*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much!*
Over the last month I didn't kick Dean out of the apartment because I wanted him to have a safe place to stay and so I could keep an eye on him to make sure he stayed out of trouble. He is ready to plead guilty on all charges against him when he goes to court tomorrow. I am pretty nervous about the entire thing. Just because we aren't in a relationship anymore he is still someone I care very deeply about and he is the father of my daughter. I need him to be there and to be in her life. I don't want him to miss almost 2-3 years of her life. It's not fair to him and it's not fair to her. Today we are going to forget about court and his charges to focus on Natalia and enjoy the baby shower my aunt is throwing for me at my dad's house.
"You look good," I say to Dean as we walk up to the front door of my dad's house.
"Thanks," he says with a smile. "You're glowing. You look very beautiful today."
"Thank-you," I say, "look, I didn't tell my dad about you going to jail or about your charges. I don't want him to know just yet but he has no idea. I don't want him to have something to hold against you today. I want to have this day and celebrate it as a little family and celebrate Natalia."
"Me too," he says. "Thanks for not telling him."
"You're welcome, Dean," I say before I ring the doorbell.
I am taken by surprise when my aunt opens the front door and pulls me into a hug. "Look at you, Ana, you look beautiful. Your natural glow, pregnancy definitely agrees with you."
"Thank-you," I say with a smile.
"And who is this handsome man?" she asks as she looks at Dean dressed in a button down shirt and a pair of jeans.
"This is Dean," I say, "he is the baby's father."
"Nice to meet you," she says, "and look at those blue eyes."
"Nice to meet you too," he says with a smile as they shake hands.
"So come in and let's celebrate that little princess," she says.
We walk into the house and I smile as I see all the pink decorations around the room from streamers to balloons. Dean and I walk around greeting our guests mostly my family and my friends. We invited his mom but she cancelled on us at the last minute neither of us was really surprised. "This is pretty cool," says Dean as we walk to the food table so I can get something to eat. I'm always hungry and the closer my due date is the hungrier I become and the more I eat to keep my little girl happy. I smile as I look at our diaper cake with pink ribbons on it.
"It is really cool," I say with a smile. "I like it a lot. And they are free diapers."
"We can use all the diapers we can get," he says.
"That's true," I say as I put two sandwiches on my plate along with some sides of macaroni salad, fruit and vegetables. Dean gives me a look as my plate is full. "What? It's your daughter that wants to eat."
"Nothing," he says filling his own plate. I can tell he's nervous around my family and I don't want him to be but I can understand his anxiousness. "So what all happens at a baby shower?"
"I don't know," I say with a shrug. "I never had one."
"Me either," he says with a smile as we walk to find a seat.
"Anastasia," says my dad as he greets me with a hug. "How have you been?"
"Busy," I say, "how about you?"
"I've been well," he says. "Dean, how are you? Everything going well with my daughter?"
"Yes, Sir," he says, "and I am all right."
"That's good to hear. You know for the longest time I didn't think you were good enough for Ana but then she gave me your part of the rent for the next few months and I was surprised that you made all that money. What do you do?"
Dean looks at me and I look at him. "I was just doing some work for a friend," he says, "It was good money but my work with him is done. I'm looking for a job though."
"Well, we might have some jobs in my office if you're interested," he says.
"That would be awesome," says Dean.
"It would be janitorial work mostly," he says.
"I will take whatever I can get, Sir."
"You don't have to call me Sir, please call me Rod."
"All right, Rod," he says with a smile. "I may be going away for a little bit but I'm not sure. If I wanted that job say 6 months from now would there still be an opening?"
"Why 6 months?" he asks, "Ana is due in 8 weeks, you're not going to be around for the birth of the baby?"
"I hope to be but I might have to go away for a while."
"What's going on, Dean?" he asks.
"Nothing, Dad, right now is not the time to discuss it, we'll talk about it another time okay?"
"Okay," he says. "But the job is always there if you want it," he says.
"Thanks, Rod," says Dean before my dad gives me a kiss and shakes Dean's hand before walking away to talk to some of the guests. "Well, at least I have a job lined up for me."
"Yeah," I say, "but you shouldn't have brought up that you might be going away for 6 months. I wasn't ready to tell him."
"He has to know, Ana. He needs to know there is a possibility that I am going to juvenile detention."
"But he doesn't need to know today. Let's just enjoy the day okay?"
"Okay," he says as we find a place to sit in the living room but soon I am gathered around by my family and friends wanting to know how the baby is doing, wanting to feel my belly and asking me all kinds of questions. It's all very overwhelming for me but I am enjoying being with my family.
We play a few games like guess how big mommy's tummy is which many are surprised with how small my stomach is even while being pregnant. They also made some guesses about how big Natalia is going to be and when she's going to be born. Many are saying she will be born a week before my birthday, a couple say on my birthday and others have random dates throughout October. No one is predicting Natalia to be more than 7 pounds which is the most guessed weight for her. I have to admit the guessing games are fun and I like to see what everyone thinks. Dean seems to be loosening up around my family and enjoying himself. We follow the games by opening up some presents. My family went above and beyond to make sure that we have everything and then more for Natalia. She got so many cute outfits in lots of pinks and purples, a couple blues, headbands, tons of diapers, a decent amount of onesies, bibs, a high chair, the swing we put on the registry, the stroller and carseat we asked for. She will never want or need for anything for the next year. She has enough blankets to keep her warm, enough clothes to never wear the same thing twice, lots of sleepers. Getting all the gifts makes me even more excited for the birth of our little girl. I just hope that Dean can be there to see her born.
Later that evening after our big day at the baby shower I am exhausted so I lay down to take a nap to get a little bit of energy to start washing some of Natalia's clothes and to start to set up her nursery. I wake up after my nap and see that it's after 8 at night. I slept way longer than I wanted to sleep but I feel well-rested as I sit up in my bed. I smile as I feel my baby girl moving around inside my stomach, it's the greatest feeling in the world. She's a very active baby and I love every little movement she makes, every little kick and flip that she does I love it. I stand up and walk out of the bedroom to the smell of something delicious. My nose leads me to the kitchen and I smile as I see Dean standing at the stove cooking. "What are you doing?" I ask with a smile.
"Cooking you dinner," he says with a smile. "I don't know how it's going to taste but I wanted to make you some dinner. You had a long day."
"What are you making me?" I ask.
"Spaghetti and meatballs, I got the recipe from a magazine. I'm not a gourmet chef or anything but I'm trying."
"Well, it smells delicious but you didn't need to cook me anything."
"You deserve it," he says with a smile as he turns the stove off. "It's ready," he says with a smile, "but before we eat I want to show you something."
"Okay," I say. "What is it?"
"Follow me," he says taking my hand. He is too sweet I can't pull my hand out of his. I walk with him and we stop outside of Natalia's nursery. He opens the door. "Surprise," he says as he turns on the light.
I smile as I look around the room. Dean did everything. He set up the crib, put the ballerina bedding in the crib with the comforter hanging over the side of the bed, the dresser is put together with a little lamp in the shape of ballet shoes. Above her crib on the letters to her name are hanging in shades of pink; light pink and dark pink spelling out her name. The changing table is set up with all of the things we need for bath time and diaper changes. He leads me through the room to show me all of her blankets, her little outfits folded neatly into the drawers, her dresses hanging in the closet. There is a small bookshelf with stuffed animals on it along with a few books that I picked up to read to her and on the top of the shelf are her sonogram pictures framed along with a picture of Dean and I framed together. Tears fill my eyes as I look at everything he did to the nursery while I was sleeping. "Dean," I say.
"I'm sorry. Why are you crying? Did I do something wrong?" he asks. "I just thought…"
I shake my head at him as I turn to face him. "You didn't do anything wrong. You did everything perfectly. It's beautiful, Dean."
"You like it?"
"I love it," I say with a smile. "Thank-you so much."
"You're welcome," he says. "I figured this could be my last night as a free guy so I figured I would do one more thing to help you out. I wanted to be a part of the nursery."
"You did a great job, Dean. I love it."
"Ana, I am sorry that you have to go through all of this for me. I should have listened to you but I was an idiot and now I may miss a lot of our daughter's life depending on what happens tomorrow. I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry."
"Dean, I just hope you learn your lesson from all of this. I hope this opens your eyes and you see that there is so much more to life than selling drugs and being on the streets. We're having a baby soon. I hate the idea that you may not be there to see our baby girl come into this world but after that you have so much more life with her. I hope that you realize that she is the most important thing in our lives. You can't go back to the streets when you get out. Promise me, Dean."
"Ana," he says he looks me in the eyes with his beautiful blues, "I screwed up. I will admit that. What I did was stupid. I just thought that it was good money and it was getting the bills paid, food on the table and things bought for Natalia but it cost me something greater. It cost me you and it cost me the first few months of our daughter's life. I'm never going to get back what I miss. Whenever I get out I am going to be a better guy I promise. I'm going to be the best dad that I can be. I'm going to take the job at your dad's business whether I am scrubbing toilets or not that is money for the bills. I'm going to keep getting help for my drug problem and drinking. I'm going to do everything I can to be a good dad. I don't ever want Natalia to see me as the failure I am now."
"Dean," I say, "you're not a failure. You just don't believe in yourself like I do. I believe you can be a great dad and I believe that you can get past the life on the streets. So does this mean that you won't be going back to school?"
"I don't know, Ana. Probably not."
"Dean," I say with disappointment. "Why not? You had a good thing going you could take your SAT's you can go to college."
"Ana," he says, "I don't want to do all that. Let me work and provide for my family."
"All right," I say as I look down at the ground. "I'm worried about tomorrow."
"Hey," he says as he lifts my chin, "Everything is going to be okay. I promise. Even if I am away for a few months I will always be here for you. I want you to write me letters, I want you to visit me and I want to call you on the phone when I can. I'm going to do this and become a better person. I promise."
"I'm going to miss you if you go away," I say. "I'm scared to do this alone."
"You won't be alone, Ana. I promise. You have your family to help you out for now but when I get out I will be there for you 100%. I will be the best dad you have ever seen. I made a bad choice and I have to pay the price for it. It's okay, Ana. Everything is going to be okay."
"I hope so," I say, "and her heart what if she has to get surgery?"
"Let's hope she doesn't. Ana, I love you."
"I love you too," I say as he wraps his arms around me.
"Everything is going to be okay."
"I hope," I say wrapping my arms around him.
"Do you think after I get out you and I can try again?"
"We'll see how everything goes," I say as I snuggle up to his chest holding him tight. I would love nothing more than to take him back and have the relationship we did before but right now is not the time. He needs to fix himself before we can have a healthy relationship but we will always be civil to each other for our daughter and work together to give her the life she deserves.
"Fair enough," he says as he kisses the top of my head. "Together or not, Ana, we're going to be parents to our little girl together."
"I know," I say. "I know she's kicking by the way."
"Can I feel?" he asks.
"You can try," I say with a smile as we break our embrace. I take his hand and place it on my stomach where Natalia is kicking. "Right here."
A smile comes across his face as he feels the small kicks from our little girl. "I feel her," he says with tears in his eyes. "That's amazing she's kicking my hand."
"Isn't it?" I ask with a smile.
"Hey, Natalia, it's daddy," he says as he drops to his knees to talk to my stomach. "I love you so much. Daddy might have to go away for a little bit and I may miss a couple months of your life but know that I always love you and I will always be there for you. I wish I could be home with you but daddy made a mistake and he has to do what he needs to. I promise I will think about you every day. I love you so much, Natalia. You are daddy's pride and joy," he says before he kisses my stomach softly as Natalia continues to flip and move around. Dean stands up and smiles at me. "I think we should go eat."
"Me too," I say with a smile before we walk out of the nursery. He gets our spaghetti and places it on two plates, gets us a drink and we sit together in the living room enjoying dinner together followed by watching movies. I want to get one last night in with him before everything changes for the next few months.
The next morning Dean and I walk into the courthouse. He is dressed up so nicely with his hair gelled back and wearing a suit and tie. I am nervous for him as we walk to meet up with Shawn's mom. "Hello, Dean," she says. "Ana."
"Hello," I say with a smile.
"Hi," says Dean nervously.
"It's going to be okay, Dean. You're just going to go in there and make your plea. We talked about this on Friday. It is up to the judge whether you go to juvenile detention or to prison but it's looking pretty good that you'll be going to juvenile detention."
"Will Ana be able to come visit me with the baby?" he asks.
"Yes they have visitation every Sunday. She and the baby will be able to visit you."
"That's good to know," he says. "Is there a chance I won't have to go away and they will just put me on probation?"
"I don't think so," she says. "I'm sorry, Dean, you're going to need to serve some time. I don't know how long but you made the deal for 3-6 months so we'll see what the judge decides."
"Okay," he says as he starts to pace as we wait.
"It's going to be okay, Dean," I say as I stop him. "Just relax."
"I'm nervous, Ana, our lives are about to change. I'm about to go away."
"I know," I say, "but hopefully it's not for long."
"You won't forget about me while I'm away will you?"
"With our daughter?" I ask. "How could I ever forget about you? I love you, Dean. I'm never going to forget about you. I'm going to visit you every Sunday and I'm going to write to you as much as I can. I'm not going to forget about you and I'll make sure Natalia knows who her daddy is."
"Thanks, Ana," he says with a smile. "I love you."
"I love you too," I say before I kiss his cheek softly. "You're going to be okay and I am right here beside you through it all."
"Thanks," he says before we are called into the courtroom. I am really nervous about what could happen. I just hope that the judge takes his plea and isn't too tough on him as well as accepts his deal. It would be horrible if he went away for almost 2 years. I don't know how I would be able to survive 2-3 years without him in our lives. I rub my stomach as the judge enters the courtroom.
We are asked to take our seats as the judge takes a seat at his bench. He doesn't look like he's a tough judge but you can never tell by looking at a person. "Mr. Ambrose," he says, "I understand that you want to make a deal."
"Yes your honor," says Dean.
"It says here that you resisted arrest, were trafficking drugs and had well above the bulk amount of drugs on you."
"Yes your honor," he says as I bounce my leg nervously.
"What is your plea on the possession of drugs?"
"Guilty," he says.
"And what is your plea on resisting arrest?"
"Guilty," he says.
"And how do you plead on the charge of drug trafficking?"
"Guilty," he says.
"Very well," he says, "since you are 17 years old I can only charge you as a minor. You will serve 5 months in a juvenile detention center where you will complete a drug and alcohol program and you are to pay a $2500 fine." I don't know how to feel. 5 months is a long time for Dean to be away but it is better than the maximum he could have gotten. "Take Mr. Ambrose into custody. Court dismissed," he says before he hits his gavel on the stand before standing up and walking away.
Tears fill my eyes as I watch them put the handcuffs on Dean. It's heartbreaking. "DEAN!"
"It's okay, Ana," he says before he kisses my lips softly. "It's going to be okay." Before I can say anything they take him away as the tears stream from my eyes. I break down into heavy sobs before Shawn's mom takes me into her arms and comforts me as I cry on her shoulder.
*A/N: What did you think of the baby shower? Do you think they are all ready for Natalia now? What did you think about Ana's dad offering Ana a job? Do you think he will actually take it? What did you think of Dean doing Natalia's nursery? What about him making more promises to Ana about doing better? Do you think he will be a better person when he gets out of jail? What do you think about Dean going to jail? How will this affect his relationship with Ana and do you think Ana can handle the first few months of Natalia's life alone? Please review and thank-you for reading.