*Addison Carter POV*

"Arden, do you think that Marco is okay? He's been gone all morning, and has been avoiding me all weekend. He's been acting really strange lately"

I sat next to Arden at the cafe as we chatted. Fabian was sat on the table, eating a choclate chip cookie Arden had given him.

"Well has he been out lately?" He asked, as he polished a wine glass.

"Yes, just this weekend he dissappeared for hours. Then he came home for dinner then left again. He hasn't returned all morning and I don't know what's going on" I admitted, flattening down Fabian's curls.

He giggled and crawled towards me. "Well Fabian needs his dad around, he can't just expect you to take care of him. Talk to him about it" Arden suggested.

"Fabian is nearly eleven months old now, if he continues to disappear he's going to miss his sons 1st birthday and maybe even his first steps. Oh Arden, what am I going to do?"

Fabian had already started pulling himself up on the furniture and standing freely, it wouldn't be long until he started taking his first steps.

Fabian frowned at me, and waved his arms. I picked him up and held him to my chest. "Hey, it's going to be okay. You always have me if you need help" He smiled at me and I smiled back.

"Thanks Arden, you're a good friend" He grinned at me cheekily, "I know, Addie, I know" We laughed at him and continued chatting.

"Addison" Someone said.

I turned around and saw Marco standing there.

"Marco, where have you been?" I asked, standing up to face him. He didn't answer me and instead stared down Arden.

"It's time to go Addison" He said, sizing Arden up. He didn't seem to see Arden as a threat, which Arden picked up on.

"What? Where?" I questioned as Marco grabbed my wrist. "To the zoo, you wanted to go remember?" He asked, not even looking at me.

He was too busy staring at Arden and the way he was glaring at Marco's hand on my wrist. This situation is starting to get a little bit tense.

"Okay, when are we leaving?" I asked, placing Fabian on my hip. "Now"

"Right now?" "Yes, right now. Let's go" He pulled me towards the door and Arden stood up and grabbed my shirt.

"Let her go!"

Oh dear god, I thought.

"You let go, she's my girlfriend!" Marco seethed. They were starting to draw attention from the many customers.

"Oh yeah, then why don't you start treating her like your girlfriend!" Arden hissed back.

This angered Marco even more and he leaned forward, towards Arden and I. "How I treat my girlfriend is up to me, so don't go sticking your nose into my business"

He was so close, I could smell the alcohol on his breathe. "You've been drinking again?" I asked. He glared at me, and let go of my wrist.

"I'll be in the car" He started to exit the cafe, but I grabbed his hand.

"Marco, please. You can't drink and drive, it's dangerous. How much have you drank anyway?" I questioned, looking into his dilated pupils.

He must've drank a lot of alcohol. I don't know how he managed to drive here in the first place.

"I'm fine Addison. Now, let's go" He said, tugging my hand. Fabian was snuggled into my neck, staring at his father.

Fabian hadn't seemed to miss Marco, preferring to go grocery shopping and running errands with me. He either didn't notice or didn't care that his father was gone.

"I don't think that you should drive, and I've had two glasses of wine so I can't drive either. Maybe Arden could-" I started, getting cut off. "No. He is not coming in my car" Marco said fiercely.

"Marco. Neither of us can drive, Arden hasn't drunk anything. Besides, he's my friend, he's a good guy" Marco stared at Arden, unconvinced.

"Please Marco, don't start this. Do you want to have a nice family day or not?" I asked, frowning at him. "I do, but it's hardly a family day if he's there" He said, pointing accusingly at Arden.

"Marco, if you continue to argue with me, you're going to end up sleeping on the couch tonight. I don't care if it's your house, it's mine now too so don't think I won't make you sleep downstairs"

Arden snickered behind me. Marco huffed at me then nodded. "Great, let's go" Arden held out his hands for the keys and Marco reluctantly handed them to him.

We arrived at the zoo, after twenty minutes of Arden and Marco bickering like an old married couple. I made Marco sit in the back with Fabian because he might have strangled Arden if he sat in the front.

I knew he was uncomfortable because Fabian's car seat was in the middle and sticking into his side. Fabian had just stared at Marco the entire time, drooling on his toy dinosaur.

"Okay, what to first?" Arden asked. "How about the elephants? There near the front anyway" I suggested, following Arden into the zoo.

We walked to the elephants and Fabian was ecstatic. "What's that Fabes? Is that an elephant?" I cooed. He giggled and clapped his hands at me.

Then he waved at them, and they waved back with their trunks.

Aw.

After two hours, we decided to have lunch at the indoor cafe, and then we were back to exploring. The last place I wanted to visit was the penguins, saving the best for last for Fabian.

The penguins were in a little centre that was underground. All the Antarctic animals were in the centre, so we knew the penguins would be here.

When we came to the penguin enclosure, Fabian started bouncing in my arms and squealing. I laughed at him and put him down in front of the glass.

He stood by himself, holding onto the small black step that people stood on. I bent down beside him and watched as he squashed his face against the glass.

I turned around when I heard someone's phone buzzing and saw Marco checking his messages. He put his phone back in his pocket and looked at us both.

"Uh, I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be back in a minute" He grumbled, walking out of the centre. The bathrooms were back near the cafe, and was a three minute walk from here.

Arden had a curious expression on his face as he watched Marco walk away. I turned back around to Fabian and held his back. I didn't want him toppling over.

After ten minutes and no sign of Marco, Arden volunteered to go look for him. I wasn't too worried, Marco often disappeared without warning.

"Mumma! Mum-ma-ma!" Fabian shouted at me. I stopped and stared at him.

He'd spoken his first words.

But that's not what shocked me the most.

He called me mumma.