Never Gonna Dance Again...

It's early morning on Saturday. Amari groggily pulls herself up from the bed, she spent most of the night up with Leila fussing. Amari's mother Vanessa left back to Houston for a few days to check in on her husband. Amari's Dad is starting to miss his wife. She has been with Amari for over two months now helping her out with baby Leila. She yawns big and peeks over at her dozing little angel.

*Amari* "Hmm...I really should take a shower while she is sleeping..."

She then quietly gets up and peeks over at her again. Amari is supposed to meet up with Laura later today, kind of a play date and get together. Good thing she did not make plans for too early in the day, not having her mom around to help her this weekend has really made
 a difference in her sleep schedule.

*Amari* "Don't worry Angel mommy is just gonna take a quick shower...I'll be right back."

Amari takes a very, very quick shower nothing too fancy or pampering, then gets out again. She is so exhausted she did not even bother to get dressed all the way and the shower did little to help her wake up, she is still extremely tired from her sleepless night. She peeks over the 
side of the canopy to see that Leila is still sleeping...

*Amari* "Since you're still sleeping, I'm gonna

 sleep some more too!..."

Amari kicks off her shoes and climbs back into bed. The soft comfy bedding feels so good against her cool, clean skin that,
 as soon as her head hits the pillows she begins to doze off.

*Amari* "Mmmmm....this is heaven..."
A few hours later, somewhere shortly after midday, the door to the condo quietly opens. Shaun of course still has a key to his own place, with a duffle bag in hand he lets himself in and 

closes the door behind him.

The condo is quiet, too quiet. Shaun looks over and notices that the travel seat is here so she has to be here as well. He should have called but he did not want to fight with her over the phone, so he was hoping that maybe she would know by now that he is in town.

He turns to set his bag down on the table then notices that Amari never opened the gifts he sent for Christmas...He sighs a bit then realizes that it was down right shitty of him to just send gifts and not show up 

for the holidays instead.

Shaun leaves the bag on the table and heads towards the bedroom at the back of the condo. He calls out Amari's name in a soft, 

questioning voice...She has to be here he thinks.

*Shaun* "Mari? You here?...Hello?..."

He gets to the doorway of the bedroom and stops quick. Amari is sprawled out in the bed fast asleep. His bedroom looks like a nursery now and the sight is a bit of a shock to him at first.

 *Shaun* "Oh shit...what the hell?!..."
He looks around the room taking in it's massively drastic change. What happened to his bed?! Then his eyes stop on the crib that is now there and realizes she must not have had enough room for the big bed and the crib.

Leila lays quietly in her crib, Shaun pauses thinking maybe
 he should just turn around and go. Amari would never know...His mind is like run, run, run but his heart tells him otherwise.

Then a small little grunt comes from crib and Leila moves, as she begins to stir and wake up. And before he knows it Shaun's feet have led him to stand at the foot of the crib, he stares in shock for a moment down at this little miracle that is his child. Luke's words echo in his head and what he said about missing out on her growing up. 
*Shaun voice low* "Holy shit! You are so teeny tiny!..."

Leila wiggles again and begins to open her eyes.
*Shaun whispering* "Hey...Hi! little one...I'm gonna pick you up now, so don't cry..."

Shaun luckily has had some experience holding Luke and Laura's kids. So the idea of holding a baby is not totally foreign to him. He gently scoops up Leila, cradling her in his arms and walks 
out of the bedroom with her.

 *Shaun* "It's okay I got you..."

Shaun stops when he gets to the kitchen and finally takes a 

moment to take her in, study her face a little bit. Her tiny fingers
 and toes and her little button nose.

*Shaun* "You look just like your mamma...Lord have mercy on me, Ima gonna 

kill the first boy who breaks your heart..."

Leila squirms a bit and looks like she might start to fuss. Shaun paces the floor trying to sooth the impending cries 

with some gentle movement. All the while feeling like she is crying more and more cause she is not happy with him.

 

*Shaun* "No! don't cry it's okay...it's okay. Shit...maybe I was the first one to break your heart but I swear, baby girl, that ain't gonna happen again. I'm sorry I let you down...

but Daddy is here now, I got you..."

But of course Leila's fussing only gets louder and louder. Shaun is clueless as to what else to do for her. So he begins to

 head back into the bedroom to wake Amari...

*Shaun* "Okay I know, I know I'm shitty at this just give me 

some time but for now....let's go find mamma."

Amari bolts upright out of bed hearing her baby cry. She blinks 
her tired eyes several times, trying to focus on the crib

 and where her cries are coming from.

*Amari* "Leila?!..."
She kicks the blankets off and stumbles up out of bed. 
To find herself staring down at an empty crib, 
but still hears her crying.

*Amari* "Leila?!...."
 When she finally realizes the crying is coming from the other room, 
she immediately turns and heads towards the doorway. Shaun meanwhile continues trying to sooth her as he walks cautiously.
Amari panics at first hearing a man's voice 
along with her daughter's cries.

 *Amari* "LEILA?!!!...."
 Then in the blink of an eye Amari comes face to face with Shaun after nine very, long months. He is standing there holding a fussy baby Leila. Amari is so freaked out she does not even realize her current state and lack of clothing, she was not expecting him. 
She was not even aware that he was in town.

 *Amari* "Oh my gawd! Shaun!!!...What are you doing here?!"
 Her hand hits her heart up near her collar bone in some what relief and at the same moment Shaun's eyes drop down to her bare breasts. His mind immediately drifts off to checking her out and noticing her body looks pretty damn good after just having a baby almost 3 months ago.

 *Shaun* "Shit, Mari...Damn!....You sure you just had a baby?..."
Amari quickly covers herself up. She was not expecting to see anyone let alone Shaun. Who only calls or texts back when he
 would feel like it was necessary.

 *Amari* "Fuck you, don't you get any ideas!...We are never gonna dance again Shaun Harris!
What the hell are you doing here?!"
 *Shaun* "I came to see my daughter and maybe talk this
shit out like adults..."
 *Amari* "Oh uh huh, okay....so now all the sudden she's your daughter?! You can't even be present for her birth or her first Christmas but now all the sudden she means something to you?!..."

*Shaun* "I never said she wasn't mine, Mari!...You know that!
I've taken plenty good care of both of you. You haven't once complained about that!"
Shaun's louder deeper voice, sets off Leila's fussing again and Amari quickly reaches in to try and take Leila from his arms.

 *Amari* "Give me my baby..."
 *Shaun* "I can handle it..."
*Amari* "No you can't! Give me my baby, Shaun! She wants her mamma!..."
 Shaun begins to hand Leila over to Amari. He looks at her 
with a serious face and flat tone to his voice.

 *Shaun* "I didn't come here to fight with you, Mari..."
*Amari* "Could've fooled me..."
 Then she takes Leila and turns to walk 
away towards the bed. She was beginning to get used to 
the idea of him not being around now all of the sudden
 he has a change of heart?!

*Amari* "Are you hungry again, Angel?..."
*Shaun* "I'm being serious....We have to figure something out. Mari?!
Don't fucking ignore me..."
Amari continues to walk away and rolls her eyes at his comment. He has ignored her plenty over the past nine months! Amari
 shakes her head at the absurdity of it all...

 *Shaun* "What?! Mari, please don't do this shit!..."
*Mari* "I have nothing to say to you..."
Amari gets comfortable in the bed and begins to nurse Leila
 and hopes he will get a clue and at least go in the living 
room or leave and come back maybe later.
 
*Shaun* "I'm not leaving, till we talk..."
Amari yawns hard she is still very tired. She will never admit it to him but despite all the help from her mom and family it has still been a rough road not being able to share these moments with him. Shaun can see she is exhausted and feels bad he too has his 
place to be blamed in all of this.

*Shaun* "Let me hire a nanny to help you out...Please for Leila."
 Amari snaps at him instantly. How dare he even question her dedication to being a mother?! He has no idea what she has been through all these months. Carrying his baby for nine long months and him not even giving a rat's ass about any of it...

*Amari* "I am doing just fine on my own!..."
*Shaun* "You don't have to act brave all the time. She is my child too and I
want what is best for her as well..."
*Amari* "Just because you all the sudden actually give a fuck doesn't mean you can
 come in here and tell me how to care for my child!..."

*Shaun* "You can't expect your parents to bail you out every time! Lemme
help dammit! Stop being so fucking hard headed..."
*Amari* "Shaun, I only agreed to stay in this condo cause I thought you would eventually come back or at least show up for your daughters birth. Yet you did the complete opposite and want nothing to do with this family. So yeah, of course I can rely on my parents or Laura and Luke cause they are there for me! Your empty gestures of offering me money and a nanny are ridiculous. I told you if you don't want to be involved in Leila's life then fine just stop acting like this pompous asshole who thinks that a monthly child support check is all that is needed to say
you're a good father! Instead just actually be there for her!.."

*Shaun* "That's exactly what I'm trying to do here...but shutting me down every time doesn't fucking help! Look I know right now she needs you more than me and I don't know what else I can do but offer you those things! I came here to resolve things not make it worse...I know what i did was a shit move, Mari...And I apologize for it. I'm not here to ask you to take me back or forgive me but please just fucking hear me out and maybe we can work this out somehow..."
Amari is on to him quickly she will not be fooled
 by any kind of sweet talk.

*Amari* "Take you back?! I'm not desperate Shaun, and definitely don't expect me to forgive your sorry ass for leaving me like you did! I know things weren't perfect but nothing ever is..."
*Shaun* "Yeah and you perfectly managed to let yourself get knocked up when you knew we had agreed you would take care of it! A baby is not gonna save what is broken between us!..."
 *Amari holds back tears* "Just get out! Lemme finish nursing my child in peace..."
Shaun turns and begins to walk away. He needs a moment to regather his thoughts too they both got so off track. All that anger and resentment that has built for months has to come out at some point.

*Shaun* "Fucking fine by me. I'll be in the living room whenever you're ready to talk civil..."
Shaun sits alone in the living room for a good 45 minutes or so. He grabs the one good guitar he left here and begins to tune it. Then starts playing a melody that pops in his head, one of the 
new songs they have been working on.

 Going back to the basics always helps him clear his thoughts and his mind. Letting the tune organically play out as it fills him with an inner peace. He feels a lot calmer now as he continues to strum the guitar. Amari finally comes out of the bedroom, feeling more peaceful as well. They do need to sit down and have a talk, she just 
knows it's not gonna be easy, they always end up fighting...

 *Amari* "You know I do miss hearing you play. Is that a new song?"
 Shaun looks up and sees her standing there. No longer 
that angry look on her face when she stares at him.

 *Shaun* "Huh? uh yeah...it's a new song for the album..."
*Amari* "It sounds really catchy...So you ready to talk this out now? I really
do not want to fight anymore..."
*Shaun* "I don't either."

*Shaun* "And Leila?..."
*Amari* "She's asleep again. I changed her diaper and fed her some more."
*Shaun* "She's asleep again?..."
*Amari* "She's a newborn Shaun,  that's what they do most of at this point."
 Amari walks to sit in the chair opposite the couch.

 *Amari* "Listen, I know you are just trying to help out how you think is best possible but when you constantly throw stuff at me like that I feel like you are trying to undermine my place as her mother and that I can't provide for her without your assistance..."
 *Shaun* "But we can't even be in the same room for too long without arguing.
So I don't know what else to do!..."

 *Amari* "Just show up for holidays and birthdays and make plans to be in her life not just make plans to provide for her but actually be there!...I'm...uh moving back to Houston so you don't need to worry about taking care of me. Just be there for Leila...that's all I ask."
Shaun flips out how can she just casually add in that she is moving back to Houston? He never agreed to this? If he was still in LA he 
might've never have know about what she was up to.

*Shaun*"Hold up...what?! You're moving to Houston?!...nuh uh, no fucking way, Mari!"

Amari waves her arm up for him to take in the 
tiny space of this one bedroom Condo.

 *Amari* "Look at this place! It's not kid friendly Shaun. I cannot raise Leila
 here and I'd rather do it closer to home. Where my family is..."
 *Shaun* "But you have family here too...what about Laura?..."
 *Amari* "Laura is wonderful but in case you haven't noticed she has her hands
full right now with two baby boys...."

*Shaun* "And what about my family?..."
*Amari* "You mean Rock Candy?...I'm not raising my kid around Rufus."
 *Shaun* "You can't make this decision if I'm not okay with it..."
*Amari* "The hell I can, you haven't made any so far, you didn't even bother responding when I asked you about baby names...How do you expect me to have any faith in you?"

*Shaun* "Over my fucking dead body are you doing this?!..."
 *Amari* "Calm down! You're gonna wake her up...How is this any big
of a deal to you? You're not even living here right now..."
 *Shaun* "I could be...one day I will be. I plan to retire here."
Amari laughs, he sounds absolutely ridiculous.

*Amari* "Please...stop acting like you care! You're not gonna change my mind."
*Shaun* "Fine then! You better fucking call Daddy the big shot judge,
cause I'm about to lawyer up...time for the courts to decide."
*Amari* "Shaun...No!...Please..."
Then he grabs his guitar and bag and begins to head 

for the door. Amari gets up to follow...

*Amari* "Shaun don't walk out on me again! Please just hear me out."

*Shaun* "I'll be in touch..."

Then he turns and leaves. Amari slouches down and slides down to sit on the floor. She is at a loss as to what to do. First he wants nothing to do with her now he is acting like she is trying to take her away.

Amari sits there until the tears stop and she pulls herself together. 

Time to take Leila to go visit her cousins. 

 Oh dear looks like things went from bad to worse with Shaun and Amari. Neither of them can seem to get along with each other for too long. Lets hope these two can settle their differences somehow, someway for little Leila's sake.

To be Continued!