My scalp prickles at the thought of Aaron's parents finding out about Emily. I am not ashamed of my daughter, but I don't want her to be a part of the judgement I already get by people. Especially not his parents, who think their son is trapped in some thing with a whore. Yes, they actually believe that I am after their money. Like hell! I may only be able to earn enough to pay my bills and keep my daughter happy, but I would never become a girl who goes after a guy just because of his money. Aaron doesn't tell me all this stuff, but I know how to get things out of him. Plus, when he's upset, he often doesn't realise what he slips.

The door bell rings again and I snap out of my trance as I move to Emily and give Aaron a heads up as I get in the bedroom. I just hope they keep their visit short and limited to the living room. I don't have any option other than hiding. There's no fucking way I am letting those people meet my daughter.

"Just.. handle it, okay?" I say, my voice almost a whisper and he nods, his face filled with worry as I close the bedroom door.

At the same time, he opens the main door. Apparently, Aaron's apartment is far from sound proof. I kneel down to Emily who's fidgeting under my grasp. I move my finger to my lips, a move for her to stay quiet.

"I need you to stay really quiet, baby.. not a word, okay? Please.. for mommy!" I beg as I whisper.

She nods, giving me a hug, probably sensing that I am upset. I sigh as I hug her back but my relief is short lived as I hear his mother talking.

"Took you long enough to answer the door." She says, probably wearing a grim look on her face like always.

"Uh..." Aaron starts. Oh, c'mon baby, don't mess it up! Much to my relief, he speaks up, "I was in the shower."

Well, she can't doubt it. His hair were still wet from the shower he took.

"It's a small place you've got here son." A very masculine voice says and I immediately know it's his father.

I've never met the man, and for that I'm very thankful. I don't want to meet the douche who brought Derek to this world. But I can't complain much because he's the same man under whom my boyfriend grew up. He did his parenting well at least with one of them. But from what I know, he's a big criticiser.

"Since I'm the only one living here, it doesn't seem small. In fact, I like it very much." Aaron responds, his voice confident and I smile to myself.

"Very well, then."

I hear some shuffling and I assume they are looking around the place. Please, stay away from the bedroom!

"Have a seat, please." Aaron says, probably to keep them away and I silently thank him.

"I want to look around a little, first. Is this the bedroom?" I hear his mother say and immediately go into a frantic mode.

The doorknob jiggles and I tightly grasp Emily's hand and run to the closet, shutting the door behind me. I think the bedroom door opens the very same second and I sigh with relief. I can see through the gasp in the closet door. Shit, both his father and mother are standing in the bedroom with a frown on their faces.

I curse mentally when I realise that my bra from last night is lying on the floor, and that's exactly where their eyes are locked. I never picked it up! Fuck, could this get any worse? Her mother looks around suspiciously before her eyes land on Aaron back again. He looks nervous, beyond nervous.

"Is she here?" She asks, her voice cold.

Aaron's face pales but he tries to act normal, "Who?"

"The slut you're paying, of course." She spits and the anger boils in my body.

How the fuck can she? I put my hands on Emily's ears, forbidding her to hear any more of this conversation. She doesn't deserve to know the reputation her mother has outside the four walls of their apartment.

"Mom, don't you dare talk about her like that!" Aaron snaps, his pale face now covered with anger as he fumes.

"And you, young man, don't dare talk to your mother like that over some girl." His father interrupts.

I just now decided that I hate his father and mother at the equal level. I look down at Emily and she's looking up at me with tears brimming in her eyes! Oh fuck no! I pull her to my chest and silently soothe her hair, hoping for her to keep quiet.

"She's not some girl, she's my girlfriend, dad! If it were Lizzy, wouldn't you have been ecstatic, mother? Why can't you just accept the fact that I like her and we're together?" He looks between his parents, and he still sounds mad as hell but vulnerable too.

"You're together as long as she can't find anyone else. She sure as hell skipped from your brother to you fast, what makes you think she wouldn't do it again?" His mother argues.

I hate being the reason Aaron is not on good terms with his parents. Maybe I should remove myself out of the picture. But what good would that be if he'll blame them for losing me and won't ever make things work? At least right now there's a hope in future that they'll get used to the idea of us. Plus, I am too selfish to just walk away from him.

"She was never with Derek. Yes, they had flings.. but that was just it." He states.

"And what makes you think it's any different with you?" His father interjects again.

"I just know, alright? Will you two stop already? I think you both are more obsessed with her than I am. All we do is argue about her. She's going to be a part of my life for a long time, get used to it." He snaps, his tone dismissive and his father locks eyes with his mother as Aaron runs a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated.

"Well, since you are so sure about her. Maybe you should bring her to dinner sometime." His father mentions and I hear myself gasping.

There's no way I am going to a dinner at his parent's house, especially to have it with them! Are they nuts? They call a girl whore and then expect her to show up to a dinner. Well, in their defence, the girl wasn't supposed to be eavesdropping. Aaron gapes at their faces but doesn't say anything. His mother gets distracted as she looks around, thankfully not mentioning my bra again. It's a good color though, red and lacy. No wonder she has all the wrong ideas about me.

"What's that?" His mother asks, looking directly at the closet door and I freak.

She can't see me through the gap, right? Of course, she can't. But she sure as hell has an idea to rummage through his whole fucking apartment, especially his closet! I hide on the left side of the closet, in that case if the door opens, it will shield both Emily and me. As if reading my thoughts, the situation plays out and the door opens. I can literally feel my heart in my mouth.

This bitch!

I look down at Emily and she's on the verge of breaking through her sobs. I bring my finger to my lips and look down at her as I shake my head, a clear indication for her to not make a sound. Why the hell does my daughter have to go through this torture? She doesn't deserve it! Any part of it! This is why I like people to stay far away from my personal life — avoid complications.

"Closet." Her mother whispers and I deadpan to myself.

Yes bitch, did you expect a dead body in here?

"Come, mom! I'll make you both some coffee." Aaron says, clearly wanting to get her out of the bedroom.

"Actually, we're on our way to somewhere important. We'll skip the coffee." His father says and Aaron nods, sighing.

His mother shuts the closet door behind her and they leave the bedroom and I sink down to the floor with Emily as I pull her to myself. Seconds later, she starts shaking in my arms, tears running down her face.

"What's wrong baby?" I whisper, even though I know the answer.

Which child likes to hide away from her mother's boyfriend's parents? No one. She keeps crying, her sobs turning loud every second and I pray that his parents already left.

"What is a slut mommy?" She asks through her sobs.

Shit! She's in the process of developing the proper speech and she has a habit of picking on words. Not this word though, I won't let her!

"It's a bad word for a bad woman baby. But I need you to promise me that you'll never ever use it." I say, holding out my pinky finger in front of her.

She thinks for a minute before crossing her pinky with mine and I smile at her. She must be so scared! The bedroom door shoots open and I panic but sigh with relief when I see Aaron through the gap. He looks around before walking towards the closet and opening the door.

"Oh, thank god! I didn't know where you guys were hiding." He lets out a breath of relief but immediately falls down to his knees when he sees Emily.

"She's scared." I tell him.

He scowls as his hands reaches out to touch her. His thumb strokes her cheek and he wipes the tears away from her face. She moves out of my embrace to Aaron's lap who gladly pulls her to himself as he rocks himself back and forth, moving her along with him in a soothing way.

"Mommy is good, not bad." She whispers and I frown.

She picked on the talk! I look at Aaron and he's looking back at me with a confused look, waiting for me to explain but I shake my head.

"Later." I say and he nods, holding her.

"I know Em, your mom is the best woman." He assures her and I smile at him. He looks at me, his hand reaching out to hold mine, "I am so sorry about them. I had no idea they would drop by. They said they will next week, but this was so unexpected."

I move to scoot closer to him, "You have nothing to be sorry about." I tell him honestly and he wraps one of his arm around me.

"You're such a strong woman, Dee." He whispers and I grin at him despite how anxious I feel.

We sit like that for a while, both me and my daughter wrapped around Aaron and him holding us. It feels like family, he feels like family! The thought is dangerous yet so calming to my anxious nerves. My life would either be less chaotic or a crazy mess without him, but whatever he has to offer, I am all in for it.

After what seems like hours, Emily falls asleep in his arms and he picks her up and puts her to bed, while I move to clean his room. I pick up all the useless stuff from the floor and he gives me an amused smile when I pick up my bra. He doesn't say a word though, his mind is mostly somewhere else and I can just sense it. I make myself busy in doing the laundry while he crashes in the living room, watching reruns of Friends.

What's a better sunday than to spend it with your lazy boyfriend?

Laundry takes time, I am very well acquainted to that fact. As much as I hate doing dishes, I was still okay with this. So far, it was a productive sunday. After I was done, I made my way to living room and sprawled right next to Aaron who groaned as I landed half on top of him.

"God, you're heavy!" He mumbles and I give him a look.

"You weren't complaining before."

He rolls his eyes but puts his arm around my waist and pushes me to himself, my back to his front. After few minutes, he starts placing kisses on my neck and I try to shrug him off, but he moves to my earlobe, biting it seductively and I have force down a moan. I can feel him smiling so I turn around to face him, almost strangling him and he gives me an innocent look.

I look into his eyes and he leans down to kiss me but I back off before he can do that, immediately making him scowl. He tries again but I shake my head at him.

"You might never want to kiss me again." I quote him from the morning and he lets out a whiny groan.

His hand moves to my neck as he holds me in place and his eyes turn a shade darker as he leans down, his breath fanning over my face. My playful mood is gone as I look at his face, he looks upset yet his eyes are filled with desire and I know exactly where his head's at.

"Please, just let me kiss you." He begs, his thumb skimming over my bottom lip, parting open my mouth as my breathing turns shallow. "I need you." He barely whispers.

I need you.

He needs me.

No one has ever needed me before!

It feels like breathing in fresh air.

Before I know it, his mouth is on mine. The desire and passion runs through my veins as I feel him hot and warm on my skin, making my nerves go frantic. My hands move to his hair as his hands cups my cheek, holding me in place as I kiss him with all of my might. Our tongues meet, massaging each other and he lets out a moan when I arch my back a little, meeting his hips.

"Diana!" He breathes and I pull him even closer, my body rubbing against him.

"You are the only guy who makes me feel like this, Aaron." I manage to choke out the words as he moves to kiss my jaw and then my neck.

He sucks hard at the skin, blowing and nibbling and I know he's marking me, and even though that's one thing I can never accept from a guy, I don't mind. He's claiming me, and for some very weird reason, it makes me feel absolutely amazing about myself. I have never belonged to anyone before, but as Aaron holds me, I don't mind being his.

"Oh baby." I moan as he sucks really hard at my skin, making me squint my eyes as I take in the pleasure.

He parts his lips from my neck and looks up to see me in my eyes. He kisses me again before his hand moves to the ends of my top, moving it up, but not all the way off. His mouth moves to the skin just above my breast and he places a kiss there, before moving to remove one cup of my bra, freeing it. But not for long as his mouth claims it just as soon. I let out a moan as his tongue meets the sensitive skin of my nipple and my hand moves to palm him over the jeans, making him growl with pleasure.

"You're one beautiful woman, Diana Rose." He says and I give him a heartfelt smile.

He's unbuttoning my jeans when his hands freezes in place as we hear a very familiar voice of my daughter calling out for me.

"Momma!" Emily calls out again and I stare at Aaron who loses his balance in a frantic move and falls on his butt on the floor.

"F-ish!" He holds in his tongue when he realises Emily's presence.

I pull down my top and thank the heavens that my daughter didn't witness Aaron making out with me, all the thanks to the back of couch hiding us. I sit up slowly, running a hand through my hair as I look at Emily standing outside the bedroom.

"Hi sweetie!" I wave at her and Aaron gives me a crazy look.

"Can we go home?" She asks and I look at my boyfriend who shrugs.

"Sure." I smile at her, "Could you go and wait for me in the bedroom? I'll be there in two." I tell her and she nods, rubbing her sleepy eyes before getting back in.

"That was awkward." Aaron announces when we're alone.

"Yes. Rain check till next weekend?" I suggest and he nods, giving me a big smile.

He stands from the floor and straighten out his jeans, making me laugh out loud. That was a bad attempt at hiding his erection! He rolls his eyes at me before sitting beside me on the couch and pulling me to himself and giving me a deep kiss, which we both resist from escalating any further.

"Will you come to my parent's house with me for dinner?" He asks and my hands which were playing with his hair freeze as I look at his face, praying for an amused look.

But, he looks dead serious. I frown at him, "That's not funny."

"I am not trying to be funny. I'm sick of being torn apart between my family and my relationship, Dee. I need a way out and while this may not seem like the best idea, this is all I have got for now. If you have dinner with them, they'll get to know you and see what a great person you actually are." He says, his voice soothing as ever.

Trust me, I understand where his parents are coming from and especially where all of this in his head is coming from. Apart from them hiding about his adoption, I am the second reason standing between a perfect relationship of parents with their son. I feel bad, for Aaron not for his parents but having dinner with them is just too much.

"Please." He begs and I consider it for a second.

It seems like he needs this, more for himself than anyone else. Am I really going to be a selfish bitch and let my ego come in between of this? He distracts me as he takes my hand and holds out my ring finger, his thumb running across the tattoo. I give him a small smile as he kisses it.

"It's from someone you love, I remember you saying that. It's from Emily, right?" He looks into my eyes and I nod.

"Yeah, she had my help writing it on a paper but then I got it over my skin as a permanent reminder that I am not alone in this life." I shrug and he kisses my forehead.

"You have me too, always! Just please consider my suggestion, it would mean a lot to me." He tells me and I nod.

"Okay. I'll go with you." I sigh and his eyes go wide with surprise.

"Really?" He looks ecstatic!

"Yes. Just for you though, don't expect me to shut up when I'm insulted." I say and he shakes his head.

"One bad word from them, and we'll be out of there." He promises and I nod.

Yay! A dinner with McCall Daddy and Mommy!