It took about five days to get the girls packed up and ready for the move to California. We went through their home and let them pick out whatever mementos of their mother they wanted. Mr. Jeffries said he would take care of everything else; I guess Melody had wanted some things donated to certain charities.

On the fifth day we watched the moving van that housed the majority of the girls’ items head on down the road for California. Then the four of us joined the Lock family for a late goodbye lunch before piling into a rented SUV and making our way to the airport.

The girls were fascinated with the airport and the airplanes and as we waited for the boarding call on our flight, Eve and I stood at the large floor to ceiling windows that looked out over the taxiways as Ashlyn and Ireland told us where each one was probably headed to or coming from. They had the sweetest imaginations and I think more planes were on their way to Sesame Street than any other place.

Finally, the call came for boarding and we made our way onto the plane and got situated in first class. I wasn’t intent on only flying first class, but with the girls and the long flight, it would probably be easier on everyone. Especially considering this was their first time on a plane.

And it proved a good decision as the plane taxied down the runway and lifted into the air. Both girls wanted window seats, so Eve and I sat across from each other in the aisle as my daughters pressed their faces to the window the best they could and watched the ground disappearing below. It was wonderful to hear the excitement in their voices and try to calm them as their ears popped and they became alarmed with the pressure.

The flight, long as it was, didn’t go too badly. About halfway to Los Angeles, they both fell asleep and my wife and I covered them with blankets we’d tucked into the carry ons. Then Eve and I held hands across the aisle and tried to figure the best way to get them out of the airport unnoticed. I knew how much the paparazzi stalked LAX and ending up on the front page of TMZ was not what I wanted. I had been planning on releasing a statement, but not for another week or so.

Eve’s parents were supposed to be meeting us once we landed and then taking us on to our home. I’m pretty sure her mom was over the moon excited to meet the girls and the last thing I wanted was extra attention. So we had decided that her parents would stay in their vehicle and after collecting the luggage, we’d head out and they could pull up along the curb.

Eve put the call in to her parents from the in-flight phone and then I made my own call to arrange for one of the bodyguards that usually keeps an eye on us during tour to meet up at the airport once we landed. A little extra security might not be a bad thing right now.

It turns out, I was right to be worried about the paparazzi. Once we had landed and were making our way down and into the baggage claim, they descended like wolves in a pack. Cameras were flashing and video was rolling as they tried to surround us and shout questions about the girls and their mother and what mine and Eve’s thoughts were on everything.

Neither Ashlyn nor Ireland knew what to make of the ordeal and I reached and plucked Ireland off her feet, pressing her face to my chest to help hide her from view. “I gotcha,” I spoke lowly to her as she gave frightened sounds against my shirt.

Next to me, Eve was doing the same with Ashlyn and then Geoff appeared and began to work the crowd around us back. “Move out of the way!” He barked out at the men and women trying to close in on us.

For the most part, they abided. No one wanted to clash with the 6’4 man that looked all muscle and sounded even scarier. Thankfully we were able to make our way through the throng of seedy reporters and toward the exit. I was already planning on sending Eve’s father in to gather the luggage. No one would recognize him.

Finally we were outside and Eve’s parents’ Honda Odyssey was waiting.

“C’mon, this way,” Eve called over to me as she pushed her way through the throng of cameras and hurried over to the Honda. I was right on her heels and together, we shoved the girls in through the waiting door and clambered in behind them.

Eve’s father put pedal to the metal and took off before they could surround the vehicle and before any of us were even in our seats.

“Under normal circumstances you would be in so much trouble,” his wife commented from her spot next to him in the front. “Driving with little ones not even in their car seats yet; that’s so dangerous.”

“Under normal circumstances I would never have done that,” Spencer replied with as he glanced in the rear view mirror and back to us.

“I would have to agree with Spencer,” I spoke up as I lifted Ireland and strapped her into one of the car seats their step grandmother had purchased.

“It would have been more dangerous to wait until they were buckled,” my own wife agreed, seeing to it that Ashlyn was securely strapped into her own seat. “There we go.”

I joined my wife in the row of seats behind the girls and pulled my phone out, sending a quick text to Geoff asking him to secure our luggage and bring it on to the house. Then my brow furrowed and I looked to Eve. “How the hell did they know?”

From her spot in one of the middle seats, Ashlyn craned her neck and tried to peer into the backseats. “Ooh, daddy, you said a bad word.”

“You’s gonna get a time out,” Ireland chimed in.

I blinked then looked to my daughters. “Daddy’s very sorry.”

“You mama is gonna put you in a time out.”

Eve chuckled low at that. “I’ll have to make sure I tell her.”

Ireland nodded her head firmly, her curls brushing her cheeks. “For …uh…daddy, how old is you?”

I held back a chuckle. “Thirty-three.”

“Wow!” Ashlyn’s eyes widened. “You’re gonna has a time out for thirty-three minutes!”

“That’s a long time,” her sister agreed.

Up in the front, Eve’s mother gave her own laugh. “Oh my, we’ll have to make sure he gets that time out, won’t we, girls?”

Both of them turned their attention to the front. “Who are you?” Ashlyn questioned. “Are you daddy’s mommy?”

“Oh, no...I’m Eve’s mommy.” Lorraine smiled sweetly at the girls. “My name is Lorraine and it’s so very nice to meet you both.”

They eyed her cautiously then Ireland smiled. “Are you taking us to MacDonalds?”

“It’s not MacDonalds,” her sister corrected her. “It’s McDonalds.”

“It is so MacDonalds.”

I felt a laugh rise in my throat and spill from my mouth as the two bantered back and forth. My sweet baby girls didn’t seem fazed one bit by what had just happened with the paparazzi and the relief of that and the stress of the entire situation was turning into laughter at the pure innocence of Ashlyn and Ireland. For a few moments I wasn’t even concerned with how they had found out about everything. I was just caught up in listening to how the world was through four year old eyes.

Eve reached over and squeezed my hand. “You should call Douglas,” she spoke of my PR rep. I had been in touch with him a couple times while we were in Ohio, so he knew enough about the story, but with word somehow leaking to the press, I needed to find out exactly what was going on and Douglas would know.

“I’ll call him as soon as we get to the house.” I didn’t want to do it in front of the girls. “Maybe Lorraine and Spencer would like to stay for a little bit,” I tossed out there for everyone.

Spencer, who had also introduced himself to the girls, glanced back to us. “Have you guys had dinner yet?”

“Do we get MacDonalds?” Ireland piped up again. “I want the shicken nuggets.”

McDonalds was not on the top of my list of favorite restaurants anymore, but I had a feeling we’d be making lots of trips to the place now that Ashlyn and Ireland had joined us. “We ate some on the plane, but I’m sure the girls are getting hungry again.” I know I was.

“I’m getting hungry too,” Eve interjected. “What if we swung through the drive thru for the girls then took it home. I think we have something at the house I could whip up real quick.”

“That sounds good to me,” my father-in-law said from his spot behind the steering wheel. “Anyone know where the closest McDonalds is?”

And we were off in search of the restaurant as my two daughters cheered from their seats.

~*~*~*~*~

It took awhile before I was able to speak with Douglas. Once back at the house, we got the girls washed up for dinner then settled them at the table. They dug into their chicken nuggets and apple slices while Eve made the adults some sandwiches and heated up some soup. Geoff showed up halfway through the meal with our luggage and after dinner, we spent some time getting everything sorted into the proper rooms and putting away what couldn’t wait until tomorrow.

After that, Eve’s parents took their leave and then it was bath time followed with quite the struggle to get the girls to brush their teeth. Which in turn was followed with about fifteen minutes of being thirsty and needing a drink of water and a trip to the bathroom before they were finally tucked into the queen sized bed in the guestroom that was soon to be their bedroom.

“I bet you two are so sleepy,” I said as I smoothed the covers over Ireland, making sure she was tucked in nice and cozy. The clock on the nightstand glowed 8:35, but felt so much later since we were all still running on Eastern Standard Time which was three hours ahead.

“I’m pretty sleepy,” the older of the girls spoke from her spot. She yawned real big as if to prove her point then rubbed her eyes. “But I don’t really like this big bed.”

Truth be told, neither did I. It was way too big for the girls and they had to feel like they were being swallowed up. “I don’t really like it either.” I reached over and smoothed my hand on her forehead. “But your beds will be here soon and then we never have to see this old bed again.”

“Are our toys comin’ too?” We had made sure to pack a few of their most favorite toys in their luggage, just to be safe. And at the moment, Ireland had her stuffed rabbit, Greta, tucked into her arms and Ashlyn was hugging her bear, Mr. Chubs.

“Ooh yes, all your toys and clothes and most favorite things are on their way right now to your new house. And as soon as they arrive we’ll fix your new bedroom up just the way you like it.” I smiled at them both then leaned and kissed their sweet little faces. The bed being so big, the girls had opted to sleep on the same side cuddled together, so it was much easier to reach them both from one spot.

They seemed satisfied with that answer and settled under the covers. Then Ireland peeked one eye open and met my gaze. “Who were all those people from today?”

I held back the chuckle at how cute she was with one eye open and one eye closed. “Which people?”

“All the ones who was yellin’ at you.”

“Yeah?” Ashlyn joined in. “Why was they takin’ all those pikshures?”

I gave an inward groan. “Those were just people who wanted to get pictures of us. They were so curious about whom you guys are and they wanted to know what was going on.” I didn’t want to lie to them, but how easily would four year olds understand about the paparazzi and being a celebrity. Not very, I was sure.

Ireland was now watching me with both eyes open. “It was a little bit scary.”

“I’m sure it was, baby. It was scary for Daddy too.”

Ashlyn nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, will you tell them to never do that ah-gain?”

I smiled then leaned and kissed their cheeks once more. “I sure will. And you two don’t worry about those people okay? You just let me handle it.”

“Okay.” Ireland yawned then her eyes drifted closed, Ashlyn’s following soon behind. “Love you, Daddy,” she murmured sleepily.

I felt a tug on my heart at her words. “I love you,” I whispered softly. Then I checked the covers once more to make sure they were tucked in just right. So far this daddy thing wasn’t proving too difficult, but it had only been about a week.

Rising from the edge of the bed once I was sure the girls were down for the night, I made sure the nightlight was on in case they woke up and needed to use the bathroom or couldn’t remember where they were, then shut the lamps next to the bed off and slipped from the room.

Eve was waiting for me in the hallway. “Hey.” I smiled at the sight of her then slipped my arm around her as she joined me.

“You’re so great with them.”

“I’m doing my best.” I drew her closer and pressed my face into her neck, taking in her sweet scent and the feel of her body against mine.

“It’s definitely showing.” She touched my cheek. “But um…Douglas called while you were in there with them.”

I lifted my head. “He did? Did he see footage from the airport?”

My wife had an expression on her face that was making alarm bells ring in my head. “Not exactly,” she spoke slowly.

“What’s going on?”

Eve pressed her lips together for a moment then patted my chest. “Maybe you should just call him.”

I arched both brows. “What do you know, Eve?”

She made a little face. “You’re going to be really upset. And I mean really upset.”

I could feel my heart kicking up a notch and took hold of her shoulders, remembering not to shake her or squeeze too hard. I didn’t want to scare or upset my wife. “Eve, just tell me. You’re really scaring me.”

She shifted her gaze toward the slightly open door of the girls’ room then pried one of my hands from her shoulder. “Not here. Let’s go downstairs.” Then she turned and led me down the hallway and back to the first floor.

I followed behind with worry and apprehension flowing through me. Finally, we made it to the living room and I tugged her arm some, turning her to face me. “Okay, spill.”

Eve opened her mouth to respond, but my phone that was on the coffee table sounded and cut her off. I leaned over and snatched it up, seeing my mother’s name and picture on the screen. Torn between answering it or finding out what info my wife was holding, I finally pushed to accept the call, hoping to tell my mom I’d call her right back.

But she never gave me the chance. Before the word hello was even from my mouth, she was cutting me off, “Alex, I cannot believe this! This is completely uncalled for and I just can’t believe that someone would do something like this to you and those little girls!”

I blinked. “What um…what’s going on?”

She paused a half a second. “Have you not seen Weekly World Gossip?”

Weekly World Gossip was a tabloid that we as celebrities abhorred. It was worse than US Weekly or anything TMZ did. The reporters (or slimy snakes) that worked for them had a way of discovering a celebrity’s biggest or darkest secret and splashing it across the front page for the entire world to see. They were nosy, intrusive and got their stories without any regard for what it might do to that person or their life.

And from the tone in my mother’s voice it sounded like they had settled their sights on me. Wonderful.

“You know I don’t read those bullshit papers.” I ignored the tsk my mother made at my choice of words and watched my wife. The look on her face told me that my mother had beaten her to breaking the news.

“Alex, this is really bad. This…this Thomas Frank really did his research and from the information in here, it sounds like he was right there in Ohio with you.” She paused. “And he has pictures.”

I felt a chill go through me. “You mean it’s not just some….gossip blurb?”

“No, sweetheart. This is a three page article with pictures and lots of juicy information. There’s even a photo of this Melody Porter; God rest her soul.”

I think I was at a loss for words. “How…how did you find this, Mom?”

“How else do I find out anything? You know your fans email me all kinds of tidbits.”

“What…what does the article say?”

“You want me to read you the entire thing?”

“Maybe you should just email it to me.”

“Douglas already did.”

I glanced over to Eve at her statement. “Oh,” then back to my mom, “okay, never mind. My PR rep’s already emailed it Eve says.”

My mom gave a heavy sigh and tsk’d again. “I just … I can’t believe someone did this to you and those girls. Your entire story is here; everything. They know about Melody and the cancer and her Will. They even have quotes from some of her neighbors.”

I felt sick to my stomach. “Do they have pictures of the girls?”

“Yes. And pictures of you with the girls. Someone was following you, Alex. I could read this entire thing and feel like I was right there with you and Eve.”

I didn’t know what to say. We had thought we were being so careful and keeping it all under the radar. How had we not noticed some nosy reporter sniffing around town while we were there? I felt like such a moron.

“Um, thank you, Mom, for letting me know about this.” I reached up and rubbed my forehead, feeling an ache starting there behind my eyes. “I’m going to check the article out and call my PR rep.”

“Sure thing, sweetheart. I’m so sorry this is happening. Do you need anything?”

“Not at the moment.”

“Are you still wanting me to come out there?” Originally we had talked with my mom about her coming out to stay for a little bit once we returned with the girls, but then our stay in Ohio went a little longer than expected and we had kind of left her visit in the air.

“Of course.” I nodded my head. “I’m just not sure when yet. I think we want to get the girls’ things out here and set up and get them adjusted first; especially now that the news has gotten out there.”

“I understand that, honey. I can’t wait to meet them. They’re so beautiful.”

I couldn’t help my smile. “They really are. You’re going to love them so much, Mom. They’re just…they’re wonderful.”

“I’m sure they are.” She sighed some and I was picturing her rubbing the bridge of her nose beneath her glasses. “Keep me updated, alright? And if you need anything, anything, you know you can come to me.”

I smiled. “I know, Mom, and I appreciate that and I love you.”

“I love you too, baby. Give those girls and Eve my love.”

I said I would and then we ended the call. I set my phone back on the coffee table then turned to my wife. “My mom sends her love.”

Eve offered up a tiny smile. “She’s doing okay?”

“Mhm, just blown away by this article that’s come out.” I reached and drew her into my embrace. “Have you seen it yet?”

“No, I wanted to tell you about it first.”

I tilted my head to see her face. “Should we read it?”

She sighed some then pulled back from my arms and took my hands in hers. “I don’t know, maybe we don’t. Maybe we just ignore it and say ‘who cares’ to anyone’s that’s trying to get into our business.”

I mulled her words over a moment before speaking, “I really don’t want to get into any drama.”

“Me either.”

“I could just issue a statement saying that yes, I recently discovered I have two daughters and due to some very unfortunate events, they’re now in my care.”

“That sounds good to me.”

I squeezed her hands some. “And we can just say ‘fuck the paparazzi’ and concentrate on Ashlyn and Ireland.”

“Other than the swearing part, I’m game.”

I chuckled and kissed her lips. “I still need to call Douglas.”

“Okay, baby.” She wrapped her arms around me in a hug. “We’ll do the statement and leave it at that. And then do our best to ignore what they’re printing or saying about everything.”

“Right.” I returned the hug and pressed my face to her hair, sighing at the scent of her shampoo. “And we’ll do our best to keep the girls out of the spotlight until this has all died down.”

“Which it will the minute some other celebrity does something drastic enough to take the attention away.”

“Mhm.” I pressed a kiss to the top of her head then disentangled myself from her embrace. “Let me go call Douglas and then maybe we could take a shower and spend some quality time together upstairs.”

Eve smiled at that then gave my butt a quick pinch. “I like that thought. I’ll be in our room waiting.” Then she turned and sashayed toward the staircase.

I watched her go then took up my phone again to call my PR rep.