Daddies’ Girls

By Rachel

Copyright 2012

Chapter 5

Aspen

Getting through to Reese was pointless. She had her mind set and wouldn’t listen to reason. AJ was carrying on to the point of being ridiculous. I was stuck with a headache. I finally had enough after they woke Hayden up for the second time.

Reese was fast asleep with the promise of not running away. She was exhausted and cried herself to sleep about twenty minutes ago. Being a momma hen, I checked on her every half hour or so. AJ was pacing the length of the living room when I walked in from checking on my eldest daughter.

“Would you stop? This isn’t solving the problem.” I collapsed onto the couch, landing on a bunch of Hayden’s toys. I grabbed the Barbie Doll from underneath me and threw it at AJ.

“What the fuck, Aspen?” He stopped.

“Can you sit down and discuss your daughter like an adult?” I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to get rid of the pounding in my head.

“How can you be so calm? I want to shake her and kick Jake’s ass.” Hatred spewed from his mouth as he sunk down beside me.

“I’m furious and disheartened, but screaming and throwing a fit isn’t going to help things. It just pisses Reese off more. She’s going to fly off the handle if you keep doing it. I’m afraid of what she’ll do.”

“You’re right. I just…just…I just can’t deal with my daughter being intimate with a guy.” He said quietly. From his breathing I could tell he was crying. “She’s too young. Reese is my little girl.”

“I don’t like the fact that she’s with an older guy, but maybe we should have taken a different approach.” I expounded. Reese had a temper like her father, and the littlest things set her off.

“He’s fucking eighteen years old. Reese is a minor. So help me God, if they are having sex. I’ll press charges.” AJ cringed at the thought. I didn’t want to picture my daughter having sex. It was a possibility. There were girls younger than her having sex.

“That might not be the solution. Look how she freaked out tonight. What’s going to stop her from running away again? She may not have told us where she went tonight, but five bucks tells me she went to see him.” I leaned into my husband.

“I want Reese to get a pregnancy test.” AJ said adamantly. “And get tested for STDs. Jake seems like the type of guy that gets around.”

“That’s not going to go over well with our daughter. She’s denying they went that far.” I was quiet for a moment, thinking of how I was going to explain my next comment to AJ. He was going to go apeshit on me. “I think we should put Reese on birth control.”

“Are you insane?” His voice rose. “That’s like giving her permission to screw around. No daughter of mine will be on birth control. I can’t believe you, Aspen.” AJ scooted away from me.

“I’d rather our daughter didn’t get knocked up. If you want to be a grandpa in the near future, let her go behind our backs and have sex without protection.” I snapped at him.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Aspen? You freak out about a stupid little tattoo, but you want to give our daughter permission to fuck any guy she chooses. That’s just wrong.” AJ yelled at me.

“Just think if she comes home one day and tells us she’s pregnant. What are you going to do?” I screeched.

It wasn’t that I wanted Reese on birth control, but I’d rather have her safe and not a mom at sixteen. I didn’t see any alternatives. I’d rather be safe than sorry.

Neither of us said anything for a few minutes. AJ was pissed at me, but this was nothing new. The last few months we weren’t getting along like we used to. This was only going to further the distance between us.

A knocking at the door pulled me out of my dismal thoughts. AJ left the room and headed toward the kitchen. I forced myself to answer the door. Jade was standing on the porch.

“Why are you standing on my porch at eleven thirty at night?” I squawked at my older sister.

“I needed to get away from the jerk called my husband, and I had a craving for Oreo’s. How’s Reese?” Jade pushed her way into the house.

“Emotional. Over the top. AJ’s not helping.” I sighed. “I finally got him to ease off on her so she could get some sleep. This is such a mess. How’s Calleigh doing?”

“Calleigh is hurt and confused.” Jade took a seat on the couch and opened her package of cookies. “She feels like she’s betraying her best friend. Plus, Nick isn’t helping.”

“I’m sure this whole thing freaked him out. He’s picturing Calleigh doing the same thing.” I grabbed a cookie. “We all know that she wouldn’t.”

“I’m not so sure. When you’re young and in love you do stupid things. God, I think about all the idiotic things I did for Nick, and I was an adult.” Jade cringed as she looked at me. We both started to giggle.

“Yeah and I’m no role model. Reese knows that I got pregnant with her during a drunken one-night stand with a pop star.”

“But you were an adult. She’s a child.” She got quiet as AJ entered the room and joined us.

“Is this a private conversation?” AJ glared at the both of us.

“No, you’re more than welcome to stay.” I said with a bite. I was tired of his attitude with me. I didn’t do anything wrong.

Jade glanced at both of us, not sure what was going on. She knew there was more going on between me and AJ than just Reese. I gave her a half smile, telling her not to worry about it.

“I just wanted to share with you some things Calleigh told me.” Jade paused, gauging our reaction. “From what she told us, Jake isn’t the first guy Reese made out with. Apparently she’s very popular with the guys at school.”

“Are you saying my daughter is a slut? That’s funny coming from you.” AJ snorted.

“I wasn’t saying that. Kissing boys doesn’t make you a slut.” My sister rolled her eyes at him. “Reese and Jake have been an item longer than you think.”

“I can’t believe she’s hidden this from us. How long?” My worse fear was coming true. Maybe Reese wasn’t as innocent as I thought. At this point I couldn’t make heads or tails of things. It was a mess.

“Since the beach party before school started. Calleigh said Reese stopped flirting with all the other guys and focused only on Jake.”

“OH, MY FUCKING GOD. I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS SHIT!!!! I CAN’T TRUST ANYONE!”  Reese ran down the stairs and into the living room.

“Calm down, before you wake up everyone in the house.” AJ snipped at his daughter.

“I DON’T CARE. I HATE ALL OF YOU. THIS IS FUCKING UNFAIR.” She yelled even louder.

“And you see why we don’t trust your judgment, Reese.” AJ stood up. He walked over to her.

“DON’T TOUCH ME!” Reese moved away and in the process bumped into her dad. She looked at him with hatred.

“Reese, everyone loves you. That’s why we’re so concerned for you well-being.” Jade said trying to get her to understand our point of view.

“All you’re doing is making my life miserable. I love Jake. I want to be with Jake, and nobody cares how I feel. My best friend deceived me.” Reese started to cry.

“You’re only fifteen. You don’t know what love is. Jake’s just using you to get into your pants.” AJ screamed loud enough to wake the dead. If Grayson or Hayden woke up, I was going to blow my top.

“Yeah, dad you keep fucking telling me that. You are so full of bullshit.” She wiped the tears on her t-shirt. “I do know what love is. It doesn’t matter how old you are. Jake and I are meant to be.”

“Reese, you’re never going to see him again.” AJ stormed out of the room.

Reese fell to the floor crying hysterically. I made my way over to her and wrapped my daughter in my arms. It was killing me seeing Reese hurting. I rocked her as she sobbed letting all her emotion out.