Hailie
901 days after...
~
I felt like I had to make a good impression on Ashton after not seeing him for almost three years. So I started getting ready at noon. I showered, shaved, blow dried my hair and flat ironed it, put on a little more makeup than usual, and bothered to put something other than running sweats or scrubs on. I pulled on my favorite jeans that I felt super hot in, not gonna lie, and a baseball T-shirt. I had on maroon converse as well.
The doorbell rang and my heart jumped. I sprayed a bit of my favorite perfume and walked to the door, glancing at Parker as he stared at the TV. I bit my lip and took a deep breath as I opened the door.
Ashton's cologne hit me like a ton of bricks and I wanted to jump in his arms and hold him, but I was too intact with my adult self to do that. We stared at each other for a few seconds before I awkwardly cleared my throat and opened the door to let him in.
"You don't even look like you had a baby," Ashton said before smiling awkwardly at me.
"Thanks," I laughed softly. "Hold on, he's in here."
"Parker?" I called. The small boy stood up and waddled into the kitchen with his sippy cup. Ashton squatted down and picked him up, smiling at him.
"Say hi, baby," I cooed, biting my lip.
"Hi," Parker murmured, studying Ashton.
"Hey, Buddy," Ashton said, brushing Parker's curls out of his face and kissing his cheek. "What's his whole name?"
"Parker—" I paused and looked at the ground. "Um, Parker Ashton Clifford."
"Dat's me!" Parker clapped, laughing loudly. Ashton and I both laughed with him, and then we made eye contact.
"Hailie, can I ask you something?" Ashton asked. He let Parker down and we both watched as he went back to playing with his blocks.
"Sure," I breathed, looking up at him.
"I'm not asking to get back together," he started. "I just want to be involved in your life and Parker's somehow. I feel like I should be paying child support or taking him so you can breathe a little or something."
"I make more than enough for the both of us," I countered.
"I feel like most single moms put up a fight for the fathers to stay in the kid's life, but you didn't even try to," he said, licking his lips. "I mean, normally they go to court to keep the dads away and all, but you didn't fight either way."
"Because I chose to leave, so why would I make you pay for my decisions?" I asked. "Look, as hard as this is to say, you know me better than anyone else. You should've known that I wasn't gonna give up my pride and call you to share custody just because I made a stupid choice. I wasn't about to admit my mistakes to you of all people, so I hired a babysitter, went to nursing school, and now I work in the emergency room."
"I figured you'd give in, honestly," he chuckled. "But it was me who called and begged to see him."
"Yeah," I sighed.
"Is your babysitter supposed to watch him tonight?"
"Yeah, she'll be here in a few hours," I replied. "Why?"
"Maybe he could come to the hotel—"
"No way," I cut him off. "No, Ashton, there's fans and paparazzi and- and— no."
"Hailie," he groaned. "Please? It's just one night and you can come get him in the morning or I'll bring him to you. I won't tell anyone he's mine."
"No," I said firmly. "It's been me and him for this long and you're not gonna come in and make him fall in love with you and then leave him."
"Hailie," he said softly, his hand on my arm. "Relax. Just hear me out."
I gently pulled away from his touch and crossed my arms, looking up at him.
"I'm willing to spend all my free time here in Perdido Key fucking Florida, but you have to let me," he said. "I want to be in his life, and yours too."
"I don't know if I'm ready for that yet," I admitted.
"Well I'll take Parker tonight and you can think about it," he smiled.
"Ashton, I—"
"Hailie, come on," he sighed. "Don't you trust me?"
"I mean, yeah, but—"
"No buts," he cut me off. "Parker and I are gonna spend some time together and you're gonna have a day by yourself. Please, it's the least I can do."
"Ashton," I started. "You have to understand where I'm coming from though. I want him to have a steady father figure, not just whoever mom brings home. Does that make sense?"
"Yes," he said. "And I wanna be that steady father figure. I wanna help you guys out financially, be active in your lives, everything."
"You don't need to help us out financially," I insisted. "I make too much as it is."
"I'm going to," he stated. "And you're gonna let me."
"Ashton, I—"
"How about we all go out to eat before you have to go to work?"
"Uh, I mean, okay," I stuttered.
"We can talk more about this then," he said softly, biting his lip and putting his hand back on my arm.
"Okay," I breathed. "Let me grab my wallet."
I went into my room and took a huge breath. Ashton fucking Irwin still had a stupid affect on me and it drove me insane. I wanted to hate him, I wanted him out of my life, but I knew it would be hard to do that.
I recomposed myself and returned to the living room with my wallet, where I found Ashton sitting on the floor building blocks with Parker. I smiled and leaned against the wall, watching the two of them interact. Parker would squeal and laugh at anything Ashton said, not to mention that Ashton was playing blocks with him, which Parker adored.
"You two ready?" I asked softly, making Ashton jump up.
"Yeah, totally," he said, laughing. "I, um, he just kinda held up the blocks and said bwocks, so I had to."
"It's scary how much you two look alike," I sighed. "You couldn't deny him if you tried."
"Why would I deny him?"
I shrugged and bit my lip, picking up Parker and balancing him on my hip. I grabbed his diaper bag, but it was quickly taken by Ashton. He offered a grin as he walked us to his SUV. We put Parker's car seat in the back and strapped him in before we got in the front seats.
"So," Ashton started. "Chinese?"
