My Baby Girl

Blindsided Love

*Ashley's POV*

"Ryan, is everything okay?" I ask, hesitant to hear his reply. He thinks I'm going to hate him for whatever it is he's upset about. Ryan runs his fingers through his hair nervously.

"No." He admits. "Everything is not okay. I really messed up big time."

"It's okay, Ryan. You can tell me." I assure him, knowing that I will still accept him for whatever it is he's about to say.

"No Ashley, I can't. I know you've forgiven me one too many times, but this time you won't. What I've done is way past the point of forgiving." He insists. Now I'm a little more worried. Whatever Ryan did this time must have been worse than anything he's done in the past, and he's hurt me more than a few times.

"Just say it, Ryan." I reply finally. "Whatever you're going to tell me, just do it. If it's really as bad as you say it is, I need to know now so I can stop worrying."

Ryan takes a deep breath, and closes his eyes. When he opens them, tears cloud his vision. He swallows hard.

"I have another daughter, Ashley."

The minute I hear those words, I wish I could un-hear them.

"Wait, what? How, when, why, are you sure?" So many questions swirl around in my mind, and I can barely comprehend what Ryan's just said.

"How long have you known?" I ask, finally able to find the words.

"Well I've had an inkling for a long time now, but I only found out for sure a few weeks ago." Ryan admits, drawing his eyes to the floor.

"And I'm just now hearing about this?" I scoff, a little hurt and irritated that he kept this from me for so long.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't know how to tell you." Ryan explains, his face turning a peculiar shade of red.

"So how old is she? I'm assuming she was conceived sometime during those years when you decided to neglect your other daughter along with your girlfriend." I retort.

"Please Ashley, don't be so bitter. It's not what you think." Ryan defends himself.

"Then explain, because it sounds to me like my baby daddy had another baby with another girl. I deserve to know everything, Ryan. Especially because this critical piece of information that you didn't bother sharing with me for weeks, affects Everleigh and I so much." I protest. Ryan looks ashamed, and hesitant to tell me the truth.

"Remember when I said you're going to hate me? That you're never going to forgive me after this?" He asks shyly.

If finding out that he has another daughter isn't the part I'm going to hate him for, then I'm afraid to know what is.

Ryan takes a long, deep breath. "Well her name is Camille, daughter of Corrine Monroe, and she is almost six years old."

I do the mental math and connect the dots. Camille is older than Everleigh by almost a year which means that she would have been conceived nearly two years before Everleigh was born. Ryan and I dated for three years, which could only mean that:

he was cheating on me the majority of our relationship.

Before I have a chance to respond, Tyler raises a hand and slaps Ryan across the face.