Till The End

Thirty-Two

"I'm not comfortable with that yet, Dylan." I say hesitantly, shaking my head.

It's been a month since Dylan and Bella first met, and while they're getting along great and all seems to be going perfectly, I'm still not comfortable with letting him go out alone with her for the day when he asks.

He nods, both hands up as if in surrender. "Okay, okay. That's fine." he says. "The three of us will go to the mall together then."

"Great." I nod.

"Great."

- - - -

"You're a really good cook, Ximena." Dylan says as we eat the meal I've cooked us for dinner.

I laugh, rolling my eyes. "They're tacos, Dylan."

"Well they're the best tacos I've ever had." he nods, taking a huge bite of his fourth taco.

"Thanks." I wipe the corners of my mouth, turning my attention to Bella who's playing with her dolls in front of the TV. "Sure you don't want another one, baby?"

Her eyes dart up to mine. "No thanks." her cute little head shakes politely.

"Okay." I look over to Dylan who continues to devour his meal. He always had the appetite of a four hundred pound man, I can see that hasn't changed. "Feel free to have some more." he nods.

"So," he clears his throat. "I think I'm going through with the whole moving back to LA thing."

About a week back while Dylan was having dinner with us, he mentioned the idea of moving back to LA and trying to transfer into UCLA. While he's been gone from our lives, Dylan has been studying in Arizona. He plans on becoming a lawyer. Now that he's back in our lives though, he mentioned wanting to come back.

"Oh?" I nod slowly. "That's a big commitment, Dylan. Are you sure that's what you want?" I ask skeptically.

"You really don't think I'm gonna stick around, do you?" a sad smile on his face.

I look into his eyes, searching for the truth. Is he gonna stick around? "I don't know." I shrug, shaking my head. "I hope you do. For her sake." I motion at our daughter. "She really likes you. Asks about you almost everyday."

"I love her, Ximena." he whispers. "I've only known her a month and I already love her more than anything or anyone."

I knew he would. How could he not?

"You can't blame me for having my doubts." I say. "I'm not ever going to try and make this easy for you. You don't deserve it, and I think you know that. I'm going to have my doubts until you prove me wrong."

"And that's fair." he nods. "Ximena, I know you. Did you really ever expect for me to expect that you'd welcome me in with opens arms when I came back?" he chuckles, shaking his head. "You're a fierce woman. I knew you were going to be extremely protective over our daughter. I know I have to fight and prove to you just how serious I am about sticking around."

My eyes sting with tears tempting to escape them. "Good. I'm glad you know that. You should know that." I say, my voice wavering.

"And I do." he nods persistently. "Me making the big move back here is a start, Ximena. I'm trying to show you how committed I am to her. To you." his hand finds mine on top of the table.