"Hey baby, I was going to call you after breakfast. I didn't know what time you were leaving today," Dawn said into the phone as she walked outside.

"Well, had you not hung up on me last night, you would've known", he said with obvious hurt and anger in his voice.

Dawn sighed. "I know, I'm sorry. I was just upset."

"I know you were, I was too, but it's not my fault. I thought you would understand that."

"I do understand, but I overreacted...." she put her face in her hands. "Listen, I'm sorry, I don't want to rehash this, I'm sorry for getting mad at you, I know it's not your fault, I was just really looking forward to your visit. I miss you," she said softly.

"Angel, I miss you, too, you don't know how hard this is for me. I'm trying to juggle so many things at once. By the way, do you wanna know what your daughter did last night?"

Dawn laughed. "Oh no, she's my daughter now, this ought to be good."

"Well, Miss Arianna Denise decided that, while Mommy and Daddy were on the phone arguing, she was going to pour her whole entire bottle of baby powder all over the house".

Dawn tried not to laugh.

"Oh my God, what a mess!"

"Oh yeah, you can say that again! It took me half the night to clean the shit up, the whole house was just covered...a big powder cloud loomed over the house. OH, and you should have seen what SHE looked like! I swear she must have rolled around in it!"

Dawn couldn't hold back any longer, she was laughing hysterically.

"AND, she was telling me all night, 'Don't talk like that, Daddy'.  Apparently the language coming out of my mouth was not things that she should be hearing".

"I'll bet", Dawn said trying to stop laughing. "Aaww, my poor baby, I miss her so much, I can’t wait to see her."

"Poor baby my ass, she knew what she was doing," he laughed, "Terrible two’s is it?"

They both laughed.

"Is that why you didn't call back last night?"

"Actually I did call back, about a half hour after you hung up on me, you were gone."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd call back."

"I had to, I just wanted to tell you that I loved you, we never hang up without saying that..."

"I know, I almost called you back too," her voice trailed off.

"So, where did you go?"

"I went to a club with Noah."

"Just Noah? Did D go?"

"No, she had already gone out with Enrique and some of his people. She didn't think I was going to go out."

AJ felt his stomach turn thinking about Dawn being alone with Noah.

"We did meet up with her later, though. I was pretty bombed and she brought me back to the hotel and put me to bed."

"You were drunk?" He felt is blood pressure begin to rise.

"Um, yeah, just a little, but I was with Noah, I was in good hands."

AJ had to do everything he could to bite his tongue.

"Well, back to the more important issue, are we okay now?" He asked.  "As in us?"

"Of course we are, at least I hope so. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to fly off the handle. You didn't deserve it," she said sincerely.

"Now you know I can't stay mad at you for very long," he sighed. "And I'm sorry I couldn't come this time. I promise to make it up to you next time though."

"You spoil me," she said, smiling.  "That's the problem. I hate to see what our daughter will be like."

"Daddy's little girl," they both said at the same time.

"Please promise me that you'll always talk to me. Don't hold things back from me. I don't care if I don't want to hear it, it's better than you going out and getting drunk, thinking that I don’t care or something . I can’t make things better if you don’t talk to me. I worry about you."

"I'm fine, Alex. I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. I need to start living my own life and stop depending so much on you."

"Baby, you can always depend on me. Don't ever think that you can't."

"Alex, you have always babied me. Clear back to when I left Anthony. I moved right into your house."

"You had to, you were on bed rest, I wasn't going to let you be by yourself."

"Exactly, did you hear what you just said? You weren't going to LET me. See, that's where it started."

"Angel, I love you, I don't want anything to happen to you. It is my job to take care of you and make sure you're happy and safe."

"I don't deserve you," she said, a teardrop sliding down her face.

"Of course you do, and, sorry to tell you, but you're stuck with me forever."

Dawn smiled and looked down at her engagement ring.

"I love you so much," she said, choking back tears.

"Baby, I love you too, don't ever forget that. I'm also going to make you a promise right now. I don't care what I have to do, I will be there when your CD is released."

"That would mean a lot to me, but if you have to go out of town or something..."

AJ cut her off.

"Sshh, I will be there, I promise you."

After she finished her conversation with AJ, Dawn went back to the table and sat down.

"Is everything okay?" D asked.

"Everything’s wonderful. Alex and I are as great as ever," she gushed.

"That’s just peachy. Isn’t that great news Noah?" She smiled at him and he glared back at her.

"That’s wonderful." He wanted to change the subject quickly. He motioned for the waitress to bring Dawn’s breakfast out.

"I had them keep your meal warm," he told her sweetly.

Dawn smiled at him and put her hand on his arm.

"That was so nice of you Noah."

D rolled her eyes and took a sip of her water. Noah looked at her and smiled as the waitress brought Dawn her meal.

‘I’d love to wipe that smug smile right offof his face,’ D thought.

They talked about the album release while Dawn finished her breakfast. Noah kept shooting D looks the whole time they were talking…a silent reminder of the threat he had made earlier.

After they were finished Noah excused himself and went to make some phone calls. D and Dawn headed upstairs to get ready to go to the venue for rehearsals. The stage was going to be set up slightly different and she needed to get the feel of it before the show.

"So everything’s really alright with you and J?" D asked Dawn in the elevator.

"Yes…I apologized for being such a bitch. He forgave me. He’s so wonderful. Sometimes I wonder why he’s mine."

"Because I dumped his ass."

They looked at each other and laughed as the doors opened.

"I guess I should thank you then."

D held up her hand.

"No need to thank me. I got what I wanted from him."

Dawn looked at her and smiled.

"Sex," they said at the same time.

They busted out laughing as they went into their rooms.

As soon as D got to her room her phone rang. Thinking it was Nicky she ran to answer it.

"Hey sexy."

"Well…hey yourself, hotstuff."

D’s eyes widened at the realization of who it was. She shut her eyes and put her face in her hand in embarrassment.

"Oh my gawd…I thought you were Nicky."

AJ laughed.  "Don't lie, I know you want me."

"Been there, done that," she laughed back.  "So…what’s up?"

"I wanted to call you before I left for LA. I wanted to ask you about last night."

"What did Dawn tell you?"

"She told me she went out with Noah to a club and she got drunk. They ran into you and you brought her back to the hotel".

"Yeah I ran into them leaving the club. She was drunk and he was taking her back to her room."

"Yeah, I’ll bet he was," AJ said, starting to get angry.

"I knew he was up to something so I told him I was taking her back. Needless to say he was not happy about it."

AJ laughed a little. "I'm sure he wasn't."

"When I got her back she said you and she had a fight. I figured something happened to make her go out and get trashed."

AJ sighed. "Yeah, she got upset that I wasn’t coming to visit. It wasn’t my fault…"

"She knows that it wasn’t your fault. I talked to her this morning and she felt so guilty that she overreacted. I told her she was being selfish. You have a job to do too."

AJ smiled. "Always the voice of reason."

"Damn right!"

"I’m glad you’re there, D. I can rest easy knowing that," AJ told her sincerely.

"I’m taking care of her as ordered, Sir."

They both laughed.

"I did have another little confrontation with Noah last night…and at breakfast."

"Oh no. Any more threats?" he asked seriously.

"Oh yeah. I told him I already told Nicky everything. I’m planning on telling him when he gets here."

"Good for you. Nick should know what’s going on."

"I agree. But do you think I should tell him before he comes…just to warn him?"

"I guess that’s up to you."

"I wanted to tell him in person but since I told Noah I talked to him already",

"You can talk to Nick as soon as he gets there."

"Okay…I also told him I was telling you."

"What did he say?"

D was silent for a minute and AJ got a bad feeling.

"D?"

"He didn’t like that at all, J," she said quietly.

"What did he say?"

D swallowed hard. How was she going to tell him this? He was going to blow a gasket.

"Well…he said that if I told you he would ruin Dawn’s career."

"He would WHAT!?!?!?! I’M GONNA FUCKING KILL HIM!!!!"

D held the phone away from her ear and cringed.

"Dude…calm down. You’re gonna blow my eardrum out."

"Sorry." He took a deep breath to try to calm down. "Just wait until I get my fucking hands on him…that son of a bitch!!" He continued to take deep breaths.

"You can’t touch him J…or say a word to him…."

"My ass I can’t. So how is he planning on doing this?"

"He said he would get her taken off the tour and delay her album release indefinitely."

AJ was silent.

"J?"

"I’m here."

"What the hell do we do? I mean…he can’t ruin her career. She’s so excited about this album finally coming out and her career taking off. She loves this too much."

"I’m not going to let that happen." He thought for a minute. "You’re just going to have to keep an eye on him. Don’t let him alone with her. If she wants to go out clubbing then you go with her. If he can’t be alone with her then he can’t get close to her."

"I will stick to her like glue," D promised.

"Good. I’ll be there in two weeks…and I’m bringing your man."

"Thank gawd. I miss that boy so much," she sighed.

"He misses you too. He’s bugging the shit out of me…always over here…always talking about you. He’s driving me nuts!"

D laughed. "I’m glad he misses me. Makes me feel good."

"I’m bringing the rest of the guys, too. They wanna be there for Dawn’s album release, they’re so happy for her. Don’t tell her though, she doesn’t know they’re coming, it’s a surprise."

"That’s so sweet. She’s going to be so happy to see everyone, she’s so excited about this."

"My mother is coming, too. She said she’d watch Arianna so we can all go out. I want to do something special for Dawn when I get there, I don’t know what yet, though. Listen, I have to get going…gotta catch my plane. I’ll see you in two weeks. Take care of my girl."

"You know I will. Take care of my boy. Tell him I’ll see him in two weeks."

AJ chuckled. "I’ll tell him to rest up. He’s not going to get much sleep once he's there, that’s for sure."

D laughed.

"Give Ari a kiss for me."

"Will do. Talk to you later, D. Thanks!"

"No prob J…bye!"

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