The next morning I forced myself out of bed to get ready and make myself some coffee to keep myself caffeinated.

I sat at the bar and scrolled through my Instagram to see pictures of Gracie with her new puppy, Sprinkles.

They had bought a pink collar for her and Ashton had shared a photo of Gracie curled up asleep in her bed with the puppy snuggling with her.

Ender was now excited to meet the new puppy and I hoped it wouldn't become a problem between him and Gracie if she had her puppy and he didn't.

Ender came downstairs where we had breakfast together and then went out to the shop, both of us in matching tees, except I had Ashton's hoodie around my waist because the air had a bit of a chilly breeze today.

After checking the radar Ender went up to the counter and began to take out the receipts and went up behind him and put my arms around his shoulders.

"Why don't you call Ashton." I said and he took out his phone and called Ashton.

"Hey, End! What's up!" Ashton answered cheerfully.

"It's me and Car, we just wanted to talk to you." Ender said.

"Hey Car!" I could literally hear his smile.

"Hi." I smiled back.

"Well I'm missing you two like crazy, so is Gray. She was asking when her big brother was coming back earlier when I was giving her a bath."

"Aw." I smiled and squeezed Enders shoulders. "So how was your day with her?"

"Good. We went to an indoor play place for kids where she ran around and had some play time with kids her age. And then we took Sprinkles to the vet and got her shots where Gracie cried because she didn't want Sprinkles to be sad." He said and Ender and I laughed. "And then we had dinner with Calum and then had bath time and now she's asleep next to me and Sprinkles is...chewing on my slippers. No, Sprinkles! Stop that!"

Ender and I laughed again.

"Aw, well did you give her a bedtime kiss from me?" I asked.

"I did." He said. "She's missing you bad, Car. She asks me every ten minutes how much longer until you come back."

"Oh, I miss her too. I don't think i'll be able to let her go when I get back." 

"Well I don't think I will be able to let you go when you get back."

I chuckled.

"You guys are weird." Ender said but I just kissed his cheek.

"You should be happy we act like this. A lot of children don't have parents who love each other like Ashton and I do."

"That's right. So when she and I are being all lovey dovey with each other just remember it's because we really love each other."

"Mhmm." I squeezed Enders shoulders.

"Yeah." Ender smiled up at me.

"So what are your plans for today?" Ashton asked.

"Well we've got six tours and then I'm going for final dress fittings for Ari's wedding."

"Oh send me a picture of your brides maid dress."

"Okay." I laughed. "What are you doing with Gracie tomorrow?"

"I don't know yet. I was thinking of taking her and Sprinkles to a dog park or back to the kids play place."

"Fun."

"Yeah, but I had to go get her pull-ups."

"Pull-ups?"

"Yeah, she's been wetting the bed every night and i'm sick of cleaning it up so I bought pull-ups and told her that if she can go a week without going to the bathroom in the middle of the night then she can stop wearing them."

"Well, maybe that's what she needs to break her out of that phase."

"Hopefully. But she put a pull-up on Sprinkles and the poor thing was waddling around every where like a seal."

Ender and I burst into laughter.

At this moment the front door opened and a nervous looking teenage girl poked her head in, making eye contact with me.

She opened the door a bit wider and she and four other girls slowly came inside, looking at me and Ender like we were aliens or something.

"Hey, I think our first tour is here so we'll call you later." I said to the phone.

"Okay. Well I love you guys."

"Love you too." Ender and I both said at the same time.

"Bye, love." I said and he said the same before we disconnected.

"Are you here for a tour?" Ender asked the girls and they nodded their heads.

"You don't have to be nervous." I laughed. "Come on up."

The girls came up to the desk.

"Okay so Ender here is going help you get your gear and I'm going to head out to the boat and I'll see you guys in a few minutes." I smiled.

I took my phone with me and made my way to the boat, leaning against the railing. As I waited I logged on to my Instagram and scrolled through my photos until I found one of Ashton.

He was holding up Gracie's new birth certificate and smiling widely, his eyes so full of light.

'Missing the sweetest man in the world right now. I miss your cute face and the sound of your voice in the mornings. I miss your snoring (surprisingly) and falling asleep with your arms around me every night. I miss kissing you and hugging you all day, and listening to your lame dad jokes and making fun of me because i'm short. I miss watching you have fun and be such an amazing father and inspiration to our children, and see them look up to you with so much love and wonder in their eyes. I love you and miss you more than words can explain. Just three more days.'

The moment I shared the picture I heard voices and looked to see Ender leading the group of girls to the boat and I smiled as they climbed on board, ready to go diving.

The girls were very sweet and funny. We played the bands music through the speakers, them dancing and singing and having me join them, and we talked and made jokes.

I had a blast with the two tours full of fans that day, the rest just typical families, and at five we pulled in the last boat and I went to the house to shower before getting dressed.

Ari was picking me up, so Ender and I walked up the docks to get into her SUV.

"Hey." I smiled.

"Hey. How's it going?"

"Good." I smiled.

She drove us to a dress shop where we met up with her mom and a few of the other brides maids who consisted of her cousins and a few friends.

"Okay, what do you think?" Ari walked over to a dress rack and dramatically pulled down the zipper on a bag, revealing a light pink floor length dress.

There were small threads of gold in the light rosy pink, and had thin straps to hold it up.

"Oh, Ari it's so pretty!" I grinned, and honestly, it was.

"Try it on! I want to see it on you so bad!" She tugged on my arm and I took the dress, Ender sitting on a sofa probably bored out of his mind while Ari and I went into the dressing room so she could help me into the dress.

She fabric flowed down beautifully and slinked down to the floor.

Ari then dragged me out to the pedestal in the middle of the dressing room surrounded by mirrors where I could see the dress.

"You look so beautiful." Ari hugged my shoulders.

For once I agreed with her.

"Thank you for letting me be your maid of honour." I hugged her back.

"I wouldn't want it to be anyone else." She smiled and then gushed over the dress again.

I had Ender take a picture of me and I then sent it to Ashton.

I chatted with Ari's other brides maids and her mom while Ari looked everyone over and then my phone went off in my hand and I looked to see Ashton had texted me back.

'You look beautiful. (And don't repeat this, but even in her wedding dress you will give Ari a run for her money). Love you!'

Ashton's PoV:

After waking up snuggled up to my little Gracie I took a selfie of me and the sleepy child before getting out of bed.

We had been able to have a nice morning of sleeping in since we had a free day today.

I ordered us breakfast and then carried her around the room for awhile like she wanted, holding my daughter close.

I was looking out the window when I heard the door open and looked to see Calum walking in.

"Hey man." I nodded.

"Hey. How's Carter doing?" He asked.

"Better." I smiled. "She sounded a lot happier when I talked to her last night."

"Is Harry still there?" He asked and I clenched my jaw.

"No, he left."

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you mad." Calum said quietly.

"You didn't." I sighed and then Gracie squirmed in my arms.

"Are you up baby girl?" I patted her back and she lifted her head off my shoulder, sitting back so she could look at me, giving me a sleepy smile.

I moved her curly hair out of the way and gave her a kiss, Gracie smiling away.

"We see Mommy today?" She asked.

"No, not today. We've still got a couple more days."

She nodded at this but I kissed her forehead to stop her from frowning.

There was a knock at the door and assuming it was breakfast Calum went to go answer it while I searched for Gracie's sippy cup.

Calum rolled in the food cart and I began to put the plates on the table while Gracie stood by me.

"Hey, why don't you get Sprinkles her breakfast." I said and Gracie nodded before running off to get her puppy and put food in the bowl.

"Sprinkles, its breakfast time!" Gracie sang to her puppy and Calum and I both smiled at her as she fed her dog.

"She's good with the puppy." Calum said.

"Yeah. I'm not surprised though. She's like her mom, sweet natured, I don't think she could hurt a fly. She cried when Sprinkles had to get her shots."

Calum chuckled.

"So what are you and Carter going to tell Gracie when she's older, about the adoption and custody battle?"

"We need to discuss it some more." I said. "We had plans to redact all of the information but we didn't go through with it."

He nodded.

"Daddy, Sprinkles wants you to give her a hug." Gracie brought the puppy over to me and I took it from her, giving the puppy a hug before handing it back to her.

The three of us sat down at the table, Sprinkles lying on the floor beneath our feet.

"Say your prayer, Gray." I reminded her and she nodded, closing her eyes and folding her hands, spouting out some words about Sprinkles and play time before looking up at me for approval.

I leaned in to kiss her cheek making her grin before she picked up a piece of toast to nibble on.

After breakfast I got her dressed for the day and we then put the leash on Sprinkles' collar before taking her outside of the hotel to walk her.

Sprinkles (and Gracie) had a blast prancing around in the grass, and I let them both get some energy out before then having the car come get us to take us to the indoor play place.

Gracie ran around, played in the ball pit, went down the slides, jumped on the trampolines, and made new friends before she was exhausted.

She fell asleep on the car ride to the hotel, Sprinkles passed out in her arms.

At the hotel I put her down for her nap and then sat down in front of the television, turning on a news program while I scrolled through my phone.

Fans had posted pictures of themselves with Carter while they were on marina tours and I laughed to see a video of her singing one of
our songs with them.

The door to the hotel room opened and I looked to see Calum, Luke, and Michael walking in.

They came and sat around the sofa with me, Calum holding Sprinkles in his hands.

"Gracie is sleeping weird." Luke nodded towards the bed and I looked back to see her sleeping on her stomach with her bottom in the air.

"Weird girl." I stood up and went over to roll her over onto her back and then went to grab my notebook from my bed when I felt a hand shoot out and grab my ankle, yanking my foot and dragging me to the floor.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" I shouted, pulling my leg away and jumping back.

"What?!" Luke, Michael, and Calum jumped up but I was more focused on who had grabbed me. And I was terrified to the core when I saw the face of Robert Ramone under the bed.

"OH MY GOD!"

My friends ran over to see and all hell broke loose.

There were shouts but I wasn't focused on what they were saying, I was focused on getting my daughter to safety.

I grabbed Gracie, still asleep and then ran from the room, the guys following me.

"Call the police!" Luke yelled and I clutched Gracie to me, not believing what was happening.

"Ashton, go inside!" I was then shoved into Calum's hotel room.

"You okay?" Michael asked me.

"He was in our room! He was in our room!" I looked at him with wide eyes.

Michael nodded and then hugged me, before Gracie started to move.

"Call Carter." I told Michael before I walked over to a sofa and sat down, holding Gracie to me.

Robert Ramone had actually been in my hotel room with me and my daughter.

How long had he been there? Had he been there at night while we were sleeping? Had he had a gun? What was he planning on doing? Was he going to hurt me? Or kill me? ...Or Gracie?

My thoughts were a jumbled mess as I buried my face in Gracie's hair, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"Ashton." I heard Calum's voice and looked up to see him walking in followed by several police officers. "Hey, it's okay, they just arrested him."

I couldn't even reply but he placed a hand on my shoulder while the officers came toward me.

"They've gotta ask you some questions, man." Calum said.

I nodded my head slowly and several officers crouched down in front of me.

"Sir, my name is Officer Waylon. I need to ask you some questions but first I need to know if you or your daughter need any medical attention."

"No. No, i'm just in shock." I said.

"Do you know the man who was in your hotel room?"

"Yes. It's her birth dad." I nodded at Gracie who was still clutched to me. "We just got out of a custody battle with him. He's not even supposed to be within 500 feet of her."

Officer Waylon nodded.

"Okay. Well I will tell you now that when we arrested him we found a gun on him, but it wasn't fully loaded. He's being taken to the station right now for processing and then we will be conducting an interview. For now we will be moving you and your daughter to a safe location."

"My fiancé, shes in Australia right now, what if he sent someone there to hurt her?" I looked at him with wide and frantic eyes.

"If you give me her exact location we can call the local police department and send them out to check on her."

I nodded.

"We can get your stuff while you talk to them." Luke said and he and Michael left the room, the phone still pressed to Michaels ear, while Calum stayed with me while I went over the timeline of events of that day.

Gracie was now awake and obliviously sat in my lap, playing with Sprinkles.

"Okay Mr. Irwin, we will move you and your daughter shortly." Officer Waylon said and then left the room.

"Carter told Michael that the police just got to your house." Calum said as he looked at his phone.

"Is she okay?" I asked him.

"She's worried about what's going on here. It's all over the news right now so she's panicking but Michael said he's got her calmed down for the most part."

I let out a breath.

"So he just grabbed your foot?" Calum sat down next to me, scratching behind Sprinkles ears.

"Yeah. He grabbed my ankle and then pulled me down, and then I saw his face and I just panicked." I said and Calum nodded. "He had a gun. He had a freaking gun."

"Hey, don't think about that. You're safe, Gracie is safe, Carter and Ender are safe. Just take a deep breath."

I did as he said and soon Luke and Michael came back in, handing me a hoodie.

At this point Officer Waylon came back in and told us it was time to leave.

I put on the hoodie and then found one of Luke's, putting it on Gracie. Of course it hung off her like a dress but I covered her up and tucked her blanket, bunny, and elephant in her arms while Calum took Sprinkles and then put the hood over her head.

She was confused but I shushed her and she just held onto my neck while I secured her to me.

We took the stairs down to the back door of the hotel and I put the hood up on my sweatshirt to hide my face from everyone.

The door opened and I could see flashes from news and paparazzi cameras but the police had made themselves into a human shield and I only had to walk three steps before I was in a vehicle, our body guards Brad and Dave inside.

I got Gracie into a car seat, giving her Sprinkles to hold onto while the guys slid in next to me.

"Ashton." Michael handed me his phone and I saw he had Carter on the line.

"Hey." I spoke into it.

"Ash, what is going on?!" Her voice sounded more concerned than I had ever heard it.

"Robert Ramone was in our hotel room. He had a gun." I said.

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed. "He had a gun?!"

"Yeah. I didn't see it but the police said they took it from him when they arrested him."

"And he grabbed you?"

"Yeah, he grabbed my foot and pulled me to the floor, and when I saw him I just grabbed Gracie and ran."

"But you're okay?"

"I'm fine, I just- I'm freaking out. Are you okay, are the police there?"

"Yeah, they came and searched the house, shop and boat, and didn't find anything. But they stationed an officer in front of the door and one at the lot just in case. What about Gracie?"

"She was napping when it happened, she doesn't know what's going on."

"So where are they taking you?"

"How do you know I'm in a car?"

"I'm watching it on the news. It's live coverage. I just saw you walk out holding Gracie but it was for a second."

"They're taking us to a new hotel for safety precautions."

"Ash do we need to come back?"

"No. I want you to stay there for right now until I figure out how he got in our room and basically what the hell is happening."

"Are you sure?"

"No." I sighed. "I really can't think right now."

"It's okay...I'm just glad you're all safe and no one got hurt."

"Me too. Is Ender up?" I asked, knowing it was late over there.

"Yeah. We're watching the news together. They have a helicopter following your car right now."

"I can't even believe this is happening."

"I know. This is crazy. I mean how did he get into our hotel room? He would've had to have a key and the only people who do are us and the guys."

"I have no idea." I breathed. "I don't think I've ever been that scared. I saw his face and I just froze."

"Oh my God." She exhaled. "I don't even want to imagine. Ash, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"I know, I'm just scared for you."

"Yeah."

At that moment the car stopped.

"Hey I think we're at the new place."

"Okay. Will you call me please after you talk to the police?"

"Yeah. I'll call you in a few."

"Okay. I love you."

"I love you too."

After ending the call I handed the phone back to Michael and got Gracie out of her seat.

An officer opened the door and Brad reached for Gracie to cover her while I got out and then took her from him, being escorted inside.

We were rushed into an elevator, packed full of police officers, the guys, our body guards, and me and Gracie.

"Daddy, what we doing?"

"We're going to a new hotel." I told her as she moved her hands over my chest.

"Why, Daddy?"

"Because we are." I said and she then began to play with the strings of the hoodie I was wearing.

The elevator stopped and then the doors opened and hotel staff led us to a room.

I set Gracie down and she took Sprinkles before running over to the window to look outside.

Officer Waylon walked over to me and led me to a sofa.

"Mr. Irwin, this is the man who was in our your room that we apprehended."

"Yes." I nodded as he showed me a mug shot of Robert Ramone.

"And you said his name was Robert Ramone?"

"Yes." I said again. "Why?"

"We ran his finger prints in our system and his name came up as Leroy Phillips."

"Wait, what?"

"His name isn't Robert Ramone."

"So you're telling me that the man who filed a lawsuit for custody of my daughter isn't who he said he is. Why would he change his name?"

"Mr. Irwin, i'm not sure that he's even her birth father." He said and I was completely taken aback. "We're opening up an investigation, we will compare his DNA to your daughters, we have a search warrant for his home and officers are on their way there now. As information arrives I will let you know but I believe this is bigger than we think."

He stood up and walked away, calling someone on his phone and crossing the room.

Immediately I dragged out my phone to tell Carter what the officer had said to me.

What the hell was happening?

--

What the hell is happening?

What the hell do you think is happening?

What the hell do I have planned??

Have to read to find out ;)

Much love xx -M