*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much!*
Leaving Phoenix was a hard thing for me. I loved spending the time with my mom and getting caught up with her as well as meeting my little sisters. Phoenix was such a beautiful and memorable place for us. It's the place Dean and I promised forever to one another and the place that I got reconnected with my mom. She cried and I cried when it was time for me to go but we are going to stay in touch and I'm going to visit her every chance that I can. I want that relationship with her and my sisters. I don't even mind Dean's dad. Dean wouldn't budge on talking to his dad. His dad gave him a bad impression and he's going to hold that against him as well. I can't talk him into trying to have a relationship with his father and that's his choice. He did come around to meeting Bella and Valentina before we left as well as spending some time with my mom so she could spend time with Talli. It was a good trip all in all now I just have to face my dad and ask him why he chose to pay my mom to stay away and take away her rights.
Dean is catching up on work doing some janitorial work at my dad's building over the weekend while Talli and I are going to visit my dad at home to tell him all about our trip to Phoenix. "Ana," says my dad as he opens the door for me. He gives me a hug before I walk inside.
"Hey, Dad," I say as I carry Talli into the house with me. "How are you?"
"Good," he says, "and you?"
"I'm well," I say as I hand Talli to him to hold as we make our way to the living room.
"How was your trip to Phoenix?" he asks.
"It was good. I enjoyed myself," I say as we take a seat on the couch, "Talli had fun too."
"I bet she did," he says as he gives her some kisses. "I missed you, yes I did," He says making her smile as she lies on his lap looking up at him with her beautiful blue eyes. Her little dimples showing as she smiles at my dad before she sticks out her tongue.
"Oh my gosh she's more like her dad than I thought," I say with a laugh. "You know if I didn't go through labor I would swear I had nothing to do with making that little girl. She is her daddy all the way not that it is a bad thing but still it would be nice if she had something of mine you know like my dark eyes or dark hair something," I say.
"Welcome to my life," says my dad, "you all look like your mom. None of you look like me."
"I noticed," I say. "So I got to talk to my mom while I was down there. WE did a lot of talking."
"Oh yeah?" he asks, "How did that go? How did visiting her go?"
"It went very well. It was a lot better than I thought. She was very happy to see me. I was upset at first because she has this whole new life. She's married and has two kids now. I was upset when I saw that. I was upset with her for not coming back and for leaving and then she told me all about it."
"What exactly did she say?" he asks.
"She pretty much said she left because she was tired of being your fool. She told me about your affair with your secretary and told me that's why she left because you treated her like a fool. She didn't want to be a fool for you anymore. You were out sleeping with your secretary and then coming home to her using her as a trophy wife. That's not what she wanted. She is the mother of your children how could you cheat on her and have an affair with another woman? That is so wrong, Dad."
"Look when you're in the business I am in you spend less time at home and more time in the office. You start to get connected to the people you work with. I got a little too connected with my secretary. One thing led to another and we were having an affair. I'm not proud of it but it is what it is. I'm not saying it was right but stuff happens in life, Ana you know that."
"You still cheated on the mother of your children," I say, "but that's not even what I'm upset about."
"So what else did she tell you?"
"That she was coming back for Chastity, Roderick and me once she had everything in order for us in Phoenix. She said when she came back you blackmailed her into signing away her rights and threatened her. You paid her money to stay out of our lives. How could you do that?"
"It was the best thing for you."
"How is keeping our mother away from us the best thing for us? You know how hard it was for me when she left but yet you still felt the need to keep her away. Why?"
"Any mother that leaves their children doesn't deserve to be in their lives. I did the best thing for all of you. The last thing you needed was for her to come in here and disrupt everything I fixed when she left. She chose to leave she wasn't taking my kids from me."
"But you kept her from us," I say, "that was wrong, Dad."
"It may have been wrong but you'll learn eventually that as a parent sometimes you have to make hard decisions to protect your children. I hope you never have to make a tough decision in your life to protect Talli. I know what I did was wrong but it was to protect you. Your mom is selfish, Ana."
"And you're selfish too. You cheated on her. I wouldn't have stayed either. I would have left too. What did you expect her to do? Just let you keep sleeping with another woman behind her back and just stay here to be a good wife taking care of YOUR children. You shit all over her and you know that. It's YOUR fault she left in the first place so the way I see it you're the one to blame for this family going to hell because you couldn't keep it in your pants. Your secretary? Really Dad how long was that going on?"
"It's still going on," he says, "Sasha and I have been together for years."
"And you never told us?"
"She's married," he says, "that's why we keep it private."
"You're pathetic," I say, "you're sleeping with a married woman how classy."
"Ana, don't be upset with me look I know it's wrong but it's been going on for so long that I can't stop."
"Don't make excuses for your indecent behavior. It's wrong," I say, "but to keep a mother from her children, Dad that is horrible. She wasn't going to hurt us. Maybe she was trying to protect us from you? You are controlling and you like to control. That's why you did what you did. You knew she was coming back and you knew the control was slipping from your hands so you did what you thought you had to do to stop her so you wouldn't lose control. Life isn't always about having control. That's why you're paying for half of our apartment because you feel you can control the situation and control me. You can't control me forever, Dad just like you couldn't control mom. Don't think you're going to control Chastity or Roderick either. All that's going to do is cause resentment. Just like mom resents you and just like I'm starting to do because you're trying to control me."
"Ana, I'm not trying to control you. I love you. I just want what's best for you. I want you to be the best that you can be in life. I am a little hard ass sometimes but it's not because I want to control you it's because I want to shape you into a strong woman so that if you ever go through what I put your mom through you're strong enough to get through it. I don't want you to depend on a man ever. I don't want that. I want you to be your own person. I want you to have your own power. I'm not controlling you."
"You are and I hope that Dean NEVER puts me through what you put mom through. The difference between you and Dean is this; he cares about what I want. He supports my dreams. He wants me to reach my goals and I support him. We communicate and we love each other. He doesn't expect me to give up school to be a mom. He wants me to go to college and reach my dreams. You didn't want mom to do that and then you wanted her to work with you but that's not what she wanted, Dad. You don't have to be in control all the time. It's okay to let go. The only thing you do by controlling people is push them away. I love you, Dad I really do. I don't like what you did with mom but I'm not going to shun you from my life for it. It was wrong but what I want you to do is I want you to let Chastity and Roderick meet her and have a relationship with her. She's not going to take them from you she just wants to be in their lives. I'm staying in her life and I'm going to visit her as much as I can. Let Chastity and Roderick have that relationship with her. They have sisters in Phoenix that they should know."
"Ana," he says,
"No, Dad, no excuses. Just let them have a relationship with mom. It's not a crisis. She deserves to see her children grow up and have a relationship with them."
"I'll see what I can do," he says. "I'm sorry, Ana."
"It's fine, Dad."
"So you said your mom is married and has two kids now?"
"Yeah," I say, "and about that it's kind of weird."
"What's weird about it? Is he a jerk?"
"Well, I think he is okay. Dean doesn't like him."
"So then what's weird about it?"
"Because she is married to Dean's dad which makes Dean my step brother."
"Oh shit," says my dad. "Of all the men in the world it is Dean's dad. Damn. What does that mean for you two?"
"I don't know. We aren't breaking up. It isn't like we knew about it before we started dating and we made Natalia. We aren't blood related so I don't see the issue with it. I mean it is weird for our sisters but they need to understand we had no idea about any of this. I love Dean and I don't plan on going anywhere."
"People might look at you weird but if you feel like you want to be with him then be with him. Like you said it's not like you two are blood related or anything. You two are step siblings and you had no idea."
"Exactly," I say as I brush a piece of hair out of my face.
"Anastasia!" says my dad, "is that an engagement ring?" he asks looking at my hand and the ring I'm wearing.
"No, Dad, I'm not ready to be engaged it's a promise ring Dean gave me. It's to promise that he's committed to me and I'm committed to him till the time comes he proposes to me. It's just a promise ring."
"Scared me for a second there," he says.
I smile and say, "no, Dean and I are waiting a while before we get married or even talk about marriage. I think 30 is a good age or close to 30."
"Any more babies before then?"
"Only if we are truly ready for another baby," I say, "I honestly don't want another one till I am done with school and out of college. We have talked about having a couple more babies because we make some cute babies but don't worry, Dad, Natalia will be an only child for a while. She's our main focus right now and we want to enjoy her as much as we can. I'm on birth control so you don't have to worry about being a grandpa again for a while."
"Okay good," he says with a smile, "but I agree you two make some cute babies," he says holding Talli up. "This one is adorable!"
"Thanks," I say with a smile. "So do you want to go get lunch or something?"
"That sounds good," he says with a smile. "I would like that. I'm glad that everything went well with your mom and that you are keeping a relationship with her. That's good."
"Me too," I say with a smile before we get ready to go out to have lunch together. I love my dad. Sometimes when I am with him I know he loves me but I think he finds it hard to show me he loves me. He has a weird way of showing it. I don't want a bad relationship with either of my parents. I want to continue to have a good relationship with both of them. I want Natalia to have a good relationship with both of my parents. I would like her to have a good relationship with Dean's parents; his dad isn't as bad as he could be but his mom I don't know how stable she is. It is all up to what Dean wants for her.
Later that afternoon I am in the kitchen working on dinner for Dean and me when he walks in the front door. "Honey, I'm home," he says as he shuts the door behind him.
"I'm in the kitchen, Babe," I say with a smile as I take the chicken out of the marinade.
"Hey," he says with a smile as he appears in the kitchen looking as good as ever in his work uniform holding onto his lunchbox that he took to work. "There's my sexy lady," he says with a smile.
"Hey," I say with a smile as he walks over to me and greets me with a soft quick kiss on the lips. "Look at you looking all sexy in your work uniform."
"You like this huh?" he asks with a smile as he takes a carrot from the counter and takes a bite of it.
"I love it you look so sexy," I say with a smile before he lays the mail down on the table.
"Thanks," he says with a smile, "so where's my little princess?"
"Sleeping she had a busy afternoon. We went out to lunch with my dad, Chastity and Roderick. They tired her out she was ready to go down for a nap. How was work?"
"Good," he says with a smile. "Guess what?"
"What?' I ask.
"I got a call from that wrestling school I have an interview with the owner so hopefully this is it. Hopefully I get in and I can start training. I'm not sure how much it's going to be just yet but I'm sure I can manage. This is what I really want to do."
"I know," I say, "so is it a wrestling school or will you have matches too?"
"I think I will have matches too once I get trained. I have to talk to the guy and see what it's all about. It's an actual wrestling promotion."
"Awesome, I hope this is it for you, Baby."
"Thanks me too," he says with a smile. "So what's for dinner?"
"Chicken marinated in Italian dressing and BBQ sauce, steamed carrots and mashed potatoes," I say.
"Sounds delicious," he says as I put the chicken into the oven.
"I hope so," I say with a smile before I wash my hands before I start to peel potatoes. "So everything went well with work today?"
"Yeah," he says, "it was a long day but it was good."
"That's good," I say, "so my dad is going to let Chastity and Roderick have a relationship with our mom."
"That's great," he says as he gets into the fridge stopping to smile at the pictures of Natalia covering the fridge. "You know, Ana, I love her pictures covering our fridge."
"Me too, I just love looking at that little face," I say. "She's perfect."
"We did do a good job huh?" he asks.
"A great job they don't get any cuter than her," I say with a smile. "So what came in the mail today?"
"Let's see," he says making his way back to the counter as he drinks juice from the gallon in the fridge. I hate it but he does it all the time. "Electric bill, Babies R Us catalog, junk mail and you got something from UCLA," he says holding up a big white envelope.
"Oh my God," I say as I put the potato down that I am peeling and then wipe off my hands before I take the envelope from him. "This could be it, Dean, this could be an acceptance letter."
"Open it," he says with a smile as I hold it in my hand. I'm too nervous to open it.
"I'm scared, you open it," I say as I hand it to him.
"All right," he says with a smile as he tears the envelope open and pulls out a letter. "Dear Ms. Bennett, we would like to thank you for your interest in the University of Los Angeles. Congratulations we would like to offer you admission to UCLA's class of 2019. You should be proud of all your accomplishments and your academic performances. We are honored to welcome you to the UCLA community. Your enrollment packet is included with this letter. It should help you with your response process as well as give your family and yourself important information as you consider your enrollment options. Whatever decision you make please know that you have until May 1, 2015 to confirm your choice and we hope that you are able to join us for a three day weekend program scheduled April 24th-26th, 2015. This provides you a great opportunity to experience the UCLA community first hand. We hope to have you join the UCLA community in the Fall of 2015. We have every reason to believe you will complete the school year successfully, your admission is contingent upon continued strong academic performance. Once again we congratulate you on your admission to UCLA and look forward to welcoming you to our family," he says and tears fill my eyes. I got into UCLA, I got into UCLA. "Baby, you got in!" he says with a smile as he looks at me. "You got into UCLA."
"Oh my God," I say with a smile as I wrap my arms around his neck as he wraps his arms around my waist. "I got in, Baby. I got into UCLA!"
"I know," he says before he kisses my lips softly. "My baby is smart! I love you so much."
"I love you too," I say before I kiss his lips once more.
"I'm so proud of you, Ana," he says with a smile once we break our kiss. I have a lot of emotions running through me. What happens now with Talli and Dean? WE talked about him coming with me to wherever I go but now that he's into his wrestling school it doesn't seem right to make him give that up so that he can follow me so I can achieve my dreams but I still haven't heard back from NYU yet.
"Thanks," I say with a smile. "I'm still waiting on NYU to see what happens. Then I'll make a decision but what would you think about moving to California?"
"I think that it would be a big change but wherever you go I'm going to go. You didn't bust your ass to get into these schools for nothing. Wherever you go, Ana, I'm going to follow."
"You sure?"
"I'm sure," he says, "look at me you worked hard for this. You're too smart to give it up for me. I'm going to follow you wherever you go. I promise."
"Dean," I say with a smile, "You're amazing you know that?"
"I'm not the amazing one here, Ana, you are."
"I love you," I say with a smile before I kiss his lips once again before I get back to cooking dinner.
"I love you too," he says with a smile.
*A/N: What did you think of Ana confronting her dad about everything that happened with her mom? What do you think about Rod still sleeping with his secretary? Is Ana right that her dad loves her but he just doesn't know how to show it the right way? Do you think he's controlling her or shaping her to be a strong woman? What do you think about Dean having an interview with the wrestling school/promotion? What do you think about Ana getting into UCLA? Do you think Dean will keep his promise and go with her if she chooses UCLA? Please review and thank-you for reading.