Jen woke up to the sound of the phone ringing. She sighed as she got off of the couch and headed to the kitchen where she had left the phone.
"Hello?" Jen answered.
"Jen, this is Nick, I just wanted to let you know that I will be fighting for custody of Anthony."
"What? I don't think so Nick," Jen said angerly.
"I already filed for it. You'll be hearing from my lawyer. I just thought that I would give you a heads up."
"Nick, I refuse to let you take Anthony from me."
"You really don't have a choice. Bye." He said and then hung up not giving her the chance to say anything. Jen didn't know what to do. Anthony was the most important thing in Jen's life. He was the only reason that gave meaning to her whole relationship with Nick. Finally, Jen called AJ, she really needed to talk to him right now.
"Hello?" AJ answered.
"AJ, it's Jen, I really need to talk to you," Jen said holding back her tears.
"What happened? What's wrong?"
"Nick wants custody of Anthony."
"What?"
"He wants to take my baby."
"Don't worry Jen, he won't get him."
"He already filed for it. He said his lawyer is going to call. AJ, what am I going to do?"
"Look Nick is always traveling, he never stays any place for long, that's not a life that a judge is going to give to a baby."
"But Nick can afford more than me..."
"But nothing Jen. You are the better parent and any judge can see that."
"I don't want Nick to take Anthony."
"He won't, I promise."
"I can't believe he's doing this."
"He's probably just doing this to piss you off, so don't let it get to you."
"AJ how could I not let it get to me? He's trying to take my son away from me!"
"Calm down Jen, I'll help you. I'll make sure that he doesn't get Anthony."
"Thank you AJ!"
"Look, I gotta go now. The guys are having a meeting in a little."
"Alright, I'll talk to you later."
"Bye," AJ said and hung up the phone.
*Later That Morning*
"AJ, what's buggin' you?" Brian asked.
"Nick's trying to take Anthony from Jen," AJ said noticing Nick's absence from the meeting.
"What? Just yesterday he said that he wasn't even sure that Anthony was his," Brian told AJ.
"You're kidding me!"
"No, I'm serious. He's really trying to take Anthony?"
"Yeah, Jen called me this morning and he already filed for custody."
"This kid is going through so much already," Kevin said.
"Tell me about it and poor Jen, she's going crazy," AJ said worried.
"I'm worried about this kid, either way he's not going to know one of his parents," Kevin said.
"Why do you say that?" Howie asked.
"If he stays with Jen, you know she is never going to want to see Nick again. If Nick gets him, you know he's doing this to get back at Jen and he sure as hell isn't going to let Jen see him."
"So what are we gonna do?" AJ asked.
"We aren't gonna do anything," Brian said, "We are gonna let Nick and Jen handle this on their own, but since you already seem to be involved, you will just wait and see what part Jen wants you to play."
"What are we gonna do about Nick? As ya'll know, we aren't exactly best friends right now," AJ asked.
"I don't know yet," Brian said seriously.
"We better figure something out soon because I don't want to head out and have him pissed off and we all suffer because of it."
*Meanwhile*
Jen sighed as she flipped through the television channels. Nothing she saw kept her attention for very long. Her thoughts remained on what might be if Nick got Anthony. Anthony was her whole world, everything that kept her going. Without him, she may have given up a long time ago.
As Jen started to fall asleep, she heard a noice. She shot up and headed to the front door where she saw Nick.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Jen yelled.
"I came to get my son," Nick said trying to get past Jen, but she kept steeping in front of him.
"No, I don't think so."
"Come on, he's my son too."
"That never mattered to you before."
"I'm righting a wrong."
"No you're not, you're up to something."
"God Jen, do I always have to be up to something? I just want to spend time with my son," Nick said pushing by Jen.
"You stay away from my son!" Jen yelled. She ran after Nick. He opened the door to Anthonys room and went inside.
"I'll bring him home tomrrow."
"He's not going anywhere!"
"Look," Nick yelled as he turned to face Jen, "I'm taking him and thats that."
"No you're not!" At that moment, Nick had lost patience. He slammed Jen up against the wall.
"Don't fight with me. I'm taking him."
"No." Nick raised his hand and slapped her. Jen began to cry because of the pain.
"I'm taking him," he said forcing her up against the wall as hard as he could, "So don't make this any harder than you already did."
"Nick," Jen said struggling to break free from Nicks grip.
"Shut up!" Nick yelled and hit her again. Jen was crying hysterically by that point. He let her go and she slid down to the floor. Nick took Anthony out of the crib and left.
Chapter 6