*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. THey were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much*
Dean drops me off at my mom's house before he goes out to spend the evening time with Natalia by himself. I couldn't talk him into going to dinner with us. He just wants nothing to do with his dad and I can't say that I blame him. His dad was a jerk to him yesterday and Dean deserved a little more sympathy than that after all he is the one that left Dean behind. I ring the doorbell as I stand on the porch and wait for someone to answer the door. "Ana," says my mom with a smile as she opens the door.
"Hey, Mom," I say smiling back at her. She gives me a hug as I hug her back.
"Come in," she says as she holds the door open for me to walk in. "Dinner is just about ready," she says as the house smells like lasagna, my mouth waters as I think about it. "No Natalia tonight?"
"I'm sorry, Mom, Dean doesn't want her around Jon. I'm sorry. He said I can have a relationship with you and he wants you to have one with Natalia too but as long as Jon is around he doesn't want her here. I couldn't get Dean to come either," I say as we walk to the living room.
"Jon wants a relationship with Dean."
"It's not that," I say, "it's that Jon doesn't regret or have any remorse for leaving Dean the way he did. Dean went through it as a kid and had a rough childhood. Deep down I think he blames his dad for it all. He associates it all with his dad leaving him and his mom."
"I understand," she says, "I just wish the girls could meet their niece."
"Maybe some other time," she says as we reach the living room. "Bella and Valentina," she says as I see my two sisters sitting on the floor playing together. They're probably about 3 and 6 years old I'm not sure. "There's someone I'd like you to meet."
"Who, Mommy?" asks the older of the two as she looks at me. I look back at her and I see myself. She looks identical to me when I was that age. She has long dark hair to the middle of her back, dark brown eyes and olive skin.
"Bella," she says to the little girl. "This is your older sister Ana," she says with a smile.
"You're my sister?" she asks.
"Yes," I say with a smile. "I'm Ana," I say as I put my hand out for her to shake. "How are you?"
"Good," she says as her little sister comes up to me to see what's going on. She looks similar to Bella but she has some of Jon's features. I don't know how I didn't recognize it before that her and Natalia share the same mouth and the same dimples. "Valentina," she says, "this is our sister Ana," she says.
"Hi," I say to the little girl as she hides behind Bella. "I'm Ana."
"Hi," she says quietly.
"She's a little shy around new people," says my mom. "I'm sure she'll get used to you soon. I can't believe that I have three of the four of my beautiful daughters together," she says with a smile but the tears are forming in her eyes. "You all are just so beautiful. I wish Chastity could be here too and Roderick. I miss them so much. My beautiful baby boy I miss those dark eyes and those chubby cheeks and I miss that dark hair of his. He always had so much hair. And Chastity," she says as she sniffles. "I miss her so much. I want to see them but your dad will never let me. I'm going to miss out on their lives because your dad took my rights away."
"Well, you're my friend on Facebook so you'll be able to see some pictures of them. I don't see them as much as I used to but there are some pictures of us on there."
"That would be wonderful," she says, "I'm so sorry, Ana."
"It's okay, Mom, I forgive you."
"Thank-you," she says with a smile before she kisses my cheek. "I just can't believe that you're here. You're actually here."
"I'm here," I say with a smile.
"I'm glad," she says with a smile, "well, I'm going to go finish dinner. Do you mind staying with Bella and Valentina while I finish it up or would you like to come help me in the kitchen?"
"I'm okay right here," I say with a smile.
"All right," she says with a smile before she goes to the kitchen to finish up dinner.
"So, what are you two playing?" I ask.
"Barbie dolls do you want to play with us?"
"Sure," I say with a smile as we walk over to the spot that they were playing Barbie dolls in. I take a seat next to them and Bella hands me a Barbie doll. "Thank-you," I say with a smile.
"You're welcome," she says. "So are you really our sister?"
"I am," I say with a smile.
"How old are you?" asks Bella.
"18, how old are you?"
"6," she says, "and Valentina is 3 years old. Why don't you live with us?"
"Because I live in Ohio with my dad."
"Oh," she says. "You're pretty."
"Thank-you," I say with a smile, "so are you, you both are beautiful."
"Thank-you," she says with a smile.
"And you know what," I say.
"What?"
"You both are aunts. You two have a niece."
"I'm an aunt?" she asks. "I've never been an aunt before."
"Want to see her?" I ask.
"Yes," she says with a smile.
"Okay," I say as I pull out my cell phone to show them a picture of Natalia. "This is your niece Natalia," I say showing them the picture, "but we call her Talli."
"She's pretty," she says with a smile.
"Baby," says Valentina.
"Where is she?"
"She's with her daddy," I say. "I tried to bring her but maybe next time you can meet her and hold her. She's a fun baby."
"Cool," says Bella. "Do you like Barbie dolls?"
"I do. I play Barbie dolls with my little sister Chastity all the time. I can't wait to play them with Talli when she's older."
"Me too," she says with a smile. "Are you ready to play?"
"Yeah," I say with a smile as we start to play with the dolls. Playing with Bella and Valentina remind me so much of all the times I play with Chastity. They have the same personality as she does. They like to be in charge but conflict starts when Bella wants to be the boss and Valentina wants to be the boss but we're saved when our mom calls us to the kitchen for dinner. We go to wash up and then join our mom and Jon in the kitchen for dinner. My mom directs me to a chair at the table. I take a seat as she serves me some lasagna.
"Thank-you," I say before she takes a seat.
"You're welcome," she says, "so tell me Ana, how did you meet Dean?"
"We met in school. I will admit for a while I didn't really pay much attention to him. I thought he was a trouble maker and he was a slacker but then we got paired together on a project. I saw him differently after that. You just have to get to know him," I say before I take a bite of my lasagna. "I was actually in a relationship with someone before I was with Dean. We ended up breaking up just because he was not someone I wanted to be with. Dad wanted me to be with him more."
"I'm sure he did," says my mom. "So how long have you and Dean been together?"
"It's been over a year," I say.
"That's good," she says with a smile. "He seems like a nice boy."
"He can be if you treat him right but he can also be a little wild at times but I love him. He's a good father and a good boyfriend."
"He seems to be," says my mom.
"I would like to get to know my son," says Jon. "I was a jerk yesterday and I would like to get to know him and hopefully have a relationship with him. Do you think that would be possible?"
"Dean is a stubborn man," I say, "you gave him a bad impression so I don't know if he's going to give you that chance. You should have handled it better yesterday. He can hold a grudge."
"I never really meant to hurt him. I was just doing what I thought was best for me. It was a selfish choice and I regret leaving him. I'm upset that I missed him grow up. I should have been in his life more but I was dumb. I made a stupid choice. I wish I could go back and change it but I can't. The only thing I can do is try to start new and have a relationship with him now."
"I would like to say that Dean is going to forgive you but I can't really say that he will. He had a rough life a very rough life. He's been through a lot. It takes time with him. Maybe sometime down the road he'll come around but I can't make any promises. He's wild and he's mean at times but he has a heart of gold especially to me and our daughter."
"I'm glad he's taking care of what is his," says Jon. "I'm proud of him for that."
"Me too," I say, "I'm proud of a lot of things Dean does. He's a good kid."
"I am sure," says Jon. I see something different in Jon's eyes today and hear something different in his voice. I hear his remorse in his voice and see the pain in his eyes. I can imagine it was hard to walk away from a kid as cute and sweet as Dean because I can imagine how hard it would be for me to walk away from Talli. He did miss a lot of Dean's life and he may feel guilty for the life he lived because he wasn't there.
"So," says my mom breaking an awkward silence at the table. "What about you, Ana, you're in your senior year right?"
"Yes," I say with a smile.
"What are your plans after high school?"
"Well, right now I'm doing cyber school so that I can take care of Talli and be home with her while Dean works but I am also doing some college courses so I can finish school in 3 years rather than 4 years. I applied at NYU and UCLA for college."
"Those are good schools," says Jon. "What are you going to school for?"
"I want to get into journalism and communications," I say. "I want to be a writer or a journalist."
"Do you like writing?" he asks.
"I love writing. I am a writer. It's one of my favorite things to do. I always dreamed of writing for a newspaper or a magazine. I would even love to write for a TV Show someday but we'll see how that goes."
"So you will still go to college even though you're a mother?"
"Yes," I say, "Dean is going to move wherever I go and he's going to take care of Talli while I am in school. He already has his GED. He is planning to go to wrestling school so he can become a pro-wrestler in the WWE someday."
"That sounds like an interesting job," says my mom with a smile. "I hope he makes it there."
"Me too," I say, "he has very few dreams but that one is his number one dream it's what he's aiming for. I think he can do it."
"You two support each other," says my mom. "That's good."
"Yeah we do. I want him to reach his dreams and he wants me to reach mine but while we do that we want to give Natalia everything she needs."
"So do you live with your dad and Dean or what's up with that situation?"
"Dean and I actually have our own place," I say, "Dad didn't want the baby in the house so Dean and I moved in together. Dad is actually paying half of our rent as long as I stick to my end of the deal of going to school and graduating. He even gave Dean a job at his company. It's a janitor job but it's been putting food on the table, buying diapers and formula."
"That's good," says my mom. "It's nice to see your dad is helping you out. How is he with the baby?"
"He's good with her. He loves her at first he didn't want me to keep her and he was upset that I didn't choose abortion or adoption but he's come to accept her."
"That's good," she says. "Are you and Dean going to get married?"
"Maybe someday," I say, "I told you I have a lot that I am focused on right now. I'm focused on Talli and being a good mom. I'm also focused on school. If we get married I don't' want to until we each reach our dreams and achieve our goals. It's hard with a baby so I'm not sure it's going to be any easier being married plus we are way too young for marriage. We've got time. If we truly love each other we can wait."
"That's a good attitude to have," she says with a smile, "do you still dance? I remember you were a beautiful dancer."
"Not anymore," I say, "I gave it up when I got pregnant. I was going to go back but I couldn't. I don't want to lose any time with Talli. I love being a mommy and I want to spend as much time with her as I can. I did get into the Joffrey but I found out I was pregnant the same time so I had to give that up. I don't regret it though. I thought that I would regret it but I don't. I love my life with Dean and Talli. They're my people. They're my life. I wouldn't want it any other way."
"I bet that was hard."
"It was but I have no regrets."
"That's good," she says as we continue to talk through dinner. I start to ask her questions about how life has been since she left dad and what she's doing these days. I even talk to Jon he's not nearly as bad as I thought he was. Maybe the shock of seeing his son after 15 years was a bit too much for him and he was overwhelmed. He seems like a decent guy but I'm sure Dean would disagree.
DEAN's POINT OF VIEW:
"How can I help you today, Sir?" asks the woman in the jewelry store.
"I'm looking for a ring for my girlfriend," I say holding Talli in my arms. "Not an engagement ring but a promise ring, something affordable. I am on a budget and don't have that much money but I want to get her something that shows I am committed to her and only her."
"A promise ring," she says with a smile. "I can help you with that," she says with a smile. "Our promise rings are right over here," she says leading me to a case with promise rings. "What is the best price for you?"
"Anything up to $130," I say, "I'm not rich or anything but I want a special ring for her."
"We have some nice rings that you can buy on your budget," she says as she points them out to me. "Take a look and when you see one that you like let me know and I can get it for you. Any idea on what size ring you're looking for?"
"I think she's a size 7," I say, "but I'm not sure maybe a 6 but I'm pretty sure it's 7."
"Okay," she says with a smile. "You look around and when you're ready I will be right over there."
"Okay," I say with a smile before she walks away. I look at a dozen different promise rings and they all look beautiful but I don't know what to pick up. "What do you think, Talli?" I ask. "What ring do you think, Mama would like more?" I ask as I take her pacifier out of her mouth. "Do you think Mama will like this ring?" I ask pointing to a silver ring with diamonds but I'm pretty sure they aren't real diamonds. "Do you think that's pretty?" I ask. She doesn't respond to me with a smile or anything. "Yeah I don't think so either," I say as I kiss her cheek. "What about this one, Talli?" I ask pointing to a silver ring with 4 open hearts on them, two with the fake diamond look and two that are plain silver. I think it's beautiful. It's not too expensive but not too cheap either. I think Ana would like it. "Do you think Mommy will like this one?" I say pointing to it. Talli gives me a big toothless smile and babbles at me. "I think she'll love it," I say with a smile before I get the woman to help me get.
"Did you find the ring?" she asks.
"Yes," I say with a smile. "I would like that one right there," I say pointing to the ring with the hearts.
"Very nice choice," she says with a smile. "You said you would like a size 7 in the ring?"
"Yes please," I say with a smile. "I believe she wears a size 7."
"Okay," she says with a smile. "I'll be right back."
"Thank-you," I say with a smile as she goes to the back to get the ring. "Your mommy is going to be so surprised," I say with a smile. "I want you to know that I am not going anywhere and I am going to be in your life forever. I'm going to be there for your mommy always. You two mean everything to me. I love you both so much," I say with a smile before I kiss her cheek.
The lady brings the ring out in a small ring box. She shows it to me and it's perfect. She rings me up for it and I pay her in cash before Talli and I are on our way. I have a couple more errands to run before I go back to the hotel while Ana is having dinner with her mom and my dad. After we leave the jewelry store I go to a floral shop in the area. I buy some rose petals and I buy Ana a bouquet of daisies one of her favorite flowers before I go back to the hotel room. I get the room set up a special way. I drop the rose petals on a path leading to our bedroom and to our bed before I make a heart out of the pink and red rose petals. I want this to be a special moment for us. I want to do this perfectly.
I give Talli a bath and get her all cleaned up before Ana gets back from dinner. I put a onesie on her that I made specifically for this occasion before we went to the jewelry store. I light candles around the room when I know Ana is on her way back to the hotel. There are no words that can be said for how much I love this woman, the beautiful woman that changed my life for the better, the woman that has believed in me and continues to believe in me, the mother of my child and the woman I know I will love forever. "We're going to surprise mommy," I say with a smile as I give Talli a kiss on her cheek and she smiles at me. "She's going to be so surprised. I just hope she likes this," I say with a smile.
ANA's POINT OF VIEW:
I walk into my hotel room not to see Dean anywhere. "Dean, Baby? I'm back," I say.
"In the bedroom," he calls out. I smile as I see a bouquet of daisies sitting on the stand by the door. I stop and smell them before I pick up a note telling me to follow the path. I don't know what it means till I look down on the floor and see a pathway of red and pink rose petals scattered at my feet.
I follow the petals until I reach the bedroom and smile when I see the candles lit, Dean and Talli sitting on the bed inside of a rose petal heart. "What's all this?" I ask with a smile.
"Nothing much," he says, "I just got a little bored."
"A little bored?" I ask, "so you just turn into a romantic fool when you're bored? Maybe you should get bored more often."
"Well, you seem to like the flowers and candy type of guy. I thought maybe I would give that to you tonight."
"Hmm," I say with a smile.
"So come here," he says with a smile as he motions for me to come over to the bed. I take my shoes off and put them onto the floor before I climb up onto the bed.
"Hey, Baby Girl!" I say to Talli before I give her a kiss on the cheek as she gives me a toothless grin. Seeing her and Dean next to each other they are identical. "So what's up?"
"Nothing," he says, "I made Talli something today."
"You did?" I ask.
"Yeah, check out her onesie."
"All right," I say with a smile as I pick her up and look at the pink onesie in front of me. I smile as I read the black lettering. Daddy says he promises you. "Daddy promises me what?" I ask with a smile.
Dean smiles at me and pulls out a ring box. He hands it to Talli. "Give that to mommy, Pretty Girl."
"Can I have that?" I ask as I take it from Talli. She smiles at me as I take it from her before she puts her small fist into her mouth making me smile. "What is this, Talli?" I ask her before I open the box to see the most beautiful ring. It's silver with 4 hearts on it, two in a fake diamond and two in silver. "It's beautiful," I say with a smile.
"Ana," says Dean, "I know you don't want to be engaged and you're not even thinking about marriage for a long time but I love you. I love you so much. You made me a much better person and you gave me the most beautiful gift in the world. You are the mother of my child and hopefully more in the future. I want to spend the rest of my life with you and I don't want you to ever think I'm going to leave you or Talli because I'm not. I'm here forever and I will always be here. Since you didn't want an engagement ring I am giving you this ring to promise that I will stay committed to you and I will continue to love you. I'll wait till you're ready for an engagement and ready to be married but right now take this ring as a promise of my committed love to you. I don't care if we ever get married but know that whether we do or not I'm in it for the forever and I am in it to stay. I love you so much, Ana."
"Dean," I say with tears in my eyes. "I love it. Thank-you," I say, "I'm glad you're committing yourself to me. I want that forever but just not ready for the big step. I want forever with you. We're a perfect family and I love you so much, Baby," I say, "I'll take the ring. I promise I'm not going anywhere either unless you want me to."
"I'm not going anywhere," he says with a smile, "and I don't want you to either. Love you," he says before he sits up to kiss my lips softly.
"Love you too," I say with a smile as he takes the ring from the box and puts it on my finger. It fits perfectly. I smile as I look at it before I kiss his lips softly and passionately again. "And we'll have a couple more kids in the future and we'll have the biggest wedding ever but first I want to focus on school and getting a job. And you need to focus on your wrestling career."
"Deal," he says with a smile, "so how many kids are we talking about here?" he asks picking up Natalia, "because if you ask me we make some of the cutest babies."
"Maybe 2 more, I don't know for sure," I say with a shrug. "We'll discuss that later because right now we have this little cutie to focus on," I say with a smile as I lay down next to him and Natalia. We sit and play with her. I love my life the way it is. I couldn't picture it any other way. I love Dean and I love my baby girl. We're a family and I want this type of life forever.
*A/N: What did you think of Ana having dinner with her mom and meeting her sisters? Do you think after Phoenix that she'll stay in touch with her mom? What did you think of her thoughts changing about Jon? Do you think he really wants a relationship with Dean and that he is truly sorry for leaving him behind? Do you think DEan will ever come around and make amends with his dad? What did you think of Dean's surprise for Ana? ARe you glad she accepted the promise ring? What do you think about Ana having no regrets about her life? Do you believe she's truly happy?