*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much!*

"So you're going out with that girl again?" asks my mom as I am visiting her for a few minutes before I go to Azzy's apartment to spend some time with her and Gideon for my birthday.

"We're in a relationship yes," I say, "I don't see the big deal. We aren't having sex with each other. We haven't even kissed each other yet. I don't know what the big deal is. I love her."

"She's nothing but trouble. Do you think that this whole I'm changing thing is going to last? She is going to fall again and you're going to get hurt and Gideon is going to get hurt," she says, "you're being dumb about this, Dean. You are much better without her. I'm sure you could find anyone better than her."

"I don't want anyone else but her," I say, "I believe that she's going to keep changing. She's doing really well for herself. If you would take the time to get to know the new Azalea you would know that."

"So now she's Azalea," she says, "just because she changes her name doesn't change her as a person."

"Right," I say, "but at the same time she's working really hard to change herself. She's doing really well. She finished the semester off with a 4.0, she's going to group, she's going to counseling, she's a good mom and she loves her job. She is not going to fall back into the path of drugs, not with Gideon. He keeps her grounded. He is the best thing in her life. Why would she want to lose that?"

"I'm just saying don't be surprised if in another month or so she disappears. I don't trust her, Dean."

"And that's the problem, you don't trust her. She needs support to get through all of this. I'm willing to be a support system for her and help her through when she needs my help but she's working on it alone. And I don't know why you're starting on me when Richard asked her out on a date."

"No he didn't," she says. "I don't believe that. Richard doesn't even like her."

"Apparently he does because he asked her out. Why don't you give him the lecture you're giving me?"

"Because he's not with her, you are after everything she's done to you."

"Azalea and I have a new start. She apologized to me for everything she did wrong against me. She apologized to Richard too. She's trying to make amends with everyone she hurt. I'm not going to hold it against her. You don't know how hard it is for someone that had an addiction that hurt tons of people to apologize for their mistakes and to apologize for all the wrongs they've done. It's a big step for them. It's not easy and the fact she had the strength to face us means she is doing pretty damn well. I'm so tired of this Azalea is the enemy speech you keep giving me. Whether you like her or not she is going to be in our lives forever. Gideon is your grandson and she is his mother. Gideon is going to have birthday parties, he's going to have school events and he's going to have a lot of other events as well that we're going to do as a family. And guess what, Azalea is going to be there. I will never exclude her from an activity with our son because you don't like her but I would exclude you because after all Gideon is her child. If you can't grow up and let everything go then maybe you don't need to be in Gideon's life. I mean if Azalea is such a bad person why would you want any part in our son's life?"

"Dean, don't speak like that to me."

"No, mom, I'm so tired of you casting stones against Azalea. I was in the same spot she was too. I was in the same spot. I was an addict too, I'm still a recovering addict but you treated me a lot better. The day is going to come when Azalea wants to talk to you, apologize and make amends with you what are you going to do? Are you going to talk to her or blow her off?"

"I'll listen to her but I'm not going to jump on the Azalea bandwagon. She can apologize to me but that doesn't mean I'm going to be her best friend."

"I know, Mom, but I just want you two to get along for Gideon's sake. I don't want tensions to be high when he's around. I want you two to be civil for him. That's all that I want."

"I'll try."

"Well, will you talk to her when she's ready to talk to you?"

"Yes, Dean," she says, "I'll talk to her when she's ready to talk to me."

"Good," I say, "I think she's scared of you right now."

"Why would she be scared of me?"

"I think most of it is shame but the other part is she knows you don't like her. She's not a dumb girl. She knows what is going on. Just give her a chance okay?"

"I guess," she says, "there's obviously something about her because you can't stay away from her."

"She's different," I say with a smile, "she's special. She's not a bad person once you get to know her. She's not perfect but she's perfect to me. I love her."

"Love is such a strong word," she says, "are you really in love with her?"

"Yes," I say. "I'm in love with her and I want to let you know she will be spending Christmas with us. I'm going to do the cooking but we're all spending Christmas together. McKenna is going to be here too."

"Will Cassie be with us as well?"

"No," I say, "she is going to South Dakota to see her other daughter for Christmas so I'll have McKenna all Christmas break while she's in South Dakota."

"Wow," says my mom. "That's exciting."

"I know but I have no idea what to do with an almost 12 year old girl," I say, "I never dealt with a little girl before."

"I'm sure McKenna will guide you," she says with a smile. "You're a good dad you know that?"

"Thanks," I say with a proud smile. "Well, I should get going. I'll see you tomorrow for lunch."

"Okay, Dean, I love you."

"I love you too," I say as I kiss her cheek softly. "Bye, Mom."

"Bye, Dean," she says, "give Gideon a kiss for me."

"I will," I say as I walk toward the door. I say goodbye to her one more time before I walk out the door.

I arrive at Azalea's apartment about 20 minutes later dressed in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt and my favorite leather jacket. I ring the doorbell to her apartment and wait a few seconds before I hear her tell me to come in. I open the door and walk in to see her in the living room with Gideon playing with him sitting on her knees. There's nothing more beautiful than seeing my beautiful girlfriend and my adorable son playing together in her living room. He is smiling a big toothless grin at her as I lock the door behind me. "Hey," I say as I walk into the living room.

"Hey," she says with a smile. "Happy Birthday."

"Thanks," I say kissing her cheek softly.

"Say happy birthday, Daddy," she says as she hands Gideon to me.

"Hey there little man," I say with a smile as I kiss his chubby cheeks. "How are you, Buddy?" I ask as he smiles at me. "How are you, Azalea?"

"Good," she says with a smile. "How was your trip?"

"It was okay," I say. "Same old stuff. Didn't really get to enjoy the town but I enjoyed putting on the show for my fans. It's funny I never really had a real soft spot for babies or little kids until Gideon came along now every time I see a little kid wearing a Dean Ambrose shirt I high five them and give them my autograph if I can or I pose for a picture with them. I'm turning into John Cena," I say.

"I don't think so," she says, "you still have a rough edge to you. You just like kids."

"I love kids," I say as I hold Gideon.

"Well, I hope you're not disappointed or anything but I ordered us some pizza for dinner and I have some movies that I wanted to watch with you after I get Little Man to bed."

"That's fine," I say, "as long as I'm spending the night with you I have no complaints. You want me to get Little Man to bed?" I ask her.

"If you want to," she says with a smile. "I'm sure he would like that."

"Okay," I say with a smile. "Are you about ready for bed, Buddy?" I ask him.

"He should be. It's been a long day for him," she says, "he should be about ready."

"All right," I say as I stand up and take him to his nursery to start getting him ready for bed while Azalea hangs out in the living room waiting for the pizza to arrive.

I get into his dresser and pull out a blue sleeper before I lay him down on the changing table. I change his diaper and then put his sleeper on him. I reach into his crib and grab his favorite blanket and wrap him up in it before I get his pacifier. I walk over to the bookshelf and pick out a book to read to him. I love reading to him every chance that I can get. I smile as I grab the book Love You Forever to read to him. I take a seat in the rocking chair, holding him in my arms as I start to read to him. He seems pretty content as I read the words from the book to him. I can see his blue eyes getting heavy as his eyelids start to close as I continue reading the book to him before he falls asleep in my arms. There's nothing more precious and no sight I love more than my son sleeping in my arms. He takes his hand and covers his head as he sleeps. I stand up slowly and walk him over to his crib. I kiss his forehead softly and say, "I'll love you forever; I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living my baby you'll be. Goodnight Gideon," I say softly before I put him into the crib to sleep careful not to wake him as he stirs a little but once he's in his crib he's back to sleep. "I love you," I say softly before I grab the monitor. I turn on his nightlight and then turn off the light as I walk out of the bedroom to the living room as I smell the pizza in the kitchen. I lay the monitor down on the coffee table and make my way to the kitchen. "He's asleep," I say.

"I know," she says with a smile as she looks at me. "I heard you reading to him. You're so good with him. I love reading him that book too."

"My mom used to read it to me when I was little," I say with a smile. "I read it to him every night that I have him," I say with a smile.

"I just saw the book at the bookstore one day, read it and I chose the book. My parents didn't read to me when I was little. They felt that I should be able to read at 2 years old."

"That's a shame," I say. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize for their mistakes. I just want to make sure I'm a better parent to Gideon than they ever were to me. I want to apologize to them but I don't want anything to do with them after that."

"And that's your choice," I say as I open a pizza box as she gets out two plates. "You don't have to have a relationship with them if you don't want to."

"And I didn't forget that they wanted me to abort Gideon," she says. "I wasn't going to do that. I wanted my baby."

"I know," I say, "what kind of pizza do you want? Pepperoni or cheese?"

"Pepperoni," she says with a smile as she hands me the plates.

"Okay," I say as I get her out a piece of pepperoni pizza.

"Do you want soda or water or juice?" she asks.

"Do you have Mountain Dew?"

"Of course I knew you were coming over so I picked some up for you," she says making me smile. "I'll get you some Mountain Dew."

"Thanks," I say as I get our pizza and she gets our drinks. We walk to the living room together and I lay the plates down on the table while she lays the drinks down on coasters. "So what movies do you have picked out?"

"Avengers, Captain America, Batman, The Dark Knight, you can pick what you want to watch," she says making me smile. She knows me so well yet barely knows me at all.

"The Dark Knight," I say with a smile before taking a bite of my pizza.

"I figured," she says with a smile before taking a bite of her own pizza. "So my therapist wants me to press charges against Chris and Ty."

"Are you going to?" I ask.

"I don't know. I feel like I should to at least get some closure on the situation but I know it's not going to be easy to find them and I feel like it's going to upset them."

"So what if it upsets them? They took so much away from you. You deserve to have some closure on that situation. It makes me nervous that they're still running around free and no one knows where they are."

"I don't think they are coming back to Cincinnati for a while," she says.

"I hope not," I say. I worry constantly about them coming back trying to sway her into their lifestyle again. I don't blame them entirely but they hold some type of power over her so it makes me nervous knowing they could come back at any time. "It just makes me nervous they are still out there you know?"

"I know, Baby," she says. "But even if they do come back I'm going to stay far away from them. What I went through with them and what I went through with heroin I will never go through again. I can't lose Gideon or you. I don't want to lose my friends again."

"We don't want to lose you," I say. "You're doing so good and I'm proud of you for that."

"Thanks," she says with a soft smile. She's absolutely beautiful. She looks so much better now than she did months ago when heroin took over her life. She has put on a little bit of weight and she's not bone thin like she was before. She has a lot of meat on her body and she has some wonderful curves. She looks healthy, her dark circles under her eyes are gone and her hazel eyes are brighter. "Do you think I should press charges against them?"

"I can't answer that for you, Azalea, only you can answer that question. You told me you wanted your independence when it came to this stuff so you have to make your own decision about it. You have to do what you think is right."

"I know," she says taking a bite of her pizza. "I need to think about it more."

"And just so you know," I say, "whatever you choose to do I will be by your side no matter what."

"Thanks," she says with a smile. "So I wasn't able to get you a birthday present," she says.

"That's fine. The only present I need is you and Gideon. I don't need anything else."

"Okay," she says with a smile. "But I promise I will get you something for Christmas."

"You don't even have to do that," I say. "You don't have to get me anything. Let's just focus on getting Gideon some stuff. What do you want to get him?"

"Clothes our little chunky butt is getting too big for his clothes and soon he'll be out of them. He could use a couple toys because he's going to be 4 months old in January. He's going to start playing with toys so I think that is a good idea. Other than that I don't think he really needs a lot of stuff. He is still really young yet."

"I know," I say. "That sounds good to me."

"And I am not sure about spending Christmas with you guys I mean with your mom and all."

"Don't worry about her," I say, "this is Gideon's first Christmas we're spending it together and you're my girlfriend. We're spending it together. She'll just have to get over it. There's going to be a lot of times where you're going to be there and she's going to be there."

"I know but I just want to get along with her for Gideon."

"I know," I say, "and all you have to do is talk to her when you're ready."

"Okay," she says, "but I just want to stay civil and want to have a decent relationship with her just because she is your mom and she's my son's grandmother."

"I know," I say as I kiss her cheek softly. "Everything will be fine."

"I hope so," she says.

After we finish eating our pizza I take our cups and plates to the kitchen to put into the sink while she gets the movie ready to watch. I come back to the living room and see her sitting on the couch with the remote and take a seat next to her. She hits play before she cuddles up in my arms to watch the movie. I smile as she puts her head on my shoulder, resting it there as I play with her soft curly hair as we watch the movie. I kiss her forehead softly as she smiles before I nuzzle at her neck. Kissing it softly and nibbling on it softly. She moans out as I take my teeth along the length of her neck before kissing it softly and nuzzling her. My lips kiss her cheek softly and kiss the corner of her mouth before she removes her head from my shoulder. Looking at me with her beautiful eyes I lean in and kiss her soft full lips. She grants me access to her mouth. I kiss her deeply and passionately as she cups my face as I cup hers. Her tongue twisting and intertwining with mine, I tilt her head back deepening the kiss as she moans out. I smile against her lips as I continue to kiss her. Her hands make their way to my hair. She pulls it softly and gently as she plays with my hair as I fist my hands in hers. The passion deepening between us as I take my hand up her shirt as I continue to kiss her wanting more, needing more. "Dean," she says breathlessly as she removes my hand from her shirt. "Slow remember? I'm not ready to have sex yet."

"I'm sorry," I say. "But I do like kissing you."

"I like kissing you too," she says with a smile, "but I don't want more right now."

"Okay," I say with a smile before my lips are on hers again as we spend the rest of the evening making out with each other. I love this woman so much. I would kiss her all night and all day if I could. I would spend the rest of my life with her if she'd let me.

*A/N: What did you think of Dean telling his mom if she can't get along with Azalea that she can be excluded from Gideon's life? Is that right for him to do? How do you think them spending Christmas together is going to go? Do you think it could end in disaster? Do you think Dean's mom will give Azalea the chance to talk to her or no? What do you think of Azalea not wanting a relationship with her family after she apologizes to them? Do you think she's making the wrong move? What did you think of Dean spending time with Gideon? Is he a good dad? Did they seem like a little family? Please review and thank-you for reading.