"Nothing can stop them as long as they have each other"
✿
Aurora
I don't understand anything. Phoenix is glaring at the woman. How is it that we live in such an isolated place and people still find us? If someone else comes along I'm gonna move to Costa Rica.
Phoenix is still glaring and Zach looks like he's about to hit something. What is going on? I feel like crying. He would never leave a daughter behind..would he?
"What the fuck are you doing here Aisha?" Nix spits out. I look at my family and they're all as confused as I am.
The girl—Aisha is about to say something but dad interrupts.
"Why don't we do this at home? It's cold and I don't want Aurora do get sick" he says and the girl smiles and follows us to the cars.
I'm so so weirded out. This situation is so strange. We get home — it was a 5 minute ride — and get out and Aisha and her daughter follow as in as if they were part of the family.
Phoenix hasn't unclenched his fists since the girl found us. She seems to be his age, she has long blonde hair, curves to go for days and stunning chocolate eyes.
We get into the living room and I notice Nix is staying close to me, as if I provided a sense of comfort.
"We will give you some privacy" I say and we all start to go upstairs.
"Rora please stay, you too Zach" Phoenix says. Zachariah and I look at each other and go back down. Matheo follows us too.
"I'm not leaving you alone" he tells me and I smile at his protectiveness. As if Aisha was capable of doing something to me. I don't think she would hurt a fly.
How wrong I was..
We all sit in the living room. The little girl, I learnt her name was Abigail on the way here, is crawling on the floor. She seems to be about a year old.
I get up and grab one of the toys we've bought for my baby. I look at her mom for permission and she just smiles so I take it as a yes.
I give it to Abigail and she gives me an adorable smile. I get up to go sit beside Theo but little Abby grabs my hand so I sit back down with her.
"Talk" Zach says and I'm surprised to see him use that tone. He's angry
Phoenix is as pale as if he'd seen a ghost. Matheo is as confused as I am but I know he is worried about me.
"Phoenix I regret letting you go, I'm having trouble taking care of our baby. I got an opportunity to finish nursing school and I just can't do both. I came here so you take her, or else I'll just put her in foster care"
Our heads snap to her. What the fuck? Who the hell decides she doesn't want her baby anymore and dumps her into someone else's arms?
"What the fuck Aisha! She's not my baby, you made sure of that. I won't take her in because you decided parenting wasn't for you" Phoenix answers shaking his head in disbelief
So little Abby isn't his kid...right? I'm having trouble not freaking out. I don't have the right to. He's accepting and loving my baby, why wouldn't I do the same?
It's hard to tell by looks, Abigail looks just like her mom.
"But Phoenix you have to, I don't want her!" Aisha screams dropping the nice act and showing her true colors.
She made the baby upset, Abby starts crying so I pick her up and try to comfort her. Zach comes to my side and starts helping making her laugh with a squeaky dog toy
We don't even have a dog, where did that come from?
"Aisha, tell me what her dad's name is. I will call him and make sure he knows you are giving up his daughter." Zach tells her
"You can't do that" she answers
"Why the fuck not? You really would put her in foster care instead of letting her have her dad?" Phoenix almost screams but remembers the now giggling Abby.
"You can't do it because he doesn't know! She's such a bad baby, poops all day and cries all night I don't want her!" Aisha crazily says and I lose my cool.
This bitch. What did she expect for the baby to take care of herself?
"I'm sorry for breaking the news but guess what Aisha? That's what babies do. Now Give.Us.His.Number" I say angrily
"This is why you don't want to take care of your daughter? We could be together again as long as you take full responsibility for Abigail" she tells Phoenix waving her hand at me to make a point
Is she ill? Did the stupidity bug bite her or some shit? I swear if she makes one more dumb comment I'll slap her. Just to kindly help her gain her senses, of course.
"Her name is Aurora and she's worth more than you'll ever be. What kind of mother puts herself before her own daughter's well-being? The least you could do is call her father" Matheo retorts, beating Nix to it.
That's when all hell breaks lose.
"You stupid bitch who do you think you are for stealing my boyfriend! He's mine and we have a daughter together" Aisha yells and wraps my hair wrapped around her fist.
Don't even ask how it happened because I don't freaking know. One minute I'm putting a sleeping Abby on the couch and the next I'm on the floor with this cunt yelling like a psycho grabbing my hair as if her life depended on it.
Matheo and Phoenix are trying to get her off me while Zach is calling the others and I'm guessing bringing a maid to take Abby.
"Get off me you freak! What the fuck?" I yell at her and soon everyone is in the room.
Dad is helping me up and Matheo has Aisha's arm bent in a weird angle. She's screaming in pain and Theo is just..smiling?
"No one hurts my sister bitch. I once judged her before knowing her and I'll be damned if I ever let that happen again. You don't want to know what happens to those who hurt her" he says
Little miss psycho is screaming at Phoenix to help her while he just ignores her and checks me for injuries.
I wave him off and turn to walking annoyance over there.
"You will tell us who Abby's father really is and you'll get out of here alive, stay quiet and you'll never get to say anything ever again" I say in a voice reserved for pieces of trash like Riggo and Maura.
She's whimpering and trashing agains my brother's hold.
"I'm not into hitting women but if it gets baby Abby her dad I'll gladly do it" Alessandro says
"You said it" agrees Quinn
"Come on guys just hit? We should cut her eyes out" uncle A says with a grin
I have the urge to laugh. Everyone but Aisha in this room knows they wouldn't lay a hand on her. It's funny to see her absolutely terrified face.
"Fine! Fine okay! His name is Eugene Singer" she tells us the phone number is on her phone so dad grabs it and looks for it.
"I'll call him" Phoenix says and leaves the room. I wait a few minutes and follow after him and leave the others to deal with her.
I need to make sure Nix is okay. There has to be a story there. He's lost the light in his eyes since she got here.
I open the door to my room. Unsurprisingly he came up here to talk to the father. I find Phoenix sitting on the seat hammock, spinning around.
"Hey there" I say. He smiles at me but I can tell it's forced.
"Want to talk about it?" I gently ask. He nods and sits on the bed leaning against the headboard. I do the same.
"I'm here for you Phoenix, whatever it is I'm gonna listen and do whatever I can to help you" he looks over at me with a wobbly lip so I say..
"Remember when we were on the cells, you once told me 'A bird standing on a branch is never afraid of it breaking. Not because it trusts the strength of it, but because he trusts the strength of its own wings'"
He said it after I had a meltdown and started crying because of the fucked up life I had
"Phoenix, right now you may feel like the work you've put on yourself the last year...after whatever it is that left you shattered, is falling apart. But the thing is, your branch may be coming apart but you are strong enough to keep going." I whisper to him and intertwine out fingers together
"When your walls fall with your tears, when your plans come apart as the pieces of your heart and when you start surviving instead of living, you gotta trust your own wings. You need to believe that you are capable to keep going despite it all because You. Are. Enough Phoenix so trust yourself" I say and nudge his shoulder but he doesn't look a hundred percent convinced yet
"It's okay to crumble, it's okay to fall but make sure you get back up again. I'll be your leaning wall as you were mine all those years ago. You are not alone and you'll never be again" I remind him.
That's when he loses it. The tears start falling so I get on his lap and pull his hand to my chest, stroking his head and back. We need to normalize men crying and seeking comfort.
I think it's the sweetest thing when they trust you enough to let you see them at their lowest.
My heart is breaking as I hold his shaking figure. I grab a blanket and throw it over both of us. After a few minutes he calms down and we lay down facing each other, only my lamps are on so there isn't too much light.
But then Phoenix starts telling me his story...
"I met Aisha when we were both 17. I was immediately attracted to her in a physical way. We talked for a few weeks and I asked her out. We dated for 4 months when she cheated on me, without protection" he starts
"She found out she was pregnant a few weeks later. When she told me she was keeping the baby I started making plans, sold my tiny apartment and got a bigger one, started buying some necessities, made doctors appointments, helped her make a birth plan and read lots of books about pregnancy, delivery and parenting"
Man I think I know where this is going and my heart is already breaking
"I was excited. I've always wanted to be a dad. I told her I loved her and that I'd raise that baby as my own. When she was about 4 months along I set up the whole nursery, I wanted to wait but the night before she asked me to do it so I did."
It sounds like something Phoenix would do
"A week later she got truly upset, told me she couldn't be a mom because she wanted to work— as a stripper and didn't want to take care of a baby"
Goddamn what is wrong with this woman? I mean there's nothing shameful about stripping I guess but trading your baby for it?
"I told her I would take the baby, told her she was free of responsibility after giving birth. She agreed saying she didn't have a problem with just carrying the baby, but I had to pay her for every month she carried the little one"
It is so damn sad that many dads out there do everything for their children while the mom only shows up to ask for money without bothering to help with the baby
"I of course agreed because I would've done anything for my kid. The day after she went to a clinic and had an abortion without telling me"
"We had a huge fight. I was pissed because she made me think I'd actually be able to be a dad, she made me set up the damn nursery, I asked her so many times if she was sure she wanted the baby"
Fuck
"She could've told me no and I would've taken her to have the procedure, I would've fucking supported her but s-she just had to make me suffer"
Oh God, I can't imagine how hard it all had to be for him.
"I was so fucking wrecked. I sold the crib, the apartment, everything. 3 months later she comes to me saying she's pregnant again with my kid. I knew it wasn't mine because we didn't have sex after she wasn't pregnant anymore."
I can't believe the audacity of that woman
"It all ended the moment she had the abortion without my knowledge, plus she had been cheating for weeks. I still don't understand why she decided to have Abby, alone without any support or income..but she couldn't have my baby, when I gave them everything in me."
He's right. I can't think of a reason why she'd leave Phoenix when she basically had it all
"I agreed to help her with some money. Two months later she disappeared and I was still a wreck. I turned 18 and found my brother, the only reason I managed to keep going"
Nix finishes telling the story, we both have tears in our eyes. How could she do that? And apparently no one taught her the importance of condoms.
She's probably a walking STD.
"You are such a strong person Phoenix, I don't know how you overcame it all. I can't imagine how awful you felt. I'm glad Zach was there, and I'm here now too. I promise we'll find Abby's dad and make sure he's a good man. I won't let you go through any more pain"
He puts a hand on my cheek and wipes a stray tear.
"Thank you, I don't know how I went on for so long without my cranberry" he answers
"Holy shit! I haven't heard that in so long I hated it when you called me that" I answer. During our time in the cells, all they let us drink was water and I'd always complain of how I missed cranberry juice.
Phoenix laughs "I remember you yelling at me to stop being an annoying poop, you were so innocent you couldn't even cuss right" he says laughing
I smack his arm "Oh shut up I was 11!"
We look at each other for a while just enjoying each other's presence until I decide to share something with him.
"When Riggo attacked us, it was a pretty hard day. I didn't think I'd have to see him again and it was just and emotional rollercoaster. I had decided I loved my baby and couldn't give him or her up"
I start past the lump in my throat
"After everything got solved, we all went into the kitchen and sat on the dining table, I got up to make some tea but when I was going back to the others a sharp wave of pain hit me"
I shudder at the memory. I don't wish that on anyone.
"I immediately knew something was wrong with the baby. Everything was a blur, I just remember screaming in pain and fear, there was blood and so much pain. My brothers and dad were crying and freaking out because no one knew what to do"
I recall hearing them fight and yell because they were freaking out. I would've done the same in their place
"I was unconsolable, on the way to the hospital I sobbed and screamed in pain, Matheo was carrying me and he didn't even know how to hold me, I don't think I stopped moving and yelling the whole way there"
"We got to the hospital and it was all a mess. We were all afraid and I-I thought I was miscarrying. I remember yelling at everyone for help, pleading someone, anyone to save my baby"
My voice cracks and Phoenix places a hand on my cheek, wiping away a stray tear
"It was one of the most devastating days of my life and I still fear something like it with happen again or worse. It was a partial placental abruption, some women don't bleed or feel it when it happens but I did"
I close my eyes for a second and Phoenix strokes my hair back
"I felt it all. I've had some scary shit happen to me but nothing compares to those minutes when I thought my baby was gone"
I'm full on crying now and Nix holds me to his chest. In a way we're comforting each other. Our hug is so tight it is hard to breathe but I absolutely love how his arms feel around me
We know what pain is like, we know how it feels to drown over and over again without someone pulling you out. We both found our saviors, he found Zach and Eli, I found my family.
Together there's no one who can stop us. With that thought in mind I snuggle closer to him and fall asleep in his arms. My baby will be the luckiest kid in the world to have all these people by it's side.
✿
A/N
Aren't they cute? Maybe it's just me lol.
I'm sorry for not posting quickly today, I had to babysit my nephew. Have you guys ever tried studying for a test while taking care of a 2 year old? Yeah don't try it.
I got my hair pulled, my arm bitten and hit by a TV remote...several times.
Safe to say I'm exhausted. Kid is too hyperactive for his own good.
Please point out any mistakes, I'm tired and it's unedited. I haven't really edited any chapters so if you find a mistake please tell me.
My Bio test is tomorrow and I feel totally unprepared so wish me luck!
What time is it where you are at? Here it's 11:40pm :(
Thank you SO MUCH for 2k I'm so exciteeeedddd
I love y'all for reading..sending you my best wishes, Lina 💛