*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so much*
Sitting outside in my dad's backyard early in the morning with a cup of tea as Natalia is out in the yard practicing some of her ballet. She's really missing ballet this summer. Since we moved we haven't really found a new ballet school for her to go to this summer so she's out of dance class till the fall. She still insists on practicing every day so that she can strengthen herself and get herself better at her technique. I know for a fact that as an old ballet dancer you need that summer of technique class to help yourself but things have been pretty hectic lately so right now we are just taking it a day at a time trying to find a dance school for her. "Good morning, Ana," says my dad as he takes a seat on the chair next to me.
"Good morning, Dad," I say with a smile.
"You're up early."
"With Natalia there is no such thing as sleeping late," I say with a smile as I watch her do a series of turns. "She isn't one of those children that sleep late lucky us."
He lets out a small laugh, "she didn't steal it Ana you didn't sleep late either. She's just like you."
"I guess," I say with a smile. "She looks like her daddy but has my personality."
"She sure does," he says with a smile as he takes a sip of his coffee. "So how was the reunion last night? You and Dean weren't out as late as I thought you would be."
"It was a disaster we never should have gone I remembered last night why I hated school back then. Those people are fake, seriously they were all over Dean. They hated Dean back in the day because he was poor. I believe they called him a scoundrel."
"Well, I'll admit that I wasn't too fond of Dean back in the day," he says as I take a sip of my tea. "I didn't think he was the best guy for you. I thought he was trouble. I didn't look at him as more than a street punk to be honest but then you got pregnant that was probably one of the worst things you could have told me. You had so many hopes and dreams and here you were 17 and pregnant."
"And you kicked me out," I say.
"And I regret that every day," he says, "I shouldn't have kicked you out. I should have supported you instead of turning my back on you. I felt bad that I kicked you out so I leased you two that apartment. I still wasn't too sure of Dean. I thought you could do better but he was doing all right. He was taking care of you maybe not in the right way but he was taking care of you making money how he could and then he went to jail. I wasn't happy about that and as much as I wanted you away from him I knew you were just like your mom."
"I'm not like her," I say.
"In some ways you are," he says, "you have this heart of gold, Ana. You don't see the bad in people. You always look for the good. I should have known the day you told me about you and Dean that you saw some good in him. It took me a while to find it but I finally saw that he was a good kid he just went through a lot."
"He did. He went through a lot of stuff," I say, "more stuff than any kid should ever go through."
"But the best thing about him was that even though you two were going to be young parents he wasn't going to let you give up on your education. He wasn't going to let you give up on your dreams. I was surprised that he stepped up to be a father. I didn't think he would be but he proved me wrong. The boy is a good kid," he says, "he's a great father. I love to see him with Natalia."
"Me too," I say with a smile. "He's really good with her. I always knew he was going to be responsible and step up to be a dad. He's not that kind of guy. I like to see the good in everyone but some people there just isn't any good in them and that makes me sad."
"I know," he says as he looks at me with his dark brown eyes. "Maybe Sonya has some good in her."
"Dad, don't," I say.
"I'm just saying that maybe after all this time you should give her a chance. I mean she is your stepmother. It wasn't her fault," he says, "I am the one that cheated on your mom. I made the mistake it wasn't Sonya's doing."
"But she was still a willing participant," I say, "and before you say it I know that I was wrong for what I did too. Dean probably doesn't deserve me he's so fucking good to me and I treated him like crap."
"But he loves you, Ana. I could see it the first time I met him. I didn't want to see it but I saw it in his eyes. The way he looked at you and the way you looked at him. I saw it. You two were in love back then. You two were happy together. I didn't want you two together but you are so strong-willed, Ana. You were not letting me win but seeing you two today you both made out pretty good for yourselves and Dean has really stepped up to the plate. He is a good man to you and a good dad to Natalia."
"He really is," I say. "but I don't deserve him."
"You do deserve him, Ana. People make mistakes all the time. I made a mistake, you made a mistake. That doesn't make you a bad person. Dean loves you. He can see past what you did and still love you the same. You two are going to be happy together look at you two now. You're getting married, you have another baby on the way and you two are in a good place. Sometimes things fall out of place a little bit but they always fall back into place if they are meant to be. Stop acting like you don't deserve Dean. You two are different. You two are great together and you love each other. If you didn't you wouldn't have made it through the last 10 years. You went through a lot you're stronger than me."
"I guess," I say as I smile at Natalia working some more on her ballet. "Look at her," I say.
"She's amazing," he says with a smile. "She reminds me of a certain little girl that used to eat, sleep and breathe dance. Hours of practice every week and still twirling and leaping through my house. I thought you would have been a ballerina as much as you loved it."
"I was headed there but I became something better, a mom to one of the most beautiful girls in the world," I say with a smile. "I'm proud of her. Aurora called Dean and I trash last night because we had a baby at 17 but I don't look at it that way. We aren't trash. I mean I wish I didn't get pregnant at 17 but it happens. It doesn't make me trash. I thought she was my best friend but she never really was my friend. I'm not ashamed of being a mom. I worked my ass off to get where I am today and no one will ever tell me I'm trash because I became a mom. Becoming a mom was the best thing that ever happened to me. I love Natalia so much. I want to give her the world. I want to see her reach her dreams and be the person she wants to be. I want to see her break this cycle."
"Me too," he says, "you were a good mom. You did a great job with her and you're still doing a good job with her. I know it wasn't easy but yet here you are with a nice new job with WWE and a good life. I'm happy for you."
"Thanks," I say with a smile. "Mom isn't coming to the wedding."
"I figured," he says, "is it because her husband can't come?"
"That's exactly why. I just thought that she would want to plan this with me and Dean and that she would want to do the whole dress thing and wedding thing with me. I thought that she would want to be there but instead I'm the bad person because I won't let the person that ruined Dean come to the wedding. Dean harbors a deep hatred for him and I don't blame him. He walked out on them when he was 3 years old. Dean went through everything he did because of his dad and he made this whole new life with someone else. I don't blame him at all. I have to respect him."
"Does it hurt that she's not coming to the wedding?"
"A little bit but it is what it is. You'll be there," I say with a smile.
"I wouldn't miss my little girl get married for the world."
"I know," I say with a smile. "I love you, Dad."
"I love you too," he says, "so let me guess you and Dean are ready to get out of town after last night?"
"Actually we are leaving but we're going to the lake for the weekend when Dean finally rolls out of bed."
"What lake?"
"The one that we went to after his mom died," I say, "he wants to go make family memories."
"Family memories are always good," he says with a smile. "I'm sure you'll have fun. Does Natalia know?"
"Yeah, she's never been to the lake. He wants to take her fishing, do the whole S'mores thing and campfire thing. I'm looking forward to it. I like taking a nice little family vacation together. I don't see him that much but I like to get these times with him."
"I know," he says with a smile. "So when is this big wedding?"
"June 18 but it won't be that big the ceremony is for close friends and family only but the reception is the big party. We wanted to make the ceremony intimate for us and for the people we love with no media or anything like that."
"I hear you," he says. "Are you nervous?"
"To marry the love of my life? Not at all," I say with a smile. "I'm ready to complete my life with him and grow old with him. I love him so much," I say with a smile.
"I know you do and you two are having a son right?"
"Yes," I say, "Baby Oliver," I say with a smile as I rub my stomach. "Natalia hates it. She doesn't want a brother she wants to be the only child."
"She'll get over it," he says, "it's been just her for 10 almost 11 years now it's going to be an adjustment but she'll get used to it and I bet she'll love him in a couple weeks. She's just scared right now."
"I guess," I say with a smile. "Dad do you want me to talk to Sonya?"
"It would mean a lot to me. You don't have to be best friends," he says, "but at least talk to her a little bit. She thinks you hate her."
"I don't hate her," I say, "I just I don't know. I can't explain it."
"You think she's the woman that destroyed our family?"
"In a way yes," I say.
"I assure you, your mom and I were heading toward disaster with or without her. We were fighting and we just couldn't get along. We weren't happy with each other. I shouldn't have cheated but I wasn't happy. Your mom and me were young when we got married and we rushed into it. We shouldn't have. We thought we were in love but I don't think we really were. We just weren't happy with one another life was miserable. We tried to hide it from you kids but I don't think we could any longer."
"Well, I sure was surprised when I came home one day and she was gone so I think you two hid it well."
"I'm sorry about that," he says.
"Don't apologize for her mistakes, Dad regardless how you handled it she could have said goodbye at least but she didn't. She left. She was selfish too. I wanted to have a relationship with her so badly but honestly I couldn't care less right now. She is choosing a man over her daughter and that's fine with me. I don't need that type of negativity in my life."
"I know, Baby Girl," he says. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine," I say as I stand up.
"Where are you going?"
"To talk to Sonya," I say with a smile. "Don't you want me to?"
"No," he says with a smile, "I want you to. Go ahead and talk to her."
"Okay," I say with a smile and kiss his cheek before I make my way into the house to see Sonya in the kitchen making breakfast. I smile at her and say, "Hi, Sonya."
"Ana," she says with a surprise. "I'm sorry I didn't know if you wanted to cook breakfast or if you wanted me to."
"It's okay that you do," I say with a smile. "Look, Sonya, I'm sorry that I haven't been exactly welcoming to you since I met you. I was rude and I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Ana, I totally understand. I probably wouldn't like my dad's mistress either."
"Well, that had a bit to do with it but that was years ago," I say. "I was acting like a little brat and I shouldn't have been. I don't want to keep shunning you from my life and letting you out of things because you're with my dad. It's not fair to you and I'm sorry that I left you out of things. If it's okay with you I would like to get to know you better and I would like to have some type of relationship with you."
She smiles a smile of relief and it makes me smile as she makes her way over to me. She wraps her arms around me and hugs me. I hug her back. "That means a lot to me, Ana. I would really like to spend time together and get to know you too. I want to have a relationship with you. Maybe not the mother daughter type of relationship because you have a mom but something like that."
"My mom is kind of a bust," I say with a smile. "I would like that," I say with a smile. "If you wanted to I thought maybe you could work on wedding plans with me for my wedding."
"Ana," she says with a smile. "I don't know what to say. Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," I say with a smile. "I haven't done this whole wedding thing before and I need someone that knows what's going on to help me out."
"I'd be happy to," she says with a smile. "Thank-you."
"No, Thank-you," I say with a smile. "I don't think you're a bad person if that makes you feel better. It's just when I was little I had this idea of having the perfect family and the perfect life. I wanted my dad with my mom and my mom with my dad but she left and my dad was with you. I held that against you for the longest time and I shouldn't have done that. Sometimes two people don't really love each other like they thought and sometimes they have to end things. I was upset but I am happy that my dad is happy now with you. You make him happy. I just want to see him happy."
"Thanks, Ana," she says with a smile. "He makes me happy too."
"I'm glad," I say with a smile, "do you want any help with breakfast?"
"Sure," she says with a smile as I go to join her in making breakfast for everyone. We talk as we cook and I find out she has two children with her ex-husband that are 18 and 21. It almost makes me wonder if they are really his or my dad's. It has been that long. It's not my business to ask either. We talk about the plans I have for the wedding and we talk about her coming to Connecticut to help out with some wedding details and planning. She's not as bad as I thought she was and I enjoy talking to her getting to know her. I think we are going to be great friends now that we are past all my unnecessary dislike toward her. I tried for so long not to see that she made my dad happy because I didn't want him happy with anyone else but he does deserve happiness whether it's with my mom or Sonya. He's a good guy and he deserves the best in his life. Sonya might just be the best person for him.
*A/N: What did you think of Ana's conversation with her dad? Do you think their relationship is better now that she's older? What did you think about him opening up about Dean and how he felt? Do you think that it was a good idea for Ana to talk to Sonya? Do you think she did it because she wanted to or because her dad wanted her to? What do you think of Ana asking her to help plan the wedding? Do you think they will be good friends now that everything that happened in the past is out of the way? Please review and thank-you for reading.