Package Deal
Summary: Ashton starts dating a single mom
A/N: Originally this was a request I made to @talkfastromance4, but after her full blessing, I’m writing it now. Thank you so much Hailey! I hope we can collab Luke & Lily with Ash & Mase sometime!
Word Count: 5.2k
And away, and away we go!
__
Finn and Vanessa had been excited to become parents. It wasn’t how they expected to start their lives together straight out of college, but they were excited nonetheless. They had spent their four years of dating talking about this exact moment, and now here they were, welcoming their son, Mason Nicholas, into the world.
While Finn reveled in all the things he would be able to teach his son, Vanessa became almost obsessive, worrying herself over every development milestone.
“He’s not babbling, Finn. Mase should be babbling…” she would stress.
“Maybe he just doesn’t have much to say,” Finn would reassure her. “Huh? Just not the talkative type, ain’t ya bud?” he’d coo at Mason. And when Mason would smile back, Finn would turn to her in triumph, “See? He’s fine, Nessa. You’re worrying too much.”
“Finn, I’m scared,” she told him in a broken whisper months later when Mason still seemed to show no interest in babbling no matter how many books they read to him, or how often she sang.
“Me too,” he had confessed, holding her close. “We’ll see what his doctor says, okay?”
It was a long, grueling year, filled with more tests than they could count, and a lot more could-be’s than actual answers.
While Vanessa threw herself into any research she could get her hands on, Finn retreated into himself. The overly affectionate couple from their past transformed into a mom fighting for her son, and a dad with an ache in his heart that grew bigger and bigger as Mason grew older and still didn’t say a single word.
“Get dressed,” Finn announced one evening shortly after Mason’s second birthday.
“Why? What’s going on?” Vanessa asked, looking up from where she sat, children’s books scattered about the living room floor, Mason’s eyes glued to the cartoon playing on the television.
“When’s the last time we went on a date?” Finn asked, already headed to the bedroom to change out of his work clothes.
“A date?” she asked, and was immediately ashamed of the hope in her voice.
“Yes, a date. My mom offered to watch Mase overnight at her place. Just one night, Nessa. Please?”
Clothes were changed, and a bag was quickly packed for Mason to spend the night at his grandma’s.
“This is actually really nice. Thank you,” Vanessa told Finn, smiling softly at him from across the table.
He returned the soft smile, reaching out to squeeze her hand. Then, he swallowed thickly and sniffed back the tear about to slide down his cheek. “Ness, I-”
Her heart cracked in her chest at the defeated look in his eyes. She nodded slowly. “I know,” she whispered, nodding again. “In taking care of Mase, we lost each other.”
“I didn’t mean for it to happen… Nessa, I’m so sorry. But, this is just really hard. I can either be a dad to Mase, or I can be a partner to you. And…”
“And Mase needs you more than I do,” she finished for him, her voice choked.
“Nessa, I’m so sorry…” he repeated, not bothering to brush away the tears on his face this time. “I love you. Please know that.”
She squeezed his fingers. “I know. I love you, too. But it’s like you said, Mase needs us more than we need each other right now. You can have Mase whatever days you want, and we can all move out of the apartment so nobody has to feel like they left.”
“No,” Finn cut her off. “We can’t give up the apartment. There’s one for rent down the hall from us. I’ll get it and we can just switch off living with Mase. It’s gonna be hard enough on him with us switching back and forth, we don’t need to make it harder by putting him in an entirely new environment.”
“You’re right,” she sniffled. Then, “Finn?”
“Yeah?”
“Can we still pretend we’re in love with each other? At least until tomorrow?”
~~~
The one bedroom apartment was lonely, and even though Vanessa knew she could go down the hall to her normal home and be with Mason like she wanted, it hurt too much to know that her time with him was now split evenly with Finn. Finn had been right though. Without the stress of trying to maintain their own relationship, they were both able to give much more to their non-verbal son. It was actually shocking how the toddler- who shrieked bloody murder every time there was the slightest change to his sense of normal- adjusted to his parents flip-flopping every week to be with him. Maybe it was true what they said about children feeding off the stress of their parents.
While her job kept Vanessa busy enough during the weekdays Mason was in Finn’s care, it was the weekends that dragged on endlessly. She knew in time it would hurt less. She also knew that they were doing right by their son with their decision to break up, because the pain in Vanessa's chest was from being away from Mason, not Finn.
It was only the beginning of her second week in the quiet apartment. After a night she was sure she spent more time staring up at the ceiling than actually sleeping, she rolled over on her side and checked the time on her phone. It was a little after seven in the morning. Last week at this time she had been making Mason pancakes, chatting up a storm with the little boy, and hoping like always to get a response. All she had gotten was him pointing at the bag of chocolate chips on the counter before holding out his hand expectantly.
She smiled warmly at the memory as she got up out of bed, fueled by a desire to do something, anything. And that’s how a half hour later, she found herself at a small coffee shop a few blocks down the road.
The barista called out her order and as she got up from her seat to go get it, she collided with a body. “Oh, I’m so sorry!” Vanessa rushed the apology as she stumbled back a step.
“Whoa,” the person said, wrapping a hand around her arm to keep her steady. “You alright?”
She looked up at the stranger with his slicked back hair and eyes like green tea and honey. “Sorry,” she apologized again, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. “I should’ve watched where I was going. I didn’t spill your drink, did I?”
The man looked over at the drink in his hand that wasn’t still holding onto her arm. The coffee inside swirled slowly before settling, and there was a darker spot on his black shirt from the cup pressing into him. “Nah, we’re all good. I’m Ashton, by the way.”
“Vanessa,” she told him.
“Vanessa,” he repeated, and she felt something flutter within her at the way her name sounded on his lips. “I think your drink’s ready.”
“Yeah,” she stammered, stepping to the side to go around him. “Yeah, I’m just gonna, thank you,” she told the barista as she grabbed her cup. “Again. So sorry,” she told Ashton as she stepped back past him on her way to her seat.
Ashton chuckled, watching as the woman sat down and took a hearty sip of her coffee. “Mind if I sit with you? Everywhere else is full.” He gestured about the basically empty cafe.
Her cheeks flushed more at his lie, both flattered that he wanted to share a table with her and also conflicted by his affection. It felt wrong somehow to be viewed as a potentially romantic interest, if that was how Ashton was viewing her anyway. Because it was possible that her assumption was wrong; that Ashton could just be the friendly sort. But, she was short on both romantic interests and friends at the moment. And she had knocked his coffee into his chest. It’d be impolite if she told him no. “Sure, go right ahead,” she told him, moving her laptop to the side.
“Working on the weekend, huh? Catching up, or getting ahead?” he asked as he turned the chair around so he was straddled around the seat, his arms crossing over the back of the chair.
“Oh, no. Not really.” Vanessa closed her computer. “Just personal research.”
“Mmm,” he nodded. “Mysterious girl doing mysterious research. Should I be worried?” The flecks of green and gold danced playfully in his eyes.
Vanessa laughed. “No? Because I’m not mysterious, nor is my research.”
“Said the mysterious girl hiding with mysterious research.”
“What makes you think I’m so mysterious?”
“The fact that I come to this coffee shop damn near every morning at this time, and I’ve never seen you here once.”
“That doesn’t make me mysterious, it just means I don’t have the luxury you seem to have.”
“Well, you seem to have the luxury today.”
“Lucky me,” she sighed into her cup.
“Aw, don’t sound so down about it, Vanessa.” He frowned momentarily as she thought she’d never seen something more tragic on such a beautiful face. “You had the sense to start a good day nice and early. Make the most of it.” The frown was replaced by a content smile that showed off dimples in his cheeks.
“Gonna certainly try,” she told him, offering forth a tight-lipped smile. As much as she appreciated Ashton’s kindness towards her, and the way it evoked a feeling in her she hadn’t felt in longer than she realized, her heart still ached for the way she would much rather be spending her day.
“Alright,” he conceded, holding up his hands. “You don’t have to bare your soul to me. Fair enough. We can just be two strangers sharing a table while they enjoy a good cup of coffee.”
Despite the softness in his eyes and smile as he wrapped his lips around his straw, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d offended him by being so “mysterious” as Ashton had put it. “Sorry, I’m being rude, I know. I just… don’t do this, I guess?”
“Get coffee, or flirt with cute strangers?”
“Oh, we’re flirting?” She wasn’t sure which surprised her more. That he willingly admitted that they were flirting and she hadn’t misread the conversation, or that he had called her cute in the process.
He chuckled, giggled really, and he rubbed at the back of his neck nervously. “Was trying to anyway…”
“Sorry,” she apologized for what felt like the millionth time. “Like I said, I don’t do this.”
“Boyfriend?” Ashton guessed. “In which case, it’s me who should be apologizing. I’ll, uh…” His fingers tapped against the seat as he moved to stand up.
“No,” she shook her head. “No boyfriend. It’s, uh… a bit more complicated than that.”
He sat back down in the chair. “More complicated than not having a boyfriend?” His eyebrows quirked in question, his lips quivering with held back amusement. What could complicate him possibly standing a chance with this woman? “Girlfriend?” he tried again.
She laughed, a small nervous sound, and Ashton felt his heart jump at the sound. “Nope. Definitely single. Complicatedly so.” Her eyes darted around them. “I’m not keeping you, am I?”
He shook his head, a shock of his red hair falling into his eyes. She fought the urge to reach out and slick it back into place for him. “Nah. So, what’s this complication? If you don’t mind me asking.”
She pushed a hand through her hair, deciding to just cut straight to the point. Ashton seemed like a nice enough guy to be choosing to spend his morning with her when they didn’t know a thing about each other. And it was better to let him make his choice with all the facts at hand, rather than risk potentially spending more time together and getting more invested than just a schoolgirl stomach flutter. “I have a son. He’s two.”
“Oh… and the dad? Is he…?”
“Finn’s in the picture, yeah. But we just broke up about a month ago.”
“Shit, I’m sorry to hear that. That’s gotta be rough. Is that what the research is? Tips on how to co-parent after a breakup?”
“A little bit yeah. But it’s mostly new studies about nonverbal communication. Mason, my son, doesn’t talk.”
“Oh, shit…”
“Yeah… so that’s the mystery girl with her mysterious research for ya.” She took a last sip of her coffee before grabbing her laptop and placing it in her bag. “Well, thank you. For listening I guess. That’s very kind of you,” she started to say goodbye.
“Off so soon?” Ashton asked, standing up when she did.
Vanessa fiddled with the strap of her bag, not meeting his eyes. “I- Look, you seem really nice. And it really was sweet of you to sit down and have a conversation with me. It’s been awhile since I’ve had time to be Vanessa, not Mason’s mom. But, that’s my reality. I am Mason’s mom. And right now, that person is trying to adjust to living down the hall from him every other week, so he doesn’t have to adjust to having a second home on top of his parents splitting up. And yeah, sure, one of these days I’ll figure it out. I’ll learn how to balance being a mom to a kid with special needs while also being a woman with needs of her own. But today’s not that day. And I certainly don’t expect anything from you based on a single twenty-minute conversation, no matter how handsome I do find you to be.”
“Wow… rejected before I can even ask…”
“I’m not rejecting you, Ashton. I’m saving you from the mess of the woman that I am.”
“Maybe I don’t want to be saved. Maybe I like messes. Did you think about that while you decided our entire future in 30 seconds?”
“I-” she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and taking a slow, steady breath.
“Look. I’m here every morning for the most part at about this time. I’m not saying we have to go out on a date. I’m not saying you have to introduce me to your son. I’m just saying that what you’re going through doesn’t make me want to get to know you any less.”
For the rest of the week, before heading into work, she made a pit stop at the little cafe three blocks for her apartment complex. And every time, Ashton was already waiting for her.
On Saturday, he even had her drink waiting with him. “You didn’t have to do that,” she smiled, greeting him with a hug.
“Yeah, but it was worth it to see that smile of yours,” he replied as they took their seats. “So, you get to see Mason today, right?”
She smiled bigger as she nodded. “Yeah, Finn and I switch off on Saturdays after we all go out to eat.”
“Oh, you guys all have a family dinner? That’s nice.”
“Yeah. It’s a way for us to touch base with each other about what the week was like. We do daily check ins too, but that’s mostly just a quick text that things are going okay.”
“That’s really good. I mean, I’m not a parent, so I don’t know what that dynamic must be like. But it seems like you guys got a healthy system.”
“Yeah. I mean, we’re not perfect by any means. We lose our temper with each other, and with Mase. But ultimately we’re both just trying our best for our son, and that’s all I could ever ask from Finn. I don’t need to have a romantic relationship with him, I need one that works. And right now, this is what works.”
“I don’t know if I’ve ever actually said it, or just thought it a lot. But you, Nessa, blow me away with the strength you possess. I may not actually know Finn or Mason, and I know I still have a lot to learn about you too. But I also know that they are lucky to have you.”
She blushed at the compliment, muttering a small, “Thanks.” Then, “I know I was skeptical at first, but I’ve really come to enjoy having coffee with you. I’m actually gonna miss it this coming week.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll still be around in a week. I’m not going anywhere for awhile.”
“Right,” she teased. “The famous drummer who decided to use his break between tours to slum it with the single mom. Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”
He laughed. “1.) I’m hardly famous. 2.) I’m not slumming it with a single mom, I’m trying to date a woman I’m interested in trying to date.”
“Well, 1.) you show up Google and have paparazzi follow you around, so definitely famous. And 2.) I still think you’re crazy for trying.”
“But…” he pressed.
“But, I’m glad you’re trying. And I’m hoping that a week apart doesn’t make you come to your senses, because I really have enjoyed spending time with you.”
“Well, here,” he said, pulling out his phone and unlocking it. “Put your number in.” He slid it across the table to her. She quickly did so before placing it back in his hand. The keys made the clacking sound before making the little whoosh of him hitting send on whatever he had typed. Then, her phone pinged in her purse. “There,” he grinned. “Now we can Facetime our coffee mornings instead.”
~~~
“So, how was everything?” Vanessa asked as she slid into the booth across from Finn and Mason.
“His new color is yellow,” Finn answered with a wry smile. “Went through all the macaroni.”
“There were like 10 boxes…”
“I know… I bought more when we went to the store this morning.”
“Yeah?” she asked, looking at Mason with pizza sauce smeared on his cheeks. “Did you go to the store with Daddy, Mase? How’d that go?”
“Not too bad. I told him all week that on Saturday we were gonna go shopping, then we’d go to the park before seeing Momma.”
“No fits?”
“Besides him screaming about not being put in the seat of the shopping cart, no. Pretty quiet. How was your week?”
“Pretty quiet.”
“Yeah,” Finn agreed sadly. “It’s an adjustment. But we’re doing the right thing for him, right?”
“Of course,” Vanessa replied. “Finn?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you miss me?”
He thought about it for a beat before shaking his head. “No,” he confessed. “God, that’s so fucked… After 4 years and a kid, you think I would, right? That I’d miss you. That this should hurt. But I don’t, and it doesn’t. Do you miss me?”
She chuckled a sad, defeated half laugh. “No. The only part of this that hurts is being away from Mase.”
“Yeah…”
Later that night, after putting Mason to bed, Vanessa rummaged around in the cupboard under the bathroom sink for a new roll of toilet paper, knocking over a box of tampons in the process. Her movements stilled as her eyes went wide. How long had it been since she had last reached for that box? Too long. “Shit…” she cursed under her breath. She straightened up and reached for her phone, opening her period tracker app. “Fuck…” she swore again as the little blood droplet happily reminded her to input the start of her period because she was two weeks late.
~~~
It was a slow week of trying to figure out to break the news to Finn that she was pregnant again. A dilemma heightened with every Facetime session with Ashton in the morning for coffee, because Vanessa knew that she would have to tell him too. She hadn’t even told Finn that she was seeing Ashton, because it was all so new and she didn’t want to jinx anything.
If Ashton picked up on how she seemed to be more in her head than normal, he made no comment, instead distracting her with funny stories from the latest studio session he had with his bandmates. Like how Luke, their lead singer, had ended up having dinner with his girlfriend’s daughter’s dad and someone had mistaken him and Cory for a gay couple.
She laughed at the story, but it didn’t have the fullness to it he remembered. “You okay?” Ashton asked her.
“Hmm? Yeah, I’m good,” she smiled into the camera, and again he took notice of the ways her eyes didn’t crinkle in the corners.
“So what’s on the agenda today before you meet up with Finn?”
“Grocery shopping, and then the park. Mase?” She flickered her eyes over to the toddler sitting in his chair at the table with his plate of scrambled eggs that had thankfully ended up mostly in his mouth than on the table and floor. “Finished?” she asked, pretending to dust her off her hands.
Mason pushed his plate away and copied her hand movements. All done.
“Okay. Shoes,” she said, pointing at her feet first and then his.
He lifted his feet to show her he had on socks.
“To put on over your socks. Can’t go shopping in socks, Mase.”
No.
“Yes. No shopping in socks. Need shoes. Can you please go find some?”
No! The movement was followed by a throaty whine.
“Mason Nicholas,” she warned. “If we can’t go shopping, then we can’t go to the park.”
“You know the drummer in Pink Floyd was named Nick Mason. Was that intentional, or just random happenstance?” Ashton’s voice asked from the phone.
“Intentional. Good catch.” The throaty whine in Mason’s throat grew in volume. “I know, Mase, but you need shoes to go outside. I’ll help you, okay? Do you want me to help?”
The little boy folded his arms over his chest, and titled his head back, screeching loudly in anger.
Vanessa winced at the sound. “Duty calls. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
Ashton giggled. “Yep. I’ll be here. Bye, Mase!”
Vanessa smiled gratefully at Ashton’s face before hitting the button to end the call. “Okay, you,” she said, turning to Mason. “Do you want to go to the park?”
Mason’s wail cut off at the word “park,” and he pointed tearfully out their kitchen window. Outside?
“Yes. We’ll go to the park after we go shopping. But you need shoes. Can you show me where your shoes are?”
The boy climbed down from his seat before toddling over to the shoe rack beside the front door. He reached for his pair of navy rain boots decorated with green and yellow dinosaurs, and jumped like he was pretending to splash in a puddle.
“You can wear those,” she told him. “But look,” she pointed out the living room window. “No rain. No puddles.”
He pouted and jumped again.
“Yes, we can still jump.”
He pointed at her own pair of rain boots and then at her feet.
“Okay. Momma will wear her rain boots, too.”
He jumped for a third time.
~~~
“Rain boots, huh?” Finn asked with an amused look as he looked at Mason and Vanessa’s feet as she helped Mason out of the car.
“Yes, because he wants to jump, and these are his jumping shoes.”
“Is that so?” he smiled down at Mason, pulling his hand back right before he went to ruffle at the boy’s hair. “Mase? Hi-five?” Finn laid his hand out palm up.
Mason jumped and then pointed at his dad. Your turn.
Finn bounced up on the balls of his feet.
Mason pointed again, this time at his dad’s sneakers, then at his and Vanessa’s boots. He grumbled.
“Tomorrow,” Finn promised his son. “Jumping shoes tomorrow. C’mon, let’s go eat. Hungry?” He brought his hand to his lips, signing “eat.”
The two year old nodding, repeating the action. Eat. Yes.
“So, beyond jumping now, anything new I should know about?” Finn asked Vanessa as they walked into the pizza parlor.
“Not with Mase. Still on his only eating yellow foods streak. Only apparently bananas don’t count because it’s not the same yellow that is on the inside like it is on the outside.”
Finn laughed. “Yep. Had that fight too. Wait… is something new with you?”
“Yeah… um, last week when you had Mase, I started to go to this coffee shop on the corner of Fifth. And there was a guy there, Ashton. And we’re sort of seeing each other.”
“Oh. That’s… that’s great, Nessa. Why didn’t you tell me last week?”
“It’s still really new. Like we’re just talking. He knows about Mase and us, so we’re just seeing where things go. We’re not like official or anything. We haven’t even been on like a real date.”
“But that’s still good. Just because it didn’t work with us, doesn’t mean I don’t want you to try, and be happy with someone else. Do you like him?”
“Yeah. I really do. He’s really sweet. I think you and him would get along. But, I don’t think it’s gonna work out.”
“Why? It sounds like things are going pretty good? Why wouldn’t it work out?”
“I’m pregnant…”
“Oh, shit… have you guys…?”
She gave a fast shake of her head. “No. We haven’t even kissed.”
“So, it’s mine?” Finn gulped.
Vanessa nodded, her bottom lip quivering. She blinked rapidly to keep the tears in.
“Fuck…” Finn sat back against the booth, looking over at Mason. “I’m barely getting this right, and now there’s gonna be another one?” He wiped a hand down his face. “Oh, fuck…”
“Uh-huh,” she nodded, biting down to stop her lip from quivering. “I’m scared, Finn. I know we used to talk about having kids in the plural sense, but… this wasn’t how I pictured it happening. Like, not even close. And what am I gonna do about Ashton? Being okay with starting a relationship with a single mom is one thing. But a single mom who’s pregnant with her ex’s kid? Like there’s a line of acceptability, and we are so far over that line!”
“Whoa…” Finn’s hands grabbed at hers as she spiraled. “Look, you have me, okay? You’re not gonna do this alone. I’m here every step of the way. I’m still gonna keep being the best dad I can be to both our kids. And if this is all too much for Ashton, then he’s an idiot because he’d be walking away from a goddamn super hero of a woman.”
“Thanks, Finn,” she told him with a watery smile.
~~~
Vanessa awoke early the next morning, a churning in her stomach. It was a different churning than the one she had the last time she woke up in the empty apartment two weeks ago. This wasn’t a not- knowing-what-to-do-with- herself churning. It was a not-knowing-how-Ashton-would-react churning.
But she got ready anyway, and went over to the coffee shop. And despite the churning, she still felt a flutter when she found Ashton already sitting at their table with 2 coffees. “Hey!” he greeted, giving her a warm hug hello. “Gotta say, as much as I liked our Facetimes, I missed seeing you in person.”
“Yeah, me too.” She smiled softly as she stepped out of his embrace and sat down. “You know, if you keep buying my coffee, I’m gonna change my schedule so I beat you here.”
Ashton laughed. “Well, I’ll just get here even earlier then. See, I’m trying not to push my luck by asking you out on a real date, so this is the next best thing I got.”
“What makes you so sure I’d say no to a real date?”
“The fact that you can’t let me buy you a simple coffee. How the hell am I gonna get you to let me take you out for a full meal?”
“Asking me would be a good start.”
Ashton laughed again. “Alright. How’s Friday sound?”
She swallowed, watching the way he leaned on the table towards her, a shock of his slicked back hair threatening to fall forward in his gorgeous eyes. “I don’t know if we’ll make it to Friday…” she whispered.
Ashton’s eyebrows furrowed together in concerned confusion. “Why won’t we make it to Friday? We could go tonight if that’s better for you.”
“No, Friday’s fine. It’s just um… okay, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’m just gonna say it.”
Ashton pursed his lips together and sat back. “You’d rather we just be friends. Okay… that’s fine. No harm, no foul, right? We can dial it back and be friends.”
“No, it’s not that. I really do like you. It’s just… I’m pregnant.”
“Whoa… that was… not what I was expecting. I’m assuming it’s Finn’s?”
“Yeah. So, if you want to take back your date offer, I won’t blame you. Hell if you left right now, I’d get it.”
“Why would I take back my offer?”
“Because I’m pregnant with my ex’s child, and we’ve only been seeing each other two weeks. I like you. I like seeing you. But this isn’t your life, Ashton. You don’t have to keep seeing me if this is all too much for you.”
“Are you getting back with Finn?”
“No… I mean, he’s going to be involved, but no, we’re not getting back together.”
“Well, I’d hope he’d be involved. So, how’s 7 sound?”
“How does 7 sound for what?”
“For our date on Friday.”
“You still want to go out? I- I don’t understand.”
“What don’t you understand? Did you think this would be a deal breaker for me?”
“I mean…” she stammered.
He leaned forward again, “I get that your life is crazy. My life’s crazy, too. Crazy doesn’t scare me. I like crazy. I like you, Nessa. I’m not sure how much clearer I can make that.”
“I like you too,” she confessed, leaning in to meet him halfway. Her eyes fluttered shut as he pressed his lips against hers. Flutters erupted inside both of them and he was about to deepen the kiss when her phone rang, making them jump apart. “Oh, my God, I’m so sorry.” She blushed as she dug around her purse for her phone. “Finn?” she asked in confusion as she answered. “Is everything alright?”
“MASON CALLED ME ‘DADDY’!” Finn whooped in glee.
She held her hand out away from her ear as Finn broke into happy laughter. “He actually said it?!” she asked, matching his enthusiasm. “Like he actually said the word?”
“YEAH! Oh, my God, Nessa! Our boy talked! C’mon, Mase! Tell Momma what you said.! Who am I?!”
“Daddy,” she heard Mason say slowly.
“OH, MY GOD! I’m coming home. I’ll be right there.”
“Yeah, we’ll see you in a bit! That’s my boy, Mase!”
She hung up, throwing her phone in her bag and rushing to her feet.
“Is everything okay?” Ashton asked, a thumb reaching out to brush away the tears on her face.
“Mason called Finn ‘daddy.’ He talked, Ash! Mase talked! I- I gotta go!”
Ashton laughed, wrapping her tightly in a hug. “Oh, that’s great! Go. Go be with Mase.”
She smashed a bruising kiss on his lips. “I’ll call you,” she promised.
“Take your time. I’m not going anywhere.” He watched Vanessa take off running out of the shop, chuckling softly to himself. She made it very hard to not be totally smitten.
__
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