𝟏𝟗

♕

𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑠' 𝑝𝑜𝑣

-𝑀𝐸𝑅𝑅𝑌 𝐶𝐻𝑅𝐼𝑆𝑇𝑀𝐴𝑆 -

"No way!" Ariella screamed at the top of her lungs, eyes widened with surprise.

I smiled and took a sip from my hot chocolate as I watched her admire the tent. The playhouse was pink and LED lights hung from the inside ceiling of it. It was sheer material and big enough to fit whatever was needed for her princess tea parties.

I'd picked up the gift the minute I saw it.

I knew how much she'd love it.

Aurora laughed at Ariella's reaction while placing a kiss to the top of my head, "What do you say, princess?"

The fascinated young girl seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in while observing her present and ran towards me. Arms spread open and giggles leaving her mouth.

I, wary of the hot drink in my hand, engulfed her into a hug. A repeat of the phrase 'thank you' left Ariella's mouth as she tightly squeezed my torso.

That's pretty much how the rest of our morning went; Ariella grabbing a present from underneath the tree, then squealing in happiness once seeing what was behind the wrapping before shifting over to Aurora and I for hugs.

Eventually, there were only three presents underneath the tree. And just as I thought Ariella was going to tear apart the neatly wrapped gift that she had picked up— she instead placed it in my hand.

"What's this?" I asked the young blonde with furrowed eyebrows and a small smile.

She stood rocking on the tips of her toes and a tilted head, "It's for you."

The feeling of Aurora's hand settling on my shoulder caused me to turn at an angle to see her face. She was giving me an encouraging look, leaving a gentle kiss on my forehead.

"Open it."

So open it I did.

I softly pulled at the wrapping paper to be cautious of what was underneath it. At first I had no clue what the scribbles on paper were, but then it all clicked to me.

It was a hand drawn picture of Ariella, Aurora, and I. We were thin stick figures with heads too big for our bodies lying in a field full of sunflowers.

Tears had began to blur my vision the moment I peeped the word "Mamma #2" written in pink crayon above the stick figure version of me.

I awed and pulled Ariella into our hundredth hug of the day, allowing myself to pathetically bawl my eyes out.

It meant a lot to me that she considered me as a mother. I didn't care that she wasn't biologically mine or that Aurora and I weren't married. Ariella has such a big heart, and it just makes me happy that she was able to squish me in there with the thousands of other things she has love for.

"Do you like it?" she muttered into my pajama shirt in the softest voice one could have.

I unwrapped my arms from the little girl and let myself be eye level with her.

"I adore it."

And then we smiled into each other's faces.

There was sniffling heard from behind us and I looked back to catch Aurora in the act of wiping her eyes.

I laughed at her actions and pecked her lips softly, giggling when Ariella began to fake gag at us.

"I love you. The both of you. You guys have made me one of the luckiest women alive." I mumbled against Aurora's lips.

She smiled and pulled me into a warming embrace, "We love you too, darling."

♕

My mom and I had come to an agreement. She was keen on spending this Christmas in the city since the feeling was foreign to her, so in exchange we would spend the next back in Michigan for the nostalgia.

After all of the unwrapping of gifts and hugs from one another, she had knocked on the door with a handful of more presents, sending us into a repeat of gift opening. Though she hadn't known much about my relationship with Aurora and Ariella, she still brought them gifts. Aurora was given a beautiful set of diamond earrings and Ariella a mini baking set.

The little girl immediately wanted to put her gift to use, so we all migrated to the kitchen where my mom and her baked up a storm. It was a memorable moment; Christmas music playing lowly in the background as the two worked while Aurora and I took in each other's presence.

It brought peace to my mind.

"Try this one."

I watched as my mom led a spoon full of chocolate pudding to Ariella's face.

The little girl hummed in delight, rubbing her stomach in satisfaction.

"More, please."

Before my mother could lift the spoon up again Aurora stopped her.

"If you keep feeding her sweets, you're going to be the one taking care of her upset tummy tonight." Aurora chuckled.

As if she didn't hear her, my mother happily fed Ariella more of her dessert.

"She's your girlfriend's replacement. Since Iris is all grown up and doesn't eat my creations until she passes out, it's only right that this privilege goes to Ariella." the older woman shrugged, smiling over at us.

"Yay!" Ariella screeched loudly, her chubby cheeks covered in chocolate.

Aurora sighed in defeat, "What did I get myself into?"

"A life full of sweetness." I laughed, kissing the pout on her lips.

Right after our interaction a series of knocks sounded throughout the apartment. I shook my head and untangled myself from Aurora to go open it, already knowing that it could be nobody but Phoebe. However after walking over to the front door and opening it, instead of being met with just my best friend someone else was standing beside her. Someone who immediately caused my mood to dampen.

"What's Blair Waldorf doing here?" Phoebe asked me, glaring at Evelyn who stood beside her.

Phoebe wasn't exactly aware of how Aurora's ex-wife looked, which I somewhat was thankful for. If the redhead knew who she was standing beside she would immediately go into protective older sister mode.

I did not need to break up a fight right now.

"You're one to talk, Chucky. At least I look elegant." the brunette scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

"Listen here—"

I cut off my best friend, "Phoebe go inside please. It's Christmas and I'm really not in the mood for conflict."

She immediately noticed my desperation and walked inside without another word, throwing up her middle finger at the other woman before she disappeared into the kitchen.

I turned back to face the slightly taller woman and gave a tight smile, "Can I help you?"

"I'm here for Aurora and my daughter." Evelyn looked me up and down.

That slight action would have had me tearing up any other time, but after hearing the heavy responsibility that she had left upon Aurora I didn't take her actions very seriously.

"You're not welcome here and I would hardly even say that Areilla is yours seeing as you left them without another thought." I glared.

"Well aren't you a feisty one." she laughed, her eyes leaving mine to glance up at something behind me.

Arms wrapped around my waist and a kiss was placed on my cheek.

"Go inside. I can handle this." Aurora muttered into my ear.

I didn't want to leave them alone— for various reasons, but left the two to converse anyway.

I was putting trust into my partner, and for once it didn't seem like my feelings were being invalidated.

The joyful atmosphere was still the same in the kitchen; Phoebe now joining the duo with decorating the cookies that had been on the cooling rack for a while.

I smiled and grabbed a sugar cookie of my own to decorate. It was shaped like a snowman, and I took my time outlining the cookie in icing. The four of us chatted for about a minute before loud shouting began to overpower our laughter. I looked up to be met with a raging Evelyn walking towards us, Aurora on her tail with angered eyes.

Before Evelyn could make it to us, I picked Ariella up in my arms and distanced ourselves from the chaos.

Thankfully Aurora grabbed ahold of her ex-wife before she could go any further.

"Why can't you understand that we've moved on? She's not yours, and I for damn sure am not yours anymore either! Not after the pain you've caused. You can't just up and leave one day and then come back whenever you think it's convenient for you, Evelyn!" Aurora shouted, pointing her finger into the face of the brunette.

"Fuck you, Aurora!"

At the outburst, Phoebe took Ariella out of my arms and rushed out of the apartment. My mother following them right after giving me a supporting hug.

"Fuck me?" Aurora chuckled angrily, "Evelyn, you can't just leave someone after devoting your life to them! I wasn't the only one making those choices for us!"

"I was too young to make those decisions for myself!" Evelyn argued.

A loud sob ripped through Aurora, "So was I!"

"Aurora—"

"No. You don't get to put the blame on me. We both decided to get married and have a child, so why are you making it seem like it was all me? Like I didn't willingly carry a child for you because of how in love I was. It's not like I forced you to marry me or buy a house with me! We made those decisions together! You just up and left one day after all of what we did, and you expect me to just forgive you? You were too young? Well, so was I."

It seemed as if Aurora wanted to say more but her words got stuck in her throat as she began to cry.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room as Aurora cried into her hands while Evelyn looked away with blazing eyes. I wanted to so badly to go up and hug Aurora, but I couldn't help but feel like this was something that I didn't need to get involved in.

Eventually Evelyn stormed out of the front door, leaving me to immediately run over to Aurora to catch her shaking body from collapsing. I slid onto the floor with my arms around her, the room being filled with nothing but her cries.

I hated it.

I hated that she was sobbing so loudly because of Evelyn's actions. I hated that she had such a difficult upbringing. I hated that we went from smiling into one another's arms to crying. I hated everything that was causing her pain.

But I most of all hated that I couldn't take all of that pain away.

So I held her tightly in my arms and kissed the top of her head as she cried, whispering reassuring words to her whether she could hear me or not.

"You didn't deserve any of that." I mumbled into her blonde hair.

"She just had to come and ruin what we had going on." my lover whispered through her ragged breaths.

I frowned and pulled the woman's face toward mine. The mascara that she had on was now free falling down her cheeks with the tears that left her eyes. Her eyes. Her beautiful eyes showed pain in them. The light that I was always able to detect in them was faltering. I cradled her soft skin into my hands, wiping away the tears from her face.

"Nothing's ruined." I muttered against her lips, "You have done amazingly with raising Ariella on your own. You're doing so much better than she thought, which is why she's trying to come and take it all away. Don't give her that power, Ro. Ariella is a lovely little girl and I adore the both of you so goddamn much.

You hear me? Nothing. Is. Ruined."

My lover sniffled and nodded softly, looking up into my eyes.

"You're right."

I smiled at her gently, watching as the spark in her eyes gained back its momentum.

"Now let's enjoy the rest of our Christmas, and fuck whoever tries to ruin it." I stated.

"Okay, cara." the blonde agreed, her accent heavy on her tongue.

"I adore you."

"I adore you more."

♕