**Sorry if I have some of the facts wrong about jail and how long you are in there and stuff. **
My eyes nearly bulged out of their head and my breath caught in my throat. I couldn't form any words to speak since I was in initial shock right now. My hand flew to my throat and I rubbed it thoroughly, trying to make it speak.
I had so many questions for him. When did he get out of juvenile? That's the one that stood out. I'm sure it had to be pretty recent for me to be hearing it just now. Why was he still treating me like I was his? I'm sure as hell that I wasn't, judging by the fight we got into a while ago about how we would raise Quinn. But I guess we took an unexpected turn when he got in trouble for damaging property. Again. Did I mention he was also drunk off of a couple of beers?
“Ah, so I see you're rendered speechless now, babe. Just in case you aren't, why don't you take a seat and I'll answer all of your questions?” I did as I was told, settling myself onto the nearest couch. “Are you seated?” I nodded, but soon remembered that he couldn't tell from the other side of the line. “Hello?”
“Yeah, I am.” I snapped at him, falling back onto the comfortable pillows.
“Good.” he chuckled. I could imagine the smirk that tugged the corner of his lips on the other end of the line. “Now you're probably wondering when I got out of jail, right? Well, juvenile since I was seventeen when I was sent there.”
“You think I don't know that? I've been there before, you idiot.” I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. This man was really frustrating me. “Anyways, when were you finally free from the hell hole?”
“Two days ago. I'm hurt that you don't know that, honey.”
My eyebrows furrowed. “If you got out two days ago, then why didn't you just call me then?”
“I know you're yearning for my love right now, Avery,” I rolled my eyes at his obnoxious assumption. “but I had some things to do before I could call you.”
“Oh, so you had something really important to do that you had to wait two days before you could call me?” I asked, shaking my head at him. “Well thank you very much because it's two days more that I don't have to put up with your shit, you douche bag.”
“I thought we were over with the name calling, baby? At least mine are pet names and are actually kind.”
“Just shut up.” I seethed, gripping my cell phone tightly. By the time this conversation was over, I would probably need a new phone.
“So where's my baby girl?” Eric suddenly asked.
I sighed. How was I going to put this gently? “She's not here right now.”
“What do you mean? Is she sleeping?”
“No... she got adopted.”
For a moment, the other end of the line was silent. I could only hear Eric's heavy, long breathing. He was beyond pissed.
“What?”
“I said that”—I muffled my voice into the phone—”Quinn got adopted.”
Eric scoffed from the other end. I could imagine his frustrated expression as he ran his hand repeatedly through his brunette hair. “You've got to be shitting me, right?”
I shook my head, although he couldn't see me performing the action. “No, I'm not. But it's absolutely ok—”
“How is it okay, Avery? Our daughter just got adopted.”
“By some loving, mature people! She's better off there than with us, Eric. We both know that.”
We were both silent for a moment after I pointed out that Quinn was better off without us. Well, in my opinion, without Eric. He was probably thinking the whole thing over right now.
“Just shut up, Avery.”
“Gladly.”
After my good bye, I hung up the phone and immediately turned it off. With everything going on right now, I really wasn't in the mood to deal with my ex-boyfriend and the father of my daughter. Every now and then I think back and wonder why I every slept with him.
With a sigh, I push myself off of the couch and make my way upstairs. I enter my room and strip down to my underwear before putting on my pajamas, and then climbing into my twin sized bed. Pulling the covers over my head, I shut my eyes and hope to have a peaceful sleep tonight.
*~*~*~*~*~*
The next morning, I begrudgingly woke up from my surprisingly peaceful sleep. I thought I was going to have nightmares of Eric since I encountered a phone call with him yesterday night, but I thought wrong.
Stretching my hand over to nightstand, I lay still under the cover and attempt to search for my cell phone. I know I placed it somewhere around here before I went to sleep.
Finally feeling the cool surface of my cell phone screen, I grasped it and brought it under the covers with me. I typed in Dani's number and placed my phone to my ear, rubbing my eyes to get used to the light that was drooping out of the window. Even though you guys should know by now, let me just tell you that I am not a fucking morning person, and I never will be. Ever.
“Hello?”
Dani's voice nearly made me jump in my half asleep state. “Drive me to school today.”
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. “Is that an order?”
“Yes.”
“Will you pay me with a coffee?”
I sighed. “What about my pack of cigarettes?”
Dani gasped. “I thought you were trying to quit smoking! You're still taking a drag?”
“No, I quit, Dani. Which is why I'm giving them to you.”
“I'd rather have the coffee than your old pack of cigarettes.”
I ran a hand through my hair and let it rest over my eyes. “You're really weird, you know?”
“I know that, but you love me anyways.”
I let out a quiet laugh. “So will you pick me up?”
“Why do you need me to pick you up, anyways?” Dani asked.
I scratched my forehead, and then proceeded to scramble out of my covers. It took a long time, but I still did it. “I'm kind of ignoring Hayden right now.”
“Aw, so you're treating him like a real boyfriend now?” she teased playfully. I greeted her with silence, because I was not in the mood for teasing at this ungodly hour. “Sorry. Why are you ignoring him?”
“He brought up the Quinn topic.”
I could imagine Dani's eyes widening on the other end of the phone, probably from shock. “Really? Did he figure out that you were a teen mom?”
I sighed. “No, but he kept pressing on why I seemed so attached to Quinn.”
“Did you cry?”
I was taken aback by this question for a brief moment. Of course, Dani would always ask if I cried when it came to certain things. “...No.”
“You did, didn't you?”
I hesitated whether to tell her the truth or not. “Maybe.”
Dani chuckled. “It's okay, Avery. I don't blame you. Quinn's your daughter, and your her mother, and I'm the godmother... I am the godmother, right?”
I laughed. Leave it to Dani to make me feel better. “Yes. So you'll pick me up at eight?”
“Yep.”
I hung up on Dani right after that, before sitting on my bed and relaxing for a quick moment. I just couldn't accept the fact that Eric was out of jail. Remind me again why I had his baby in the first place? Even when i was sixteen. God, I was such a fool back then.
Pushing myself off of my bed, I sauntered across the room and over to my wardrobe. I pulled out today's outfit, which included my usual leather jacket and combat boots.
I yawned and took my time when going to the bathroom. I sat on the closed toilet seat while brushing my teeth, even resting my head on the sink counter with my eyes half opened. Stripping off my pajamas, I hopped into the shower and let the warm water from the overhead take my worries away.
Of course, after my fifteen minute shower, my worries returned. Could Eric go after Quinn to get her back? I thought it was possible, considering what he'd done to get what he wanted. Just the thought of him being near Quinn was frightening.
Drying my hair, I quickly shuffled back into my room and put on my clothes for the day. With a few minutes to spare before I expected Dani to arrive to pick me up, my phone rang.
I sighed. Why did my phone have to be so popular these past few hours? I accepted the call, and pressed the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“I'm sorry; I know I was a jerk.”
I was a little taken aback for a moment. I thought it was Dani, but it turn out it was the man I had dinner with last night. I chuckled. It was weird calling Hayden a man for some reason.
“Seriously, Hayden? At this early in the morning? You’re lucky I was awake.” I taunted, opening my eyeliner cap and applying some on my waterline.
“You were going to expect it when you get to school anyways, so I may have just done it now.” Hayden excused. I could imagine him shrugging on the other end of the line. “I know I said I was sorry plenty of times last night, but I just never seen you crying before, you know? A tough little Avery actually sheds tears.”
“Hayden?”
“Yeah?”
“Don't bring that up again, okay?” I was surprised that I sounded a little gentle when it came to the subject crying. I know you might think it's stupid, but I'm usually the type that some people expect to look tough.
Hayden was silent for a moment on the other end of the phone. “Okay...”
“Thank you.” I said, breathing out a sigh of relief. I didn't want to be reminded of my weak moments.
“Do you need a ride to school this morning?”
I shook my head, even though Hayden couldn't see. “No, Dani's going to be doing that job this morning.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Hayden, I'm sure.” I grunted.
He sighed. “Fine, I guess I'll see you at school. Bye, Avery.”
I muttered my goodbyes before ending the call. Dani should be here any minute now, so I decided to get a head start and wait downstairs. To pass the time, I laid my head back onto the couch and shut my eyes, wanting all of my problems to go away. Too bad it's easier said than done.
A loud horn outside signaled that Dani was already here to pick me up. I hastily grabbed my school bag and hustled out the door, towards Dani's car. When I shut the door to the passenger seat, she started driving and was about to tell me something, but I beat her to it.
“Don't call Hayden a bitch, because he isn't. He just touched a sensitive subject to me, and I don't blame him.” I say this because whenever someone makes me cry, the next day Dani calls them a bitch.
She sighed and let her eyes remain on the road. “Fine.”
A comfortable silence passed over us. I slumped in my seat, propping my elbows up onto the armrests.
When we finally arrived at school, I couldn't wait to get out of Dani's car. With a hard shove to the passenger door, I was out and striding towards the school entrance.
The cool air conditioning hit my face, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I reached my locker and was in the middle of dialing my combination, when I had a feeling of a presence behind me.
“Yes, Hayden?” I asked, pulling the metal door open.
“I'm sorry.”
Sighing, I grabbed the necessary textbooks for the day and shut my locker shut. “Okay.”
“You can visit Quinn today, if you want. It's the least I could do.” he offered while we made our way towards homeroom.
I chuckled. “You're supposed to take me to Quinn today. Remember that little bet we had when you asked me to dinner that night?” That's when I took notice of the students that were staring at us. I whispered to him, “Put your arm around me.”
Hayden does so. “So you're coming home with me after school?”
I nod as we enter our homeroom. I took my usual seat in the back, along with Hayden to the seat beside me. As the school day began to start, my anxiety to see Quinn was getting the best of me.
*~*~*~*~*~*
When we arrived back at Hayden's house, as usual, I was the first one out of the car and made a beeling towards the front door. Hayden gave me the house key, knowing I would get irritated when he took too long to open the damn door, which I thought was nice of him to do.
“Avery!” was the first thing I heard out of the little girl's mouth when I entered the house. She jumped off of the couch that she was sharing with her mother and Quinn, before sprinting over to me and hugging my legs.
I stood there awkwardly. “Hi, Jessica.”
Luckily, Hayden was coming in from behind me. “Jessica, let go of Avery. You know she doesn't like it when people get too touchy-feeling with her.” My eyebrows furrowed at this. Touchy-feely? I am sure that I have never used that term in my entire life.
Jessica pouted while clinging onto my legs. I just tried my best to make my way over to the couch without bothering her. “Why not?”
“That's just how some people are.” he explained, taking the seat beside his Mom and Quinn. “Remember, the weird people we laugh at on T.V?”
I glared at him, clenching my fists at my sides.
“But Avery isn't weird.” Jessica pointed out, finally letting go and allowing me to settle down on the couch across from them. I guess I could actually like this girl after all.
Hayden just smiled at this, before smiling at Quinn in her Mom's arms and opening his arms to her. Quinn gladly accepted his offer, and scrambled onto Hayden's lap.
I don't know what made me think it, but Hayden looked liked a genuine father when he was with Quinn. The way he handled her with care was a nice thing to look at.
He noticed my staring. “What?”
I jumped a bit, but it was barely noticeable. I held my hands out like he did. “Hand over Quinn.”
With a roll of his eyes, Hayden gently set my baby girl in my lap. Her bright blue eyes were shining at me. I held Quinn to my chest, hugging her tightly, but not too tight to suffocate her.
Across from me, Hayden chuckled. “What?”
“I can't believe I'm saying this, but,” he laughed and shook his head, “I think that you may make a great mother someday.”
Boy, you have no idea.
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Sorry for the late update. And I know, this is SUPER boring. But I come to the part of the story where I like to call it my “happy chapters”. Do you know what I mean by that? You probably won't so...
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