"Ella, flip that waffle, will you?" Erica asked from her seat at the breakfast bar. Since she had woken up with her stomach feeling heavier than ever, the poor woman could barely move. Now in her sixth month of pregnancy, things were getting a little bit smoother, yet complicated when things required her to move around. Of course, she pinned the blame on Fransisco since the baby was going to be a bigger baby girl that was already proving to have some similarity to her 6'2" bulk of muscle as her father.

"Sure," Ella stood up. Her mother and sister were busy making eggs and bacon as well as a couple of other sides for breakfast. They were expecting to feed the entire Cortesa family as well as Kim, but with the appetite that Erica, Fransisco, and Timotheo carried, they were making sure to put extra on the table.

"Um, Ellie," Stefanie bashfully called out as her older sister flipped the waffle.

"Yeah?" Ella focused her attention to cleaning up the pots and dishes her mother was leaving behind while cooking.

"So... have you not explained to Sam what happened?" Stefanie didn't want to be the one to remind Ella of the traumatizing experience, but she found herself forced to explain the situation to a very panicked and scared, blonde dude.

"No... why?" Ella trailed, looking at her sister despite her hands being busy washing the dishes. "What happened, Stef. You're scaring me."

"Well... he went over to your house this morning, and-"

"Ella?!" Sam stormed in abruptly. "Ella!"

Quite quickly, Fransisco was storming past the kitchen to the front entrance where Sam was causing a ruckus. Seconds later, Timotheo flew past.

"Honey!" Erica, very carefully and heavily, hopped off the stool, following her thunderous husband who had rushed down at the sounds of the intruder. "Fransisco!" Ella, finding herself responsible for confusion and situation, quickly turned off the water and rushed to the front, surpassing Erica's pregnant form in seconds. "I'll be there... in a few days." Erica panted, placing a hand on her lower back in an attempt to ease the ache.

"Ella," Sam almost gasped the word out, reaching to yank her into his arms. "Jesus, I thought... I just... the police had your house taped." Sam breathed into her hair, taking a deep breath now without the feeling of oppression chocking him.

The second he had seen her home, he panicked. Then, when she wasn't answering her phone, that sent Sam into a frenzy since he had no single clue as to what was happening to her. As his last resort, he ended up calling Stefanie who then explained, very vaguely, the situation to him.

"Sam, it's okay." Ella reached to hold onto the material of his tee shirt at his ribcage, patting him reassuringly. Sam only hugged her tighter, dropping his head onto her shoulder.

Everyone was staying quiet, not really knowing what to say until Kim and Damien arrived through the front door that had been left wide open by Sam. Then, everyone really didn't know what to say. They could only assume how awkward Damien must feel.

Kim cleared his throat, secretly trying to let Ella know that they were there. "Good morning everyone!" He chirped. Sam sighed, giving Ella one last squeeze before pulling away, leaving only one arm around Ella's shoulders.

Damien, meanwhile, didn't really know how to identify what he was feeling. It was a mixture of fear, worry, desperateness, and anger. He wanted Ella to receive the comfort she needed, to feel better, but he also felt selfish. He wanted to be Ella's comfort and pick-me-up.

Once Ella caught sight of the pair at the door, she quickly separated herself from Sam to go greet them with a hug. She also specifically went to go greet Damien. She didn't remember much from last night; everything was kind of fuzzy, so she didn't even recall when he left and if they had said goodnight to each other.

Damien, as soon as Ella walked into his arms, held onto her protectively, something he didn't think he was capable of. Ella didn't mind though. Damien offered a different type of protection and security that no one else had given her.

Walking hand-in-hand, Ella guided the guests to the kitchen where breakfast was being stationed at the bar. From the amount of guests, they all decided that it would be best to eat while they lounged casually. Some sat at the breakfast nook, others at the breakfast bar, and some were just standing or leaning on a counter.

"How did you sleep?" Damien asked Ella, who was sitting at the breakfast bar with Damien leaning beside her, blocking her view of anyone else but him.

Ella shrugged, now pensive as she wiped her mouth. "I think well. I can't really remember much." She frowned, and Damien rubbed his thumb through the gap between her brows and upwards where her frown line were located. He wanted to soothe away those concerns and lines.

"You slept with your mom the whole night?" Damien continued, dropping his hand onto her lap to hold hers in his, fiddling with her fingers. Damien wanted to know if she had slept freely, without any plaguing nightmares that disturbed her.

"Yeah. I mean, I woke up with her." Ella shrugged, still not seeming to be in high spirits. Damien nodded, not pestering to know more since he could tell Ella was already having enough conversation. It was getting increasingly harder for her to open up to them about how she felt, but Damien was sure it was an after-effect of her trauma.

Damien nodded, deciding to drop the topic in that moment. He was afraid that he could be pushing her too much, so he just kissed her forehead gently.

Ella appreciated the notion. She would much rather be comforted with actions and gestures than speaking. It was ironic, really, with her being a psychologist that insisted people talk about their traumas. She knew, however, that there were other methods that worked just as efficiently if not better, than speaking with a psychologist. For that reason alone, her clients really trusted her whenever she made sure that they were willing to be there and open up. She rarely ever accepted clients that were forcefully brought there by their friends or family. Forcing someone to get better should never be an option.

The morning and afternoon time passed, all with Ella zoning out at times. Almost everyone tried to distract her, thinking they were helping, but Ella really just wanted to take a walk and organize her thoughts and feelings. Everything had kind of blended together after the accident, so she didn't really get a chance to collect everything mentally and emotionally, and she was struggling.

She looked around, wondering on who to invite. She knew her family wouldn't want her to go by herself when the sun was minutes away from setting, and to be completely honest, Ella also had no desire to be unaccompanied yet.

"What are you looking for?" Timotheo noticed his daughter turning and looking out into the backyard where everyone was at. Well, everyone except for Damien who had to step out earlier to answer a phone call.

"I want to take a walk, but I need Rufus and someone to go with me." Ella blushed. She sounded like a little child who was afraid of being alone.

"Take Sam. You guys used to go on walks all the time, no?" Ella's dad paid no attention to how embarrassed Ella felt. He knew that it would be hard for her to go from being an independent and solitary, young woman to a much more dependent and scared one, but while she recovered and find a piece of mind, there was nothing wrong to depend on family for a bit. That was why they flew out, for her to rely on them and allow them to take care of her.

"Yeah, we did." Ella nodded, kind of hoping she could take Damien. Before she could relay that information to her dad, though, Timotheo had already called Sam over. Rufus was already trotting behind him, so it killed two birds with one stone. Once they left, Damien returned, also searching for Ella.

"She left to go for a walk." Timotheo explained to the lawyer, watching as Damien stilled.

"By herself?"

"No. Sam went with her." Timotheo watched Damien.

The young man seemed to harden his facial expression before blanking and nodding, moving to sit by the empty chair Ella had left behind. Timotheo couldn't understand the dynamics of their relationship. It really seemed like both kids liked each other, but for some reason, Damien was holding back.

At first, Timotheo had thought that Damien just didn't have romantic feelings for Ella, but after seeing them today and yesterday, it was clear that he did; Damien was just refusing to fall completely for Ella. For what reason, Timotheo didn't know, but if there was something he knew, it was that Damien would hurt his little girl if he didn't get ahold of his emotions.

"I sent her with Sam. She wanted to go with you." Timotheo admitted, looking away just as Damien stiffened even more in his seat.

"Why?" Damien forced himself to ask. He didn't want his girlfriend's parents to be pushing him away. That was never going to end well.

Timotheo sat quietly for a bit, watching the rest of the family before he finally opened up. "As a parent, you never want to see your child getting hurt. I'm no fortune teller, nor can I see the future; I can only guess with the experience that I have." Timotheo turned to look at Damien straight in the eyes. "I think I can safely say that you're not ready to give in to love, son. As much as I wish my daughter wasn't so soft-hearted, it's one of her beautiful traits that I also would never trade for the world. She's fallen for you... I can't continue to let her fall deeper when I know you aren't feeling the same. I know its none of my business, and I have to allow her to grow up and make her own mistakes and grow, but as a parent, as her father, I can't just sit and watch."

Damien looked away, feeling his own heart constrict. The most hurtful thing was that Timotheo was right about Damien not being ready to fall in love. He felt like it would be something new and dangerously powerful.

"You're right, sir." Damien agreed, looking back up to Timotheo's medium brown eyes that shone with hints of green. "I've never been in love before, and I don't know what it feels like or how to even do it right, but I do know that Ella is someone who I'm not ready to give up, and I don't see her leaving my life anytime soon. I can't promise that she will never be hurt or that she will never be disappointed by me, but I can promise to always give her my best. I can promise to always be that someone that she prides herself of having. I want to be apart of her life as another person who cares deeply for her and makes her smile, so I apologize. I don't mean any disrespect to you or your family, but I would really appreciate it if you allowed me to stay by her side for as long as she allows it."

Timotheo felt his his mouth open for a little bit, shocked. He hadn't expected Damien to say anything like that at all. He hadn't expected for the young man to say exactly what Timotheo wanted to hear because to him, Damien had already fallen in love with his little Ella in a pure yet vehement way that proved that Damien really wasn't going to go anywhere anytime soon if Ella and him had anything to say about it.

It was proven once Ella bounded up the steps, heading straight for Damien to talk in hushed whispers as Damien listened intently, as if she was telling the most captivating story ever. Ella seemed more at ease now, and Rufus quickly bounded on the steps, lying right beside Timotheo.

"You like him, too, Rufus?" Timotheo scratched Rufus's head, the pup wagging his tail happily. He didn't feel the need to surround Ella now with her scent being tainted with Damien's. It allowed Rufus to know that Damien, her savior, was near, and that was enough for the Golden Retriever to feel more at ease.

"Hey, you guys want to play Uno?" Steph stopped at the bottom of the rounded porch stairs where her dad was at.

"Uno?" Ella was curious who had suggested the idea. Whenever they played that game, the games would turn intense. Her family got really competitive, and her brother had even lost a hundred dollar bill to Steph. They didn't talk for a whole week after that.

"Yeah. Erica mentioned it and now Fransisco and I want to play." Stef explained, blowing on her perfectly manicured nails- as a result of trying to distract Ella, they had gotten mani-pedis done at home by their mom.

"Isn't he getting his hair done?" Ella looked through the gathering, seeing Fransisco already up, helping their mom clean up the hair that she had cut off. Since their mom was a cosmetologist, whenever she was around, she would also trim the girls' hair and cut Fransisco. It was easier like that too since the kids trusted their mom with their hair, and since they seldom had free time, booking hair appointments was a hassle for all three kids.

"Let's just play a couple of rounds." Their dad gave in, pulling out his wallet to count the money. "You betting your car, Jihye?"

"You crazy?" Jihye replied, following them inside the house. Their bickering could be heard even once they reached the living room where they were setting up, pushing the coffee table and the sofa back a bit to open up space.

"Uno?" Damien frowned, confused.

"Yeah. Have you never played before?" Ella stood up, stretching her arms and back, Rufus mimicking her movements before he stood beside her, waiting for her to make her move.

Damien shook his head. He had briefly heard the game mentioned before, but he really wasn't one to play games. When he was young, his parents always kept him busy doing extracurricular activities, and by the time he developed an interest in doing other things, college began. After that, since Vincent's passing, he solely dedicated himself to his job. Well, that was until now.

"Come. I'll show you." Ella stretched her hand for Damien to accept, which he did with no hesitation or complaint.

Once everyone was inside and the doors were locked, courtesy of Ella, they all settled around, agreeing to play a practice round slowly while Damien learned.

"No, only this one is valid right now." Ella was by Damien's side, pointing at a red seven he had.

"He just placed down this one, though." Damien pointed at his own wild card that was exactly the same as the one Erica had just placed down. Ella had decided to place him in between Erica and herself to try to take it easy on the student.

"I know, babe, but you can save that for last since its the most beneficial one. Kind of like your last resort or best for last type of thing." Ella hadn't even realized the endearment she had let out, but it was only natural for her to speak sweetly in this situation. She felt like he was a little lost, so she was just helping.

The endearment, however, didn't go unnoticed by Damien, who completely stopped paying attention to the game and just focused on how near she was. She smelt good, and she felt warm.

"Okay." Damien slapped down the red seven in order to end the conversation quickly. He had the sudden urge to pull her closer and kiss her, but he couldn't do so right now. The round continued, and after a few more rounds, Damien was quickly catching up. "Which one?" He asked suddenly, showing his cards to Ella, and Ella laughed.

"You do realize this is a competition, right?"

Damien smiled, his own happiness radiating in giant waves now that Ella had laughed for the first time since that night. She had that warm gleam again, albeit it was tiny, very dull, but it was a start.

"This one." Ella pointed at a card, and Damien obediently followed, causing a rumble of laughter through the women who knew that Damien was already whipped for the raven-hair girl.