Later that night after dinner, Dawn made a couple Fuzzy Navels and her and D went out to sit on the deck as Arianna played on her swingset.

"So, how long have you and AJ been together?" D asked.

"We've known each other since high school, but we've only been an actual couple for about two years".

"You two are so lucky. You have a perfect life. You love each other, you have a beautiful little girl, you get along so well....."

"Yeah, we are very close, he's my best friend, but that's not to say that we don't have our problems, believe me, we do", Dawn said, taking a sip of her drink.

"Nothing that you can't get through though, I'm sure. You guys seem like you could get through anything."

"It certainly hasn't been easy", Dawn replied, unsure of how much she wanted to open up to this girl. She barely knew her and had to be careful what she said to people, all people, especially people she just met.

"Tell me something," Dawn began, deciding to be blunt. "What are your intentions towards Alex?"

D almost choked on her drink, she was surprised at Dawn's forwardness.

"I knew you would wonder that. I'll be honest with you, when I ran into AJ last week, I thought about going after him again, just as any woman would, but as I talked to him more, and after meeting you and Arianna, I see how happy he is with his life, how happy he is being father, and how in love with you he is. I would never do anything to hurt anyone or break up a family".

Dawn thought for a minute.

"Well, I appreciate you being honest with me," she looked away.

"Listen", D began, "That boy is so in love with you, it makes me sick. I can't imagine, even if I did try to pursue him, that anything would come out of it. He wants to marry you more than anything in the world."

"Yeah, I know. He's constantly reminding me".

"So, what's the problem, if you don't mind me asking?"

Dawn took a deep breath as she got up and stood by the railing watyching Arianna play intently.

"When I was pregnant with Arianna, I had a lot of complications. I was on bed rest for months. Everything went okay, though and she was born happy and healthy".

She paused for a minute.

"Soon after she was born, Alex was out of town and I got a visit from my ex, Arianna's biological father".

"AJ's not Arianna's real father? I didn't know...."

"No, you wouldn't, because as far as anyone is concerned, he is her daddy, he loves her to death. His name is on the birth certificate as her father and she has his last name".

D was stunned, she didn't know what to say, she never though of AJ as the type to take responsibility for a child that wasn't even his. It made her look at him in a whole new way, a way she never did before. Apparently there was so much more to him that she didn't know.

"Anyway, the relationship with my ex wasn't a very good one. It got abusive on many occasions. Alex helped me get out of it. Somewhere along the line, we fell in love".

"Wow, you two have been through a lot together".

"Yeah, we have, but that's not all. The last visit I got from my ex resulted in me in the hospital for two weeks with severe internal injuries".

"Oh my god.....what happened?"

"Well, as a result, I can't have any more children," Dawn looked out at Arianna again with tears in her eyes. "And Alex wants more kids, as I do, but I can't give them to him. I feel like I'm depriving him of something, something that's very important to him".

Dawn sat back down and took a big gulp of her drink.

"I'm so sorry. I can only imagine how you must feel..."

"That's the reason I'm reluctant to set a wedding date," Dawn added.

D looked over at her, surprised.

"You know, I know I don't know you that well, and all I have to go on is the little bit of time I've talked to AJ and seen you together, but I do know him pretty well, and I know that he loves you, and you guys can get through it together, just like you have everything else...."

"I just want him to be absolutely positive that he's okay with the fact that we will never have a child together. He may be okay with it now, but he's young and not thinking that far ahead into the future."

"I assume you've talked to him about it?"

Dawn shook her head.

"What does he say about it?"

"He keeps telling me that it's not important. He does want more kids, but we can always adopt."

"Well then, there's your answer. Just marry the man and make him happy", D joked.

Dawn laughed and glanced down at her watch.

"It's getting late. I'm gonna put Arianna to bed real quick, okay?"

"Sure, no problem, I'll stay out here with my Fuzzy Navel".

Dawn put Arianna to bed, made them both another drink and joined D outside once again.

"It's so beautiful out here," D said as she watched the sunset.

"Yeah, and relatively peaceful. We don't get that too often".

"I can imagine. I don't know how you handle it. All those girls throwing themselves at AJ all the time, him being gone for months at a time, not having any privacy....."

"It is hard, but we try to make time for each other as well as for Arianna. We try to give her the most normal life possible, which is hard. We do have little things that are just between us. It helps."

"I think it's so cute that you call him Alex, he's just always been AJ to me".

"Well, we knew each other in high school, so he has always been Alex to me.   He's two different people.  It's like there's the private Alex, and the public AJ.   It helps differentiate the person he is at home and the person he is onstage. A lot of people call him Alex, though".

An idea came to Dawn.

"Hey, I have some Vodka in there, wanna do a shot? We can do a Lemon Drop."

"Where did THAT come from?" D laughed.

"I don't know, the kid is in bed, it's time to REALLY drink", she joked as she gulped down the last of her Fuzzy Navel, got up and pulled D into the house.

Chapter 6
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