*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much*
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Dean asks me as we are driving to his mom's house so that I can talk to her and hopefully make amends with her and make things civil between us. I'm not asking her to be my best friend or anything. I just want to have a decent, civil relationship with her because she is my son's grandmother and she is my boyfriend's mother. I don't want tension between us when Gideon is around. I know she's always going to be a part of Gideon's life much like I am always going to be a part of his life. There are going to be events, birthdays, school things and so much more that we will all be together for. I don't want Gideon growing up seeing a tension between the two of us. I want to apologize to her today and go from there. Hopefully we can have a decent relationship and if not as long as we get along for Gideon that's all that matters. He is the one that always matters to me.
"Yes," I say as he takes my hand into his and intertwines our fingers as he drives down the snow filled streets of Cincinnati. We had our first snowfall of the year and I love it. I love the snow. I love how beautiful a fresh fallen snow is. "I'm sure I want to do this. It's something I need to do."
"Well, I'm going to be there the whole time okay?"
"Okay," I say with a smile as he kisses my hand softly. "Does she know you're bringing me over?"
"Well, I did leave out that little detail," he says, "but if I had told her she would have made some excuse to not be there."
"So you're just going to upset her by showing up with me unexpectedly, that sounds like a great plan," I say.
"She said she would talk to you when you were ready to talk to her," he says, "but I didn't want to risk her trying to make a run for it if I told her you were coming."
"So she doesn't really want to talk to me she was just telling you what you wanted to hear then? Thanks for making this so much easier, Baby," I say, "I'm already a mess over this whole thing. I know she doesn't like me."
"Relax, Babe," he says stroking my knuckles with his thumb. "It's going to be okay."
"I hope so," I say nervously as I rub his arm with my hand.
"It will be. My mom she just loves me, she loves me a lot. She just wants the best for me. She's having a problem accepting that you're the best for me but I want you to show her baby. I want you to show her that you're the best for me."
"I'll do my best but I don't have the best track record with her," I say.
"But you're not that person anymore, Azalea, you're changing. She'll see that you just have to give her time. I'm sure everything will be all right with you and her. It's just going to take a little bit of time."
"I know," I say as he pulls into his mom's driveway. I have never been more nervous in my life than I am right now. He parks the car and kisses my lips softly.
"You've got this," he says making me smile. "And I'm here if you need me," he says with promise in his voice. We get out of the car and he gets Gideon out of the back seat. I smile as I see Gideon looking up at us with his blue eyes as we walk to the front door. Dean holds my hand as he rings the doorbell. "It's going to be all right," he says.
A couple minutes later, Dean's mom opens the door with a smile on her face but when she sees me her smile fades. That's unnerving. "Dean," she says, "you brought Azzy."
"Azalea," I say with a soft smile. "Can we talk?"
"I suppose," she says letting us into the house. She shuts the door behind us as we wipe the snow off our boots before we take our jackets off. We hang them up by the door before she leads us to the living room. I get Gideon out of his carseat and take off his jacket and hold him in my lap as I hand him a little rattle to play with. "Can I get either of you something to drink?" she asks as Dean sits next to me on the couch and wraps his arm around my shoulders.
"I'm all right," I say.
"Me too," says Dean.
"Okay, Azalea," she says, "what would you like to talk about?"
"Well," I say as I brush a piece of hair behind my ear. "I just wanted to apologize to you for everything I've done to you. I'm sorry that I stole from you. I'm sorry that you let me into your home and I stole from you. I'm sorry."
"Azalea," she says, "I appreciate that. I accept your apology but I'm not happy with the fact that you hurt my son. He fell in love with you. He wanted a future with you. He wanted to be with you the rest of his life and you hurt him."
"I know I hurt him and that wasn't my intention. I love Dean. I really do but I was in a bad place in my life and my mind wasn't in the right place. I was a mess emotionally and physically. I know I'm making excuses for my actions but when you're high or you need that fix you hurt people. I didn't mean to hurt him like I didn't mean to hurt my best friend or Richard or you. I am embarrassed and ashamed of myself for what I did. I shouldn't have stolen from any of you. I was wrong for that. I was wrong for hurting Dean and he deserved better than what I gave him. I know that he does and I am trying to change myself and be a better person. I know what I did was wrong and I'm sorry."
"Dean is my baby boy," she says, "he has been through a lot in his life. The last thing I ever want to see is for my baby boy to get hurt. As his mother I want to protect him. I watched him struggle with his own addiction. I couldn't help him until he needed or wanted help on his own. I watched him steal from me every day, I watched him steal pills from my medicine cabinet, I watched him leave home to live out on the streets. I watched him destroy himself and lose himself to the streets. It was the hardest thing as a mother to watch and not be able to protect him. I watched him destroy his life and there was nothing I could do. The day he became a father he finally decided he needed help and he went into rehab. He has been doing so well ever since. He has been doing great. He went to rehab, he got himself clean for his wife and his daughter only for his wife to take off with their daughter leaving him hurt and broken. That was devastating but he held it together. He didn't turn back to drugs. He channeled his brokenness into achieving his dream of becoming a wrestler. He got a good job, he started his own rehab group and he was doing very well for himself. I was so proud of him. I'm still proud of him. He has fought for years to see his daughter. He has been fighting most of his life and he comes out on top every time. I'm proud of him. Then you came along and shook everything up. You make him happy. I can see that. He's very happy with you. He is in love with you. Then you hurt him by stealing from him and by using drugs. That hurt him. I hate to see my baby boy hurt. You'll understand with Gideon someday. As a mom all you want to do is protect your son. I know you were in the wrong state of mind but you still hurt him."
"I know and I apologize for that," I say, "I don't know what I would do if someone hurt Gideon. I want to protect him so much already. I couldn't imagine anyone hurting him. I'm sorry that I hurt Dean. I really am. I'm trying to be a better person now. It's not that I didn't love him because I do. I really love him."
"I am sure you do," she says, "but I just want to make sure you're not going to hurt him again."
"I don't plan on it." I say. "I love him way too much. I'm trying to be a family with him. I won't hurt him again."
"We'll see how that goes," she says.
"Mom," says Dean.
"I know, Dean, you love her. I know that you truly love her but you have to understand my concern for you."
"I know you're concerned," he says, "but I'm a big boy now. I make my own decisions. You can't protect me anymore. I have to make my own decisions if I get hurt then I get hurt. I learn a lesson. You can't stop me from getting hurt it's a part of life. It's a lesson that everyone needs to learn in life. I'll get through it but I truly believe that Azalea will not hurt me. She's in a much better place right now and I don't think she's going to fall back down that road again."
"I hope not," she says.
"You don't have to like me," I say, "you don't' have to be my best friend. I just want to let you know I'm sorry for what I did and I want us to be able to get along for Gideon's sake. I would love for someday for us to be friends but that's up to you."
"Azalea," she says, "let's just take it one step at a time. You have a lot to prove to me but I will remain civil with you because of Dean and Gideon. I am not happy with this relationship that you two have going on but I understand you're trying to be a family for Gideon. I understand that but I don't want to see Dean or Gideon get hurt."
"I won't hurt them," I say.
"I hope not," she says. "I want to like you, Azalea, I want to believe you but you have to prove to me that I can trust you and you're not the girl that hurt my son."
"I'll prove it to you the best that I can," I say. "I promise."
"All right," she says. "Can I hold him?"
"Sure," I say as I hand Gideon to her and she smiles as she takes him into her arms.
"I will say this, you are a good mother despite everything you have done in the past you are a good mother."
"Thank-you," I say with a smile as Dean kisses my cheek softly.
Dean, Gideon and I spend the afternoon at his mom's house. We have lunch together and his mom and I talk. Things seem to be going okay but I know that I have a lot to prove to her. The biggest hurdle is over I talked to her and apologized for what I did. I feel a lot better now than I did before but I still have a few other things I need to do. I have to make my decision about pressing charges against Chris and Ty as well as making amends with my parents. When we leave Dean's mom's house Dean and I go to pick out a Christmas tree for his house. We decided we were going to get a tree for his house and decorate it there since that's where we'll be spending Christmas. I'm excited to decorate a tree for Gideon and get him Christmas presents. I never really got to enjoy Christmas so this is the first year in a long time that I get to actually enjoy the joys of Christmas.
When we get back to Dean's house he sets the tree up in the living room while Gideon is in his swing and I go down to his basement to get out the Christmas decorations. I bring them into the living room a few moments later as he is finishing up with the tree. "Looking good," I say with a smile.
"Thanks," he says with a smile. "I want to put a train under the tree do you think Gideon will like that?"
"I think Gideon is only 2 months old almost 3 months old so it doesn't matter," I say with a smile.
"True," he says with a shrug as he works on the tree some more. "You found the decorations okay?"
"Yeah," I say. "I want to take Gideon to see Santa Claus and get him his first ornament."
"We can do that," he says with a smile as he walks over to me as I open the box of ornaments. "Look at this," he says holding up an ornament of a little boy sitting on Santa's lap. "This is ancient."
"Is that you?' I ask looking at it.
"Yeah, I was probably 4 years old," he says.
"You were such a cute kid," I say with a smile. "No wonder Gideon is so freaking cute."
"Gideon is cute because he looks like is beautiful Mama," he says wrapping me up in his arms making me giggle. "You're so beautiful," he says with a smile as he looks into my hazel eyes with his blue eyes. "I love you."
"I love you too," I say with a soft smile before he kisses my lips softly. I wrap my arms around his neck and play with his curls as he kisses me deeply. "All right," I say breaking the kiss, "tree decorating," I say.
"Okay," he says letting me go after giving me one last soft kiss on my lips. I pick Gideon up from the swing and we start to decorate the tree together as a family. For once in my life I actually feel like I belong without the use of drugs. Dean puts the finishing touch on the tree by adding a star to the top of the tree. "What do you think?" he asks.
"It's beautiful," I say with a smile as I kiss Gideon's cheek. "It's pretty isn't it?" I ask him as Dean turns on the lights. "Ooh look at the lights," I say with a smile. "It's beautiful, Babe."
"Thanks," he says with a smile as he wraps his arm around my shoulders.
"I haven't decorated a Christmas tree for years. I can't even remember the last time I got to enjoy Christmas but I'm really looking forward to it this year."
"Me too," he says as he kisses my cheek softly. "It is a beautiful tree."
"It really is," I say as he looks at his watch.
"It's late," he says, "do you want me to take you home now?"
"What time is it?" I ask.
"Almost 8," he says.
I look out the window and see that the snow is falling again and the roads look bad. "It looks kind of bad out there. I think I should just stay here tonight I mean if that's all right with you."
"Of course, Babe," he says, "I'll cook us some dinner while you get Gideon a bath and get him ready for bed."
"Okay," I say with a smile. He kisses my lips softly before I take Gideon upstairs to his bathroom to give him a bath before I get him ready for bed while Dean cooks us some dinner. I don't know what he's cooking but it smells delicious. I get Gideon dressed into his sleeper and go down to the kitchen to make him a bottle to feed him before I put him to bed. Dean kisses him before I take him back upstairs to his nursery. I sit in the rocking chair and feed him as I look around the room. Dean loves his son that's for sure. I would never discredit him for that. His love for him is amazing. The nursery he made for him and decorated for him is wonderful. Dean went with a light blue and light green dinosaur theme for him. He even drew a couple dinosaurs on the wall for him and painted his name in light green letters above his crib. Gideon is lucky to have Dean for a dad. I look down to see Gideon sleeping in my arms. I stand up and put him into his crib. I grab the monitor before turning on the nightlight after I kiss his soft cheeks. He smells like a baby, baby powder mixed with baby lotion. It's a beautiful smell. Sometimes when I look at him I just want to cry that I made something so perfect. I watch him sleep for a few minutes before I leave the room as I turn off the light.
"Is he asleep?" asks Dean as I make my way to the kitchen.
"Yeah," I say with a smile. "It smells good."
"Thanks," he says with a smile. "I made us some spaghetti."
"Sounds good to me," I say with a smile. "I'm starving."
"Me too," he says with a smile as he hands me a plate of spaghetti before we make our way to his living room. We sit down in front of the tree next to each other to eat our dinner together as the lights from the tree light the room for us.
"This is really good," I say with a smile. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," he says. "So what if I told you that I wanted to take you away. Just you and me for a few days?"
"Just you and me?" I ask as I eat my spaghetti. "For how long?"
"Just a few days," he says, "I have off over Christmas. I don't go back to work until after the New Year before things get busy and I want to take you away for a few days."
"Who would watch Gideon and what about McKenna?" I ask.
"My mom is going to keep them for a few days. We would leave the day after Christmas and come back the day before New Year's Eve. What do you think?"
"I kind of like that idea. Where are we going?"
"Well, this is my Christmas present to you but how do you feel about going to Hawaii for a few days?"
"You're taking me to Hawaii?" I ask.
"Yeah," he says with a smile. "What do you think?"
"I think you're the best boyfriend ever and I love you so much!" I put my plate down and wrap my arms around him. "Thank-you," I say as I kiss his cheek softly.
He lets out a chuckle and says, "I love you too and you're welcome. I figured that you need this and I need this. Once the Royal Rumble hits everything is going to get crazy so I want to get some time in with you before everything goes crazy."
"I have no complaints," I say with a smile. "I've never been to Hawaii but I can't wait to go."
"Me either," he says with a smile knowing he made my entire day. "We're going to have so much fun."
"I'm sure," I say with a smile. "I can't believe it."
"Believe it," he says. "I want to spoil you."
"You don't have to," I say, "I don't deserve to be spoiled."
"But I want to and I will often. You're just going to need to accept that."
"Okay," I say with a smile. "Can I talk to you about something though?"
"Anything," he says, "what's up?"
"I want to press charges against Chris and Ty."
"You do?" he asks.
"Yes, I have been thinking about it. I have been thinking about everything they have done to me and everything they put me through, everything they took from me. I want some closure on this situation. I want to press charges. I think they need to pay for all the things they did to me and to get them off the streets so they don't hurt another girl like they hurt me."
"Well, if that's what you want to do," he says, "I'm going to be right here the whole time, by your side supporting you."
"You're going to have to hear all the nasty and gruesome details are you okay with that?"
"I can handle that," he says. "I just want you to have the closure you desire."
"So you're going to be there for me?"
"I'm always here for you. I'm here to support you."
"Thanks," I say as I lean into him and he wraps an arm around my waist. "You're a pretty awesome boyfriend."
"Thanks," he says as he kisses my forehead. "I do my best."
"I know," I say, "so I guess it's time for me to start to let go huh?"
"You're heading in that direction," he says. "I think pressing charges is a good idea. I mean you'll get the closure you need to fully heal. I don't know what happened but I know when you're ready you'll tell me everything that happened but I just want you to know I am here and I support you through this. You're not in this fight alone, Azalea so don't feel like you are. I'm here, your therapist is here and so is Kim. You're not alone we will have your back through it all. I'm glad you made this decision."
"Me too," I say, "it may get ugly but it's worth it just to see those two end up behind bars and lose their lives. They took something from me, Dean and I'm taking it back."
"Good," he says. "I love you."
"I love you too," I say as I let out a deep breath as I stay snuggled up to him as we eat our dinner together.
*A/N: How do you think Azalea's talk with Dean's mom went? Did it go better than you thought? Do you think they will work things out and Azalea will prove to her she is a different person? What do you think of them decorating a tree for Christmas do they seem like a family? What do you think of Dean's support for Azalea? Are you glad she's pressing charges against Chris and Ty? What do you think of Dean taking her to Hawaii as a Christmas gift? Do they both need this trip? Please review and thank-you for reading.