I don’t react to Ryan’s comment about Joe being the girls dad and turn round to face the girls as they stand by the kitchen door in their pyjamas, looking up at me.
“I thought I told you to go upstairs.” I say, trying to calm down.
“We heard shouting…” Aimee replies as she hugs her teddy tightly.
“Well, I’ll just leave you to deal with this.” Ryan smirks to me as he walks out the kitchen.
“Mummy, where’s d-” Katelyn starts.
“I’m not your dad, girls! Never have been! Never will be! Maybe your thick mummy will take you to stay with your real dad and leave my house.” Ryan shouts at the girls.
“Don’t you dare shout at my girls!” I shout before walking over to him. “And as for this house, it’s not yours! It never has been! It belongs to me so why don’t you get out!”
“Why don’t you make me!” Ryan responds as he pushes me against the wall.
“Leave my mummy alone!” Aimee shouts, running over and hitting Ryan with her teddy.
“Oh, give it up!” He scowls, pushing her to the ground and causing her to cry.
“How dare you lay a finger on my daughter!”
He turns back to me and my fist comes in contact with his jaw. He stumbles back a little then turns to look at me with anger clouding his eyes. He walks over to me and pins me to the wall.
“You know what…you’re not worth it.” He spits before grabbing his jacket and walking out the house.
The front door closes with a loud slam and I quickly walk over to it and lock it. I put the security alarm on and turn to the girls. I watch on as Katelyn tries to comfort Aimee the best she can. It breaks my heart seeing them like this but I have to hold back the tears that are forming in my eyes. I need to show them I'm brave and not afraid.
I walked over to them kneel down before taking them in my arms.
“It’s going to be okay…I’ll make everything okay…” I assure them as they both cry on my shoulder.
----
I stand by window in my room watching the girls sleep in my bed. They really shouldn’t be going through any of this. It’s all my fault! I should never have agreed to let Ryan act as their dad but he backed me into a corner till I had no way around it.
I walk over to my bed and pick up my phone before walking out into the hall. I close the bedroom door over slightly to a point where I can still see the girls. I look down at my phone and scroll through the phone for Joe’s number and call him.
Joe’s POV
Next me, my phone vibrates on the night stand and I slowly reach over for it. “Hello…”
“Hi. I know it’s late, but-” Chelsea says quietly.
“No, it’s fine.” I sit up and rub the sleep away from my eyes. “What’s up?”
“I…Ryan and I had a big argument after I came home. He let it slip that he isn’t the girls real dad.”
“And…?”
“And they were standing behind me as he said it but I didn’t know.”
“What do you mean by ‘he let it slip’?”
“He knew I was cheating on him with you but he didn’t say it was you.”
“Why do I have a feeling that he did something else?”
“He-”
“Chelsea, what did he do? Did he hurt you?”
“Not exactly.”
I hear her begin to sob quietly and then I realise what's coming.
“He hurt the girls didn’t he?”
“He pushed Amiee…” My eyes widen and I'm temporarily put into a state of shock. “Joe…”
I snap out of my shock state and grip the phone tighter in my hand. “I’ll kill him.”
“Joe, don’t-”
“No, I’ll kill him for laying a hand on my daughters!”
Next day
Normal POV
I stand in the kitchen holding a cup of coffee in my hands as the girls sit at the table eating breakfast. They seemed to have calmed down a lot since last night but I know they are just putting on a show so they make me happy.
I have told them plenty of times that they don't need to pretend to me. If they are upset, I can try to help them as best as I can. I can be there for them and I won't say a word to anyone about what they say to me.
A loud knock on the door has the girls stopping what they're doing and looking at me.
“Stay here,” I tell them as I put my cup down on the counter.
I walk out the kitchen and make my way over to the front door. I take the security alarm off and unlock the door, opening it slightly to see who's standing at the opposite side of it. Relief generates through me when I see Joe and I open the door a bit wider.
“Joe,” I start as he steps into the house.
“Where are they?” He asks as I close the door.
“They’re in the kitchen having breakfast. You should have called me first to say that you were coming round.”
“I don’t have to call if I want to be in the house I bought for us. I shouldn’t need to call if I want be here to protect my family,” he responds.
I sigh and walk past him to go back into the kitchen.
“Girls, go back upstairs and get changed.” I instruct.
They look up at me before getting up and walking out the kitchen. As they walk past Joe, I can’t help but look at their reaction to him as he watches them carefully. I watch them turn and walk up the stairs before turning my attention back to Joe.
“They may look fine but trust me, they are far from it.” I say bluntly.
“I’ll kill him for hurting them and you.”
“And what’s that gonna do? That’ll only end with you being put in jail and me and the girls left with no body to protect us!”
“He took it too far!”
“No, Joe, he didn’t. We took it too far when we thought that we could sneak around again without getting caught.”
“Are you regretting what we’ve started again?”
“Nothing I’ve done with you is a regret.” I look past him and into the hallway. “Everything I did with him, is.”
Joe turns round and looks at what I'm looking at in the hall.
“Well well well, didn’t take you long enough to move him in, did it?” Ryan smirks, looking at us.
“I thought I told you to leave?”
“No, I don’t think you did. I think it was my choice to leave.”
“Well she’s saying it now - leave.” Joe butts in.
“And what are you gonna do if I don’t?”
“You seem to be forgetting that you are in my house.”
“I’m not but she certainly has.”
“Ryan, just get the hell out and never come back!” I shout in response to his cockiness.
“Oh, don’t worry, I intend to do just that. I just need to get my things and then I’m gone.”
“What things? You have nothing here!”
“Since when?”
“Since I chucked them all out in the bin after you hit my daughter and attacked me.”
I watch him tense up and walk towards me and Joe. I stand up straight and Joe stands in front of mm so Ryan can’t get to me. He looks up at Joe and then to me.
“Let’s get one thing straight," he starts. "I never touched your precious daughter.”
I feel the anger build up inside me but before I can react, Joe has already punched Ryan in the face.
“You’re right, they are precious and you laid a finger on them!” Joe shouts at him.
“So their real dad decides that he wants to step up and be a parent? Good move, Chelsea.”
“You know where the door is. Use it.”
I hear something fall upstairs and notice that the front door is now wide open.
“Joe, the girls!” I shout, running out the kitchen.