Demi

Once we ate dinner and Emily fell asleep, I slid into bed next to Wilmer, groaning in relief as I sunk into the soft mattress. He laughed and raised his arm as I snuggled into his side, his hand resting on my hip.

"Tired?"

I sighed heavily and nodded, then kissed his chest. "I bet you're not though, with your nap and everything."

"You'd be surprised." I could already hear his words beginning to slur.

I raised my head sleepily to look at him. "So we have no obligation to have sex tonight?"

Wilmer laughed and shook his head. "I think we'd fall asleep before we finished."

"At least we can admit it to ourselves." I said wryly. "Instead of laying here not talking, just assuming the other isn't in the mood and then it goes on for a few nights. Then a week, then months go by and we're both convinced we don't love the other and then we get a divorce."

"Feeling dark and twisted, are we?"

"Sorry." I mumbled. "I get pessimistic when I'm this tired."

"Believe me, Dems." He kissed my forehead. "I know, and I married you anyway."

"Thanks for that." I smiled and kissed his jawline. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Goodnight."

"Night."

We laid there for a few moments, neither of us moving or actually falling asleep. I sighed and sat up, looking down at him and smiling as he stared back expectantly. I leaned down and kissed him gently, lifting my hand to run my fingers through his hair. Wilmer's palms slid up my thighs and I laughed when he pulled me onto his lap, sitting up to kiss me harder. His hands moved under my shirt- his shirt, and his fingertips skimmed over my bare skin, moving up and down as our mouths molded against each other.

"I love you." I whispered as our lips broke apart. "I love you so much, Wilmer."

"I love you too." He pulled back and furrowed his brows. "What's wrong, Demi?"

"Nothing... I'm just being bitter about life, and you make me feel better when I kiss you."

"What are you feeling bitter about?" Wilmer asked, then dragged his lips up my jawline. "Not that I don't mind helping in the slightest."

"Just life." I sighed, tilting my head so he could have more access. "What happened to Emily... it isn't fair. She's just a kid. What happened to me wasn't fair, but she's so... innocent. Everyday I learn something about what that bastard did to her, and it's making me bitter, and dark, and twisted."

"Life isn't fair." He murmured, but held me fast when I tried to push away from him. "It's true, Demi. Life isn't fair, but you can make it better. That's the silver-lining. Life isn't fair, but you can make it better. You're going to make that little girl's life better in every way. You are her silver-lining, Dems."

"You are too." I smiled softly and traced his eyebrow. "You were always my silver-lining."

"And you're mine." He craned his head up to kiss me again, then let me fold forward into his arms, my face pushing into the crook of his neck. "I love you, Demi."

"I love you too."

I lifted my head and laughed when his palms slid to my ass, his lips pressing to my shoulder. "I thought you were tired."

"I take it back." Wilmer lifted my head so he could look at me. "I'm never too tired for you."

~*~

I woke up to my face being touched. Blearily, I opened my eyes and squinted into the darkness. Emily was standing beside the bed, tear-tracks running down her cheeks. I pushed myself up on my elbow, feeling Wilmer's arm drop limply from my shoulder to my side.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

She sniffled and looked down at her feet. "Daddy... He's gonna come."

I shook my hand and put my hand on her shoulder. "Sweetie, he's not gonna get anywhere near you. I'm not gonna let him."

"But he will." She said, the closest she had ever gotten to wining. "He's gonna come."

I turned and gently rolled Wilmer onto his back then helped Emily climb onto the bed. She got under the covers and quickly snuggled closer to me, her hands fisting the t-shirt I wore. I hesitated, then wrapped my arms around her and settled down back onto the bed. Wilmer's eyes opened for a moment, then he looked at Emily, his brows furrowing before his eyes rose to meet mine. I just shrugged, and he slung one arm around my waist, effectively cocooning Emily between us.

When I woke up again I was laying on my back with Emily snuggled into my neck. Wilmer wasn't in the bed, but Sam had somehow gotten in the room and was curled up in a ball on Wilmer's pillow. I heard the sound of a camera and looked up to see Wilmer standing in the doorway, his phone raised up.

"Sorry." He smiled, walking over and leaning down to kiss me. "You guys look cute."

I hummed and kissed him a few more times. "How come you're not in bed?"

"It's almost nine, you know how I hate to lay in bed in the morning."

"But I like laying with you in the morning." He smiled and laid down on my other side, holding onto the headboard so he wouldn't fall off. "Better." I smiled, leaning my head back on his shoulder.

"Do you have anything going on today?"

"Not particularly." I mused, intertwining our fingers. "I wanted to get in some studio time. I could take Emily if you have meetings?"

"I do have some things I'd like to get done, so that would be great, thanks."

"No problem." I smiled up at him. "Look at us... being parents."

He laughed and kissed my temple. "Can we try as long as possible not to do the nanny thing? I know we're busy all the time, but I don't want her to have a set nanny we leave her home for weeks with."

"I don't want that either." I looked down and stroked Emily's hair. "I was thinking of adding another assistant though. Kelsey has work to do and she can't watch Emily all of the time. Not a nanny, but someone to be there to watch her. I'm already terrified that once the public finds out about her someone from my father's life is going to recognize her."

"We'll just get extra security." Wilmer said. "Don't stress about those kinds of things."

"You know as well as I do that security can only do so much."

"Demi." He put his hand on my cheek and turned my head so I was looking at him. "You can't talk about crazy stuff until it happens. Whatever dark and twisted paranoia is going on in your mind is probably not something you'll ever have to worry about."

"I know." I sighed, closing my eyes. "I just can't think of anything happening to her. I already want to kill my father for what he did, and we don't even know if it was just him that did it. We don't know who of his friends joined in, or who else could've abused her. There's so many unanswered questions and I hate that."

He gently kissed my lips. "It'll come in time. Soon she'll be able to open up more, and then we'll know more. Until then, take what she gives you."

I looked down at Emily's sleeping face, her innocence only more pronounced now that her eyes were closed. Those big brown eyes were haunting, both in the fact of the pain that lived in them, and the genetic replica they were of my own. Sleeping, she looked like a normal child, one whose childhood was filled with laughter and love, not hate and screams. I wanted to hide her away from the horrors of the world, and the ever threatening figure of my father.

Eventually, after another couple of minutes watching Emily sleep, her nose wrinkled up and her body stretched out. She took a took break in through her nose, then scrunched back into a ball and wormed against my warm body. Then, she squinted her eyes open, but they went wide when she realized where she was.

"Sorry." She said, scooting away from me.

"It's okay, sweetie." I smiled. "You don't have to move."

Emily looked down and didn't move back, so Wilmer cleared his throat. "Are you hungry? What do you want for breakfast?"

That seemed to perk her up. "Pancakes!" She said, the syrup covered breakfast he had made for her yesterday had made quite the impression.

"Sounds good." He smiled. "Let's go."

Emily got up and Sam jumped off the bed, following her out of the room.

~*~

"Alright Demi, try that last line again. We need to get it perfect."

I fixed my headphones on my ears and nodded, listening to Oak, one of the producers of my new album. "Alright but I want less reverb on it too." He nodded and I glanced over at Emily who was sitting in the booth in the corner, Sam sleeping on her lap. "You okay Emily?"

She nodded and flashed a rare smile as she slowly ran her hand over the puppy's back.

I ran through the last few lines again, belting out the hook at nearly the top of my range. When I finished, Oak gave me a thumbs up and I took off the headphones, rolling out my neck as I took deep breath. Finally we were done for the day.

"Thanks so much, Oak. You're the best. These songs sound fucking awesome." I gave him a hug after I walked back into the sound room with Emily.

"Please, I'm just the microphone. You're the voice and the talent." He knelt down and smiled at Emily. "I'll see you next time too Champ, alright?" He held up his hand for a high five and Emily smiled shyly before hitting his palm with hers.

"Kels, I'm starving. Tell Max I want to stop and grab something to eat before the rest of our meeting." I directed Kelsey, who nodded and whipped out her phone. "Alright." I picked up Emily coat and squatted down in front of her. "Ready to go?"

She nodded and let me help her into her coat, then took my hand as we walked out of the studio to the elevator.

"Max is pulling the car around." Kelsey said. "Anywhere in particular you want to stop for lunch?"

"Just somewhere low-key. I don't want there to be paparazzi mobbing us after five minutes." I paused and checked my phone. "I'll call Wilmer to see if he can meet us."

I dialed his number and pressed the device to my ear, smiling when he answered.

"Hola, Hermosa."

"Hi, baby. How's your day going?"

"Good, missing my favorite girl. How about you?"

"I just finished at the studio with Oak, do you have time to meet Emily and I for lunch?"

"I have a few minutes." I could hear the smile in his voice. "Our place in twenty?"

"See you then. I love you."

"Love you too."

We met Wilmer at a small hole-in-the-wall taco place that we had discovered on one of our impromptu dates a few years ago. Now we were regulars, and didn't have to worry about the paparazzi mobbing us.

"So what did you guys do today?" Wilmer raised his eyebrows at me and smiled. "Have fun?"

"I laid down a ton of track today, I can't wait for people to hear these new songs." I looked over and Emily. "And you got a bunch of coloring done, right? You're almost through that book already!"

Emily smiled shyly and held up the picture of Sebastian from The Little Mermaid that she was currently concentrating adorably hard on.

"That looks great." Wilmer said enthusiastically, and I felt the usual pang of sadness that shot through my heart whenever he interacted with Emily. It made me so incredibly sad he might never experience this with his own biological child.

I must've been wearing my heart on my sleeve, because Wilmer was giving me a weird look as I drowned in my thoughts. I forced a smile and rubbed her back. "He's right, maybe you'll be an artist one day."

Emily shrugged, the attention making her retreat further into her she'll as she began coloring again. Wilmer threaded his fingers through mine over the table and smiled softly.

"Hi."

"Hi baby." I murmured, tilting my head and giving him a cheesy smile.

"You look beautiful today. Did I tell you that yet?"

"Yes... This morning when we were getting dressed for the day." I bit my lip but smiled at him again. "You look very handsome."

"Thank you." He winked, then leaned across the table to kiss me. "I love you."

"You said that this morning too." I teased, but squeezed his hand. "I love you too."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Emily staring at us with wide eyes, but when I looked over she went right back to coloring, her cheeks flushing red. I raised one eyebrow, and glanced at Wilmer who shrugged.

"Emily what do you want to eat?" I put my hand on her back. "Do you like tacos?"

"Bell?"

I nodded and smiled. "Yeah it's a lot like Taco Bell. Do you like that?" 

She nodded, but unsurprisingly didn't elaborate. The server came over to get our orders, and Wilmer got an array of Mexican food, along with a kids meal for Emily. She seemed to like it, because she ate without complaining- although I didn't expect her to either way. We finished eating, then walked out of the restaurant.

"I'm done with meetings for the day." Wilmer said, stopping outside my car. "Do you want me to take Emily home with me? I'll stop at the store to grab something for dinner."

"Music to my ears." I said, wrapping my arms around his neck. "That would be amazing."

He smiled and leaned down to kiss me. "I love you."

"I love you too." I kissed him again, then bent down to Emily's level. "Wilmer's gonna take you home, is that okay?" She nodded, and I noticed the way her eyes drooped. "Tired?" Another nod. "Alright, I'll see you when I get home."

Surprising Wilmer and I, Emily hugged me tightly. I froze for a second, then hugged her back just as tightly, pressing my lips to her hair. She stayed hugging me for a few minutes, then shyly pulled back, her eyes dipping down to her shoes. I smiled at Wilmer, then stood back up to give him one more kiss.

"Bye, baby."

"See you later."

I got in my car and watched Wilmer strap her into the booster seat. I found myself getting emotional yet again as I watched him with her, but it wasn't from sadness like before. I was happy that Emily was warming up to the both of us, and I hoped with time I could rid her of the demons my father had given her. I wanted her to be able to live life the way a child should live; without a care in the world. She shouldn't have to think about when her father will come for her again, or when Wilmer and I were going to give her up.

I went to my meetings and barely paid any attention, just listening to the dull hum of executives outlining contracts and months to come. When the meeting ended, it was almost torture to sit through the rush hour traffic of Los Angeles. Eventually, finally, I pulled into the driveway.

"I'm home!" I called out, shutting the heavy oak door and setting my purse down on the counter. "Wilmer?"

"Shh!" He came into my view from the kitchen. "Emily's sleeping on the couch."

"Whoops." I smiled as he pulled me close and kissed him deeply. "Hi."

"Hi." He said back, neither of us moving even an inch apart. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." I giggled, even though we had seen each other only a few hours ago. "How was the adventure at the grocery store?"

"Good." He switched the embrace for my hand and led me into the kitchen. "I'm making steak and salad. Emily said she's never had steak before, so I figured we should try and find out what she does and doesn't like."

"She's lived off of pizza and kool aid for her whole life." I sighed and shook my head, hopping up onto the counter to watch him cook. "There's so many things she doesn't know about, and she's supposed to start school in the fall. How are we supposed to send her to school when she hasn't even met another kid yet?"

Wilmer began to cut up vegetables and shrugged. "We could always homeschool her. There's a ton of really great programs in California for that, and some communities that let the homeschooled kids meet each other and make friends."

I tilted my head and narrowed my eyes. "You seem to have given this a lot of thought."

"Just basic research." He gave me a look and smiled. "Just in case you make up your mind. I wanted to have a plan."

"How far has this plan gone?"

"I've gotten up to where her wedding is going to be." I smacked his shoulder and he busted out laughing. "Kidding!"

"Oh god, what are we going to do when she starts dating?" I groaned, burying my head in my hands. "Or when she's a moody teenager that wants nothing to do with us?"

Wilmer put his hands on either side of me. "Does that mean you've made up your mind?"

I raised my head and pressed my lips to his softly. "Yes, and the answer is yes."

He pulled me into his arms so fast I almost got whiplash. Wilmer spun me around in circles and I laughed, wrapping my legs around his waist and holding on for dear life.

"God, I love you." He gushed, then kissed me deeply, his hands under my thighs holding my weight. I kissed him back with a smile, the giddy feeling in my stomach only getting stronger the longer our lips stayed connected.

"I love you too." I said, once my feet touched back on the ground. "Ready to be a family, baby?"

"I've been ready." His eyes were wide with excitement. "Are you?"

"Definitely."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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-Rachel