Just in case someone stumbled here without reading Mia Regina, I suggest you read it first. This is NOT A STANDALONE! I cannot stress that enough.

I said I wouldn't update so soon, but like a dumbass I am. *shakes head* I got too excited to share this already. However, the updates may be slow due to Escort Me Baby and college.

So, back on with the Arieo ship. I'm excited to take you guys on this ride and this is will be a lot more dramatic. Buckle up, guys! It's gonna be a wild ride.

Let's just take a moment and appreciate how gorgeous Shay Mitchell is.

Vote, comment, share and most importantly, ENJOY!!!

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The sun was setting behind the mountains, painting the sky in a beautiful rose and orange shade. The cool evening air brushed my hair with the subtle wind as I watched the kids play, Lucian sliding down the spiral slide after his friends and Ana building a castle in the sand pit by herself. A smile graced my lips watching those innocent souls play and stumble with no worry in the world.

"There's no improvement in the condition, Arie," Harry commented, scooting up next to me on the park bench and reminding me of what I had lost more than four years ago.

          Everyday since that day had been a struggle to live, but I was getting through it. Not a single day went by when I didn't think about what happened back in New York, how everything and everyone I knew got ripped away from me or how I kicked them out of my life. Regret was what I had the moment I realized what I had done, but it was too late to rectify my mistake.

          The promise that he made still echoed in my ears, clawing at them. As a true man, he kept true to his word and never came back to me. And why would he? I broke him. I killed him.

          Yet, here I sat looking at the two major purposes of my life that played and I couldn't help but smile. They were leading a good life and so was I. My hand subconsciously crawled up to my locket that I never went a day without wearing. It was his promise, never completed, but still meant the world to me. Everyday I wish to see him only once so that I can tell him how sorry I am for hurting him, how sorry I am for... killing him.

          "Arie?" Harry bumped her shoulder into mine, compelling me out of my daze. "Earth to Arie."

(Priyanka Chopra as Harry, my Quantico bae 😍)

"Oh shut up," I chuckled, smiling to myself.

Harry, short for Harleen, had become my best friend over the years. Making the big move all the way to California without telling anyone was difficult and she was the first woman I talked to here considering she was Aunt Wendy's best friend from college when she went here before moving back to Queens to take care of me and Ashton after our parents' death. I sought her out keeping in mind she was also the best neurologist in California. She agreed to help me and listened to everything I told her. Last time I kept all my secrets to myself, now Harry was the only person who knew a lot, but not all. I couldn't reveal everything no matter what.

Telling Ashton wasn't an option for me. He was becoming a big guy, earning his name among the big football stars and I knew if I told him everything, he'd go ballistic and that wasn't needed after everything. Maybe I was too scared that he may blame me for what happened to Aunt Wendy.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked, urging me to look at her. Her perfect hair blowed back by the wind that made me jealous.

          "Not your hair, that's for sure," I shrugged and turned back to watching the kids.

          "You always think about it," she fluffed her hair and flung them back causing me to chuckle again. "Don't be jealous, Arie. I should be the one jealous of you."

          "Of me?" I scoffed at her statement. She wouldn't be saying that if she knew my entire story.

          "Yeah," she stressed and laid back, looking warmly at Lucian who was now helping Ana build her sandcastle. "Lucian is such a good brother to Ana. They're gorgeous and lovely kids to their auntie Harry."

          "Please," I rolled my eyes. "Lucian is a bad little boy. He hit a kid at school today."

          Harry laughed, throwing her head back. "He's an aggressive little lion. Wonder who he took after."

          "Stop," I swatted her thigh. "He's only five. He doesn't need you encouraging his bad behavior. Ashton is playing that role perfectly." My gaze turned to Lucian as he put sand into a red bucket to make a tower. "Lucian," I called out and motioned him to come hither.

          "Mamma, look," he flashed his dirty hands and smiled wide.

          "I heard you hit a kid at school today," I pulled him between my legs and narrowed my eyes playfully at the scared boy.

          "Mamma, he said you don't look like my mommy," he explained himself, his voice so brittle and soft. "He also said that I lie about Uncle Ashton being my uncle." His blue eyes twinkled with the sudden surfacing of water in them. Those eyes never failed to me remind me of Leo, maybe which is why I adopted him as soon as I saw him years ago.

          Such a beautiful fragile thing he was, sitting alone in the daycare of the children's hospital when I took Ana in for one of her many shots. He was so quite, not playing with anyone as he helplessly looked around with a stoic expression on his face that broke my heart, but when those beautiful little eyes fell on me, they glowed as the cutest smile encapsulated him. I remember standing there admiring the little two year old when all of a sudden he ran to me and wrapped his tiny little arms around my legs. I couldn't help but hold that nameless boy.

          After asking around for a while I found out that he was an orphan discarded as a baby when born who was staying at an orphanage, no name attached to him. He was at the hospital for a regular checkup and holding that boy in my arms, my heart couldn't let him go. The way he looked at me and called me mamma that day did it for me. A couple months of paperwork and courts later, I brought him home as my son, Lucian Noelle and this was something I would never regret.

          "I'll always be your mamma, Luci." I smiled down at him and embraced the little boy before he slammed his dirty hands onto my face.

          He pulled away, smiling mischievously at me. "You have dirt on your face," a fit of giggles erupted through him before he rubbed his dirty hands onto Harry's cheeks.

          "Luci!" Harry yelled and began chasing after Lucian who bolted away like a little flash.

"That's not my name," he laughed further as he ran around the table in circle with Harry hot on his tail. Ana noticed the ruckus and quickly began running into the circle.

"Luci. Luci. Luci," she chanted as she ran around with her little cute legs.

"Run faster," Harry laughed. "If aunty Harry catches you, she won't let you go."

As Ana whooshed past me, I grabbed her, snuggling the fragile being into my chest before I kissed the top of her head. "Let's go home. It's getting pretty late."

"Caught you," Harry collected Lucian up in her arms and began tickling him.

Ana ran over to them and began tickling Harry instead. "Tickle. Tickle. Tickle."

"Okay! Sorry," Harry yelled in fear. Getting tickled was not her favorite thing and we all learnt that when a slap landed on Ashton's face. "Let's go."

Ana and Lucian held hands with me and Harry on either side of them as they skipped to my car when my ears picked up on a struggle at a distance. My eyes wandered back and noticed black silhouettes moving abnormally under a lamppost behind the park's public restroom.

          "Harry, take them to my car. I'll be there in a few minutes." I left their side and quickly paced over to the fading silhouettes. Whispered shouting and muffled cries filled my ear as I readied myself for the worst. Stepping into the scene, my eyes spotted a girl being hauled away into the thick stretch of trees behind the restrooms by men wearing black leather jackets along with black jeans.

          "Leave her alone," I shouted, grabbing their attention immediately. Taking a defensive stance, they all glared at me while hope glistened in the girl's brown eyes with fear and shock quite visible too. A fabric around her mouth covered most of her face and muffled her cries, streams of tears flowing down rapidly.

          "Walk away, girl," one of the men said with a thick accent I couldn't quite place just yet.

          "Make me," I challenged them and stood my ground. A man that held the girl tightly motioned two other men to come at me. Those two idiots sprinted in my direction, forcing me to quickly bend over and pull out two survival knives from the straps under my socks. Their eyes widened right before I threw the knives that jammed right into their throat with extreme accuracy.

          The last two men bolted towards me immediately, setting the girl free. I took a defensive stance and battled both bastards at the same time. I roundhouse kicked the first man, throwing him to the floor whilst dodging a swing from the second man. Grabbing number two's wrist, I elbowed his arm, breaking it at once. I left him to painfully wallow in his agony while I ran over to the other man who was beginning to stand on his feet queasily. Wrapping my hand around his neck, I backed his head against the wall and slammed it repeatedly until the last ounce of life left his body.

          I sauntered to the two other dead bodies and retrieved my knives before walking over to the last man writhing in the dirt. "Big mistake, buddy." Shoving the knife sideways into his neck, his lifeless body fell into the dirt with a thump. I was so engulfed with killing those bastards that I didn't even realize that the girl was gone. Her footsteps trailed off as if she ran for the hills and I don't blame her. I would have done the same.

Quickly running to the front of the tiny restroom, I stormed into the vacant area immediately and looked at myself in the mirror. Thankfully, no blood stains covered me, so I washed the crimson fluid away from my blades and tucked them back in safely before rinsing my face and walking back out to the car.

Harry gazed at me with a quizzical look on her face. "What took you so long?" She questioned and stepped aside from the door to the driver's seat.

"Washing the dirt off my face," I answered and opened the door to the car. "Would it be okay if you could take Lucian to school and Ana to daycare tomorrow? I have a board meeting. They're talking about shutting the free clinic down. Bunch of idiots!"

"Idiots. Idiots. Idiots," Ana began chanting from her car seat.

"Ana, no," I laughed. "Don't say that."

"But mamma, you said it." Lucian being himself always questioned everything which I admired in this little guy. He always needed a reason behind everything.

"I'll gladly take them," Harry chuckled and waved goodbye to the kids. "I can't have my lovelies being around you and catching onto your foul language. Just drop them off at my place in the morning and I'll take them before going to the hospital. I have a measly little aneurysm to clip tomorrow before dissecting Mrs. Coast's tumor. Should be fun long day." She winked and sauntered over to her car before I got into mine and drove off towards my house.

After a couple minutes of driving and the kids dancing in the backseat, I stopped in front of the gates and waited for Denny, our security guard, to open the gates. A few seconds later, the huge black metallic gates slid open for me to drive the car in. Unstrapping the kids from their seats, I let them run into the house and give Melissa, our housekeeper, a warm hug. It was a daily routine. The kids loved her and she was a lovable middle aged lady.

"Is that a little Luci and big Ana I hear?" Ashton slowly stepped out from a hallway and surprised every one of us.

"Uncle Ashton!" The kids yelled and climbed on the man, taking him down to the ground. "Shit!" Ashton groaned. "You guys have gotten heavy."

"Shit. Shit. Shit."

"Ana, no. Watch your mouth, Ashton," I warned my brother and pulled the kids off him.

The man dusted himself and smiled at me. "Missed me?" In an instant, he pulled me into his chest, embracing me into a warm hug that I've dearly missed. "You've gotten fatter, sissy."

Punching his back, I pulled away. "I thought you weren't going to be home for another month."

"Surprise! I have a month off," he shrugged and put his hands up to Lucian. "Let's go little Luci. Show me what you got."

"I'm not little Luci. My name is Lucian!" He punched Ashton's raised palm with all of his might.

"God damn!" Ashton soothed his palm with his other hand. "He's a strong one."

"And he hit a kid at school today," I added, revealing his shenanigans.

          "My man," Ashton high-fived Lucian, encouraging his bad behavior.

          "Ashton!" I placed my hands on my hips and glared at him. "Don't teach him that. I'll beat your ass."

          "Ass. Ass. Ass." Ana began running in circles around Ashton, forcing a bark of laughter out of me.

          "Arie," Ashton playfully widened his eyes at me. "What are you teaching them?" He scooped Ana into his arms and gave her a little tickle before looking at me. As he was about to say something, the opening of the door put a stop to his thoughts.

          "Freddie!" The kids yelled in unison and bolted towards the beautiful tall man.

(Let's just take a moment to appreciate this hottie real quick. 😍)

          Freddie scooped them both up at the same time and embraced them warmly. "My favorite boy and girl are looking good." After putting them down, he gave them a chocolate as usual before turning his gaze to me.

His smile widened upon seeing me, his eyes lighting up immensely. Striding lazily over to me, he wrapped his strong arms around my waist and swept me off my feet without a struggle. "God!" I squealed as he laughed, squeezing me tighter to his broad chest. "You can put me down now."

          Slowly, he placed me on my feet and warmly pressed his lips onto mine making up for all the months we had been apart. His lips so gentle, yet hungry for me, something that always seemed to burst tiny butterflies in my belly. I pulled away when I heard the kids gasp loudly.

          "Cover your eyes, kids!" Ashton commanded whilst shaking his head. "PDA. At least think about the kids. Jesus! I need you guys to keep the sex out because I can't have you two corrupting the kids."

          "Sex. Sex. Sex," Ana repeated, running in circles around me and Freddie.

          "Ashton!" I yelled in annoyance at his ignorance to just blurt that out in front of the kids.

          "Ashton!" Lucian imitated me with his hands on his hips and his nose scrunched up. "What is sex, mamma?" All I wanted right now was to strangle Ashton for putting that into the kids' heads and like an idiot, Freddie laughed too.

          "Shut up!" I smacked Freddie's arm and glared at Ashton. "I'm going to kill you."

          "Kill. Kill. Kill."

          "Ana!" I shrieked, cuddling her little frame to my chest.

          "You're the one who needs to watch that mouth, Arie," Ashton snickered and grabbed Lucian who was punching his leg. "Fine! I won't say anything to your mom."

          "Can you both put them to bed?" I asked, rocking Ana side to side in my arms.

          "Let's give mom a break here," Freddie said to Ana and picked her up bridal style. "Say goodnight to mommy."

          "Goodnight, Arie mom!" Ana flew me a kiss and looked cheekily at the man that held her. She was silently asking him for something and he didn't waste a second to lift her like weights at the gym. She giggled while Ashton did the same to Lucian.

The kids adored both men that held them and vice-versa. It was such a perfect, serene sight to see everyone so happy. Only if Aunt Wendy was here, she'd be more than elated to see everyone so happy, a promise I make to her everyday even though she possibly can't hear me.

Cold water trickled down my back in rivulets of icy bullets piercing against my pores. I felt dirty. Dirty from killing those men in cold blood, but I couldn't help it. Five years back I dreamt of graduating from Columbia and then going to their medical school to be a doctor. Always thought that Aunt Wendy would be there with me through each step, but look where I was now. Killing men and taking care of two kids singlehandedly. Motherhood is beautiful, but I didn't intend it to happen so soon; to be a mother to a five and three year old. But, they're my ray of hope, something I can hold onto like I held onto Aunt Wendy.

Drying myself, I threw on a pair of pajamas and a tank top before sauntering back into my large room whilst raking the towel through my damp mane. A shirtless Fred sat on the edge of my king sized bed, his hands in his pockets and a meek smile on his lips. His green eyes glowed under the immense moonlight that aired in through the large windows.

Throwing the towel on the recliner in the corner, I took tiny steps towards the man and sat down by his feet, my back to his legs. "You look beautiful," he swept my damp hair to the side and whispered into my ear before placing a soft kiss on my shoulder.

"You don't look too shabby yourself," I teased, leaning further back against his legs as he began massaging my shoulder and the back of my neck.

"I'll take that," he chuckled, raking his hands down my arms, over the scar I attained from the bullet Astor shot at me all those years ago. "So, how was your day?"

"Work, playing with the kids. The usual." I cocked my head all the way back, laying it in his lap and looking at his upside down face. "There's a board meeting tomorrow regarding the free clinic. Are you going to attend or just tune in through Skype like Ashton?"

He squeezed my face in his large hands, puckering my face abnormally before kissing my lips. "You're too cute. And you're also the important member of the board, so your opinion matters the most. You say yes, it's a yes. You say no, it's a no. You run the place."

"How cute!" I playfully slapped his face away. "I'm too tired for the flattery."

          "Let's sleep then," he suggested and quickly scooped me up bridal style, pressing me to his naked, tatted chest. Slowly and carefully, he laid me on the bed like a fragile doll before laying next to me and cuddling me to his warm body.

          Fred has always been so good to me, always treated me with so much care, respect, and love that at times it was overwhelming and made me wonder if I deserved this amazing man. He had a rough, aggressive past, but he always made sure I was never the target of his anger. I helped his aggression and now he's in a much better place. Despite all that, he's one of the best men I know.

          He knew all I had been through from my rape to the kidnapping, from me getting shot and to the loss of Aunt Wendy. He knew just about as much as Ashton did and that's how it'll always be.

          His hand held my right wrist, his thumb brushing over the tattoo around it. I smiled to myself reminiscing what that ink meant, a part of me saddening that I wouldn't ever see the man I made that promise to. 'Till My Last Breath Mio Re (My King)' was engraved into my skin in script like it was in my heart. It was true. I would always love that man, at least a part of me would.

"Arie," Fred mumbled under his breath and pulled me closer. I hummed in response and kept my eyes shut, not bothering to open them. "I love you."

I smiled against his chest and lightly pecked it. "I know." That's all I ever said every time he confessed his love for me. I don't know why I couldn't ever say it back. I knew I loved him. How can someone not love such an amazing, precious, caring, and loving man like Freddie? He's a package that has it all and you could be happy with forever. Girls would kill to have a man like him and here I was, a lucky one to be loved by him.

He lifted my chin and forced me to look into his eyes. They smiled like they always did, but right now, something was bothering him. Inhaling and releasing a deep breath, he kissed my lips before pulling away and tucking my strands behind my ear.

"Will you marry me?"

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That was the first chapter. What did you guys think? Yay or nay?

What do you think Arie will say to the proposal?

Do you guys like Freddie?

Do you like Ana and Lucian?

Much love ❤️
~Reet