These past few months had been a whirlwind for Alden. Being on a reality tv show, he hadnât thought that his life would be a bit of a press circus until now. All of a sudden, his perfect world was turning upside down. His baby mama had been slinging, and gotten caught. Heâd gone through a myriad of emotions at the news. This was something that he deemed damn near unforgivable. Ali could have been there when that shit went down, or could have been hurt in the shit storm. He didnât understand how the hell this could have been a last resort. Her fucking pride must have been in the way because Alden wasnât hurting for money. His family was well off, he had money that heâd never touched. His grandfather had left him quite a bit of money when he was a child that he was well overdue to have now, but had yet to touch. His grandmother was a music producer, his mother a booking agent. The family was in the business of music and they were damn good at what they did, so money was always rolling. He was a personal trainer, and he had many high profile clients, so there was no lack of cashflow.
Alden could have been paying child support, but she hadnât taken that. Hadnât even taken his offers. Yet she did this when she needed money. She had rich friends, and he knew for a fact that Mia would have been handing out hundreds like it was pieces of paper if need be. Pissed off was an understatement. His jaw clenched and unclenched every time he thought about it. Every time Alana asked to see her mother and he had to say she couldnât, and every time she asked questions he had to figure out something to tell her. Kids watched fucking tv. They talked and they definitely were in the public eye enough that this was talked about, but heâd never bad mouth Dahlia to his daughter.
This whole thing had pushed him to do something that he never thought he would have. Heâd filed for sole custody of Alana, and he would fight like hell to get her. It would be a blow to Dahlia and he was sorry for that, but her head wasnât on right. She wasnât thinking straight possibly endangering her daughters life for something that could be avoided. He went over to Dahliaâs place to let her know in person, before the papers and the news reached her. It sucked to do this on the holidays, but heâd sat on this decision for far too long.
Alden knocked on her door. His jaw clenching again, and he tried to keep himself calm, not yelling, not making snide remarks. Heâd be civil. âItâs Al, we need to talk about something,â he said through the door as he waited for it to open.
Luther Vandrossâ A House is not a Home came to mind whenever Dahlia moved about her apartment. It was unnerving to have such silence there. She was used to the interwoven sounds of music playing from either her bedroom or the living, blending with the blaring of Alyâs television or the noise of her playing. Dahlia was used to her name as her daughter completed her homework, being called mom whenever Alana needed help.  She missed the timbre of her daughterâs voice, bouncing too loudly off the walls, so she could ask for sweets hours before dinner. As if the incredibly bright girl was unaware of the rules.
It was rules and Dahliaâs breaking them that led her to an empty home. A lifeless apartment. The very reason for why she began to deal small quantities of party drugs on the side was Dahliaâs downfall. How could she raise her daughter to be mindful of rules and to be a good, law abiding person, when she - stubbornly - did not heed her own advice? Dahliaâs chest quivered as she inhaled before swallowing down the new tide of tears churning within her. âWhatâs done is done,â She reminded herself. âTime to do better, be better, one day at a time.â At the knock against her front, Dahlia froze, briefly rattled. Her hand held the fridgeâs handle stiffly before releasing it with a sigh when she heard his voice.
âAlden?â She repeated from behind her front door as she reached to unlock and open it. âHey.â Dahlia breathed out, moving with the door and wordlessly asked him to enter. The hinges creaked when she shut it behind her. Aldenâs arrival did not surprise her. The window of time she had to herself since being released was surprising and in the back of Dahliaâs mind, she knew, no matter how unprovable, that it was his doing. Dahlia also knew that whatever grace heâd extended was, more than likely, about to be taken away. Uncertainty and nerves had Dahlia slip her hands into the deep pockets of her sweatpants. She removed them, going to fold her arms against her chest as she looked at Alden and tried to read his face. It was the least fun thing about their history, she knew all of his expressions and he knew all of her tells. âWhatâd you-â She cleared her throat and attempted to ignore her heart as it pounded against her ribcage. Dahliaâs watery gaze remained steady, a small bout of stubbornness shining through as she swallowed her tears. âIâm sorry.â Dahlia uttered instead, her tone apologetic. The tip of her tongue moistened her lips âHow is she?â She asked softly.
