It was weird seeing Hook, having alone time with him, having him want her back...what she had been wanting for months. She had never given up that they would find themselves back. One of the reasons she relented with Jared having a friendship with him. It was like, she could still hold on to him that way. Jared never told her anything about Hook's personal life, but it didn't matter if he was seeing other people. Actually, great for him.

If he saw other women, and still wanted her, that meant no one compared to her and maybe his feelings were real for her. Still, she was not going to give in to him so easily. No matter how badly her body ached for his. His handsome face, those dimples, those pretty eyelashes. Her stomach fluttered at thoughts of him.

Yet, she would keep things strictly platonic with him. She could clearly see his head was not in it. He wanted the physical again, not the relationship. If they jumped right back into it, it would fall all apart again. Months of therapy taught her one thing, if it's right, don't rush it. In every girl's fantasy, she meets a handsome guy, falls in love, get married, lives the rest of their life "happily ever after." Did they ever argue? Did they ever get disappointed in each other? Would they hurt each other without trying? Was that love that happened so quickly sustainable for years to come?

She wanted that so much, just like most other females. The perfect match. The ying to his yang. She and Hook were opposites, and when they were good, it worked out for them. But that same opposition when it was bad, they both got hurt.

After Jared's party, Hook accepted her invitation to bring his daughters over two days after Christmas, Saturday, when he had them. She was more excited to see them than to see Hook. Weird as it may seem, she missed them like crazy, and through one of her therapy sessions, she found out that was the most painful thing of the breakup. She didn't know how the rest of her life would be with Hook, but she knew she wanted to be a part of those girls' lives.

Remaining just friends was different than what she expected but hopefully, things could progress.

Her parents were spent Christmas back home at her place, then flew back to their new home in Phoenix the next day. She had flown out to see them for Thanksgiving weekend. She was excited about her first Christmas plans at her house. She had it decorated so festive it looked like Santa's little workshop. Her parents were impressed with her renovations and didn't mind that now they slept in the guest room.

When the doorbell rang, she got super excited.

"TeeTee, who's at the door?" Dahlia asked.

"Come on, let's go see," she said to her niece and nephew. She was watching them for the week as Shay and Elmer finally went on a vacation together. They left the day after Christmas as well and she volunteered to keep the kids, a first for her.

She opened the door and there stood that gorgeous man with his two precious daughters.

"Angel!" Symone rushed up to her giving her a big hug.

"He-ey! Look at you getting all big," she said, hugging her tight.

"Hey Ms. Angel," Ravyn said, all cool like she didn't miss her, but Angel knew that was just her tough exterior.

"Hi!" Dahlia said to them.

"Angel you have kids now!" Symone said. "Oh he's so cute, can I pick him up?" Ravyn tried to pick up EJ but he wasn't having it.

"No!" he said, pushing her away and grabbing Angel's legs.

"No, this is my niece and nephew. Dahlia is six and EJ, tell them how old you are."

"These many," he said holding up three fingers.

"No you're not, you're four!" Dahlia corrected.

"That's right, EJ had a birthday three weeks ago. Come on girls, take your coats off. Hey Hook," she said to him.

Hook was looking all around the place, everything was new. Her parents gave away their furniture and she furnished the place to her liking, which was a lot different than her old-fashioned parents.

"What did you guys do to the place? Where are your parents?"

"In Arizona, I thought I told you they were moving there."

"This place is dope!" Ravyn said.

"You did but...already?"

"Oh, months ago. Hey girls, I have something to show you. Let's all go downstairs. Hook, can you pick up EJ, he hates walking down those stairs, he gets scared and cries."

Hook picked up EJ. "Aw, come on big boy, I got you."

Angel lead them all downstairs and flicked on the lights. Immediately the girls screamed and jumped excitedly. She had redone the man-cave into a full-out fashion runway with strobe lights, mirrors, posters everywhere, and a wardrobe of clothes near.

"Ms. Angel, this is super cool. You have a whole modeling starter kit down here," Ravyn said.

"You have a thing for runways, huh?" Hook said with a chuckle, putting down EJ.

"I know, right," she said with a smile.

"And your father let you do this?"

"Hook, I bought the house. The house is mine, just me. I redid everything. I'll show you the other renovations later. Girls, I have fashion accessories, shoes, you name it. Oh, and music," she said, pulling out her phone and finding some music to play through the Bluetooth speaker.

EJ was already making his way onto the stage. For some reason, that boy liked to walk around on the runway. Maybe he would be a model one day. Dahlia was more like her mother and just interested in the clothes and dressing up, not the modeling. She had a closet full of clothes for the kids and when she knew Ravyn and Symone were coming she bought some things their size and accessories like scarfs, hats, sunglasses, and feather boas.

She helped the girls find something to model and helped with accessories and they were excited to walk on a runway.

"Hook, will you record the girls? I'll take pictures like at real shows."

"And put it on Youtube!" Symone said.

"Who has a YouTube channel? You?" Ravyn asked. "Can we put it on my TikTok?"

"Sure," Angel said. "I'll put in on my IG too, I mean if your father says that is okay."

"Sure," Hook said.

After the girls, and EJ walked the runway several times and she took so many pictures and video, she showed them the rest of the things she had for them in the basement. All her and Shay's old dolls were set up around a room with all the accessories they had kept, including two houses, several Barbie cars, and enough doll clothes to fill a real suitcase.

"Oh my God! Oh my God, oh my God!" Symone said, grabbing her chest as if she was having a heart attack. "I think I'm in heaven! Santa really is real!"

"Hey, shhh, he is," she said, grabbing her niece and covering her ears. They still believed in Santa Claus and she did not want to be the one to ruin it for them. "Santa is very real,"

"Ang, you didn't have to get her all of this," Hook said.

"I did not buy a thing," she said. "This is all Shay and mines. We were a little obsessive with our doll collection back then. All I could do was think of one little girl that loves her dolls as much as I did."

"I never want to leave this room!" Symone said, still looking around.

"Angel, you know she's not kidding," Ravyn said.

"I want to play too!" Dahlia said, grabbing a doll to play with.

EJ was already playing with one of the cars, making car noises and crashing it into the wall.

"Boys," Angel said shaking her head. "We kept that toy intact for years I bet it will be in pieces in no time with how he plays with it."

"I'm not going to let my little brother near any of my things," Ravyn said. "Come on, I'll playhouse with the little kiddies, I'm not too big."

So, she had a son. She wondered how Hook felt about that. Of course, he felt some kind of way being mislead about a baby he was ready to step up for. But knowing it was a boy?

She played with them for a bit, then directed them to the entertainment area with a desk in one corner with a computer, and then the large screen projector to watch movies on.

"Find a good movie you all can watch. I'm making dinner for everyone," she said.

Hook chuckled. "No, no, we not gonna do that Angel. You want me to whip up something?"

"I cooked! And I didn't burn the house down."

Once the kids were situated and happy watching a movie, she headed upstairs with Hook.

"You know, cooking is not that hard. I mean, it takes patience, and just following instructions. My parents never took the time to sit me in the kitchen with them and cook, so I have been fending for myself all these years," she said as they made their way to the kitchen. "I cooked yesterday, now I just have to warm everything up."

"I'm telling you, let me make something really fast. My girls aren't picky but if you-"

"Oh, ye of little faith."

She took out the baked lasagna she made yesterday that was only a third eaten. She took off the cover and Hook looked at it and grinned.

"You made that?"

"Yes! And it was good. Let me reheat it so you can taste it."

She put it in the oven, set a timer, and set the temperature.

"I'll make more garlic bread and a salad. But while we wait, let me give you a tour...I mean, show you around and see what I did to the house."

She was proud of her house and the improvements she had made to modernize it. All the decor was different, from the art on the walls to the wood floors being stripped and redone. Hook hadn't been in her parent's room, which was now hers. It was a big house. Five bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms. It was a family home indeed, too much for one person.

"I didn't think you would buy your parents' house. I knew you wanted your own place again but-"

"Why not?" she said as they made it back to the kitchen and she grabbed a bag of premade salad out of the refrigerator. "It was good enough for me to grow up in. Plenty of room for when my parents want to come visit or Dahlia and EJ, or-"

"Or me and my girls?"

She smiled at him. "Are we getting a little ahead of ourselves? I said we shouldn't jump back into things."

He moved closer to her and her senses were on high alert. He looked so good, he smelled so good, she wanted to be in his arms kissing him again.

The timer on the oven going off made her quickly move away from him. Saved by the bell!

"Smells good," Hook said as she grabbed her mitts to get the dish out.

"It's good, I promise you it's good."

"You know I won't lie to you about it," he said, grabbing a fork.

He forked up a bit and very dramatically acted as if he would die if he ate it. She laughed at him, but he finally stuffed it in his mouth. He smiled, and she smiled. She knew it was good, but hearing him say it would be the best.

"You really learned how to cook, huh?"

"Yes. I watched cooking shows, I was on YouTube, and I just followed the instructions. It was pretty easy. You just never had the patience to walk me through it."

Hook was quiet. He looked down at the floor.

"I guess you really don't need me now."

"No! Hook, don't even!" She put her arms around him. "Get out of your head Hook. This isn't good for you to think you need to save someone or protect them, or that you're not enough."

Then he did something she never thought she would see him do. He started to cry.

A/N: Hook about to have a breakthrough and I am here for it. Angel has changed tremendously, now we need to work on Hook.