" Mommy, I'm bored. Can we please stop somewhere so I can get a new toy or something?" Christopher asked, with a pleading look on his face.
" You don't need any new toys, Christopher. You have your handheld video games and an iPod. That should be good enough for you to keep yourself entertained on the way to Oklahoma. We're not even that much further away." Ashley told him, looking at him through the rearview mirror.
" Mom is right. Just deal with what you've got." Arielle agreed as she turned the page of a book she was reading.
" Stay out of it, Arielle. I asked mom, not you." Christopher looked from her to their mom. " Please. I promise I won't ask for anything else for a while." He tried the sad puppy face on her.
" No. Now stop asking for a new toy, Christopher. I've made up my mind. Go back to playing with your games."
Arielle stuck her tongue out at her brother, who did the same and kicked the back of her seat. " Go back to your stupid book."
Ashley rolled her eyes and pulled over to the side of the road. She looked from Arielle to Christopher. " Both of you stop it now. I am not in the mood to deal with you two fighting right now. Now, Arielle, I understand you were just agreeing with me, but it is my business to deal with your brother, and not yours. Christopher, you do not kick the seat again or I will take your video games away from you. Got it?" She snapped at the both of them.
Arielle nodded. " I'm sorry, mom. I'll stay out of it from now on."
" I'm sorry too, mom." Christopher looked at her sadly. " I won't kick the seat anymore."
" Good. Now we're going to drive a bit more, and then we will stop for lunch. Until then, I don't want any complaints or distractions." She got back onto the road and continued the drive to Tulsa.
______________________________________________________
Taylor stopped at the gas station on his way home from the studio that night to fill up his car with gas and got some munchies for himself and his kids for a little treat later on. The minute he stepped out of the station is when he saw her, and he stopped dead in his tracks. He hadn't seen Ashley in a very long time, not since her parents moved her away from him. Now here she was, and he was in shock to see her again. She still looked pretty much the same, just a bit older.
She finally saw him a moment later, and she ran to give him a big hug. " Taylor, it's been way too long. I... I was hoping to run into you. I have so much to tell you."
" It's good to see you, Ashley. You look great." He smiled. " And I have a lot to tell you too. But I actually have to get home. It's been a long day, and I'm ready to just relax."
" Alright. Well, I will just give you my cell phone number and we can get together when you have some free time." She got out a piece of paper and a pen to write her number down and gave it to him. " I'm moving back into town, so whenever is fine for me. Give me a call." She smiled back at him and kissed him on the cheek.
" Yeah. I'll give you a call." He took it and gave her a small hug. " I'll see you soon, Ashley." He headed back to his car and got in, driving off a moment later.
When he got home, Ezra was setting the table as Natalie was just taking dinner out of the oven. He set the bag of goodies on the counter and kissed her on the lips. She kissed him back. " Hey, honey. How were things in the studio?" She asked him.
" Great. We laid down a couple of tracks." He told her. " And I ran into an ex of mine at the gas station. I've told you about her before. Her name is Ashley."
Natalie looked at him when she heard the name. He had told her about Ashley, and she knew they had quite a history. Especially a baby they almost had together, before Ashley was forced to move away and give it up. But she knew they had planned to run away together as well before that happened.
