Daisy (lashton)

Chapter 36

"Okay, and I take it that's not a good thing...?"

Ashton rolled his eyes at Luke's question as he continued to pace across the floor. If Luke couldn't tell by the shake in his voice he should have at least been able to tell by the way Ashton immediately started swearing and pulling at his hair the moment he hung up the phone.

Ashton and Peach's parents had always had a strained relationship, and every time Maureen called, Ashton could swear he found at least three gray hairs the next day. He avoided talking to The Collins whenever he could, and if he never had to have another conversation with Maureen and Paul Collins it would be too soon.

Ashton wasn't that parent though. He'd never keep Daisy from her grandparents, especially since it was the only blood connection she had left to her mother. So, for the sake of his daughter- even though it made him want to scream until his lungs bled- Ashton would put up with them.

"No, Luke, it's not a good thing." Ashton knew he was working himself into what had the potential of becoming a pretty bad panic attack, but he couldn't help it. The thought of Peach's parents coming to visit was bad enough but the thought of them actually coming to visit and meeting Luke...

Let's just say The Collins' prided themselves on their yearly color-coordinated holiday cards and fifteen-thousand dollar porcelain veneers. The scandal of the decade in their gated community was little Peachy Collins getting knocked up, and to say that The Collins' were still mortified over their tarnished reputation would be an understatement.

"But, why?" Luke furrowed his eyebrows as he took a seat on the couch, grabbing for Ashton's waist to pull the shorter boy into his lap. "Aren't they the same grandparents that took Daisy to Disneyland?"

Ashton rolled his eyes and burrowed his nose into the crook of Luke's neck. He smelled like cigarette smoke and mint gum.

"Yeah, they're constantly trying to buy her love. They think it'll make her love them more than me." Ashton scoffed as he laid his head on Luke's shoulder. "They're also the same grandparents that tried to fight me for custody after Peach died."

"What?" Luke tensed at the thought of someone trying to take Daisy away from Ashton. He was the perfect dad, who could ever think different? The idea that these people tried to take the main source of happiness in Ashton's life away made Luke want to punch something... and if that something just happened to be the faces of Daisy's grandparents... well...

Ashton sighed, pulling back so that he was staring at his hands like they were the most interesting thing in the world. "After Peach died I was obviously a wreck... I mean, I was trying but I'd just lost my best friend and now had to raise a baby on my own and... I don't know, I just didn't have the same natural instinct with her as Peach," Ashton sighed and shrugged.

"Hey," Luke tilted up Ashton's chin so that the older boy was looking into those beautiful blue eyes, "you could have fooled me. I mean, compared to me, you're like a kid whisperer or something."

Ashton felt the blush run up his neck and he let his eyes fall back down to his hands. He would never get used to people complimenting his parenting. "Oh please, Daisy's been obsessed with you since she first met you. I've had years of practice now, trust me, when I was first on my own I tried to bottle feed her Mountain Dew."

Luke snorted and Ashton just smiled up at him ruefully.

"Did you actually?"

Ashton had the decency to at least look a little embarrassed as he shrugged. "I didn't think it was that different from juice... But anyway, it was definitely a learning curve adjusting to taking care of a kid full time by myself, and they just didn't think a 23-year-old was responsible enough, so they fought for custody."