10 Years

6 - Truth

PRESENT TIME

"I know you heard me Amara, Is she mine?"

"Asher" I whispered, taking a further step out onto the balcony, I closed the door behind me

"No Amara, I'm not an idiot so stop treating me like one, Jesus Christ - She looks just like me" he sighed, running a hand over his face he looked me back at me "Please, please just tell me the truth ok, she is my fucking daughter isn't she?"

"Yes" I let the words fall out of my mouth "Yes Asher, She is yours"

"What the fuck Amara" His voice was loud, his face twisted in anger,

"Asher Please calm down"

"Nope, you don't get to dismiss this Amara, and you don't get to play happy families with Hunter. I have a fucking daughter and you didn't even have the decency to tell me about her, how could you do this to me?"

"Ash" I stepped closer to him, tears filling my eyes "I didn't want to hurt you"

"Wait, this why you left isn't it" I didn't answer, I didn't need too - my head hanging down and my eyes glued to the floor was enough to give him his answer "Well this is fucking fantastic"

"I did it for you Ash, don't you get it, everything I did was for you, was so you could live the life you wanted, the life you worked hard for"

"What" His tone was clipped - short, but his eyes betrayed him - he was hurt "How was any of this for my benefit"

"I knew if I told you it would change your life, I knew once you found out you would drop everything that you had worked so hard for and I didn't want you to have to give that up for me"

"Give it up for you" he chuckled under his breath and ran his hand through his hair, "Of course I would have given it up Amara, I fucking loved you, you were my whole god damn world, and she is MY daughter - MINE"

"But I didn't want to do that to you Ash, don't you get it - you wanted to be a Doctor for so long it wasn't fair for me to do this to you" Asher moved a step closer to me, his hands coming to my face he used his thumbs to wipe away my tears,

"But this was something WE did, this should have been OUR decision, god Amara, we made a baby together and you took away my right to be a father to her, to OUR child"

"I am so sorry Ash, it honestly felt like the right thing to do, I"

"Your the reason I stayed here you know" he interrupted me "You're the reason I never went to Med School, I never left because I was waiting for you, hoping you would come back to me"

"What, Ash, No" He nodded his, his hands moving to my waist, his eyed were locked on mine,

"I was so fucking depressed when you left, your phone was disconnected, your parents wouldn't tell me where you'd gone, so I stayed here in hope that you would come back one day"

"Oh my god Ash, I am so sorry" I sobbed but couldn't remove my eyes from his, he sighed deeply

"Bree helped me, she was the one who helped me, got my ass out of bed everyday, made sure I enrolled in the local uni, she got me to eat, but she couldn't give me the answer I actually wanted, the answer I needed"

"Does she know about what we had?" he shook his head, slowly

"No, I never told her"

"Why Ash, she is your wife, she should know shouldn't she?"

"Amara, I couldn't tell her, I can't tell her Ok"

"Why Ash" He just shook his head, pausing as he placed his forehead against mine "Ash?"