My stomach knots as the tyres bump against the driveway. I inhale a deep breath and look at Blake. He turns the engine off and stares at me.

"Why does our perfect weekend have to end like this?" I frown.

"Because our mothers were busy and couldn't pick Lo up."

"Really?" I sigh. "Did you tell them the severity of the situation?"

"I even asked Jude, offered him one free favour for later on in life. He was busy too. I think he's just avoiding Tori for the moment."

"Damn it. Next time, we only agree to go away if someone can pick London up."

"Sounds like good thinking." He nods. "Until then, we have to suck it up and face Tori."

"We? No, only one of us needs to be in there and that's you." I snicker.

"For better or for worse." Blake smirks.

"I just had a thought." I smile. "Being single with ten cats sounds great! I'll never have to see, speak or deal with Tori again. You know what, all my other issues dissolve too."

"Ava." He grips my knee. "Please come with me, I need your support."

"Fine." I huff. "But don't think she won't say anything just because I'm there. She goes through me to talk to you."

Blake shakes his head. "You can yawn or fake an emergency."

"Just know, you owe me a big favour."

He leans over the console and plants a kiss on my lips. I cup his cheek to hold him in place. Although, he tugs back and cheekily smiles.

"Now you're just prolonging the whole thing."

"Shh, I like kissing you."

"Come on, Ava."

"Ugh, give a woman a moment to mentally prepare herself. I am walking into enemy territory."

"Mentally prepare yourself quicker."

Blake pushes his door open and slides out of the car. I inhale one more deep breath before slipping out and following him to the front door. My heart thuds away – I've never been so scared of a door before.

He knocks and within a few seconds, the door swings open, revealing Ben on the other side. He smiles cheerily as he motions for us to come inside.

"You're just in time. I want you to meet someone I've been seeing because I value your thoughts."

Blake stains a happy smile as he nods his head. This isn't Blake's version of quickly grabbing London. I imagine it would be the kind where London leaps into the car and he speeds down the road, nothing but dust and the smell of burnt tyres left behind.

"Only if it's quick. I have a little one to take home and feed, oh, and London." Blake chuckles.

"Aw, Blakie, you know me so well." I take his hand to kiss the back of it.

Ben shakes his head with disapproval. "I thought you'd be more excited for me."

"Let me meet the guy first, then I'll see if I should be happy."

He rolls his eyes, then leads us into the lounge room. There, a short tanned man with a bright green shirt awkwardly sits. His eyes are a light hue of honey brown and his hair a mass of brown waves.

"This is Owen, my friend. Owen, this is Blake and Ava."

"Nice to meet you, mate." Blake offers his hand.

Owen jumps up and shakes it. I briefly see Blake look at Ben and smile – a silent gesture of approval. Despite knowing nothing about him, if he makes Ben happy, then I'm all for their relationship.

"It's awesome to finally meet you two, Ben doesn't shut up."

"I hope it is all good things, right? Like the pink feather?" I giggle.

Blake wraps his arm around my waist and tugs me to his side.

"Excuse my darling fiancée, she's a little tired from our weekend holiday."

"Ask Ben later," I whisper.

Blake shoots me a glare, but I smile.

"I should find that cheeky daughter of mine." Blake excuses himself.

"We should get going otherwise we'll miss the movie," Owen comments.

"Right! I'll see you two later."

When Ben and Owen are gone, I take Blake's hand and smile.

"It's cute that Ben has found someone. It's better than what he had with Axel at least."

"Yeah, you're right." He nods.

"We could host a barbeque, get to know him better."

"Yeah, maybe. We can talk more after we grab London."

"Sure."

Little footprints patter down the hallway, then London's squeals when she sees us.

"Daddy, Mummy!"

Blake crouches down to catch London as she leaps into his arms. As he stands up, London wraps her arms around his neck.

"Baby girl, I missed you so much!"

She mutters something which makes Blake smile. I love the way Blake lights up when London is around – it's an overload of adorableness I can never get over.

As soon as Tori steps into the room, the glow vanishes from Blake's face.

"Can we talk before you leave?"

"No, we really need to leave. It's late and London needs dinner."

"Please, it won't take long."

Blake reluctantly passes London to me before following Tori down the hallway. I sit on the couch with London in my lap.

"How was your weekend? Did you have lots of fun with Mum?"

"Good." She nods, her blonde hair falls over her shoulder.

"Just good?" I gasp. "Not fabulous, terrific or amazing?"

"Blake, please, just hear me out." Tori's voice echoes into the room.

I wish they wouldn't fight when London is around – she doesn't need to hear it. I lay London across my lap so that I can tickle her sides. She kicks her legs and she squeals with laughter. The noise is enough to distract London from what's being said.

When their voices go quiet, I re-posting London so that she's sitting on my knees. Her cheeks are rosy red and she's panting.

"What did you do this weekend?"

"We draw pictures, played outside with Uncle Ben and Ows."

"Was Ows over for the whole weekend?"

"Yes." She nods.

"Did he play with you lots?"

"Yeah. It was fun. We built sandy castles."

"You built a sandy castle without me?" I gasp with horror.

"Grab her things, we're going," Blake demands as he storms into the room.

"Okay."

As I look around the room, I notice Tori lingering in the doorway. Tears trickle down her cheek. I hate this so much. Nobody ever gets a happy ending in situations like this.

I collect London's bags and stand beside Blake. Blake and Tori look at each other – I swear they're communicating with their minds. Their facial expressions change without reacting to words.

"Answer this – why won't you let her go?"

I frown. Let her go?

"We've discussed this enough. The answer is no, it'll always be no." His fist clench at his side.

"She's not your daughter, stop pretending like she is."

My eyes dart to Blake. His jaw is clenched.

"She will always be my daughter."

Blake places his hand on my lower back and guides me outside. London buries her face into the crook of my neck as I swiftly walk to the car. Once we're outside, Blake unlocks the vehicle and I place London in her car seat.

"Everything is okay." I poke her nose. "How about something special for dinner? We can have whatever you want."

She nods her head but her blue eyes gloss over with tears.

I stroke her cheek and kiss her head.

"Don't cry baby, everything will be okay." I smile.

Tears trickle down her cheek which breaks my heart. I hate it when she's upset.

"Do you want your unicorn? I bet it in your backpack." I rummage through the bag until I find the plush toy. A small smile curls onto her pink lips at the sight of it.

"Do you promise to keep a secret?"

Her eyes go wide with curiosity.

"Yes." She nods.

"If you snuggle unicorns, they bring you happiness." I hand her the toy and she instantly snuggles her face into the colourful mane.

I close the door and turn to Blake who's standing a few feet from the bonnet of the car.

"Deep breaths – I love you – now get in the passenger seat so that we can go home."

"I can drive."

"I know but I want to."

* * * * *

"Go and unpack your things. Once you've completed that task, can you get ready for a bath?"

"Can we take Barbie mermaid into the bath?"

"Sure thing." I nod.

London wanders to her bedroom while I drag Blake to ours. I close the door before wrapping my arms around him. I don't understand what's happening but I know that I need to be there for him – just like he was for me all those other times.

"Please tell me what's happening," I mumble into his chest. "She can't be right, she told me you were the father."

Blake's arm tightens around my waist. He buries his face into my neck.

"I'm not her father." His body shakes.

I pull back so that I can peek up.

"I looked into the timeline – I wasn't with Tori the week she got pregnant. We were fighting about something tedious – so tedious, I don't remember."

"And? Blake, please tell me I'm wrong. You took a DNA test, she's yours." I bite down on my lip.

"Things got out of control and I got scared."

"What's done is done, I can't change things. I love you no matter what, so please tell me the truth. I promise I won't leave."

Blake sits on the bed, his head in his hand.

"Tori kept telling me London was mine and I believed her. As time passed, things didn't make sense. I submitted the DNA test. It came back positive. I thought Jude was the father, it couldn't be me."

"Okay." I sit beside Blake and grab his hand.

"Jude admitted they never slept together and I freaked out. That meant London had to be mine. I thought I did the math wrong. Honestly, I felt so relieved. Then I got a called from the clinic that ran the DNA test. There was an error."

"Oh no." I sigh.

"I had no clue on who the father could be. Tori never fessed up a name and so I decided that it didn't matter. The moment I held her in my arms, she'd become my daughter. It didn't matter that we weren't blood-related."

"What happened after that?"

"Thanks to you, I started putting the pieces together. I submitted your DNA to be tested."

"Is that even legal?" I frown.

"I didn't want people to get their hopes up. The test came back positive."

"Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Tori thought we should keep it a secret so that we didn't hurt your parents. I went along with it because it means I got a better custody deal with London. I'd do anything to make her safe."

"Make her safe – what was Tori going to do?"

"Tori was in a terrible mindset through the pregnancy. Things rapidly declined once she was born. Tori would neglect London when she cried, refused to care and kept asking why I never let her abort early on."

"She was going to have an abortion?" My heart thuds in my chest.

"Yes, but I wouldn't let her. I don't agree with abortion and neither did her parents."

"Oh my goodness, this changes everything."

"Admitting London isn't my daughter gives Tori the power to take her away. She's my daughter. I raised her when Tori walked out. I was fine with Tori being in her life up until now. What if she loses it again? What if she takes London away from me?"

"She's not going anywhere. She's my only niece, I'll fight Tori every step of the way if I have to."

"I'm sorry."

I wrap my arms around his body, tugging him against me.

"We need to tell my parents, they deserve to know they have a granddaughter."

"They're going to hate me."

"They are reasonable enough. I think they'll be comforted that someone loves London exactly how Logan would have; fearlessly."

"Will you come with me to tell them?"

"Of course, Blake!"

"Can you ever forgive me?"

"Can you forgive me?" I chuckle.

Blake kisses the side of my head.

"I don't know how I ended up with someone like you."

"You waited, even when you should have run, you waited."

Blake smiles. "I promise, no more secrets after this."

"Perfect otherwise we will have issues."

I lean in and kiss Blake with everything I have.

We can make it through this, just another curve in the pathway of life.