*Here is the first chapter to the sequeal to Sobriety. I hope you like it*
TWO MONTHS LATER:
I get my 2 month old son out of the back seat of my car and grab his diaper bag as I pull his car seat out of the backseat. I make my way to my mom's front porch and ring the doorbell. She opens the door a couple minutes later with a smile on her face. "Dean," she says, "Come in."
"Thanks," I say with a smile as I make my way inside with Gideon who is looking up at me with his beautiful blue eyes that he inherited from me.
"I didn't know you had Gideon today," she says, "I thought that today was Azzy's day because you have group tonight."
"Azzy called me this morning and asked if I could pick him up from daycare so that she could get some studying done. I'll drop him off at her place before I go to the meeting."
"Are you sure she isn't using again?" she asks as we reach the living room. She immediately goes for the car seat when I put it down to take Gideon out so she can hold him. "Come to Nanny, Baby Boy," she says as she picks him up making me smile. She takes him out of his little blue jumpsuit exposing his little jeans and Nike shirt.
"She's not using," I say, "she's studying for an exam. She's doing pretty good. She's got herself a good job that she works at 7-3 every day and she is going to school. She's doing a good job. She's not using. She's at home studying."
"I'll believe it when I see it," she says as she plays with Gideon. "She does make cute babies I'll give her that much," she says as she continues to play with him. "Yes she does make cute babies you're the cutest baby in the whole world," she says as Gideon gives her a big smile. "So why didn't she just keep him and study?"
"Because you know how Gideon can be. He has his moments when he just cries. He's still dealing with his addiction. I don't want her to be distracted besides I like spending time with my son," I say with a smile as run my hand over his dark hair. He is the spitting image of Azzy except his eyes are blue much like mine and he has my mouth and my dimples. Azzy and I did a great job with this one.
"That's her fault," she says, "this poor baby addicted," she says shaking her head. "How selfish can you be?"
"She wasn't being selfish, Mom, if she would have quit cold turkey he could have died. Let's not start this argument again. Azzy is trying really hard here let's not keep casting stones at her."
"What is going on with you two anyway? Are you two fooling around again?"
"No," I say with a smile. "we're not," I say as Gideon starts to get fussy. "He's probably hungry," I say, "let me go make him his bottle and then we can finish our conversation." I get into his diaper bag and pull out his formula. He has sensitivity issues to the formula so the doctor gave him soy formula and I grab one of his bottles from the bag and a drop in before I make my way to the kitchen to make him his bottle. I hate when my mom gets started on Azzy. She holds a pretty nasty grudge against her for one mistake. I hate getting into these arguments with her about one of the mothers of my children. I shake the bottle up and then make my way back to the living room. I put the formula back into the bag and pull out a burp cloth before I take him from my mom. "Come here, Gideon," I say with a smile. "Come to Daddy," I say with a smile as I take him into my arms and he continues to cry as I lay him back to feed him. He starts to suck on the bottle like he hasn't eaten for days but he had just eaten 3 hours before. He's an eater that's for sure.
"So back to you and Azzy," she says, "what is going on with you two?"
"Nothing," I say. "We're just friends working together to be parents to Gideon," I say, "it's nothing more than that."
"I was worried for a second there," she says as I feed the baby. "What is this daycare like that she sends him to?"
"It's a daycare," I say with a shrug. "We went to check it out together. The teachers have their clearances and it's a really nice daycare. It's one of the best daycares in Cincinnati. It's not a bad place. They send a paper home with Gideon every day telling us how much he ate, how many diaper changes he had. It's a good place. I like it."
"Okay, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't one of those poor excuses of a daycare," she says, "you know what I mean?"
"I think so," I say, "but don't worry he is really good hands there. If he wouldn't be I'm sure Azzy and myself wouldn't send him. You have nothing to worry about."
"You know I could watch him during the day."
"No, Mom, Azzy wouldn't like that and he is better in daycare so he can be around other kids. He needs to be socialized."
"He's 2 months old, Dean and he hasn't had any of his shots yet and he's around all those germs it's not safe."
"He hasn't had his shots because his body cannot handle them all at once. He got a couple at the doctor's last week. Azzy doesn't want him pricked with a dozen shots at once."
"And you agree with that?"
"I do," I say, "he goes through enough with his addiction and his stomach sensitivity. He's not like other kids, Mom. He can't have a dozen shots put into him at once. He'll have a bad reaction. Azzy is doing this because it's best for our son not because she is against vaccinations."
"She's the one that got him like this," she says as I burp Gideon.
"Please stop," I say.
"I think you should go for custody of him. I don't trust her, Dean. You know that."
"What don't you trust about her?" I ask. "She's working her ass off to be a better person."
"What if she starts to use again?"
"Mom, she's not going to use again."
"You don't know that," she says,
"I do know that because she goes to counseling two days a week, she is part of my friend's group, she is working at a good job and she's in school."
"Doesn't mean she won't fall back to her old ways, I just think Gideon would be better with you than he is with her."
"With my work schedule I can't get full custody of him and I don't want to do that to Azzy. We have a good thing going. I have him Thursdays and Friday nights she has him Saturday through Wednesday. It's working for us."
"If you say so. Have you seen her new apartment?"
"No, not yet," I say.
"Are you sure it's a healthy environment for the baby?"
"Azzy is a good mom. It doesn't matter what she did in her past. She is a good mom to our son. Look at him," I say, "does it look like he's not taken care of. He's always bathed, his nails always clipped, no diaper rash, he is happy regardless of his addiction and obviously he's well fed. He weighs 10 pounds," I say, "he's taken care of."
"I still think you should check out the apartment when you drop him off. I just worry about him. I don't want to see anything happen to him because his mom was an addict."
"And so was his father," I snap, "and look at me now. I don't care how you feel about Azzy but at least respect her. She is the mother of your grandson. You don't have to like her but don't disrespect her in front of her son. She's not a bad person."
"How can you say that after everything she did to you?"
"Because I know she wasn't in the right state of mind, Mom. Azzy had problems and she's dealing with them now but she has NEVER put our child into jeopardy. She loves him and there is nothing she won't do for him. I was where she was before too and I will not punish her by taking our child away from her like it was done to me. I was where she was before, Mom, you know that."
"She stole from me, she stole from Richard and she stole from you," she says, "how can you trust her after that?"
"How did you trust me?" I ask. "Show her the same respect that you showed me when I got out of rehab. I stole from you too and you forgave me. Like I said, I don't care if you hate Azzy but please don't disrespect her in front of our son that's his mother and if it wasn't for Azzy you wouldn't have Gideon in your life and if you keep disrespecting Azzy you won't have him in your life."
"I still don't trust her what if those two thugs come back into her life? Then what?"
"Then we will worry about it then but trust me Azzy is not going to put Gideon into any danger she loves him way too much. She loves him more than life itself so you have NOTHING to worry about, Mom. It's all right."
"I will always worry about my grandson," she says as I look down at my son. I just can't get over how cute he is. He gives me a big smile as I tickle him. There's nothing better than seeing his toothless smile.
"Is your tummy full now," I ask him with a smile. "Was it yummy?" I ask before I pick him up and kiss his forehead.
"And Gideon, where did she get that name?"
"It means warrior," I say, "I think it's a cute name and it's powerful. Leave the boy alone."
"Is that what you're going to say when he is getting picked on at school for his name?"
"He can handle his own," I say with a smile. "He's a little warrior. Stop passing judgment, you just don't like the name because it was Azzy's idea."
"Why didn't she name him Dean?"
"Because we didn't want to name him Dean," I say, "he's our son we can name him what we want," I say as I put the rest of his bottle away before I get ready to change his diaper.
"And what's going on with McKenna?" she asks as I come back into the living room after throwing away Gideon's diaper and washing my hands.
"Cassie is in the process of moving here. I'm going to get McKenna on the days that I am home the same days I get Gideon," I say. "McKenna and I talk on the phone pretty much every day and I can't wait to see her again."
"I would love to see you and Cassie together again, you two were so good together?"
"Really because I think we brought out the worst in each other. We were a train wreck together," I say, "I'm good with being friends with her. And don't forget she was an addict too. I didn't think you would want me to be with another recovering addict."
"You two were married."
"Because I got her pregnant and I thought it was the right thing to do but it wasn't obviously. Look, Mom, I know you want the best for me but I'm 29 years old. I think I can handle that myself."
"Well, you really screwed up with Azzy," she says.
"And the best thing to come from Azzy is my son so I didn't really screw up anything," I say as I look at my watch. "I have to get him ready to go back to Azzy," I say as I take Gideon from her to get him ready to go. I put his jumpsuit on him and pull up the hood with little bear ears as he sleeps through it all. I put him back into his car seat, buckling him in just right before I put a blanket over him as I stand up. "I'll call you tomorrow," I say.
"All right, will you have Gideon tomorrow?"
"Yes," I say, "Azzy is going to drop him off before she goes to group."
"All right," she says, "I might stop by to see him if that's all right."
"That's fine," I say. "I love you."
"I love you too," she says giving me a soft kiss on the cheek after I hug her. She gives Gideon a soft kiss. He stirs but remains asleep. "Bye."
"Bye, Mom," I say before I make my way to the front door.
I arrive at Azzy's apartment complex about 20 minutes later. I'm pretty impressed. It's in a really good neighborhood and as I drive I see there is a pool and a playground for the kids. I pull into a parking space outside her building and smile. She made out pretty well for herself. It's not too bad. I get out of the car and get Gideon out before I make my way inside her building. I make my way up to the second floor and find her apartment. I knock on the door as I wait for her to open it. "Hey," she says with a smile as she opens the door. She looks really good. She's got some meat on her bones and isn't stick thin anymore in fact she's starting to develop curves in all the right places and she looks amazing. She looks good. Her curly hair pulled into a ponytail, her hazel eyes looking at me through her glasses as she's dressed in a pair of Dean Ambrose sweat pants and pink tank top.
"Hey," I say with a smile as she lets me into the apartment. I look around and see there is still some stuff that's not unpacked but you can tell that there is a baby here as his swing and his pack and play are in the living room and some of his toys on the floor. "How did the studying go?" I ask as we take a seat on the couch.
"Pretty good," she says with a smile. "Thanks for taking Gideon for me. This is a really big test and I needed to study. Thank-you," she says as she picks Gideon up out of the car seat and takes him out of his blue jumpsuit as he wakes up. "Hey there, Handsome," she says with a smile before she kisses his chubby cheek. "Did you have fun with daddy today?"
"Tell Mommy that we went to the grocery store and then we went to daddy's to play for a little bit before we went to visit nana."
"Oh boy," she says to Gideon, "you had a big day today! Was he all right?"
"He was good. He just ate about a half hour ago. He only ate a little bit so he may be hungry again in a bit. I just changed him before we left so he should be good for a while. The rest of his bottle is in the diaper bag."
"Okay," she says as I stand up. "Are you leaving now?"
"Yeah, I should get back home," I say, "but I did want to tell you that in a couple weeks I have a European tour so I won't be home that week to get him. I will make it up to him when I get back."
"Okay," she says with a smile. "Do you want him for Thanksgiving?"
"I mean I could take him for Thanksgiving since that's my day but what about you? What are you doing for Thanksgiving?"
"I am probably going to be working Thanksgiving. Plus I'm not really doing anything anyway. I was just going to order Chinese food and spend Thanksgiving here. I know you want to take him to see your family so go ahead."
"Thanks," I say with a smile. "I'm sure my mom will love that."
"I'm sure too," she says with a smile as she stands up. "So do you want to look around the apartment to make sure it's okay?"
"Yeah," I say with a smile.
"I'm sorry that everything isn't unpacked here," she says pointing to the boxes in the living room. "With work, school and Gideon I just haven't had time. I plan to tackle that tomorrow night after group."
"Sounds good," I say with a smile as I smile at the pictures of Gideon she already has hanging up on the wall before she takes me to the kitchen to show it to me. "This is a pretty nice kitchen."
"Yeah," she says, "too bad I don't know how to cook. It would really come in handy. The only thing I'm whipping up in here are Ramen noodles and macaroni and cheese and microwave meals," she says with a smile. She's so cute. She seems a lot happier now that she's out of rehab and now that she's not on drugs anymore. She's turning into the girl that I fell in love with almost a year ago. "This is the bathroom obviously," she says showing me the bathroom before we walk out into the hallway, "and this is my bedroom," she says with a smile as I look around her room. It's pretty simple but it looks like she hasn't unpacked everything just yet. I smile as I look at the pictures of Gideon on her dresser along with her jewelry and stuff. She takes me out of the room and takes me to another room in the apartment. "And this is Gideon's room," she says, "I wish I could paint the walls blue but this will do for now," she says as I smile at the sports themed bedroom with little bears playing baseball, basketball and football. Gideon's name is on the wall in light blue letters. This is the only room that's really unpacked. Everything is in its place. She has a toy box for him with a bookshelf with a few books on it. On his dresser there's a blue piggy bank, his blankets are folded neatly at the changing table and put underneath it along with his diapers and diaper stuff. "What do you think?" she asks as we make our way to the living room again.
"It looks good," I say, "I'm impressed."
"Good," she says, "I just want to do this whole mother stuff right."
"And you are," I say with a smile, "you're doing a great job with him."
"Thanks," she says with a smile as she kisses his forehead as he sleeps in her arms. He's doing pretty well today. I don't think he has slept this much in a while. He must be tired.
"Well, I should get going. I have to do group tonight. I'll pick Gideon up tomorrow from daycare unless you want to drop him off at my house on your way to work and I just keep him for the day."
"Do you want me to do that?"
"Yeah," I say, "that should work."
"Okay," she says, "I'll drop him off about 6:30 in the morning."
"Okay," I say with a smile. "And I will bring him home Saturday around 7 because I have to catch a flight to North Carolina."
"All right," she says. "Thank-you again for taking him for a bit. It really helped me."
"No problem," I say with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"See you tomorrow morning," she says with a smile as Gideon stirs in her arms. "Say bye to Daddy," she says waving his hand at me.
"Bye, Gideon," I say with a smile before I give him a kiss on his cheek. "I love you," I say to him before I give one last wave before I'm on my way out the door.
*A/N: Is it a keeper or no? What do you think about Dean's mom? Is she being too rough on Azzy? What do you think about her talking about Azzy in front of Gideon? Is Dean right for telling her not to do that? What do you think of Dean's and Azzy's interaction with each other? What do you think about what Dean said about Cassie and him? Do you think it is possible they brought out the worse in each other? What do you think of Azzy and Dean co-parenting? Do they seem to be doing a good job? Do you think Azzy is doing well? Please review and thank-you for reading.