*Thank-you for all the reviews on the last chapter. You guys are great thank you.
Later that night after Alex and Dave made love she hadn't forgotten about the whole Melina situation. Dave was holding Alex in his arms as she was pressed up against his chest. "So about Melina," said Alex.
"What about her?" he asked. He knew what Alex meant he was just trying to avoid the conversation.
"Are you sleeping with her?" asked Alex.
"Alex, we already went through this. I told you I wasn't sleeping with her. Why are you so worried about it?"
"Because you're my fiancée and I'm the only person you should be sleeping with and I don't' want to look like a fool," she said.
"You won't look like a fool because nothing is happening between Melina and me," he said.
"Dave, I wish I could believe that but I just have this feeling you're not telling me something."
"Alex, I'll tell you this one thing. She did drug me a couple months ago when you were sick. She slipped something in my drink and ended up raping me that night. That was the only time I slept with her and at the time I didn't even know what was going on," he said.
"Is that the truth?" asked Alex.
"Yes, it's the truth," he said.
"Then why didn't you just tell me?" she asked.
"Because I didn't want to upset you. I thought you were get mad about it."
"She drugged you. She's crazy. You have no control over what she does. It's not your fault you had no idea what was going on. You should have just came out and told me. Now her blowing up your phone like a desperate skank makes sense. I'm sorry I doubted your fidelity. I should have known you're not the type to cheat," she said.
"It's okay," he said. "You don't have to apologize." He was glad that she just bought the story of him being drugged and he didn't have to tell her anymore. As far as he was concerned it wasn't needed to be told after this. He just hoped she would never find out but how would she if he never said anything. He could easily say someone else was lying if they mentioned it but he wasn't sure if she would believe him if he said that. He put the thoughts out of his mind because he felt it was something he didn't have to worry about at the moment. His main focus was his fiancée and planning the wedding with her and her mother. "So you're not mad?"
"Not really unless there's something else you aren't telling me," she said turning to face him.
"I just told you everything," he said.
"Okay," she said.
"I love you, Alex, and I would never do anything to hurt you," he said.
"I love you too," she said. It didn't take long before she fell asleep in Dave's arms.
That Wednesday Dave and Alex went up to New York so that Alex could visit her parents and so that she could get some of her belongings out of the apartment before the building management destroyed it. She had left New York so suddenly that she never really got to get some of her clothes and other stuff. It was a beautiful April day in the middle of the month when they arrived in New York. Dave pulled into her parents' driveway and put the car in park. They walked up to the door hand in hand. It had been at least a month or so since Alex had seen her mom or her dad. Alex rang the doorbell. Her dad answered the door, "Alex!" he said hugging his daughter.
"Hey, Daddy," she said hugging him back. "I missed you."
"I missed you too. How's life on the road?"
"It's good. Busy but good," she said.
"And Dave my future son in law how are you?" he asked shaking his hand.
"I'm good, Sir, how are you?"
"Call me Theodore and I'm good. Come on in," he said opening the door for them to come in. They walked into the house and Theodore shut the door behind them.
"Where's mom?" asked Alex as they walked into the living room.
"She should be back shortly she ran over to Rosalia's house to see the baby's nursery. They apparently finished it and your mom just had to go see it," he said.
"Kill joy," said Alex.
"Your day will come, Alex," he said.
"I know, Dad," she said sitting down on the couch. Dave took a seat next to her and took her hand.
"So what brings you two up here today?"
"We came up here to get some of my stuff from the apartment before it gets destroyed and I wanted to come see you guys. And since it's a nice day I was thinking about us going to Central Park to spend the afternoon."
"Sounds fun," said Theodore. "The big day is coming up."
"In like a year, Dad."
"I know but your mom acts like it's next week. She's been running around here making this plan and making that plan. She's planning on you having a traditional Italian wedding."
"Yeah, I know and I told her since we're cultured we would choose something from each culture to do during the ceremony. I'm not just going to make it about my Italian family when my Greek family is going to be there and Dave's Filipino family is going to be there and his Greek family too."
"Well, just remember you're her only daughter. She only gets to do this once. It better be only once. I don't want to put all this money down on a wedding and then you two end up getting divorced down the road."
"Theodore, I don't plan on divorcing your daughter. I plan on being with her forever. And having beautiful children with her."
"I still think Alex is too young to get married. I think you two should wait until she's at least 24 or 25," said Theodore.
"Dad, I'll be 23 when I get married. It's not that big of a deal."
"Okay. That's fine. It's your life and it's your decision. My opinion is I think you're too young to get married. I just don't think you're ready for a big step like this."
"Dad, I will be fine. I love Dave and he loves me. I'm sure this is what I want to do."
"Well, Alex, I'm just looking out for you. I don't want you to regret marrying him so young down the road. I know what it's like to marry young and then come to regret it. It's like you never really get a chance to live your life and be young. You just miss out on doing stuff other adults your age are doing because you're married."
"Dad, I do live my life and I do things people my age are doing I just do it with Dave. I'm not going to regret it. I really love Dave and I think this is the best thing for me," she said.
"Okay, Alex. Dave, let me ask you do you think Alex is too young to get married?"
"No, Sir. If I thought she was too young I wouldn't have asked her to marry me. I would have waited a while longer."
"Okay," said Theodore. "I just hope you two aren't making a mistake."
"We're not, Dad. I know what I'm doing. I love Dave and I want to be with him for the rest of my life," she said. "Anyway, when does Brian graduate from high school?"
"His graduation is June 2nd. Why?"
"Because I'm so proud of him after everything that happened. He got himself back on track and went back to school and is going on to graduate. I just wish things would have turned out differently for him though."
"Yeah, he did a big turn around. If things would have turned out differently though he probably wouldn't have made it to graduation," said Theodore.
"But how can someone make another person put their own child up for adoption. I think that should have been Brian's choice I mean especially after Elena died during childbirth. Brian loved her and Grayson was the only part of her left. And mom made him put her up for adoption."
"Wait, I thought you didn't have any nieces or nephews," said Dave.
"I do but I don't. Brian got his high school girlfriend pregnant and she died during child birth and my mom made him put her up for adoption. It's an open adoption but he still can only see his daughter when they want him to."
"I see," said Dave.
"Yeah. This family has its share of problems," she said.
"Except for you, Alex, you've never really been a problem with the family. You've been a pretty good kid so far. I hope it stays that way. Even though Alex has always been our partier child she's still been our most well behaved child."
"Oh. I know about the partier in her," said Dave, "but she's still a sweetheart."
"I know out of all our children Alex has been the only one that didn't get into a fight or beat someone up. She never got in trouble at school she was just a dream child. When you two have kids hope that they turn out like her because she was every parent's dream."
"That's because I don't like to fight but if I have to fight I have no problem throwing it down. I know how to defend myself."
"And that feisty attitude she has expect your children to have it."
"Child, Dad, Child. We're only having one."
"She wants one child to spoil it and give it everything she can. I don't know," said Dave.
"Just like Alex was spoiled."
"I wasn't spoiled," she said.
"Yes you were. You're still spoiled."
"But I look good while being spoiled. And Dave spoils me too."
"I do spoil you," he said, "I like spoiling you with things and sometimes you don't let me buy you stuff."
"That's because you buy me too much. I have no problem paying for my own stuff. Save your spoiling techniques for when we have a kid," she said.
"Or kids," said Theodore. "Remember you do have a chance of getting pregnant with twins. They run in your mom's family and your mom is a twin herself. It usually skips a generation."
"Ugh. Don't joke like that, Dad. That's not even funny. If I ever got pregnant with twins I would have to say good bye to my body because I would never get it back."
"Other than being scared she'll be a bad parent she's also scared that she's going lose her body."
"Alex will never be a bad parent. She's too sweet and caring to be a bad parent. She has so much love to give that there's no way she will ever be a bad parent."
Her mom walked into the house and heard everyone in the living room and headed in that direction. She walked into the living room and saw Dave and Alex sitting there. "Alexandra!" she said walking over to Alex.
"Hi, Mother," she said standing up to hug her.
"So are you in the mood to do some wedding planning?" asked Sylvia.
"Not today. We're going to get going soon to go to the apartment to get my stuff and then we're going to Central Park."
"Oh," said Sylvia.
"But I do have my entire wedding party done," she said.
"Okay," said Sylvia. "Come with me to the kitchen and we'll write it down."
"Okay and I picked out the Bridesmaid dresses and the flower girl dress. I have to show you the book. Let me run out to the car and get it."
"All right, I'll meet you in the kitchen," said Sylvia. She was so happy that Alex was including her in the wedding plans. She was excited and she couldn't wait for her daughter to get married even if she didn't agree with her marrying Dave she was just happy her daughter was getting married and she could help plan it. Sylvia walked into the kitchen and got out her wedding planning stuff. She sat down at the table to wait for Alex to come back in.
Alex grabbed her book, went back inside and walked to the kitchen. "Okay, Mother. I'm ready to go over the wedding party with you now. There have been some changes," she said as she took a seat at the table with her mom.
"Okay, What kind of changes?"
"We only have two bridesmaids right now because Dave's daughter Keilani decided she didn't want to be in the wedding because she hates me."
"I don't' think she hates you," said Sylvia.
"Trust me, Mother, she does and she makes it known but his other daughter Athena she is such a sweetheart. I feel so bad for her because I don't' think her mom appreciates her."
"Don't get involved in it, Alexandra. It's none of your business," she said.
"Okay, Mother. So my wedding party is going to be like this are you ready?"
"Yes," said Sylvia as she got her pen out to write it down.
"Okay. Dave's best man is his best friend Imani and the ushers/groomsmen are going to be Randy and John. The ring bearer is going to be Imani's son. My maid of honor is going to be Mel, my bridesmaids are Rosalia and Athena and the flower girl is Dave's cousin's daughter Samantha," she said.
"Okay. How old is Imani's son?"
"He's 3 ½ but he'll be 4 ½ by the time of the wedding. He is the cutest little kid I've ever seen."
"And the flower girl is how old?"
"She's 3 going on 4."
"Perfect," said Sylvia. "So is this going to be an Italiano wedding?"
"Mother, I told you. It's going to be a multicultural wedding because of Dave's Filipino family and because of the Greek side of the family. It will be all right," she said.
"Okay," said Sylvia. "So how about those dresses?"
"Oh Okay," said Alex as she pulled out the book. "I love this spaghetti strapped dress for the bridesmaids," she said showing her mom the book.
"That's pretty but is that appropriate for Athena to wear?"
"Yeah. Dave approved it. He said it was fine."
"Okay," she said. "And the flower girl dress?"
Alex flipped back to the flower girl dresses and found the one she picked. "I like this one right here," she said pointing to a tank styled dress that went below the knee.
Sylvia looked at it and said, "I like it. It goes good with the bridesmaid dresses."
"That's what I thought too. And I was thinking of this halter dress for Mel since she's the maid of honor. I want it with sequins though. This is the one I was thinking about," she said showing her mom the dress.
"I like it," she said, "how about you? Did you pick out a dress?"
"Not yet. I have looked at so many dresses but I don't' know how many are going to look good on me."
"We need to set up a time to go look at dresses."
"Okay. How about when I'm in town for Rosalia's baby shower and for Brian's graduation?"
"Okay. That works for me," said Sylvia. "have you talked to Rosalia yet?"
"No. Why?"
"I was just wondering," said Sylvia.
"Oh okay," said Alex, "was she supposed to talk to me?"
"She may have mentioned it. I think she's going to plan on calling you to talk."
"Oh okay," said Alex.
Dave walked into the kitchen and said, "I'm sorry to interrupt but I think we should get to the apartment and then do Central Park and then head back to D.C. It's getting kind of late," he said.
"Okay, Baby," said Alex as she closed the book. She got up from the table and walked over and hugged her mom. "Bye, Mother. I'll call you. I love you."
"I love you too," she said hugging Alex. "Bye."
Dave and Alex walked into the living room to say goodbye to her dad and then they were off to Alex's old apartment. When they got there they walked into the building and up to her old place. Alex unlocked the door and opened it. It felt like it had been forever since she had been there. "I've missed this place," she said walking in.
"Me too," said Dave, "but leaving it was the best thing for us. This is a really nice place."
"Yeah. Not too bad for a girl right out of high school. I think my parents just wanted me out of the house," she said.
"Probably," he said. "But you know you wanted out."
"I did so I could do what I wanted to do but my mom still popped up when she felt like it."
"I know. I remember the day we had sex for the first time and your mom stopped in. That was a little awkward."
"At least she didn't come when we in the middle of it." She said walking into the bedroom.
"That would be embarrassing," he said following Alex into the bedroom. She walked over to her dressers and started pulling clothes out. It seemed like she was pulling out a million outfits. As she was pulling them out she was throwing them on the bed. She had made quite the pile. "Do you think you have enough clothes?" he asked as he started folding them up and putting them in a box.
"This is just the dresser. Wait until I get to the closet and get out the dresses and shoes. Talk about a lot," she said continuing to empty out her drawers. She pulled out some of Dave's things as she went through the drawers. "Haven't you been looking for these jeans and this shirt?" She asked holding them up.
"Yeah. They've been here the whole time?"
"Yes," she said as she moved over to the closet. "Okay please be careful with my dresses. I paid a lot of money for them."
"I bet," he said. She pulled out her black dress she wore to the bar the night she met Dave there. "Isn't this the dress you wore when we were at that bar?"
"Yeah," said Alex.
"It's a hot little dress," he said carefully putting it in a box.
"Thanks," she said.
"But you make anything you wear hot. You could wear my sweatpants and hoodies and still be the hottest chick out there."
"Please refrain from calling me a chick. I am a woman not a chick. I do not have feet or a beak."
"Okay, I'm sorry," he said. They continued packing up her clothes until they finally finished. Alex walked into the bathroom and grabbed some of the things she had in there like wash cloths and towels. She put them in a box too. As the boxes were finished Dave carried them out to the living room by the door. Alex was in the room and was about to strip the bed when Dave came back in. He wrapped his arms around her waist and said, "Just think. This room and this bed is the first place we had sex."
"I know," said Alex. "There are a lot of memories here good and bad though. This is the same room and same bed Tony raped me. The living room is where he beat the crap out of me a couple times. I'm kind of glad to get out of here but I'm also going to miss it. New York is my home and it always will be but I have to get away from danger," she said. "And I'll get to be with you," she said turning around to kiss him. He returned her kiss and moved her over to the bed. It didn't take long before he was making love to her one last time in that apartment building. When they were finished they put their clothes back on, told each other how much they loved one another and then walked out to the living room to pack up Alex's DVD's. They went through the apartment and packed everything they could before they were finally finished. They carried all the boxes out to the car but Dave carried more because he didn't want Alex to hurt herself or strain herself too much. He loaded up the car while Alex gave the key to the landlord. "Everything else in the apartment I don't want. You can do whatever you want with it," she said.
"Okay," said the landlord.
"Thank-you so much," she said.
"You're welcome and good luck. I hope you enjoy D.C.," he said.
"We only plan on being in D.C. for another year yet before we move to Florida but thank you." She took one last look at the apartment and walked out the door. She walked through the lobby and passed the door man. She said goodbye to him for the last time and then headed over to Dave's car. She got in the car and they drove away. "I am really going to miss this place. I'm going to miss New York in general but it's time to get away."
"I know you are," he said as he drove through the busy streets of New York. "I wouldn't miss this traffic though."
Alex laughed and said, "I'm so used to this traffic it doesn't bother me. Do you want me to drive?"
"No, Alex. I'm good. I can handle this," he said.
"Okay," she said. It didn't take too long but longer than it would have taken Alex but they arrived at Central Park finally. Dave parked the car and they got out to walk through the park. Alex took Dave's hand as they walked. "You know even though I never planned to have kids I always thought that one day I would be able to push my baby through the park to see all the scenery. You know taking walks through Central Park pushing the stroller."
"I know what you mean and maybe some day you will. We are going to come back to visit you can push a stroller through the park then."
"That's true," said Alex, "but I always thought about doing it daily."
"I see but just think we're going to move to Florida in a year and instead of visiting Central Park we can visit beaches and Disneyworld as much as we want. We can go to Discovery Cove too."
"Are we looking for a place in Orlando?" she asked.
"Orlando, Tampa, Miami or Boca Raton," he said.
"I see," she said. "You know what makes Central Park even better?"
"What he asked?"
"Taking a carriage ride through the park. Do you want to do that or are you going to be scared of the horse?" she asked with a laugh.
"I'll be fine. If you want to take a carriage ride we can take one," he said.
"Okay," said Alex. They found a guy to take them on a carriage ride through the park. It was really romantic for both of them. They enjoyed themselves as they rode around the park. "When I was a little girl when we would ride on the carriage I always felt like Cinderella. I remember one time I asked my mom if the carriage was going to turn into a pumpkin at midnight and if the horses were going to turn into mice. And to tell you the truth right now I'm feeling a lot like Cinderella just being here with you. I feel like you're my prince charming," she said.
"I can be your prince charming if you want me to be," he said, "and this is kind of like Cinderella," he said.
"You know the Cinderella story?"
"I told you I was dominated by females growing up and I've read Cinderella to Athena enough times to know the entire story. It's one of her favorites. She reads it to me now," he said, "I miss reading stories to her. I can't wait to have our kid some day so I can read to it," he said.
"You're a good dad and I'm sure you're going to be a great dad to our kid."
"Thank-you. Just like I think you're going to be a great mom."
"Thanks but I'm not so sure."
"Alex, why do you doubt yourself?"
"I don't know."
"Oh," said Dave, "You shouldn't doubt yourself so much. You're a great person and you're wonderful at everything you do. I'm sure you will be a wonderful mom."
"I hope you're right," she said as she laid her head on his chest as they continued to ride through the park. Dave wrapped his arm around her and they just enjoyed the scenery and the peaceful time they were having together.
*A/N: I really wish they could see their future. They would be really surprised how things turn out for them...and Dave told the half truth so the other half is still yet to be told. I think that Alex is going to be even angrier when she finds out...maybe this chapter gives a glimpse of some of the things bothering Alex in Where did the love go...What did you guys think? Please review.
