Traitor

Four

Ariana walked into Frankie's house, closing the door behind her and smiling when her brothers dog ran up to her. "Hi Appa. Where's your daddy?"

"Who's here?" Hale called out.

"Ari," she said, picking the dog up and walking to the living room to see her soon to be brother in law. "Is Frankie here?"

"No, he's at rehearsal."

"Oh. Guess I should have called first," she said as she sat on the couch.

"If it's important I can tell him to come home."

"It is but it's not an emergency. I just needed to talk to him about Jules."

"Is she okay?" Hale asked with concern.

Ariana nodded. "Yeah she's fine. Just... need to talk about some stuff that's been on my mind."

"Anything I can help with?"

"Not unless you can sign guardianship over."

Hale looked at Ariana for a few seconds. "Oh... are you gonna fight for custody?"

"Not really 'fight'. But... she's my baby. Always has been. And I'm grateful and thankful for what Frankie's done for her - and you too, you're not being discredited. But I've been really good mentally and that was the whole reason he took her to begin with."

"Do you think you'd be able to handle it?"

"Why wouldn't I? I handle it just fine when she's with me. I'm not asking for her to never see you guys again or never spend time with you, I just want my parental rights back. Frankie signed her birth certificate so he'll always legally be her father, but I want my legal rights back now that I'm doing okay. Besides, it's such a hassle every time she goes to the hospital because I'm not a legal guardian. I'm the one that should be dealing with the hospital stuff."

"Have you thought it through thoroughly? It's not that I don't trust you, I just want yours and Julie's best interests at heart. What about all of your 'bed buddies'? Do you want her around all the confusion?"

"There is no confusion," Ariana said with a furrowed brow.

"You have guys in and out of your house all the time."

"And Julie knows every single one of those men, they've been in her life for over half of her life. They aren't strangers. Before Frankie met you, he had a new guy here every week and he had Jules. At least she knows and trusts the guys I have over."

"As long as it's a safe environment for both of you, I don't think Frankie will have a problem with it. He might be a little hesitant and hurt at first, but I don't think he'll put up a fight."

"I hope not... Julia's old enough to choose too, and she's been asking when she'll be able to live with me. I hate that she even has to ask."

"How's she doing? How's Wilbur?"

"Wilbur exploded during her sleep so we were blessed with a literal shitty mess this morning. She was devastated and embarrassed."

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, we just got her cleaned up and replaced the bag. And... she started her period."

Hale gasped and put a hand to his chest. "No! Not our baby!"

"Our baby," Ariana nodded. "Life isn't fair. I miss her being little."

"Why don't you have another baby?"

"Uh, because I'm not in a relationship?"

"You don't have to be in a relationship to have a baby, you just have to do the do."

"Well I do the do plenty, trust me."

"Yeah but you use protection, that's not gonna get you anywhere."

"It gets me out of STDs. I don't have unprotected sex with people I'm not in a relationship with."

"If you want a baby then don't use them."

"I'd rather have a baby that I trust and can count on to co-parent with. Not just a random guy I happen to be sleeping with."

"Appa!" Frankie called out. "Where's my baby!"

"I have her," Ariana called out.

Frankie walked into the living room and kissed Ariana's head as he took the small dog from her. "Hi. Did you bring Jules home early?"

"No. I wanted to talk to you and I didn't want her eavesdropping."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. That's the point. Can we talk?"

"Outside? We can sit on the patio."

*

*

*

"So, what's going on?" Frankie asked as he sat two glasses of lemonade on the patio table.

"I don't want to hurt your feelings, I don't know how to bring it up."

"Then just say it."

Ariana was quiet for a few seconds before she took a deep breath. "I want my parental rights back."

"...Oh."

"It doesn't mean you'll never see her. I'd never do that. But I'm better now, I'm doing really good mentally and she's been asking when she'll be able to move in with me and I figured now that she's older and can make that decision, it's time. And if I have my rights back then it'll make hospital visits so much easier when she has issues with her colostomy bag."

"You have been doing better. You seem happier, you seem more collected, more focused."

"I am. I promise I'm okay. You know when I'm not even if I don't tell you."

"Because I can read you like a book."

"I really want this, Frankie... I miss my baby. I appreciate everything you've done and you're an absolute saint for taking her when I couldn't take care of her, but I can now and I want to and she wants it too... she was crying the other night because she didn't wanna come home, Frankie, I hate seeing her so upset over something that can be changed," Ariana said as her voice cracked. "Please..."

Frankie took a deep breath and wrapped an arm around his little sister. "I'll be honest, it makes me a little nervous, but let's try it out. I'll sign so you can have your rights back, and we'll talk to Jules and see what she wants to do about the living situation since she's old enough to choose."

Ariana hugged him, sniffling. "Thank you," her voice cracked again. "You have no idea what this means to me."

"She's my baby too, I absolutely know what it means."