THE CONTENTED

If only I could pay the bills with my love for you
We'd be the richest in the fucking room

***

CHAPTER LVI

*****

ANNOYED BY THE incessant beeping coming from my left side, I let out an irritated groan and extended a heavy hand towards my bedside table in an effort to switch off my alarm. Instead of my fingertips meeting with the cool hard surface of my usual nightstand, they had instead met with soft, very warm skin. A smile stretched across my face as I continued feeling the persons face, my cold hands finally warming up when the person had let out a deep chuckle and took my hand in their own, encapsulating me in their warmth.

“You're awake,” a very familiar voice had said from my side, making my heart beat faster in my chest in excitement as an excited spark traveled down my spine. God, I missed this man. “Look at me, amor. Let me see your pretty eyes.”

Almost as if waiting for his every command, I had fluttered my eyes open, letting them fall on the white ceiling that immediately met me back. For a second I remained quiet, my eyes and my mind adjusting to the new environment when a squeeze of my hand had brought me back to the very lovely person sitting at my bedside.

I turned my head with a lot of effort, the smile on my face only stretching wider once I had set eyes on Daniel's tired looking face. And then I burst into tears.

“What's wrong, amor? Why are you crying?” Daniel asked as he softly caressed my face, his voice delicate and soothing. Something that I was becoming very used to. “You don't want to see me?”

“No,” I said quickly, not wanting him to think that he was at fault for anything just because I was struggling to manage my emotions. “No, I'm just so happy to see you. I missed you so much.” The smile that slowly made its way onto my face had been like a window, letting me see how happy he truly was. How happy I made him.

“I missed you too,” he said calmly, his eyes holding all the love and affection he felt for me while he held my hand so gently in his. “I was so scared,” he confessed as he squeezed my hand in his again. “So scared that I would lose you.”

“I was scared that I was going to die without seeing you or Mateo again,” I confessed, feeling the tears well in my eyes as I remembered that moment; that dreadful moment when Pablo had been crying over me and I no longer felt like I was in my body anymore. “I'm so scared, Daniel. I don't want to ever feel like that again.”

“Ara, it's okay,” he said as he moved closer to me, making me roll onto my side so I could look at him better. “Things are different now. Nothing like that is ever going to happen again.”

“You're just lying to me so I'll stop crying,” I sniffled, making Daniel crack an amused smile at my accusation.

“I'm lying?” he asked, looking at me to confirm what he just asked me, “Babe, everyone is fucking terrified of you,” he said, making me furrow my eyebrows in confusion. If it didn't fucking hurt to breathe right now, I probably would've sat up too.

“What do you mean?”

“News of what happened is spreading like wildfire and absolutely nobody wants to fuck with you,” he explained, making the frown on my face only deepen. “On top of that, I'm changing some things around; getting rid of enemies and making stronger alliances. I swear to you, amor, things are changing now,” he said as he wiped my tears away, making me kiss the palm of his hand. “And if it ever comes down to it again, I'm not letting you out of my sight. If I'm not around, you're always going to have a bodyguard.”

“Me?” I asked shocked as I fought through the pain and sat up just so I could fold my arms over my chest and glare at him. “You're the one that fricking got kidnapped. You need the bodyguards.”

“What? You want me to have bodyguards too?” he asked, making me nod my head. “Okay,” he said nonchalantly, making a smile quirk onto my face.

“Okay?”

“Okay,” he confirmed as he softly kissed the palm of my hand. “Anything for you, amor. I'll get bodyguards too.”

“And I'm going to track you,” I added on which had made his smirk grow. “Wherever you go, I have your exact location.”

“If it eases your heart.”

“You're really going to get bodyguards and let me track you?” I asked, raising an eyebrow in suspicion, “or are you just being sarcastic again?”

“I'll get bodyguards and let you track me. I swear,” he said, making me genuinely smile until he continued talking. “So long as you promise me one thing.”

“What?”

“That you never pull the shit that you pulled ever again,” he said, making me roll my eyes at him. “I know you had to do it, but next time... don't do it alone,” he sighed, making me smile sadly as I noticed the exhaustion on his face. God these past few days must've been hell for him. “At the very least, tell Pablo or Guillermo.”

“I told Jorge!” I argued, but he shook his head and pursed his lips in reprimand.

“Jorge has little power, Lee,” he said, letting a breathy chuckle escape his lips as he caressed the back of my hand. “He could've even gotten killed if he had been accused of aiding in your kidnapping. It would've been better to, at the very least, have told Guillermo,” he explained, making me purse my lips because he was right. I had risked Jorge's wellbeing and what if he couldn't convince Pablo to put together a group of men to come save me? What then? “I know it might have been hard for you to confide in Pablo, Guillermo and me. We were treating you like a child and that was wrong of us. I'm sorry I had to put you in a situation where you had to keep things from us and put yourself in danger,” he apologised, making a smile stretch onto my lips as he kissed my hand, “I'm changing this behaviour moving forward.”

“It's okay,” I breathed out, feeling finally at peace. “What matters is that were all okay,” I said before trailing off, making him look to me in confusion. “What about Emma?”

The happy look on Daniel's face had faded away, making me frown as I squeezed his hand, urging him to talk to me.

“She's somewhere,” he said very vaguely. “Somewhere far away. She won't be able to get to us anymore.”

“Daniel...”

“Stop it, Araceli,” he said, my name falling out of his mouth with more annoyance than I had expected. “There's nothing you can say to make me change my decision. She hurt you; she hurt Mateo. I love her but I'll never be able to forgive myself if I allow her to be in a position to hurt you guys again and she does. All you have to know is that she's okay,” he said firmly making me nod my head in acceptance.

“Okay.” I suppose it was still hard for me to believe that Emma could've done something like that to us. It wasn't something that I really wanted to think about too much because it hurt, but it only made me wonder just how hard Pablo was taking it. “How is Pablo doing?”

Daniel shook his head, the frown on his face becoming ever prominent at the mention of his best friend. “He's coping,” was all he said, making me frown along with him. “He's with Teo right now. He's been spending a lot more time with him ever since he found out Emma's baby wasn't his,” he confessed, making my eyes widen in surprise. “I think deep down he was looking forward to having a kid so he kind of fills that space with Teo.”

“Wait, backtrack,” I said, making the amused smile from earlier return to Daniel's face, “Emma's child isn't his?”

Daniel let out a small exhausted breath as he shook his head. “No, amor. You have so much to be caught up on, don't you?” he said, making me tilt my head to the side in confusion. What was I missing? He gave me a small smile before placing a small kiss on the back of my hand. “I'll fill you in when I get back.”

“Get back?” I asked in confusion. “Are you going somewhere? Please don't leave me alone here, Daniel.”

“The doctor has to evaluate you, Lee,” he said, giving me a sad smile as if he didn't want to leave me here either. “Tell you what,” he bargained, making a small smile appear on my lips, “ you let me go and when I come back, I'll bring Teo and food with me.”

I couldn't help but smile wider at his words, making him chuckle before he kissed my forehead and made his way out the door after, leaving me alone until my doctor had come in. I didn't even care about how uncomfortable the evaluation was — because all doctors did was poke and prod you. All I could think about was seeing Teo again. God I couldn't wait to see him again.

***

Daniel had walked back in around half an hour later, making my heart beat faster and my eyes prick with tears at the sight of who he had brought with him. Teo had remained oblivious to me as he had rested his head on his father's shoulders, his back to me but as soon as I had let a small sob escape my lips, he had sat up, his wide brown eyes instantly meeting mine.

“Mama,” he began to cry as he struggled to leave Daniel's arms so he could come to me. Daniel had been reluctant to let him go, not wanting him to put unnecessary stress on me while I was still healing, but I had only gestured for him to give me Teo. There was no way that my own son could be too much stress for me after not seeing him for weeks before now. All I wanted to do was hold him in my arms and never let go.

Daniel slowly walked up to me until he was right by my side and placed Teo who was squirming to get out of his hold on my lap. Teo had immediately clambered to his feet and threw himself at me, wrapping his tiny arms around my neck as he pressed his cheek into mine like he used to do. I couldn't help the sobs that I had let out at the feeling of finally being able to hold my baby again. I didn't even want to think about all he had gone through at the hands of those horrible people. I just prayed he would be able to recover from it.

“I'm so sorry, my love,” I began to apologise as I broke down crying, fat tears rolling done my cheeks. I had wrapped my arms tightly around him, pressing him hard into my chest despite the pain and pressure that was building up. I couldn't find it in me to care though. I just wanted to savour having him hug me again. I just wanted to start making up for lost time. “I'm so so sorry. I missed you so much.”

Daniel placed a comforting hand on my back, rubbing soothing circles onto my skin as I continued to cry uncontrollably. I wished I could pull myself together so he didn't have to see me like this, but I couldn't help it. The emotions that were coursing through me right now were so intense, I just had to let everything out.

“I'm never going to let anyone take you from me ever again. No one's ever going to touch you, I promise,” I said as I pulled him back from me to inspect his face. He looked well enough but I didn't know what he was going through. I knew he must've suffered spending all that time away. They literally considered killing him for fuck sakes — they most definitely weren't nice to him. All I wished was to take away all the pain he had had to endure at such a young age. “I'm so sorry I let this happen to you,” I apologised again as I pulled him back into my chest, feeling my heart flutter at the sound of his content sigh against me. “I love you so so much. So much, papa.”

“Love you, mama,” he said back as he nestled into me, making me bring my knees up so he had a comfortable little nook to rest in while he stared out the window with a blank gaze. God, he was never this quiet and still before.

I couldnt help but start breaking down again, clutching him closer to me in fear that I would lose him again. I would do anything just to make sure that I would never lose him again. I couldn't even begin to imagine what he had gone through to make him act this way now and it hurt me that I had let it happen. Me; the person who was meant to protect him. How was I supposed to live knowing that my own baby was hurting and there was so little I could do about it? I would give up my life just to take his pain away.

“Amor, please calm down,” Daniel said in a soothing voice as he carefully drew me into a warm hug of his own, not minding the snot and the tears that was now getting on his shirt. “I know what you're going through. I know it's a lot but I need you to calm down. Everything will be fine.”

“How can I when I know he's in pain?” I asked, barely able to see him through my own tears as my voice cracked with all the pain I was feeling. “How do I make him feel better, huh? Tell me.”

Before Daniel could open his mouth and respond, Teo had gotten to his feet and took my face in the both of his hands. “It okay, mama,” he said, making my lips quiver as he puckered his lips and kissed my nose. “It okay. Don't cwy.”

“I love you so much,” I said, placing multiple little kisses all over his tiny hands as I forced a smile onto my lips. “You're the most amazing boy I've ever met in my life.”

He returned the smile, displaying to me his full set of milk teeth. With the time spent apart, it was dawning on me just how much Teo was actually growing up even though he was only two. All these little things I hadn't noticed about him yet had been always there because they couldn't have developed in just the 3 weeks he had been away from me. Still I felt like I missed so much.

He sat back down on my lap, this time facing Daniel and grabbing a hold of his hand so he could play with the ring on his finger, to my delight.

“You want this ring?” Danny had asked as he pulled the ring off and held it up, making Teo nod.

“Yah!”

Daniel had chuckled as he took Teo's tiny hands in his larger one and slipped the ring onto Teo's middle finger. Obviously it didn't fit. “One day your hands going to be just as big as mine,” Daniel had said as he pressed the palm of his hand against the palm of Teo's. Teo's eyes had widened, looking at Daniel in shock as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard. “Really,” Daniel confirmed even though Teo had never asked for confirmation. “You're gonna be just as big as me.”

Teo had done an excited little squirm on my lap, making me laugh in amusement as I rubbed his back. Daniel had placed a small kiss on ny forehead and wiped the remainder of my tears away as he gave me a warm smile.

“He'll be fine,” he reassured me, making me return the smile as best I could. “We'll all be fine.”

***

Daniel and Teo had stayed for as long as visitors were allowed to until they couldn't any longer. Seeing Teo crying and begging for me not to leave him again had broken my heart and I had been on the verge of ripping the IV line out of my arm and just going home with my son, but I decided that my irrational behaviour wasn't necessary. Instead I had practised self control and breathed deeply, trying to pretend that I couldn't hear his screams and cries for me as Daniel took him further away from me.

That night, I had cried myself to sleep.

The next day, Daniel was back bright and early with Teo giddily running in after him. I could definitely tell that he had been crying before that but I decided not to dwell on that as I had instead watched him climb the railings of my hospital bed to get to me without requiring any help from me or Daniel as if it was nothing. His motor skills were developing so quickly.

“Hello, my love,” I cooed at him as I let him fall into my arms, hugging him back just as tight as he was hugging me. “How are you?”

“Fine,” he mumbled into my chest as he clutched onto my shirt with his tight ass hands. I couldn't help but plaster kisses all over his face until he had finally erupted into a fit of giggles. God, I loved hearing this boys laugh.

Daniel had moved the single chair I had here so he could sit by my side, making me give him a small weak smile. Looking at him closely, all I could say was that he looked exhausted. I felt bad for him after all he had gone through too. I hadn't even asked him how they treated him while they held him hostage but I couldn't imagine it was pleasant. And now he was thrust right back into his old life with no time to recover and as if that wasn't enough, he was practically the sole carer of a traumatised two year old while his wife was recovering from a near fatal shooting in the hospital with all his immediate family nowhere in sight.

I hadn't even fully realised, but thinking about it, it was Daniel that had lost the most at the end of the day. He lost his sister. He lost his dad. He lost his mom. Sure, I knew I lost a lot of people too but in fairness, I had never really had them in the first place. All I had was Daniel, Mateo, Pablo and Anna. I still had those people. Daniel had lost his sister and both his parents.

As he sat next to me, I couldn't help but hold my hand out to him, making him look up at me with his really tired eyes and give me a sad smile. God, I loved him so much.

“How are you, amor?” he asked as he gently took my hand in his and kissed the palm of it.

“I'm better,” I shrugged, “How are you?”

“That doesn't matter right now,” he said, swiftly dismissing my question which had made me frown. “I just want to make sure that you're okay. I brought food. Are you hungry?”

I was always hungry. How could I ever say no to food? Especially if he made it.

I watched him quietly as he made to stand up from his seat when suddenly he looked back at me again. “I almost forgot; someone wants to see you,” he said, making me perk up at the possibility of it being who I was hoping it would be.

“Is it Pablo?”

“No,” Daniel shook his head, making me frown, “Pablo's being a jackass. Says he doesn't want to see you because he thinks it's his fault you're here,” he explained, making my frown deepen. Of course Pablo was here blaming himself. When doesn't he blame himself? Idiot. “It's Raymundo. He's been wanting to see you for a while now but he's not sure if you'd be okay with that.”

“Oh,” I said slowly as I pursed my lips together thoughtfully before shrugging. “Sure, I don't mind seeing him.”

Daniel sat up and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I'll call him now.”

“Okay,” was all I said, letting him walk out of the room knowing that we would have to have a long talk after this. I hadn't realised that he still didn't know what was about to change. From my understanding, the Costillos had never been amicable with The Reyes but they managed to stay out of conflict. If I was truly a Costillo with a cartel to my name, I wasn't sure how I'd be able to go about that. At least I would have more funds to invest into my business.

I decided to put that to the back of my mind, instead focusing on the issue at present; my father.

***

“Araceli,” Raymundo had said as he made his way into my room around half an hour later. Daniel was in the canteen with Teo now. He said it was because he needed food but I was certain it was actually because he wanted to give us some time alone.

“Raymundo.”

Raymundo had smiled as he awkwardly took a seat beside my bed, leaving me to stare down at my hands as we sat in silence. How did we move on from here? When I had met him in jail almost a year ago, I knew exactly how I felt but now? I didn't know. Things were different now. So much had changed.

“Ara,” he finally said after a long minute of silence, making me turn to look at him in acknowledgement. “I'm sorry.”

“It's okay,” I said, waving a dismissive hand. “It's not like you were the one who forced Frederick to kidnap me. Or like you shot me or anything. It's fine.”

He let out a sigh, quietly shaking his head as he tentatively reached his hand out to take mine in his own. “I'm not talking about that,” he said quietly, making me furrow my brows in confusion until it had finally dawned on me where this was going. “I know I've made a lot of mistakes in the past. My main priority should have been to be there for you instead of handing you off to someone else and lying about your mother,” he admitted. “I was blinded by grief and fear back then and I know that I don't deserve your forgiveness nor do I deserve a second chance to be in your life again after I had screwed up the first one, but I'm willing to do whatever it may take to make it up to you,” he said, his gaze trained on the back of my hand as he stroked my it absentmindedly. “I love you. I've always loved you. You're my only daughter; my most prized treasure. I have nothing but immense love for you but I haven't been showing that and I'm sorry. Please, just give me a chance to show you how sorry I am and make it up to you.”

I didn't have to think much about it really. My whole life, I had yearned to meet my father again. I had known him when I was much younger — around three or something — so it only made me want to have him in my life more. Now that I had the opportunity again while also knowing his side of the story, I didn't know how I could say no. He did what he thought was best.

“It's okay,” I said, a small smile stretching across my lips as I messed with my nails. I knew I shouldn't have because after getting shot, they had started growing a lot slower than I was used to but I couldn't help myself. “I forgive you, Raymundo. I'm not angry at you.”

Looking at him, the relief that had taken a hold of his expression had been clear. His once tense shoulders had relaxed and the happiest look I had ever seen on someone appeared on his face.

“I've dreamt of this moment every day for the last twenty years,” he confessed, his voice shaking as his eyes filled with tears. “I've never wanted anything more than to finally be an active part of your life again,” he said shakily before he placed a small kiss on the back of my hand. “I swear on my life, I'll never do anything to mess up this chance,” he said as he stared at me with so much love, I had felt my heart swell in my chest; both with happiness and the love I felt for him too. “My little girl. My Araceli.”

I had sucked in a deep breath, feeling almost overwhelmed at the thought of finally having a father figure in my life. I loved my dad. I always did; there was never a point where I didn't even if I refused to talk about him much. He had been in my life for a short period and I wasn't sure if it was due to my life turning into a shitshow after he had left or me just genuinely loving him so much but no matter how hard I tried, I could never fully forget the memories I had made with him. Even that young. I was sure a lot of them were false memories. I didn't care though. False or not, all I did was fantasise about the day that we would finally reconnect again and things would start to look up for me. At a point, I had come to the realisation that it would never happen and gave up hoping for it.

Yet, it happened.

“I still love you,” I confessed after a couple minutes of silence. Despite feeling his burning glare on the side of my face, I didn't look at him. “I still remember you. When you were in my life. I remember how you'd take me to the park every Sunday after Sunday school and how you would buy me ice cream,” I said as my eyes started to water. All I wanted was to push the tears back but I guess I woke up that morning and chose to be a wimp. “I remember the pink princess dress you got me for my third birthday; the ball gown. I remember how Saturday was our designated wash day and we would stand in the shower and you'd wash my hair and I'd try to wash yours but I wouldn't do it right so you always washed it again,” I continued to list off, “and then you'd sit me in the basin and do these little twisted pigtails in my hair because the only other style you knew how to do was cornrows and you thought it would hurt me too much. I remember you bought me a pink Aurora stool so I could sit on it when I outgrew the basin. I remember all of that.”

Raynundo hadn't said anything for a long time, making me look up to meet his gaze only to see that he was still staring at me with astonishment. Then, to my surprise, he had wrapped his arms tightly around me, pulling me firmly into his chest which had been the thing to push me over the edge as the tears I had been holding back came pouring down my face. God, all I ever really needed was a hug from my dad.

“I'm so sorry,” he said, his voice soft as he cradled me tightly in his arms, one hand on the back of my head and the other soothingly rubbing my back. “I'm so sorry I left you. I thought you would've forgotten about me; that you were too young to remember. Instead, you were in so much pain. I'm sorry, Araceli. I'm so sorry.”

“It's okay,” I cried into his shoulder as I hugged him back. “I just wanted to tell you that I remembered. And I missed you. And I'm glad you're back now. And that...” I faltered, “and that I love you.”

“I love you too, Celi. So, so much,” he muttered as he squeezed me to him tighter until he had finally pulled away just to stare at my tear stricken face. Carefully, he wiped away my tears like he used to always do when I was younger and I hurt myself before pulling me back into his arms. “I'm never going to leave your side again. I'm going to be right here by your side. Whenever you need me.”

“Okay,” was all I said because there was nothing really else to say.

***

By the time Daniel had came back up with Teo, I had finally calmed down and wiped the tears from my eyes yet it hadn't taken him long to analyse my face and figure it out anyway.

“You've been crying.”

“Don't worry, I'm fine,” I said as I waved a dismissive hand, making Daniel frown as he gently settled Teo down on my lap. He looked skeptical but I only smiled up at him before pulling him down do he could sit next to me on the bed since the only other seat in the room was occupied. “Let me formally introduce you guys. Raymundo, this is Daniel, my husband,” I said as I gestured to Daniel. “And Daniel, this is my father, Raymundo.”

“Nice to meet you, sir,” Daniel had said as he extended a hand out for my father to shake much to my surprise. I would've expected things to be a little awkward between them or for Daniel to at least give me a weird look; point out that he already knew my father. Yet, he played along.

I guess nearly getting shot to death would make my husband more willing to go along with my little whims. At least until he got over the shock of it.

Raymundo had shook his hand with a small smile. “Just call me Raymond. I've never been a fan of this "sir" thing,” he said, making me smile as I watched Raymundo and Daniel continue to converse. It warmed my heart to know that they at least got along.

Now, all I wanted was for Raymundo to meet Pablo. Anna too. Which reminded me; I needed to call Anna. Knowing how I had been dodging her calls and vaguely responding to her messages the last month, I knew there would be a lot of yelling on her part. But I didn't mind. It was what made her her.

Until then, I had decided to make myself comfortable by grabbing Daniel's heavy fucking arm and wrapping it around myself as I buried myself into his body and cuddled onto Teo like he was a Teddy bear. Teo had let out a sigh against me, no sound of complaint leaving him as he instead busied himself with playing with the veins on the back of Daniel's hand.

I couldn't help but smile in content as I settled in his arms. This was my family. This was what I fought for.

*****

I had to force myself to go through this chapter and edit it because I really did not enjoy it. I mean I like the start ig but everything else just makes me wanna jump off a bridge.

Sorry.

Anyway, I recently just got back into reading wattpad stories and I never realised just how frustrating it is GODDAMM IM TIRED OF YALL

The first story I allowed myself to read WAS GOD AWFUL (in my opinion) but I'm the type that can't start something and not finish SO I READ THE 100+ CHAPTERS HOPING THAT SOMETHING GOOD WOULD HAPPEN AND EVERY CHAPTER LEFT ME MORE AND MORE DISAPPOINTED AND I STILL DIDN'T STOP. May I also point out that the entire story line was all based on the miscommunication trope WHERE EVERYONE WAS MAKING ASSUMPTIOMS AND NOBODY FUCKING TALKED TO EACH OTHER.

Um, anyways so yeah I read the whole thing (it wasn't even complete) and then I read this other book that was actually really good. I really enjoyed it. Only thing is that the FRICKING AUTHOR HASN'T UPDATED SINCE AUGUST AND LEFT US ALL ON A CLIFFHANGER.

so yeah now ig I know how you guys feel.

Anyway, new chapter guys! How are we feeling about it??? If yall think ara forgave her father too quick, yeah I lowkey do too buttttt this is the second to last chapter and my patience with this book is dying okay so cut me some slack.

If there's one thing I have been doing, it's been going over some parts of this story and the chapter I've recently read over is chapter 30 (xxx *wink wonk*) with the whole confrontation with Morgan and Derek and I feel like I didn't adequately represent what truly happened between them well so that's why I'm heavily recommending you to read Saving Emyra when I start posting so you can find out what happens so I don't have to explain it (even though I'm writing it so technically I am explaining it but whatever)

Ideas for next chapter?

I usually like to stay silent, but I'll let you know that we'll be paying a visit to our favourite father figure in the next chapter and half of it is going to be in Daniel's POV so let's see how Lucien tries to talk himself out of receiving his son's wrath.

Um okay anyways I'm gonna head off now. I never know how to end these things so yall just stay safe or sum idk

Ps all mine by Brent faiyaz (however th you spell his name) literally has so many caption-able lines in it omg