Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad by Scarlett Rossi
Chapter 137 -

Весса.

With Neal finally telling me what exactly was wrong with him, I found myself at a loss for words when I realized that the danger I had once been in was no longer over. In fact, it had only died down for a short time. And now, with the rising slowly coming, I knew that the inevitable would eventually happen.

Standing in the kitchen, staring out the window over the lush blue ocean with white capping waves that came upon the shore as soon as it had hit the sandbar, I tried to let my mind work over everything that he had told me. How was it that after so much hard work and trying to start over, my life once again was slowly starting to spin out of control?

Was it so hard for a girl like me to simply ask for peace? To be able to raise her children as she saw fit, without having people constantly trying to interfere? Not to mention, I had just gotten my father here and his wife, and with them coming here, it was supposed to be an amazing time, not full of chaotic hell that seemed to want to run rampant through my life.

"He finally spoke to you," Allegra said softly from behind me, causing me to glance over my right shoulder, taking in the image of her hair pulled up into a messy bun, bags underneath her eyes, sweatpants, and a T-shirt. She didn't even look like the same Allegra.

"Yeah, he told me that he had been looking into some people who are from James's past, still trying to wreak havoc in my life." She nodded her head slowly, seeming almost hesitant, but then moved forward and turned on the electric kettle that sat on the counter near the microwave.

"Neal knows what he's doing. I know he comes off as being an asshole, but it's only because he's stressed out worrying about your safety."

The thought of him worrying about my safety made me cringe. "Yeah, well, if he wants to stay in my good graces, it's best that he turns around and tells me the truth about stuff. Because I already warned him that if I replace out he's hiding anything else, he and I are going to have serious problems."

That was now empty. I placed them back into their spot, passing by Allegra as I did. She remained quiet, unwanting to say anything, and just before I turned to say something to her, Layla came into the kitchen with Alessandro, who was crying over a bumped knee.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your guys' conversation, but he just really won't stop crying." His little arms reached out to me, and as I took him, cradling him against my chest, I kissed the top of his head. I thought about everything and how moments like this were important. The children needed me just as much as I needed them.

"It's okay. Let's get you an ice pack on that knee and a popsicle, and then you can go back to playing with Layla, okay?" I whispered to him, watching as his big brown eyes looked up at me with a slow nod and a quivering lip.

I had a feeling that Alessandro was going to grow up to be a little bit softer than one would initially think for a boy, but that was because I had a soft hand with him, as did Layla. We showed him all the love and affection that he could get because I knew that would be what his mother would have wanted.

He had changed her, and she loved him more than anything, and I hated that. I was not able to share these moments with her. But I was raising him the best that I could to ensure that her son had a life he deserved, a life that she wanted for him.

As soon as he was done crying and felt completely better with his popsicle in hand, I handed him off to Layla, who took his hand and took him down the hallway to go watch whatever Disney movie it was that had been entertaining them previously.

"You're good with him, and you're good with Dahlia."

I had almost forgotten that Allegra was standing there now with her completely made cup of tea in hand as she sipped upon the hot beverage as if it was warm and comforting to her. "Thanks. I try my best to do what his mother would have wanted."

"Then you know how important it is that you listen to what Neal says. You are needed for those children, and if you don't listen, and get yourself caught up in all this shit, God, what would happen then?"

"Don't you think I know this?" I snapped with irritation. "Alessandra already lost one of his mothers. I'm not about to let him lose another, but I'm also not naive and as stupid as I once was."

"I know you're not," she said softly as her eyes cast towards the ground, refusing to look at me once more. "I just want to make sure that you're doing what's best for you and the kids. I don't mean to pry or try to tell you what you need to do. Just trying to advise you."

As much as part of me wanted to correct her when she tried to advise me on things, considering everything that had happened lately, I didn't wanna seem like more of a bitch than I really had been. She was genuinely trying to be nice, and I could see from the look on her face she wasn't trying to overstep any boundaries.

"Look, I gave your brother forty-eight hours. He said he would figure out something, then see what was up, and if he hadn't found anything out in forty-eight hours, I would be free to be able to continue doing as I was. I'm not trying to live forever in hiding Allegra. I want to be able to enjoy my life with my family. Can you understand that?"

Slowly, she nodded her head. She did understand what I was talking about, and I was grateful that she did because it would make things a lot less complicated. When the time came, that shit was going to have to change. Which included Allegra and Neal moving on from my life.

Of course, I cared about them both dearly, and we've been friends for quite some time, and they had done so much for me. But I couldn't keep living like this as a constant reminder of everything that happened. And then having Neal treat me like I'm his woman when I'm not telling me what I need to do for my protection.

He wasn't my keeper, and neither was Allegra.

"Anyway, what's your plans for today? Are you planning to take the kids out, or what were you going to do?" Allegra replied, changing the subject quite quickly. It was getting pretty tense and awkward between us, and the fidgeting that she kept doing with her coffee cup in her hands was becoming increasingly annoying.

So I was pleased, nonetheless, when she quickly changed the subject, and I let out a heavy sigh, sagging my shoulders as I looked around the kitchen. "Well, Alessandro's first birthday is coming up, so I thought that this weekend we could throw a small little party for him, and I wanted to start out the weekend by doing different things every day. So tonight, I was thinking about a Disney movie marathon."

"Oh, that sounds like fun. His favorite shows? The one with the orange and blue fish, right?"

Orange and blue fish? I could not understand for the life of me how this woman who had been living with me and these kids for God knows how long now didn't know what the name of that damn movie was. It's one of the best movies ever. "Yes, the orange and blue fish," I replied, nodding my head. "I picked up goldfish and blue jello and a couple of other things that he really likes to eat, and I figured we can set up a few cute things on the coffee table in the living room, put the movie on, and we can watch the movie while we eat before he goes to bed."

Allegra seemed down to be able to help prepare everything that needed to be prepared before we had our big movie night. Of course, Layla was in charge of wrangling the children, my sweet baby girl, who was closing in on a month old, and of course Alessandro, who would soon be one and a handful. I could only wait until they hit their toddler phase, and I was able to treat both of them to so many different things.

After 30 minutes of preparing different foods, plating them up, and getting them ready on the coffee table, I called down the hallway to Layla to go ahead and bring the children out. Of course, my sweet little girl was way too little for any kind of stuff like this, but my sweet Alessandro was at the perfect age where he didn't quite understand everything, but he definitely knew who his favorite Disney characters were.

The moment that he came into the room in Layla's arms, he squealed with delight, clapping his hands together as she sat him down on the sofa, and he quickly moved down to his feet, which were still unbalanced with him trying to learn how to walk properly.

Dalia was handed over to me without question. I hadn't had proper snuggles in about an hour, and I was eager to have them. Snuggling into her, I took in her fresh baby scent and sighed with a smile on my face before walking over to the sofa and taking a seat next to Layla, who was preoccupying Alessandro with the snacks.

"Are we watching that one movie again?" she asked me with a raised brow and appointed stare. "You do realize I can literally recite every line of that movie now?"

"I know." I grinned from ear to ear, knowing how much she detested having to watch this movie but did so anyway because it made Alessandro smile. "Plus, tomorrow morning, you get to take the morning off to go do whatever you want." "Off? Are you sure?" she asked me, furrowing her brows with slight confusion.

"My parents are going to come over, so we're gonna have a big family breakfast. I know you said that she needed to go to the doctor and run a few errands, so if you want to do that tomorrow morning, you're more than welcome to. I can manage the kids. It's no problem."

As her grin widened, and she nodded her head, realizing what I was talking about, we all settled down into the couch, ready to watch the movie that Alessandro was thrilled about seeing once more, and even Allegra took her spot over on the large recliner chair, curled up with a throw blanket, settling down to watch as well.

It was moments like this that I enjoyed, but it was also moments like this when I realized what I needed to do in order to make sure that moments like this lasted forever.