Always Committed To You (Book 3)

Epilogue

Ella was sleeping peacefully when she felt someone jumping on her bed, and it didn't take a genius to know that it was her daughter.

"Lily, for the sake of God, stop jumping on the bed and let me sleep." She groaned in annoyance and snuggled up with the pillow.

Dan let out a small grunt when he felt someone's hand around him. He opened his eyes slowly, only to find Ella hugging him in her sleep, which made his eyes wide as he didn't know how their sleeping position changed.

"Lily, like a good child, go back to sleep like most of the kids would do this early in the morning. You really are like your father. How the hell can the two of you get up this early? Just go back to sleep." Ella told her daughter grumpily, which made Dan chuckle.

He figured that Ella still didn't realize that she was sleeping on him, and if she had, then she would have jumped miles away.

Dan signaled for Lily to stay quiet and leave the room, which she obliged. He tried to remove Ella's hand from him and tried to move away from her, but she refused to do so. No matter how much he wanted to enjoy that moment, he knew that he needed to get up, as Lily was awake. After a few minutes, he finally untangled himself from Ella and reluctantly went out of the room.

Dan was setting the table for breakfast when a sleeping Ella came into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. "Good morning." Dan greeted her with a smile.

"Good morning. Dan, you cooked breakfast. You guys should have woken me up." She told both of them.

"I tried to, mom, but..." As soon as Dan realized what his daughter was going to say, he interrupted her.

"But it seemed that you could use more sleep, so I asked her not to wake you." He didn't want to make things awkward between them when things were still unsaid.

"Why are you giggling, Lily?" Ella raised her eyebrows in confusion, which only made her giggle more.

"Let it be, Ella. Who knows what runs through kids' minds nowadays?" He tried to cover it up for her and discreetly winked at her daughter.

After brunch, Lucia and Finn came in to pick Lily up for a magic show. After Lily left with them, Ella and Dan were finally alone.

"Dan, do you need anything from the grocery store?" Ella asked him.

"Umm, no. Why?"

"Well, I need to get some things from there. If you need anything, give me a call." She said.

"Do you mind if I join?" He asked her hesitantly.

"Sure."

Dan was walking beside Ella, who was rolling a trolley filled with items. He tried to start a conversation. "This is nice."

"Yeah, it is nice," Ella said to him awkwardly.

"Totally not awkward." He said as he was looking everywhere but at her.

"Definitely not." She shook her head. "Oh, hey, Blaze." She said, with a big smile when she saw Blaze near the drink section.

"Hey, Ella. Long time. How have you been?" He asked her while embracing her in a tight hug.

"I am good. When did you come back to town?" She asked him.

"Yesterday, but I have to leave tomorrow again. A medical conference came up." He explained.

"Nice, by the way, this is Daniel Ashfield. And Dan, this is Blaze, Ron's colleague and good friend of mine." She introduced both of them.

"Nice to meet you."

To which Dan nodded, feeling uncomfortable. He could see that Blaze clearly liked Ella, which was unacceptable to him. After a few more words of exchange, he bid them goodbye. "I will catch up with you later, Ella. Got to go now."

"Do you like him?" Dan asked her curiously, hoping her answer would be negative.

"He is a good friend." She stated.

"Is this the same Blaze that Ron talked to you about on the phone during the car ride?" He tried to clarify.

"Yes. He did drop subtle hints whenever he came here, but I chose to ignore them, and thankfully he respected that. So, what about you? Are there any women in your life?" Ella asked him while paying for the items, but Dan took the credit card from her hand and replaced it with his.

"Dan, you are not paying." She told him.

"Ella, I am not arguing about this." He rolled his eyes.

"But..."

"No, but Ella. In my presence, you are not paying for anything." To which she huffed in annoyance. Both of them were walking back home.

"You didn't answer my previous question." She asked him again.

"Yes, I do have a woman in my life." His answer broke Ella's heart. But she couldn't blame anyone but herself.

"Great. I am glad you found someone in your life. I hope she is okay with you having a daughter." She disguised her pain with a smile on her face.

"Yes, in fact, she is. Do you know the best part? She loves her as much as I do, if not more." Listening to this statement, Ella wanted to do nothing but crawl into bed and cry her heart out.

"Really? That's nice."

The entire way to their home, both of them were quiet. Ella was trying to stop her tears, whereas Dan was observing her.

"You are an idiot, Ella." He told her once they reached home.

"Why am I an idiot?" She asked, trying to stop her tears from flowing freely.

He came closer to her, but she kept backing away until she was standing on the support of the wall.

"Because you just are. You need not act strong in front of me." He told her once he realized how hard Ella was trying to stop the salty water from flowing from her eyes.

She tried to get away from him, but he had both his hands on each side of the wall.

"I don't know what you are talking about." She said this without making eye contact with him.

"Ella, you have been the one and only woman in my life till now, and nothing is going to change that." This made her look at him. "Even when you left, I couldn't look at anyone else. I have never been with anyone other than you, nor will I ever be. I have always been committed to you, and that's not going to change."

"But after what I did..."

Dan did not let her complete the statement. "You did what you thought was best at that time. Yes, I am hurt that you did not confront me, but at the same time, when we met again, you didn't lie either. Ella, I love you. I don't know if you are ready for a relationship now, but if you are, then I want to be with you again, this time as a husband instead of a boyfriend. I cannot settle for anything less."

"Dan, I love you too, and yes, as cliché as it may sound, I have always been committed to you."

"So, what do you want, shortcake?"

Three words from her gave Dan all the answers that he needed to hear from her.

"Kiss me, Danny."