Alexa's Point of View

Benny stood with his left hand in his pocket, his right hand held his phone up to his ear. I could barely make out what he was saying though, "..You serious..?..been gone for..and she's my..too..you're acting ridiculous..don't you have a..go take of?!"

I sighed, I only hoped he wasn't talking about me but that was highly unlikely. It was definitely about me.

"Here's your food," Samantha said snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Thanks Sam," I said looking up at her.

He nodded her head and walking away. I looked back over to Benny who was walking towards the table.

"Is everything okay?" I asked him.

"Yeah," He said putting on a smile. "Well the food came out quick."

"Perks of being Alexa Miller," I smiled with a hint of laughter.

He was glancing down the pancake platter, "I'm confused."

I laughed, "There's a bunch of different types of pancakes. It's like a variety pack. Plain, chocolate chip, blueberry, banana, and Oreo. There's also different syrup flavors you can choose from," I explain.

"Say no more," He said reaching for the Oreo pancakes.

I grabbed the banana pancakes and poured strawberry syrup on it, "Oh this is so good."

"I'm gonna use maple," He said grabbing the maple syrup.

I scrunched up my face in disgust earning an eye roll from Ben as we continued to eat.

***

He pushed past the doors and led me to his car, opening the passenger seat for me. Once we were both buckled in, I went to reach for the radio to turn on the music.

"Wait," He said. "I want to talk to you."

"Oh okay," I said retracting my hand.  "About what?"

"Have you uh.. seen Aaron..?" Asked Ben.

I sighed and looked out the window, "Yeah."

"How did it go?" He asked, his voice full of concern.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I mean, I know, but I don't know how to feel about it."

"What happened?" He asked another question.

"He invited me over last night. I went but.. then I saw the-the baby," I said still in disbelief. "I just left. I didn't say anything I just left." There was a short pause. "It's his?" I looked over to Ben who nodded slowly. "Fuck," I said putting my head in my hands.

I let in a deep inhale before crying into my hands, "I hate him so much Benny. I hate him. How could he do this to me?"

"Alexa you.. disappeared," Ben said softly.

"Because of him!" I exclaimed. "He's such an asshole and he always has been."

"You know that's not true. Right?" Ben said, speaking rationally.

I shook my head, "What's her name?"

"Aspen Elizabeth Hull," Ben smiled. "And of course, I'm godfather."

"That's sweet," I nodded my head.

"Just.. talk to him. Okay? Give him a chance to explain himself," Ben said. "I can bring you there. He really want to see you."

"Okay," I shrugged my shoulders as Ben continued to drive, the house was only another block away.

Soon enough, Ben pulled into the paved highway.

"I'll see you later Alexa," Ben smiled and hugged me tight.

"See you," I said as I got out the car and walked up to the front door.

I pushed the doorbell and waited patiently for Aaron to come to the door. And soon enough, the door swung open revealing the curly headed boy.

"Hey," He said softly.

"Hi," I said looking at my feet.

"Come in, we should talk."

"Yeah," I took in a deep breath as I walked into the house.

He led me into the living room. Beautiful black leather couches matched the modern theme of his  living room. We both sat down, it was quiet as we were both unsure what to say to one another.

"That was Aspen," He said. "My daughter."

"I know," I said swallowing the lump in my throat.

"Her mom was just some girl I hooked up with in college," Aaron said. "She didn't want Aspen.. she kept her a secret from her family and when Aspen was born she signed all her rights over to me. She came from a very conservative family set on her future being bright and no child would ruin that for her." I nodded my head and allowed him to continue. "She doesn't quite understand that. Whenever she sees a female she wonders if that's her mom."

I felt my heart sank, "I'm sorry Aaron."

"No, no," He said sniffling as he was getting choked up. "I just hate to think my daughter is gonna grow up without having that bond. Without having love from her mother."

I placed my hand on Aaron's, "I get it Aaron, I do."

"She's a really sweet baby," He sniffled with a small smile. "I love her more than life."

"That's good," I said softly.

"Why did you leave?" He asked.

"I just- I couldn't stay Aaron. There was nothing left for me here," I shrugged looking down at my hands.

"But I loved you so much," He said sniffling. "I still love you so goddamn much."

I stayed quiet as I was shocked snd didn't know what to say. I felt his hand under my chin as he lifted my head up to face him, "I said I love you." His tone got more serious.

We leaned into one another, violently kissing. We both had missed each other so much we both knew what we wanted.

He pushed me down onto the couch and shifted his body weight onto me, quickly unfastening my clothes as I did to him.

"I love you so much," He said to me as he gripped the sides of my neck tightly  and started to love me.