Faithful (3)

: 18 :

Sal's POV

I was sat watching TV, when I heard the front door open, knowing full well that it was Brian and Ashleigh returning from their swimming afternoon. Ashleigh came running into the living room, attacking me with a hug, as Brian sauntered into the room, quietly taking a seat on the sofa across the room from me.

"Dada I made a friend today!" Ashleigh exclaimed, as I gasped – over the top of course, you know kids love that.

"You did? That's awesome, Sweetie!" I kissed her cheek, as she took a seat in my lap, cuddling into me.

"His name was Calum, and he's three too!" She giggled, as my eyebrows crossed. A sudden streak of fatherhood strictness kicked into play, and I couldn't help it. I didn't want my girl growing up so quickly, already talking with boys and whatnot...who am I kidding, they're just friends – now I see how stupid my next sentence was.

"So Daddy let you speak to a boy, huh?" I snapped at Brian, my eyes shifting across the room towards him. He shrugged his shoulders, confusion across his face.

"Sal, they're three...they don't even know what all that is yet." He retaliated, as I scoffed loudly. I placed my hand over Ashleigh's ears, covering her from hearing anymore of our conversation.

"They know more than you think." I spat, as Brian rolled his eyes. I'm pretty sure that he mumbled something under his breath too, but I was too far away to hear what it was exactly that he said.

"They were playing and having fun, what was the harm? His mother gave me her number so that Ash could go round there for play dates in the future." He stated, immediate regret overwhelming his body, as his face screwed up. So he got a chick's number...how convenient for him.

"Ashleigh, go upstairs to play, Sweetie. Daddy and I need a chat." I gritted my teeth, biting back my tongue, as Ash ran out of the room. As soon as I heard her bedroom door close, I laid into Brian on his behaviour. What? If you ask me, my husband should not be going out and gaining a woman's number, especially when he was supposed to be spending time with our daughter. "So...you got a girl's number, huh?"

"Oh leave it, Sal!" Brian huffed, as he threw his head back against the sofa. His head was shaking, probably at how petty I was being, but I had to make sure that he wasn't cheating, right? We had been distant lately, and all I hoped was that he wasn't using Ashleigh to get some digits.

"What was she like?"

"Sal...stop being so pathetic. I merely took Karen's number to arrange play dates. That's it."

"Oh, so she has a name." I snapped. Brian ran a hand through his hair, sighing out in frustration.

"Be that way, Sal, okay. I'm done with this bullshit. You know I wouldn't do that to you, but your stupid ass gets paranoid over every damn detail. I was doing it to let our daughter make a friend. You should have seen her little face, she was so damn happy. Isn't that what you want?" He hissed through gritted teeth. I looked at him, feeling slightly guilty, but I couldn't let my guard down so easily.

"Of course I do, but I don't want you using my daughter as a tool to get a girl's number!" I shouted, watching as pure hurt struck through him. Brian stood to his feet, making his way over to where I was sat. He pointed his forefinger towards me, as he scowled at me.

"Here you go again with the whole 'my daughter' thing. She's both of ours, get that into your thick skull. I would never ever use her for that advantage. I love you, and only you, but you can't see that, can you Sal?" He asked, choking back the tears.