Another few weeks passed, and divorce paper's showed up on Taylor's doorstep.
Natalie had never come back with their kids, or even made an attempt to contact
him. He had tried many times to get a hold of her, and had even flown to Georgia
himself to try getting her back. But she insisted he go home and go on with his
life. She didn't want to deal with Ashley anymore, not even for Arielle. She
missed her, and she did miss her husband. But she was just done with the whole
situation.
He was confused and upset. He still loved Natalie more than anything, and
couldn't see living his life without her. Not to mention she had taken the kids
away from him. He missed them so much. But the more time he spent with Ashley,
the more he felt that old connection with her again. He could feel himself
falling for her all over again. Unwillingly signing the divorce papers, he filed
a custody suit for the kids. He wasn't going to let Natalie take them away from
him. He knew that much.
HIm and Ashley were out at the park with Christopher and Arielle, who were a
short distance away from them playing catch with a baseball.
" Christopher almost looks happy again." Ashley smiled, as she watched them.
" Yeah. I think his time with Zac and the counseling session are helping
him." Taylor said, looking over at her.
" I guess maybe him staying with them was for the best." She sighed. " But I
sure hate being without him. Arielle too. It's so lonely at home."
" I sort of know how you feel. With Natalie and my kids being gone, it's
just... it sucks. Sure I have Arielle and I have more time to work on my music,
but I can barely even concentrate on that right now."
" But you need to be a good influence and try hard for Arielle." She told
him. " That is the only way she will keep working through her situation. We need
to work on our stuff too."
" I know. There's no way I could give up my music anyway. Ike and Zac would
never let me for one, and plus it is something that I love to do. I would miss
it too much."
She smiled at him. " You always have loved it. That was one of the things I
have always loved about you. You've always been so passionate about it."
He smiled back. " Always will be."
Arielle looked their way and smiled. Her dad looked kind of happy at the
moment with her mom, and although she wasn't sure how she felt about them
getting together, she was glad to see him smile again. She knew the divorce was
hard on him, and especially being apart from his kids made it worse. She missed
them too, as well as Natalie. She had talked to her recently, giving her a call
one afternoon when she was really bored. It had been a nice conversation, but
she got the feeling that Natalie didn't want to continue that friendship that
they had.
" Arielle, your not even paying attention!" Christopher yelled her way. He
had thrown the ball over her way, and she missed catching it. It was laying by
her feet.
" Sorry Christopher." She grabbed the ball, and tossed it over at him. He
caught the ball and threw it back. " I just have stuff on my mind."
Taylor walked up to them, and gave her a little smile. " You okay, sweetie?"
" Yeah. I was just... thinking about Natalie. I know you miss her, and... I
kind of do too."
He nodded. " But you'll see her again. She may not want to have anything to
do with me again, but we have kids together. She can't change that."
Tossing the ball back at Christopher again, she felt tears come to her eyes.
" I'm sorry she is divorcing you, dad."
He gave her a big hug, and kissed her cheek. " It's okay, Arielle. I'll be
fine. Especially since I have you."
" You have mom too. She's really been there for you. And I think your sort of
growing on Christopher too." She said, hugging him back.
He laughed. " You think he might really like me if I suggest Dairy Queen for
a little snack?"
They hugged again, and he made the suggestion to Christopher and Ashley. They
both agreed it sounded really good, and they walked back to the car.
________________________________________________________
Isaac and Nikki had just gotten out of an ultrasound appointment, and
everything with their baby turned out to be just fine. They found out they were
having a baby girl, and both were very happy.
" A little baby girl, Isaac. We are going to have a daughter." Nikki threw
her arms around him, and kissed him. " Can you believe it?"
Isaac smiled and kissed her back. " I can't wait to have a daughter."
" Do you think we should tell everyone else or wait? I wouldn't want to bring
everything back for Arielle. She's doing so well right now." She looked at him,
giving it some thought. The last thing she wanted was to upset Arielle.
" I think she could handle it. Especially if we stick with our plan. We did
decide to name the baby after her, if it was a girl. We're still doing that,
right?" He asked.
" Yeah. I think giving our daughter her middle name as a first name is a
great idea." Nikki told him. " I would think Arielle would love that. I hope so
anyway."
" There's only one way to find out. Let's go visit her." Isaac got into the
drivers seat, and buckled up his seatbelt.
She got in and buckled her seatbelt. " I think they were going to the park,
but I suppose we could go and wait until they get back."
" Then that is what we will do." He started the car, and drove off.
Sure enough Taylor and Arielle were still gone when they showed up at the
house, so they turned on the radio and listened to music until they did show up.
Ashley showed up with them when they did get back, and Christopher was with too.
Along with everyone else, they had noticed how much more time Taylor was
spending with Ashley and wondered if something was there between them once
again.
Getting out of the car, Isaac smiled Arielle's way as she got out of Taylor's
car. When she saw him and Nikki, she smiled back and ran over to give them each
a hug. " What are you two doing here?" She asked, kissing them both on the
cheek.
" Well, we have some news that we wanted to share with you. Not to mention an
idea that we wanted to run by you. Can me and Nikki talk with you alone for a
few minutes, Arielle?" Isaac asked.
" Of course." She looked over at her dad and Ashley. " I"ll be right in." She
told them.
They nodded, and went inside. Isaac and Nikki sat on the front steps with
her, and smiled at her. " So we just got through with an ultrasound
appointment." Nikki told her. " And we found out the sex of the baby."
" And you wanted to tell me first? Why?" Arielle asked, looking at them
curiously.
" Well, we had been talking about names lately. Now that we know what we are
having, we wanted to ask you something important." Isaac told her.
" We're having a little girl, Arielle. And we would very much like to use
your middle name of Leigh as her first name, if that is okay with you." Nikki
smiled, hoping that she would like the idea.
" We also have talked about who we wanted as the god mother." He said, not
giving Arielle a chance to speak. " We would like you to be it."
Now that they were finished spilling the news and asking to use her name and
if she wanted to be the godmother, they saw tears spring to her eyes, and they
weren't sure if they were happy tears or sad tears.
" You... you really... want to name her after me?" She asked. " And to... be
the godmother?"
" We would love it if you would. Please." Nikki looked at her hopefully. She
gave her a little hug.
" We would be so honored if you would."
Arielle smiled, and hugged Nikki back. " I would love it, to be the
godmother. Especially if you named her after me. Thank you so much for asking."
She gave Isaac a big hug too.
" Anytime." He hugged her back. " Let's go tell your mom and dad the big
news. I think they will be happy to hear it."
They went inside, and sure enough Taylor and Ashley were happy to hear the
news. Maybe a little unsure about the idea of her being a godmother, but they
saw how happy it made Arielle and said nothing.
________________________________________________________
As time went on, Taylor slowly began to realize that as much as he loved
Natalie, that he still very much had strong feelings for Ashley. As his divorce
was finalized, he was gaining up the courage to move on and ask her out on a
real date. She had been there every step of the way for him as he went through
the divorce and the custody battle that was about to begin. He knew it was tough
for her to be there as only a friend when she wanted so much more, but she had
hung in there for him and waited as paitently as she could for him to maybe want
so much more with her.
He was planning on something really romantic for the two of
them, and was in the middle of making a reservation at Dalesandro's when Arielle came in the room. He finished the call, and looked up at
her. " What's up?" He asked.
" Well, I did overhear a little bit of that. Are you taking mom out on a
date? Or asking someone else to go out with you?" Arielle asked, handing him
some mail she had in her hands for him.
" I am hoping your mom still wants to be with me. I've led her on long enough
to believe we could maybe end up together, but haven't made the move yet. You
think she'll want to go out with me still, sweetie?" He asked.
Arielle smiled. " I am almost positive she would say yes. Give her a call."
She walked out of the room, and left him to make the call.
He went through his mail quickly, and then picked up his cell phone to call
Ashley. Dialing the number, he actually grew a little nervous. She picked up on
the fourth ring, and his heart skipped a beat to hear her voice. " Hey
Taylor."
" Hey Ashley. I hope I'm calling at a good time."
" Yeah. Is everything okay, Taylor? You sound kind of... nervous or
something." She could hear it in his voice.
" Everything is more than fine. I just... I had... a question to ask you.
Something important." He told her.
She giggled. " Are you calling to ask me out on a date Jordan Taylor Hanson?"
She asked, although she was sure she knew the answer to that.
He sighed. " Yes. I was hoping I could take you out to dinner tomorrow
night.Could I?"
" I would love to, Taylor." She smiled to herself. " What time shall I expect
you tomorrow?"
He gave her the details, and they hung up. Arielle must have been standing
the doorway listening in on his part of the conversation, because she came back
in and playfully teased him about how nervous he had been. Then she suggested
they go shopping for a new outfit for dinner, and he actually went along with
the idea.
Taylor had ended up picking out a denim button down shirt and a pair of Levi
relaxed fit jeans for their date, and as the time drew near their date, he began
to feel a little more nervous. He was very excited to be taking Ashley on a
date, but he was afraid at the same time. It was like starting all over again
with a new relationship.
____________________________________________________________
Arielle had brought her mom out shopping that evening as well, and helped her
get ready the very next day before her dad showed up to pick her up. She dressed
in a navy blue lace handkerchief dress and pulled her hair into a bun, leaving a
few strands to hang loose. She thought her mom looked absolutely beautiful.
Acting like any other parent would, just because she could, she had brought a
camera over to steal a few pics before they could leave on their date.
Christopher was over too, and he seemed happy that his mom was going on a date
with Taylor.
When the doorbell rang, Ashley opened the door with a smile on her face. He
smiled back, and she felt herself get weak in the knees. " Wow. You look very
handsome, Taylor." She told him.
" Thank you." He smiled, and bringing his hand out from behind his back
revealed that he had gotten her a boquet of Asiatic lilies, waxflower,
alsetromemeria and roses.
" Those are beautiful, Taylor!" She took them from him, and let him inside. "
Thank you so much." She handed the flowers to Arielle, who just gave them to
Christopher to put into some water.
" Your not getting away that easily." Arielle laughed. " I am getting a
picture of you two. Now pose for the camera."
" I am the mother and you are not, Arielle. Now we are leaving. Let's get out
of here, Taylor. Quick." Ashley laughed at her daughter, and started to head out
the door.
He grabbed her by the hand and smiled at her. " I think we can take one
picture for our daughter. Come on."
With a sigh, she came back in and let Arielle take one picture with her
holding the bouquet of flowers. " Is that good enough for you now, Arielle?" She
asked.
" Yeah. Go enjoy your dinner." Arielle smiled. " I'm going to take
Christopher back to Zac and Kate's, maybe hang out over there for a bit."
Taylor nodded and smiled at her. " We'll see you later." Taking Ashley by the
hand, he led her out the door and to the car. Opening the car door for her, she
thanked him and got in.
Natalie had never come back with their kids, or even made an attempt to contact
him. He had tried many times to get a hold of her, and had even flown to Georgia
himself to try getting her back. But she insisted he go home and go on with his
life. She didn't want to deal with Ashley anymore, not even for Arielle. She
missed her, and she did miss her husband. But she was just done with the whole
situation.
He was confused and upset. He still loved Natalie more than anything, and
couldn't see living his life without her. Not to mention she had taken the kids
away from him. He missed them so much. But the more time he spent with Ashley,
the more he felt that old connection with her again. He could feel himself
falling for her all over again. Unwillingly signing the divorce papers, he filed
a custody suit for the kids. He wasn't going to let Natalie take them away from
him. He knew that much.
HIm and Ashley were out at the park with Christopher and Arielle, who were a
short distance away from them playing catch with a baseball.
" Christopher almost looks happy again." Ashley smiled, as she watched them.
" Yeah. I think his time with Zac and the counseling session are helping
him." Taylor said, looking over at her.
" I guess maybe him staying with them was for the best." She sighed. " But I
sure hate being without him. Arielle too. It's so lonely at home."
" I sort of know how you feel. With Natalie and my kids being gone, it's
just... it sucks. Sure I have Arielle and I have more time to work on my music,
but I can barely even concentrate on that right now."
" But you need to be a good influence and try hard for Arielle." She told
him. " That is the only way she will keep working through her situation. We need
to work on our stuff too."
" I know. There's no way I could give up my music anyway. Ike and Zac would
never let me for one, and plus it is something that I love to do. I would miss
it too much."
She smiled at him. " You always have loved it. That was one of the things I
have always loved about you. You've always been so passionate about it."
He smiled back. " Always will be."
Arielle looked their way and smiled. Her dad looked kind of happy at the
moment with her mom, and although she wasn't sure how she felt about them
getting together, she was glad to see him smile again. She knew the divorce was
hard on him, and especially being apart from his kids made it worse. She missed
them too, as well as Natalie. She had talked to her recently, giving her a call
one afternoon when she was really bored. It had been a nice conversation, but
she got the feeling that Natalie didn't want to continue that friendship that
they had.
" Arielle, your not even paying attention!" Christopher yelled her way. He
had thrown the ball over her way, and she missed catching it. It was laying by
her feet.
" Sorry Christopher." She grabbed the ball, and tossed it over at him. He
caught the ball and threw it back. " I just have stuff on my mind."
Taylor walked up to them, and gave her a little smile. " You okay, sweetie?"
" Yeah. I was just... thinking about Natalie. I know you miss her, and... I
kind of do too."
He nodded. " But you'll see her again. She may not want to have anything to
do with me again, but we have kids together. She can't change that."
Tossing the ball back at Christopher again, she felt tears come to her eyes.
" I'm sorry she is divorcing you, dad."
He gave her a big hug, and kissed her cheek. " It's okay, Arielle. I'll be
fine. Especially since I have you."
" You have mom too. She's really been there for you. And I think your sort of
growing on Christopher too." She said, hugging him back.
He laughed. " You think he might really like me if I suggest Dairy Queen for
a little snack?"
They hugged again, and he made the suggestion to Christopher and Ashley. They
both agreed it sounded really good, and they walked back to the car.
________________________________________________________
Isaac and Nikki had just gotten out of an ultrasound appointment, and
everything with their baby turned out to be just fine. They found out they were
having a baby girl, and both were very happy.
" A little baby girl, Isaac. We are going to have a daughter." Nikki threw
her arms around him, and kissed him. " Can you believe it?"
Isaac smiled and kissed her back. " I can't wait to have a daughter."
" Do you think we should tell everyone else or wait? I wouldn't want to bring
everything back for Arielle. She's doing so well right now." She looked at him,
giving it some thought. The last thing she wanted was to upset Arielle.
" I think she could handle it. Especially if we stick with our plan. We did
decide to name the baby after her, if it was a girl. We're still doing that,
right?" He asked.
" Yeah. I think giving our daughter her middle name as a first name is a
great idea." Nikki told him. " I would think Arielle would love that. I hope so
anyway."
" There's only one way to find out. Let's go visit her." Isaac got into the
drivers seat, and buckled up his seatbelt.
She got in and buckled her seatbelt. " I think they were going to the park,
but I suppose we could go and wait until they get back."
" Then that is what we will do." He started the car, and drove off.
Sure enough Taylor and Arielle were still gone when they showed up at the
house, so they turned on the radio and listened to music until they did show up.
Ashley showed up with them when they did get back, and Christopher was with too.
Along with everyone else, they had noticed how much more time Taylor was
spending with Ashley and wondered if something was there between them once
again.
Getting out of the car, Isaac smiled Arielle's way as she got out of Taylor's
car. When she saw him and Nikki, she smiled back and ran over to give them each
a hug. " What are you two doing here?" She asked, kissing them both on the
cheek.
" Well, we have some news that we wanted to share with you. Not to mention an
idea that we wanted to run by you. Can me and Nikki talk with you alone for a
few minutes, Arielle?" Isaac asked.
" Of course." She looked over at her dad and Ashley. " I"ll be right in." She
told them.
They nodded, and went inside. Isaac and Nikki sat on the front steps with
her, and smiled at her. " So we just got through with an ultrasound
appointment." Nikki told her. " And we found out the sex of the baby."
" And you wanted to tell me first? Why?" Arielle asked, looking at them
curiously.
" Well, we had been talking about names lately. Now that we know what we are
having, we wanted to ask you something important." Isaac told her.
" We're having a little girl, Arielle. And we would very much like to use
your middle name of Leigh as her first name, if that is okay with you." Nikki
smiled, hoping that she would like the idea.
" We also have talked about who we wanted as the god mother." He said, not
giving Arielle a chance to speak. " We would like you to be it."
Now that they were finished spilling the news and asking to use her name and
if she wanted to be the godmother, they saw tears spring to her eyes, and they
weren't sure if they were happy tears or sad tears.
" You... you really... want to name her after me?" She asked. " And to... be
the godmother?"
" We would love it if you would. Please." Nikki looked at her hopefully. She
gave her a little hug.
" We would be so honored if you would."
Arielle smiled, and hugged Nikki back. " I would love it, to be the
godmother. Especially if you named her after me. Thank you so much for asking."
She gave Isaac a big hug too.
" Anytime." He hugged her back. " Let's go tell your mom and dad the big
news. I think they will be happy to hear it."
They went inside, and sure enough Taylor and Ashley were happy to hear the
news. Maybe a little unsure about the idea of her being a godmother, but they
saw how happy it made Arielle and said nothing.
________________________________________________________
As time went on, Taylor slowly began to realize that as much as he loved
Natalie, that he still very much had strong feelings for Ashley. As his divorce
was finalized, he was gaining up the courage to move on and ask her out on a
real date. She had been there every step of the way for him as he went through
the divorce and the custody battle that was about to begin. He knew it was tough
for her to be there as only a friend when she wanted so much more, but she had
hung in there for him and waited as paitently as she could for him to maybe want
so much more with her.
He was planning on something really romantic for the two of
them, and was in the middle of making a reservation at Dalesandro's when Arielle came in the room. He finished the call, and looked up at
her. " What's up?" He asked.
" Well, I did overhear a little bit of that. Are you taking mom out on a
date? Or asking someone else to go out with you?" Arielle asked, handing him
some mail she had in her hands for him.
" I am hoping your mom still wants to be with me. I've led her on long enough
to believe we could maybe end up together, but haven't made the move yet. You
think she'll want to go out with me still, sweetie?" He asked.
Arielle smiled. " I am almost positive she would say yes. Give her a call."
She walked out of the room, and left him to make the call.
He went through his mail quickly, and then picked up his cell phone to call
Ashley. Dialing the number, he actually grew a little nervous. She picked up on
the fourth ring, and his heart skipped a beat to hear her voice. " Hey
Taylor."
" Hey Ashley. I hope I'm calling at a good time."
" Yeah. Is everything okay, Taylor? You sound kind of... nervous or
something." She could hear it in his voice.
" Everything is more than fine. I just... I had... a question to ask you.
Something important." He told her.
She giggled. " Are you calling to ask me out on a date Jordan Taylor Hanson?"
She asked, although she was sure she knew the answer to that.
He sighed. " Yes. I was hoping I could take you out to dinner tomorrow
night.Could I?"
" I would love to, Taylor." She smiled to herself. " What time shall I expect
you tomorrow?"
He gave her the details, and they hung up. Arielle must have been standing
the doorway listening in on his part of the conversation, because she came back
in and playfully teased him about how nervous he had been. Then she suggested
they go shopping for a new outfit for dinner, and he actually went along with
the idea.
Taylor had ended up picking out a denim button down shirt and a pair of Levi
relaxed fit jeans for their date, and as the time drew near their date, he began
to feel a little more nervous. He was very excited to be taking Ashley on a
date, but he was afraid at the same time. It was like starting all over again
with a new relationship.
____________________________________________________________
Arielle had brought her mom out shopping that evening as well, and helped her
get ready the very next day before her dad showed up to pick her up. She dressed
in a navy blue lace handkerchief dress and pulled her hair into a bun, leaving a
few strands to hang loose. She thought her mom looked absolutely beautiful.
Acting like any other parent would, just because she could, she had brought a
camera over to steal a few pics before they could leave on their date.
Christopher was over too, and he seemed happy that his mom was going on a date
with Taylor.
When the doorbell rang, Ashley opened the door with a smile on her face. He
smiled back, and she felt herself get weak in the knees. " Wow. You look very
handsome, Taylor." She told him.
" Thank you." He smiled, and bringing his hand out from behind his back
revealed that he had gotten her a boquet of Asiatic lilies, waxflower,
alsetromemeria and roses.
" Those are beautiful, Taylor!" She took them from him, and let him inside. "
Thank you so much." She handed the flowers to Arielle, who just gave them to
Christopher to put into some water.
" Your not getting away that easily." Arielle laughed. " I am getting a
picture of you two. Now pose for the camera."
" I am the mother and you are not, Arielle. Now we are leaving. Let's get out
of here, Taylor. Quick." Ashley laughed at her daughter, and started to head out
the door.
He grabbed her by the hand and smiled at her. " I think we can take one
picture for our daughter. Come on."
With a sigh, she came back in and let Arielle take one picture with her
holding the bouquet of flowers. " Is that good enough for you now, Arielle?" She
asked.
" Yeah. Go enjoy your dinner." Arielle smiled. " I'm going to take
Christopher back to Zac and Kate's, maybe hang out over there for a bit."
Taylor nodded and smiled at her. " We'll see you later." Taking Ashley by the
hand, he led her out the door and to the car. Opening the car door for her, she
thanked him and got in.