few bags that I was trying to carry. He followed us into the house with a smile.

I set Ashtyn on the living room floor as Jaxon took a seat near her. "Momma, Zoo?" Ashtyn asked.

"In a few minutes, honey, momma needs to put some things away first," I told her, giving her a quick kiss. "jax, can you come into the kitchen for five minutes?" He reluctantly nodded and followed Josie and me into the kitchen. "I finalized the contract of your visitation terms here," I explained, handing him the paper. "We'll sign it as agreed, and Josie will notarize it. Before we do, I need to make one thing VERY clear to you." His eyes went wide,"I am not an option. We need to figure out away where my daughter and I are not the other women."

"I told you I was calling off the engagement. She comes back tonight, and I'm going to tell her and handle my damn mother. Neither of you will be the other woman because you will be my only woman." He replied. He took a pen and signed both copies. "I made my decision the moment I saw you in the bar at work. Our daughter just told me it was meant to be." He said, getting up. He walked out of the kitchen to interact with Ashtyn.

I let out a long sigh and rubbed my face. Josie's mouth had fallen open, and she was trying to recover. "Did he really just say that?" Josie hissed in my ear.

I nodded. I grabbed the papers and signed them as well. Josie took them and did her thing to notarize them. I stood up and went into the living room. "Momma, zoo?" Ashtyn asked excitedly, charging at me.

I picked her up, hugging her tightly and giving her a kiss. I look over at Jaxon, "I don't want to take away your time with her that I promised you you could have, but to get her away from my prying mother, I mentioned I was going to take her to the zoo. It's one of Ashtyn's favorite places." I explained.

"So, let's go." He replied, standing up. "No sense in breaking a promise. You can drive since you have a seat for her."

Ashtyn smiled and clapped. "Zoo! Zoo!" She began making noises to sound like a monkey, causing Jaxon to laugh.

I nodded at him with a weak smile. I looked sideways at Josie as she exited the kitchen. She handed him his copy of the visitation contract with a warning look. "Watch yourself, Kelly; I have connections. I've helped raise that little girl, and I have nothing to lose to protect her from the likes of your family." She told him through clenched teeth. She turned to Ashtyn and me, gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Aunty needs to go now, but I will see you tomorrow at your party."

"Boons. Boons. Zee." Ashtyn replied.

"That's right, lots of balloons for Ashtyn," Josie replied. She said goodbye and headed out the door.