Chapter 20

Valentine's Day 2010

He wants to be her Valentine but she doesn't even know who he was.

But she will shortly.

He was standing on the other side of the room with the only couch in the room several feet away from him. She baked chocolate chip brownies for her ungrateful father and they all went to waste after he tossed the box full of baked goods across the room. He'd been violent with her during her recent visits and he felt sorry for her. If he was in her place, he would've given up on the old man ages ago. He did that with his own father, who's rotting in prison right now.

Just like he was rotting in this mental institution.

An employee of the mental institution sedated her screaming father while a security guard held him down. When he was out cold on the couch, the employee helped her pick up the box of brownies and the sweet treats that weren't destroyed by the fall.

One brownie had fallen in front of him and he thought about what he should do with it. He could eat it or return it to her. It took him a couple of minutes to decide on what to do.

He picked it up and took a large bite from it. He looked at the bitten brownie and nodded at it with approval. It was scrumptious. He figured it would be, since she made it.

He chewed as he walked towards her. He was Icarus and she was the sun. She was talking to the employee and he found the movement of her mouth mesmerizing. When he swallowed, he stopped near her, at her right side. She stopped talking and the employee turned her head to look at him.

"Stay away. I don't want to sedate you, too."

As if you can sedate me, he thought to himself. He fought the urge to roll his eyes at the black woman with large bushy hair.

He held his arms up as if he was surrendering. The sweet treat was in his right hand.

"I don't wanna hurt her, you, or anyone. I just wanted to return this."

He extended his right arm and presented the brownie to her. She smiled and opened the box, not noticing that the brownie was incomplete. When she closed it, she looked at the employee, who was glaring at him.

"Thank you, Sondra. Go and do whatever it is you need to do next."

"There are guards in here. If he gives you any trouble-"

"I know. Now go."

Sondra the employee walked away and left her with him. She didn't take her eyes off him until she was out of the room.

He'd been waiting for this for so long. He didn't think that the day he was going to talk to her would come. But it did and he picked the right day.

"How's your Valentine's Day going, miss?"

She sighed.

"Not like I thought it would be, but I hope it gets better. Yours?"

She was actually talking to him. He wanted to punch himself in the face to wake himself up in case he was dreaming, but then he thought that if this really was a dream, he didn't want to wake up.

He thought her optimism was endearing, and it was obvious that his effort had not gone to waste because she didn't ignore him like he expected that she would, since he was a stranger. He should've approached her ages ago, but it was better late than never.

"Lovely, since you're here. I'm Jon, nice to meet you."

He smirked. He saw her cheeks going red and she was biting her lower lip. She grinned. She had a smile so bright that if the sun was a person, it'd be jealous of her and her smile.

"You're sweet, Jon. Nice to meet you, too. I'm Emilia."

Christmas Eve 2014

Despite being with her family, Emilia didn't feel like it was Christmas season at all. She felt empty, incomplete, and numb.

As she was hanging the last of the big shiny red Christmas ball from the box on the Christmas tree, Dean's face flashed in front of her eyes for a moment. She blinked and dropped the decoration on the floor, since she wasn't able to hang it on the tree. It rolled rapidly towards her son Levi's stroller and she ran after it. When she picked it up, her eyes met her son's. They bore a striking resemblance to Dean's eyes. Emilia smirked and pinched her son's chubby left cheek. Levi giggled.

"This is gonna be your first Christmas! Are you excited?"

Emilia told Levi excitedly. Levi giggled once more and Emilia grinned. She leaned in and kissed her son on the forehead. She was attached to him and to his father, hence the name.

Emilia stood up and walked towards the tall Christmas tree, which was illuminated by several strings of white LED lights. The silver garlands and red Christmas balls made the tree even more bright. She hung the ornament that she dropped on a blank branch and stood back, admiring her work. Decorating the Christmas tree was certainly one of her favorite things to do during the holidays. It was also a nice way to distract herself from thinking about how she was unemployed again due to the fall of The Authority at Survivor Series and her constant and confusing longing for Dean.

When Emilia looked at the digital wall clock above the fireplace, she discovered that it was already a minute past seven in the evening. The mass in the nearest church stars in an hour. She gently grabbed Levi from his stroller and headed towards the staircase. Sebastian and Daisy were already dressed for the mass. His midnight blue necktie matched her satin dress. Sebastian's usually messy hair was combed neatly and gelled to stay put while Daisy's short hair was sleek and shiny. Emilia suddenly felt uncomfortable in her long-sleeved turtleneck sweater and plaid pajama pants.

"Why didn't you two tell me that it's already seven PM?"

Emilia asked, holding Levi tightly in her arms as he tugged on a strand of her brown hair. Sebastian and Daisy looked at each other for a few seconds before Sebastian turned his head to look at his younger sister.

"We wanted to, we really did. But you looked so engrossed in decorating the tree and we didn't want to disturb you. Sorry."

Sebastian said apologetically.

"Oh," Emilia nodded. "Thanks, I guess. Well, I need to get ready and fast. We can't be late."

"Let me help you with Levi."

Daisy extended her arms and Emilia handed her son over to her sister-in-law. At first, the baby sounded like it was crying because he wasn't holding his mom's hair anymore in his tiny hand, but then Daisy hushed him by cooing him and rubbing his belly. He responded by trying to talk, but all he could do was babble.

"I'll be waiting for you ladies in the living room."

Sebastian said before kissing his wife on the cheek. The two women ascended to the second floor. Emilia and Daisy didn't speak as they walked down the hallway. They parted ways when Emilia opened the second door on the left while Daisy went in the room across it, which was Levi's room. When Emilia was in her room, she quickly stepped inside the bathroom to shower and get dressed. It didn't take her long to do everything that she needed. When she was done, it was thirty minutes before eight o'clock. She took in her reflection in the bathroom mirror and she thought that she looked presentable in her black collared dress and light makeup. Her hair was up in a messy bun, letting some strands frame her face. She smirked and felt satisfied with accomplishing so much even if she was in a hurry.

Emilia ran downstairs, missing two steps several times. She was surprised that she didn't fell every time that she missed two steps because she was wearing high heels and the heels of her shoes could've broke and made her fall. When she made it to the living room, she found Sebastian and Daisy, who was holding Levi, talking and standing up from the couch. Emilia smiled at the sight of Levi wearing a suit and she took him from Daisy. Sebastian took Daisy's hand and started walking towards the front door. Emilia followed them a few seconds later, cooing Levi as he buried his head on the crook of her neck.

When the mass was over, Emilia went home immediately since Levi had fallen asleep in her arms at some point during the mass. Sebastian and Daisy didn't come home with her since they had to give gifts to the young patients at the local hospital, an event they do annually during Christmas Eve. Sebastian let Emilia take his car, since he said he and Daisy could take a cab to the hospital and another one to get home. Daisy agreed with him so Emilia took herself and Levi home using Sebastian's car.

Snow started falling when Emilia made it back to the house. She took Sebastian's car keys before unbuckling the seat belt of Levi's baby car seat. She took him into her arms and held him tightly before getting out of the car. She rushed towards the front door so she and Levi wouldn't get cold from the snow. When she found the key of the front door on Sebastian's keychain, she slid it in the lock. She took the keys before stepping inside the house. All the lights were out except for the ones on the Christmas tree. She almost screamed when she saw a figure of a man standing in front of the tree. If he hadn't turned around, she would've ran away.

But he did, and it wasn't a stranger that she saw - it was Dean, the father of her child, her former flame, the one she wanted this Christmas.

Emilia gasped and felt surprised to see him standing there. A thousand questions popped in her mind but she couldn't ask him any. Dean felt just as surprised to see her. He had a lot of things to say to her, but he said the first thing that came to his mind when he saw the baby in her arms.

"Is he mine?"

Dean asked, dreading her answer. He was hoping that it was his, because he couldn't bear the thought of Emilia moving on from him.

Because even if he had Renee, he still hasn't moved on from Emilia.

Author's note: Merry Christmas! I know, the greeting is late and this chapter is late, but better late than never, I think. The next chapter shall be posted soon so stay tuned! Ugh, it's been like a month since I've written anything and it feels sooo good to finally be writing again. Anyway, thank you for reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favoriting this story! Feel free to send some feedback because that'll really help, and suggestions too while you're at it! And oh, you can find me on Twitter by the username stateofchandra so if you have a Twitter account, follow me there and we can talk about this story, Dean Ambrose, and anything else. Stay safe! - C x