We walked back inside our hotel room silently.

I kicked off my shoes and then laid down on the bed, turning my back to everyone as I clutched the blankets.

I wanted my daughter back.

I felt Ashton sit down on the bed and I closed my eyes.

The way he had cried when Gracie walked out the door was absolutely heartbreaking. We had both heard Gracie calling out for us and as much as I wanted to go get her, there was nothing I could do.

"Dad?" I heard Ender say and I turned around to see him coming over to Ashton and stand in front of him. "Is Gracie going to be okay?"

Ashton sighed.

"Honestly Ender, I don't know, but I'm praying really hard right now that she will be."

Ender nodded before crawling on the bed and over to me where I wrapped my arms around him to not only comfort him but myself.

Ashton, who was still sitting on the side of the bed staring at the ground, was suddenly snapped from his phase by the sound of his phone ringing.

"It's Holly." He turned around and showed me the phone before answering, putting it on speaker. "Hello?"

"Mr. Irwin, I have a question for you and Halle, there seems to be an issue at Gracie's visit." She said and immediately I sat up.

"What's the issue?" Ashton asked in a more stern voice.

"Gracie is at the residence, but she is very upset and is apparently hiding behind a sofa and refuses to come out."

Ashton and I both sighed at the same time.

"Does she have her bunny, or blanket?" I asked.

"Let me find out." Holly said and put us on hold as she went to call the social worker with Gracie.

"I knew this would happen." Ashton muttered.

I reached for his hand and he took it before we heard the click of Holly coming back.

"She has a stuffed bunny in her hands but not a blanket?"

"Okay it's in her suitcase. It's a light blue blanket, it belonged to Ashton when he was a baby, so show her the blanket and say that she can have Daddy's baby blanket and she should come out." I said.

"Alright." She said and put us on hold again.

We waited a few minutes, anxious and nerve ridden until she came back.

"Okay, she's taken the blanket but still won't come out from behind the sofa." Holly said and I felt my heart break even more than it was.

"She's terrified Ashton."

"Holly you're just going to have to either go get her or let her come out on her own. Try and bribe her with something." Ashton said and I frowned deeply.

"I'll pass that along. I'm very sorry about this." She said and then hung up.

"Ash." I placed my hand on his shoulder and he reached one of his own back to hold it. "What are we going to do?"

"Baby, I don't really think there's anything we can do." He said and I dropped my shoulders.

Ashton moved backwards to lean on the pillows and I joined him, leaning into his side as I tried to hold all of my emotions back.

"I miss her." Ender crawled over to us and laid down on Ashton.

"We miss her too bud." Ashton placed a hand on Ender's shoulder.

"Car, did they ever try to take me away from you?" Ender looked up at me.

"No, babe, they didn't." I gave him a little smile.

"Would you have hired a lawyer to get me back like you're doing for Gracie?"

"Ender, I would have done and would do absolutely anything to keep you with me. You are mine okay, no one else's." I took his hand and he smiled.

"Hey, why don't you do some homework and take your mind off of this." Ashton suggested to him.

"But I need someone to help me do my flash cards." He said.

"I'll help you, come on." I sat up and we went across the room to the table where I began to go over American history with Ender.

He was struggling with remembering dates so I was focusing really hard on that when Ashton's phone rang again and I looked to see him answer it quickly.

He kept his words hushed and I believed it was so Ender wouldn't hear.

He stayed on the phone for about five minutes before he got off and I excused myself from helping Ender study to go to Ashton.

"Is everything alright?" I asked him as he sat down on the bed again and he looked up at me like it obviously wasn't.

"They got her to come out from behind the couch but she won't let anyone touch her or get near her. She's just standing there crying is what Amanda told Holly and they don't know what to do."

"Well what did you say?" I shifted onto my other foot.

"To put on Frozen and see if that helps."

I nodded.

"Go help Ender study." He told me and I nodded again before walking away.

He was angry, hurt, sad, and confused, and I felt like he needed to be alone for a bit.

I had only been studying with Ender for twenty more minutes when the phone rang again and Ashton answered, him titling his head back and sighing in annoyance.

"What is it?" I hurried over to him.

"She won't eat or drink anything." He said and I folded my arms over my chest as he put it on speaker.

"Strawberries are her favourite, try that." We suggested and then Holly hung up to pass along the message before calling us back.

"It might be easier if you come down to the office and we can handle this together, I feel like there will be a lot more of these phone calls."

"Great." I sighed.

We sent Ender to Ann's room and gathered our stuff before heading back to the social services building where Holly took us to her office.

"They got her to drink some milk but she still won't eat anything, they didn't have strawberries." Holly told us as we sat down in the chairs in her office.

"So he wants to be her dad but he can't go buy a damn box of strawberries for her?" Ashton huffed.

"Ash." I placed my hand on his arm to tell him to relax.

"No, that's bullshit."

I sighed.

"Maybe if they can get her to calm down enough to take a nap she will be fine." I suggested and Holly got on the phone again with Amanda while I walked her through the steps of what to do.

"I put an iPod in her suitcase, find the song 'Gracie's Lullaby' on there and play it for her. She has to have all of her stuffies and her blankey and she likes to be tucked in. Play the song as many times as it takes before she falls asleep. If it doesn't work then you'll have to
hold her and rock her to sleep."

Thirty minutes later we got a call that Gracie was finally asleep and two hours after that went by with no calls.

It felt like I was finally able to take a deep breath when we received another call that Gracie was crying again.

"What do we do?" Amanda asked on the phone, she sounded exhausted.

"It's depends on what she's crying about to what you do." Ashton said and Amanda put us on hold for a moment and then came back. "She's saying something about Mommy cuddles? I think that's what she said but she's crying so hard I'm not sure."

As soon as she said Mommy cuddles Ashton and I looked at each other with wide eyes.

"What?" Holly asked.

"Shit." I said under my breath.

"Mommy cuddles are when she wants Carter to cuddle her. She freaks out and is hysterical until Carter holds her." Ashton explained.

"Well she will surely stop crying at some point, right?" Holly asked.

"No. Trust me, she won't." I said.

It was now six in the evening.

Gracie had apparently cried herself to sleep after sobbing for hours on end, they had finally gotten her to drink so she wouldn't get dehydrated, and right now we were waiting.

Ann and Ender came by with dinner for us and Holly who seemed as worried as we did.

We ended up staying at the night at the social services office, phoning Amanda all throughout the evening and early morning hours as she asked how to handle the situations that were arising.

Gracie was in hysterics, and I felt she was definitely going to be traumatised by what had happened.

Gracie would be coming back to the social services building at ten in the morning and at nine Ann and Ender came with clothes for Ashton and I to change into along with breakfast.

We ate first and then went to change in a bathroom before heading back out.

We were standing in Holly's office when I heard my Gracie crying and Ashton and I flew out of the room and down the hall where she was being walked through the building.

"Oh my God Gracie!" I dropped to my knees in front of her before pulling her into my arms.

Ashton was immediately there also and put his arms around her as well. "Gracie."

"Mommy!" Gracie sobbed into my shirt.

"Shh...you're okay, you're okay baby. We're here. Daddy and I are here." I shushed her.

"Don't cry Gracie, you're okay now." Ashton placed a hand on the back of her head to comfort her.

"Shh...baby." I kissed the top of her head. She had bunny and blankey in her hands and she put her arms around my neck.

Moving my head back so I could look at her face my heart broke even more. She looked so upset, tired, sad, and scared.

"Okay breathe with me." I told her and began to have her take deep breaths with me, trying to get her to settle down.

This seemed to be working and I decided to switch to something to make her smile.

"Now make kitty cat noises." I smiled at her and began to make little meowing noises with her. "Now a puppy."

"Woof woof woof woof!" She made little barking sounds while she now giggled and I grinned at her as I placed my hand on her cheek.

"Do you feel better?" I asked her and she nodded.

"Come here lovey." Ashton wiped away the stray tear drops on her cheeks and beneath her eyes before kissing her forehead several times.

"I miss you." She said to us.

"Oh we missed you too baby. We missed you so much." Ashton hugged her again.

"I didn't like my trip." She said and I let out a ghost of a laugh.

"Aw, well you're home with us now." I kissed any part of her face that was visible and she smiled even wider. "I love you so much Gracie."

"I love you Mommy." She kissed my nose back. "I love you Daddy." She kissed Ashton's cheek.

"I love you too." Ashton smiled at her before he hugged her again.

I also hugged her once more before I saw everyone standing around us.

"Look, there's Ender and Grandma." I pointed to my left and she gasped happily when she saw them and then ran over to them.

I sat back on my heels as I watched her with love in my eyes.

"She's home." Ashton put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his embrace.

"Yeah. She's home." I smiled as I hugged him back and he gave me a kiss before we went to look at Gracie who was hugging Ender.

She then moved to Ann who wiped away a tear before hugging the little girl who loved her so much.

Ashton and I stood up and when Gracie came back over to us Ashton picked her up, Gracie wrapping her legs around his torso as she hugged him.

"Daddy I love you." She smiled.

"I love you too baby girl. Give me a kiss." She gave him a kiss and hugged him again before keeping her legs around Ashton but hugging me with her arms.

"Are you happy now Gray?" I asked her and she nodded. "Then how about we go to the hotel, take a bath, have breakfast, cuddle and take a nap. Does that sound good?"

"Mhmm." She nodded and I took her up in my arms before we signed papers and then got in the car to go back to the hotel.

Once we were in our room Ashton and I got Gracie into the bath, scrubbing her up and then drying her off and putting her in a fresh onesie.

Ashton put Marry Poppins in the DVD player and ordered some room service while I laid down with Gracie on the bed, Ann and Ender sitting next to me.

"I think someone is happy to be home." Ann smiled as Gracie played hide and seek under the blanket while laying on my stomach.

"I think so too." I laughed and placed a hand on Gracie's head, the little girl giggling as Ender lifted up the blanket to "find" her.

There was a knock at our door and Ashton answered it and then rolled a cart in that had breakfast.

"I have breakfast for a certain little princess." Ashton called out and Gracie jumped from the bed and ran over to the the cart, looking to see what was there.

She feasted on biscuits, yogurt and strawberries until she was full and then joined me on the bed again, Ashton and Ender joining as well while Ann sat next to Ashton.

"Cuddle!" Gracie gasped happily and snuggled herself into my embrace.

"I want to cuddle." Ender said crawled up to join us, Ashton putting an arm over him.

"Let's take a photo!" Ann said and took a selfie of all of us before Ashton helped her post it along with the caption 'Irwin family cuddle time.'

"So when you and Ashton get married will my last name be Irwin too?" Ender asked me.

"No, it would stay Chase because you are my brother." I told him. "And besides, you'll be the only boy chase left, you have to carry on the name." I smiled.

"Okay." He laughed.

"Mummy, kisses!" Gracie turned her head up to look at me and I have her a few kisses before leaning my head on Ashton's chest.

"Are you happy you're home, Gray?" Ashton rubbed his hand on her back and she nodded.

"I no like trip." She shook her head.

"Why not baby?" I asked her.

"I no like it." She shrugged.

"What did you not like about it?" Ashton asked next.

"They scary."

"We're you scared?" I frowned and she nodded.

"I'm sorry love. But you have me and Daddy now." I smiled.

"Daddy!" Gracie sat up on my stomach and looked at Ashton. "The scary man say he daddy but I say he not daddy you daddy so he silly." She laughed and I saw Ashton's smile fade as she spoke and then quickly replace itself once she started to giggle.

"You remember, no matter what anyone says, I am your Daddy and she is your Mommy." He pointed at me. "And we love you very much."

"Okay Daddy!" She smiled and he gave her a kiss before she laid down with us again.

A few minutes later she fell asleep and I felt Ashton sigh.

"What's the matter?" I looked over at him.

"I just...if it ends up that we do keep Gracie...one day she'll grow up and know that I'm not her real dad." He frowned deeply as he sighed.

"Ashton...if that's what ends up happening, then we will get to decide what we tell her."

"But she's bound to figure it out right? We don't have any baby pictures of her, she will see the articles about the custody battle and find videos and she'll know that she's not biologically ours."

"If the time comes then we can figure it out." I squeezed his hand. "But don't think about that now, focus on the positive. Gracie is home with us, she's happy now, and for what it's worth, the visit didn't go well, that could be good for our case."

"Yeah." He nodded, a little smile appearing.

"Ashton she loves you, you're her dad, okay? You always will be, and she knows that." I said to him and leaned up to kiss his cheek.

His smile grew as he kissed me back, his hand moving to rest on Gracie's stomach, his thumb moving back and forth.

"When we have babies what do you want? A boy or a girl?" He asked me and I heard Ann chuckle.

"I don't mind, as long as it's healthy." I laughed. "But you want a boy and a girl."

"I want to experience both...again."

"Will you be disappointed if we don't have both?" I asked him.

"No." He gave me a little smile. "I just want babies with you."

"I want that too." I matched his expression and then smiled wider as he ducked down for one more kiss.

"Gross, I'm right here!" Ender whined and the lot of us started to laugh, happy and peaceful that our Gracie was home...for now.

--

Talk about a roller coaster! Woah!

But let's be real, this book is s never ending roller coaster haha

Comment and vote if you'd like and I'll have the next part up soon!

Much love xx -M