October 2009

Dylan Chasez hadn’t remembered ever living with both of her parents. When she had been small, her father had taken up with her mother for about three months when her mother was doing theatre in Orlando. That had been four years ago now. She’d been back and forth to Los Angeles for as long as she could remember to see her dad once a month during the school year and for six weeks in the summer. When her father had the time, he would fly out to see Dylan in Orlando as much as possible. Things were cordial between her parents, but they were more or less strangers now and Dylan knew it. She was somewhat jealous of Briahna. Briahna’s parents were married and loved each other. And she didn’t understand why her own parents couldn’t just make up over whatever it was that had torn them a part. But it was too late now. Because last night her mother   had said ‘yes’ to marrying Seth, the boyfriend who’d been around for the last 2 years. They met on the set of a game show that Dylan’s mother had hosted a while back. It had been canceled since then, but the relationship had continued, much to Dylan’s chagrin.

Dylan didn’t really care for Seth. He was always nice enough to her, but there were times when she’d be with them at dinner and felt as though she were getting on his nerves. He had told her mother that he’d always love Dylan as one of his own children, but Dylan hadn’t liked hearing that. There was only one father and his name was Josh and he didn’t live here. And she’d overheard Seth and her mother talking about how once they were married, they’d move to his house. She knew her mother was paying rent to her father because it was technically his house, but once her mother moved, her father had told Dylan he was going to sell it. Seth’s house was across town and not near Briahna at all. She would have to switch schools, switch gymnastics and dance classes, and make new friends. Her mother had tried to be encouraging about the ‘making new friends’ part, but Dylan was not excited in the least.

“I don’t want you to move,” Briahna was telling Dylan one day as they shared a snack of carrots and veggie dip. They were at Briahna’s house after school and sitting outside on the back patio.

“I don’t want to move, either,” Dylan frowned, biting into a carrot. “Mom says that our house now is too much to keep up and that Dad wanted to sell it anyway.”

“But you’ll still come over here a lot, right?” Briahna prodded.

“Yes! I already told my mom that I would only still be best friends with you no matter what,” Dylan assured her friend.

“My dad says he would come pick you up whenever you wanted to come and play with me!” Briahna told her. “So I’m just going to tell him everyday that you want to come over!”

Kelly was listening from the screen door that led outside and heard the conversation between the two girls. They were both eight-and-a-half now and had never known anything else but each other until they’d started school. And even after being in the same class and with each other all the time, they still were inseparable. They shared the same friends, but Dylan was never without Briahna and Briahna was never without Dylan. And in March, Becca would be moving them across town, which was a full forty-five minutes both ways and Kelly knew that both girls, who’d only been a two-minute drive from each other, would be heartbroken once the move happened. She was happy for Becca, who’d become a good friend in the last few years, but she often wondered if Becca was truly happy with Seth. He was a nice enough guy, he treated Becca great, he was good to Dylan, but there was just something about him that Kelly didn’t like. She’d shared her thoughts with Joey, who’d only told her that she was just rooting for Josh and Becca to get back all along.

“It’s been almost four years, honey,” Joey had reminded her. “Josh ruined it when he slept with that girl in L.A.”

“They both ruined it. They should’ve just found a neutral place to live. It’s not right, Joey. I see Dylan’s eyes when she comes over here and she is yearning to have a family like we have. She’s even told me she wished her parents lived together,” Kelly had responded. “I just hate all of it.”

“I know,” Joey had kissed her cheek. “I know you do. I do, too. But we’ve got to learn to move on from that. It’s not going to get back to what it was ever again, I’m afraid.”

Los Angeles

Josh heard his phone buzzing and was already late for a meeting at MTV. He grabbed it and hopped in his car, speeding off towards the freeway.

“Hello?”

“Hi, Daddy,”

Josh smiled when he heard his daughter’s voice on the other end. He could be having the worst day, but hearing from Dylan always made it better.

“Hi, honey. What are you up to?”

“I was playing at Briahna’s today,” she said. “And I stayed for dinner and Uncle Joey took us on a bike ride.”

“That sounds great, baby girl. Are you back at home now?”

“Yes,” her voice quavered and Josh could hear it.

“Are you okay honey?”

“Daddy, Mom’s getting married,” Dylan suddenly burst into tears, but was sure to be quiet. She didn’t want her mother to hear her.

Josh sucked in his breath and let out a sigh. He’d expected it to come sooner or later. Seth was the boyfriend she’d dated the longest since they’d broken up. Dylan had told him countless times that she didn’t like Seth all that much. Josh had never bad mouthed Seth to her because he knew it would be a blow to Becca and something she could use against him at some point.

“Well, honey, you should be happy for Mom,” Josh was biting his tongue hard here. He didn’t want to agree with her and tell her that he didn’t like it either.

“No!” Dylan sobbed a little louder. “Daddy, we have to move. And I have to leave my school and Briahna and dance and everything! And Mom says you are going to sell our house!”

Well, that was true. Josh had told Becca if, for any reason she left, he’d probably sell the house. He knew that he could never go back there without her in it.

“Sweetie, I know. I know this is hard for you and –“

“I don’t like Seth, Daddy. I don’t want to live with him. Why can’t you live here? Why can’t you be in Orlando and I could come live with you!”

Josh was silent once more and shook his head, banging his fist against the steering wheel. He wanted to. He wanted to be out there more than anything. And here was his daughter, begging him to come out there again. But this time, he figured he could somehow make it work. He would have to make it work. He didn’t ever want to have to hear Dylan sobbing like that again. It broke his heart. He would figure something out, even if it meant flying to L.A. to film on the weekends for America’s Best Dance Crew. He’d do it if it meant that he’d have his daughter with him for as much as he wanted.

One Week Later

Becca was in shock as she listened to Josh on the other end of the phone. He was moving back to Orlando. He was going to live in the house she would be moving out of. And the biggest blow of all – Dylan wanted to live with him. Her heart switched places with her stomach. She was angry. How dare he do this to her? Then again, she had had Dylan all to herself more or less for the past eight and a half years. But no, that’s how it was supposed to be. Or how she wanted it to be. She liked the fact that Josh’s work had kept him in L.A. ever since they’d broken up. She liked it because she had Dylan. As awful as it sounded, it was part of her revenge for his sleeping with someone else. She got their kid. He got her part time. But now, that was all going to change.

“Why does she want to live with you?” Becca demanded. “Did you bribe her with something?!”

“Well, no, but I’m not the one getting married and making her move away from her best friend, from her school, from everything she’s known since she was a little girl, am I? She doesn’t like your fiancé, Bec. Sorry. And I’ve never had her live with me before and I think I’d like to give it a try,”

“Josh, you’re really going to do this? You’re giving up your career?” Becca’s heart was torn. Why hadn’t he done this from the beginning? Why was he waiting until now, when it was much too late? No. No, she wouldn’t go there.

“I’m not giving it up. I’ll go out to L.A. on the weekends and film. I talked it over with the producers and it’s settled. And it’s not like we won’t live in the same city. We’ve done this before. Only this time, I’m the one who’ll be with her most of the time,”

Becca felt tears stinging at her eyes. He was going to come back. He was going to come back and she was getting married and Dylan wouldn’t be living with her. “Josh, please. Can’t we work something out? I can’t not see her just every weekend. Please. Three and a half days with you and three and a half with me. I’ll take her to school and make sure she gets to her dance school. Just don’t make me give her up like that.”

Josh softened as he listened to Becca on the other line. He still loved her. He’d never stopped and he’d never forgiven himself for what he’d allowed himself to do. “Fine, Becca. Talk to her and call me back tomorrow,” he sighed.

Becca said goodbye and hung up, staring at the phone in her hand and biting a nail. She walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs to Dylan’s room.

“Hi,” she greeted her daughter, who was sitting on her bed reading a Ramona Quimby book. “Can we talk?”

“Yeah,” Dylan nodded, folding a page in the book to mark her place. She put the book on her nightstand and sat up, facing her mother.

“I just got off the phone with Dad,” Becca started. “And he told me you want to live with him. Dylan, I want you to know that we both want you to be happy. But I can’t imagine you not living with me. I’m sorry that I’m making you move and I know you don’t want to leave Briahna. Your father is moving back here, though, and we’ve decided that we’re both going to have you live with us.”

Dylan’s eyes brightened. “Is Daddy going to move in here, too?!” she gasped.

Becca shook her head. “No, honey. No, that means that I’m going to have you Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons and then you’ll go to your dad’s house on Thursday afternoons and I’ll pick you up on Monday from school,”

“But I get to still go to school with Briahna?” Dylan ventured to ask her mother.

Becca nodded. “Yes,” she looked at Dylan seriously. “Baby, you really don’t like Seth? He’s crazy about you.”

“No,” Dylan looked down at her duvet cover and then back at Becca. “No, Mom, I don’t. I don’t like you with him. I only like you with Daddy.”

“Well, honey, you know that me and Daddy haven’t been with each other in a long time. And we both have different lives now. It would never work. I love Seth and one day, I’m sure your father will find someone he loves just as much,” she reached over to touch Dylan’s hand. “But we both love you and we loved each other enough once that we got to have you. And neither of us will ever regret that.”

Dylan only nodded and didn’t say anything else for a minute. “I want to read again. Can you shut the door on the way out?” she hadn’t been rude or sassy when she’d said it. She was simply letting her mother know that there was nothing else to say about the matter.

Becca stood slowly and bent down to kiss the top of Dylan’s head. “I love you, Dyl. And Daddy loves you and Seth loves you. You’re a very lucky girl, kiddo.” She left Dylan’s room and went back to the room that was now hers and used to be Josh’s. She sat down on the edge of the bed and let the tears slowly fall down her cheeks, not bothering to wipe them away.