I'm going home this Christmas, don't know whether that'll improve updates or slow them down even more.

Just a warning.

I jolt up sucking a deep breath as I'm pulled out of a painful past memory and back to reality....which was not my room.

Where am I?

Looking around, the almost ancient furniture hints me to believe that it's Beckett's. All at once, yesterday's events flood my mind making me close my eyes tightly as my mind tries to decide between being happy or scared.

"Morning." I pop open my eyes to find Beckett walking towards me with two cups, one of hot chocolate and another of water.

"Hey," I say a bit quieter than I meant to, he hands me the hot chocolate that made my stomach growl. I take a big gulp of the liquid, ignoring the way it burnt my throat like hot coals, I needed to wake up.

"How do you feel?" He asks wearily, still keeping a comfortable distance between the two of us.

"Fine," I say making him nod to himself as he sips on his water. An alarming silence takes the room as we look at anywhere but each other.

"I meant it." He says suddenly making my eyes jolt up to him. "Everything I said last night, every word of it......I meant it."

I feel my heart squeeze itself at his words as he sits next to me on the edge of the bed. Setting down his mug, he looks at me softly, not expectantly, he just looked at me and waited for a response.

"....me too," I reply before sitting up a bit more. His eyes take flame as he looks at me, hope and love sparking in him like lightning.

We both linger momentarily before leaning forward hesitantly, our bodies drawn to one another with need and love that had been denied for too long.

Our mouths hover nervously between each other, lips brushing slightly as our breathing began to stagger.

With my heart beating like a bass drum I press my lips to his. It was different than I remembered, my heart soared with joy as I welcomed the new influx of nerve jerking emotions that I wasn't used to.

I push forward a bit without thinking, letting my instincts lead me through a dance I seemed to have forgotten. Beckett's hands cup my cheek ever so lightly that I can't help but hum in contentment at the electric glow that ran through my veins.

Pulling apart all too quickly, the space between us remains bijou. With staggered breathes and racing hearts, our eyes meet.

"I missed you so much." He groans against me as he grips my skin with eyes that showed his pain, pain I was the cause of. I lean into his hand as we force ourselves to keep a lid on our budding emotions.

"I shouldn't have gone," I admit as I lean against him, lifting my hands to his hair, letting my fingers slip into them.

"I shouldn't have let you go." He counters before pressing a light kiss to my forehead before resting his to mine.

"What does this mean?" I question with a strained sigh as I soak in the glorious feeling of having him so close after spending years apart. "For us?"

"I know we still have some things to work on but, I love you and you love me. That's all that matters." He says firmly, his words flying freely as he leaves his heart open for me. "That's all that matters."

".....what about the bond?" I ask hesitantly as he pulls me into a tight hug, my chin resting on his shoulder as we grilled each other's warmth.

"We loved each other before the bond and we still do without it, we'll be fine." He says simply making my heart swell with confidence. "I want this Emitt, I want you."

"I want you too," I reply pulling back to look at him. "More than you'll ever know," I say letting my eyes trail every inch of perfect face that has hardened over time. "I love you."

"I love you too." He replies with a smile tugging at his lips before he presses a chased kiss on my lips, the action becoming slowly familiar.

"Amelia's downstairs, how about you come say hey so she can stop worrying about you." He says making me frown a bit as I look outside for some sort of time tell. "You've been sleeping the whole day, she thinks I did something and is giving me the cold shoulder."

"Sorry," I say guiltily knowing how protective she got of me, she used to cry every time they'd throw me back into that revolting room covering in my own blood.

"It's cute." He says with a chuckle as I slide out the bed before walking with him. I didn't know if to hold his hand or not if I was allowed to touch him how I used to, I wasn't sure. And Amelia, how would she take having two fathers. She already knew that she did, but seeing us intimate was a whole new thing, would she feel uncomfortable.

"Daddy!" I look down to see Amelia running at me at full speed making my questioning thoughts drift away as she jumps into my awaiting arms. She squeezes me tightly as I do her, making sure we were both okay like we often did before.

"I thought something happened." She whispers to me as her little arms tighten around my neck.

"Nothing happened. I'm fine." I say pulling back so she could see my words were true. "So stop being mean to Beckett."

"I didn't want to." She groans as she looks up at Beckett guiltily. "It hurt you as much as it hurt me." She says making Beckett laugh while she grinned widely.

"I'm hungry." I groan looking at Beckett.

"I suppose I'm expected to cook?" He questions with a bit of reluctance, I give him a slight pout that Amelia mirrors. His eyes dance between Amelia and me repeatedly before he groans and starts walking towards the kitchen.

"Thank you." Amelia and I chime together as we follow behind him.

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"Where shall we eat tomorrow?" Amelia questions while taking a bite of her sandwich.

"How are you asking about food while you're still eating?" Beckett asks in amazement as he watches the two of us devour the scrumptious sandwiches he made for us. While he simply nibbled on a piece of toast with a slice of cooked bacon on it.

"I don't know." She replies with a shrug.

"How about we go to Pizza Hut," Beckett says making her eyes light up at the mention of pizza. "And get some cinnamon sticks while we're at it." He says glancing at me while my lips tug into a wide smile as I instantly remember the food that made me wake up on a morning.

"Sounds like a plan," I say in agreement as he circles the table and stands behind me, allowing me to lean against his defined abs that I was shamefully itching to get a look at.

"Thanks," I say when I finish eating, his arms slide around my chest as I lean back into him even more. Completely forgetting the hesitance and nerves that first came from touching, along with my daughter.

"Oh, my goddess!" Amelia squeals in her seat making my eyes dart to her to find her already gawking at Beckett and I. I make a move to separate us but Beckett keeps me in place. "Happy king! Happy king!"

"What?" I question in confusion as she smiled widely at Beckett who winked at her.

"You're happy daddy." She says making me freeze in surprise. "You're happy."

I guess I was.

I hadn't felt love or joy in anything in this world besides Amelia since that day four years ago. I'd lived a horrible, miserable life that forced me to fake a smile to my daughter.

But I wasn't faking it anymore.

I didn't have to will myself to get up and make it through another day, I didn't have to muster up emotions that weren't there.

I didn't have to try anymore. I didn't have to be sad anymore.....because I had him again.

I was happy because of Beckett.

"Yes," I answer with a growing smile as I look up at Beckett who looked down at me. "I'm very happy," I whisper before letting my hands slide around his neck to pull him down to kiss me.

Amelia screams her support while our lips move in sync despite the wide smile that possessed them.

I was happy.

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"So what did you want to talk about?" Aiden asks as we sit across from one another in his office.

"Before I start, promise me you will listen to the entire thing," I say making him frown as his black eyes glistened a bit.

"Emitt...." He stretches warningly.

"Aiden...." I mock making him frown while I just chuckle. "Seriously, hear me out okay?"

"Okay." He agrees after some time.

"These last few years, I was held as a captive basically." I start making him tense. "A hunter got hold of me and I wouldn't like to go into details about it. But it was hard."

"I can imagine." He says with a flare of rage in his eyes no doubt making plans to kill someone that was probably already dead.

"I'm happy being back here. I'm smiling every day and I've never loved my life so much." I say making him smile a bit. "And that's because of Beckett." The smile vanishes.

"Goddess Emitt!" He groans already knowing where this was going.

"I love him Aiden," I say calmly while the rage builds within him.

"But he doesn't love you." He counters strongly making my insides contort at his harsh words. "Did you forget what he did to you?"

"Of course not, but I also see what it did to him," I say firmly. "We're better together. He made a mistake h-"

"A mistake that made you break your bond!" He shouts standing up now, his rage taking flight at his eyes glowed a bright red. "He hurt you so bad you thought you couldn't be with him anymore. He never loved you as much as you did him. He denied you Emitt, that can't be forgiven."

"Well, I'm forgiving him," I say standing to my feet. "I'm forgiving him and I hope he forgives me for my part I played in all this. He never loved me as much as I loved him, that's true. But I think he does now, and if he doesn't, I don't care. Because I love him. I need him Aiden."

"But he drove you away. He made you leave....he took you from me." He says with a panting chest as his eyes glistened.

"He didn't take you away from me. A hunter did. It's time you stop blaming him for a situation that you don't fully understand." I say a bit sterner than I meant to.

"What's there to understand?! He denied you." He shouts back.

"Because he was scared!" I shout back finally losing it. "You know what there's to understand? The fact that we were together before we were mates. The fact that we dated in secret because we were both scared of how our families would react. I faced it head on and Beckett couldn't, it ended badly." I say making his eyes widen in surprise as the words stay on his tongue. "Yes, we were together long before anyone even knew. I loved Beckett for much longer than I probably should've so yeah, maybe I love him more. But he loves me too Aiden and that's all that matters.

I love you Aiden. I love you like a brother and more and I know you're only looking out for me. But I didn't come here for you're permission Aiden, I came here to tell you that I will be with Beckett. So for his sake, mine and Amelia's I need you to back off with all the hatred and resentment you have directed to him. If you can't be at least civil with him, then things will have to change."

I leave without another word leaving him to his own thoughts. I'd said enough and I couldn't stay much longer with deflating my confident act completely.

He'll come around.

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