Red Shadow

45

"Yup. Do you guys have any other questions?" the realtor asked and they shook their heads. "I'm Laura by the way. We didn't get a chance to talk," she said outstretching her hand.

"Rosemary," she said and shook her hand.

"I leave you guys to talk or wander for a little bit," she said and walked away.

"You used your real name," Damon said and she nodded.

"I don't need to hide anymore," she said and he smiled hugging her into him.

"I love you so much," he said and kissed her temple.

"Can you guys stop being gross for like two minutes?" Vel said and Rosemary laughed.

"Vel, you're killing my game," Damon whisper yelled to her and she just shrugged.

"Come on, let's go get lunch," Rosemary said and stood up. She took Damon's hand and they walked out back to the car. They said goodbye to Laura and drove off towards the fish place Rosemary knew. She did take Vince there but she didn't care. It was good food. She ordered them all fish and tips and walked back to the picnic table.

"How do you hold all those and the drinks so easy?" Vel asked and Rosemary shrugged sitting down next to her with Damon across from them.

"I was a waitress in high school," she told her and pushed a drink to her. During high school she had to work for a lot of things. She needed money in order to keep up her training at the gym and a waitress was pretty easy to get it.

"You two get together," Damon said and they looked up. "What? We need pictures for the house," he said and the girls laughed. Rosemary put her head next to Vel and they both held big smiles. Damon chuckled while taking the picture. "You guys are so cute."

"We know," Vel said and the adults' jaws dropped but Rosemary's quickly turned into a smile.

"Agreed, but thank you," she emphasized while nudging Vel's side with her elbow.

"Thank you," Vel smiled and popped a fry into her mouth. Damon just shook his head at his daughter's attitude. It reminded him a lot of Rosemary, but she wasn't that sassy. They ate their food while taking funny pictures and laughing. After about an hour they decided to go back home. Vel ran off to her room to do homework and Rosemary slumped on the couch.

"You okay Ace?" he asked and lifted her legs to sit down before putting them across his lap.

"My feet hurt," she whined.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have worn heels," he said and popped them off.

"They're cute," she said and he shook his head while grabbing her feet. "Ugh, I love you," she said and leaned her head back.

"You better or else rubbing your feet wouldn't be worth it," he said and she laughed while covering her face with her hands. 

"At least I have a pedicure," she said and wiggled her toes. Damon laughed and shook his head. He grabbed her legs and pulled so that Rosemary was on his lap.

"I wanted to ask you something?" He said and she furrowed her eyebrows. "How are you really?" She sighed and stood up walking to the bedroom with him behind her. She sat on the bed and looked up at him.

"I just," she paused trying to find the right words, "I have this idea of a perfect life with you and Vel, and everything just seems so perfect right now. I'm scared it's going to change because till this point almost everything in my life has had a bad turn," she explained to him and he squatted in front of her taking both her hands in his.

"I promise you that we will still have a happy life. I promise to keep you happy and give you what you need to be happy," he said and she nodded.

"How did you know something was wrong?" She asked him.

"Because I know Rosemary and you just acted differently today. I know you said it's a good day but you acted like it was going to be the last good day," he said and sat on the bed next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him. "I love you Ace."

"I love you too," she said and looked up. He gave her lips a quick soft kiss before hugging her again. "I want to cuddle," she said and wrapped her arms tighter around him.

"Me too," he said and scooted further on the bed. He hugged her front against his chest and their legs tangled together. He kissed her forehead and and held her head against him. "Do you feel better?"

"Yea," she simply answered and kissed his cheek. He tilted her head up and kissed her lips. Their lips moved slowly against each other's. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What happened to Vel's mom?" She asked and he sighed. He figured that she would probably ask at some point. He was at least thankful she waited this long.

"She left. We were 17 when Vel was born and she just ran off leaving her with me. I was a kid, I didn't know how to raise a baby. My mom helped me a lot though and, I mean, Vel's the best thing that's ever happened to me," he said and she smiled at him.

"Where are your parents now?"

"Italy. They retired there the second my dad passed the business on to me. You'll meet them eventually,"
He said and she nodded.

"Do you think you'll ever want to have kids again?" She asked him hesitantly and he smiled. He definitely wasn't expecting this question from her but he wasn't upset about it at all.

"I do. Do you?"

"Yes, but it's scary after Sophia," she said and leaned into Damon more.

"I won't let anyone touch you," he said and she nodded.

"I do them eventually. Maybe two," she said while tapping her fingers on Damon's hand.

"Have you ever thought of names?" He asked and she smiled nodding. She had thought about it all the time.

"Georgiana or Adriana for a girl, and Stefano or Emilio for a boy," she told him and he chuckled.

"My father's name is Stefano," he said and her eyebrows raised.

"What's your mother's name?"

"Carina."

"That's beautiful," Rosemary said and sat up to rest her hands on his chest.

"It fits. She's a beautiful woman," he said and she smiled.

"You're a momma's boy aren't you," she teased and he laughed.

"Maybe a little," he said and she leaned down to kiss him.

"Do they know that I, you know, tried to kill you?" She asked and he shook his head.

"They don't have to know. That's in the past, erase it from her brain," he said and grabbed her head shaking it a bit. Rosemary laughed and pulled his hands away.

"Will they like me?"

"You ask too many questions Ace," he said and rolled them over so he was looking down at her. "But yes they will. My mom will show you how to cook and my dad will probably act like he hates you but he actually loves you."

"I wish you could've met my dad. He would've loved you," she said and he frowned kissing the tip of her nose.

"He's watching down on us," he assured her and hugged her to him. She stayed like that for a while before pulling away. "Want ice cream?"

"Yes," she said and they got up racing to the freezer to make sure they got more cookie dough pieces than the other.