Her eyes are still red rimmed when she gets home. But she's no longer crying. It seems she ran out of tears about an hour ago. She can't seem to keep her emotions in check no matter how hard she tries. But she knows she can't put off this conversation she must have with Emir. No matter how much she thinks about it, she realizes Melisa is right. Emir shouldn't miss out on his chance to raise his child because of Reyhan. He shouldn't be more concerned with her feelings than with Ayla's well being. She can't be selfish here.
"Reyhan?"
He jumps up and runs to her when she walks through the door. She knows Emine Anne called him to let him know where she was, but it looks like he was still worried about her. She falls into his waiting arms. And almost instantly her heart feels whole again. She had missed him all day. She wraps her arms around his waist and holds him tight.
"Are you okay?" he asks her, gently stroking her hair.
"Better now that I'm with you," she tells him. "Just hold me for a few more minutes."
She doesn't want to let go if this will be the last time.
"What happened? What did she say to you? I know she ran into you after she left."
"Let's sit. Let's talk," Reyahn says, taking him by the hand and pulling him to the sofa. "We have a lot to discuss."
"Not really," Emir says. "She's lying. There's nothing to discuss."
"Is she, though?" Reyhan counters. "Can you say for a fact that she's lying? Can you say for a fact that there's no way this could be true?"
"What are you asking me, Reyhan?"
He sounds angry. She just closes her eyes and sighs. This is harder than she thought it would be.
"Emir, I know you love me. I know you worry about hurting me. But Ayla is the important one here. We have to do what's best for her. If there's a chance you could be her father, then ..."
"Wait a minute," he says, holding up a hand to stop her. "You actually believe that nonsense Melisa was spouting. You don't believe me. You don't trust me."
"I do, Emir," Reyhan cries. Apparently she had more tears because they're back. "I trust you. I trust that you wouldn't do anything to hurt me. Even hide something like this."
"You think I'm lying," he says incredulously, rising from his seat to pace the floor. "You believe Melisa over me."
"I want to do the right thing," Reyhan says. "Can't you see that? I'm breaking my own heart to try to do what's best for you and Ayla. You two have to stay together. And if I have to get out of the way ..."
"What are you even saying?" Emir yells. He looks towards Ayla's door while trying to calm himself. The little girl doesn't need to hear them fighting. "You would leave me over this? Because Melisa lied about me being with her?"
"You two were together. You told me," Reyhan reminds him.
"Ten years ago, Reyhan. She left for America ten years ago. And I didn't see her again after that. Not until she showed up here. Right from the beginning I told you about her. I didn't hide anything from you. How can you think I'm lying to you now? How can you not trust me?"
"I'm sorry," she tearfully apologizes. "I just don't want you to regret being with me. If I cause you to lose Ayla, I would never forgive myself."
"And you think I would be able to forgive you if you leave us?"
"She'll have you. And she'll have her ... mother." Reyhan stumbles over the word.
"You're her mother, Reyhan," Emir says quietly. He goes to kneel in front of her when her wrenching sobs start to break his heart. He's still so very angry at her, but he can't stand to see her cry like this. "Don't cry, Baby."
"Emir, I'm tired," she sobs. "Losing you, losing Ayla ... it would break me."
"You're not going to lose us," he swears to her. "I'll get whatever test you need to prove I'm telling you the truth."
Somehow that hurts her even more. That no matter how much she swore not to hurt Emir, that's exactly what she did. That no matter how much they swore to not let Melisa come between them, she has. And that despite all of that, Emir is still right here in front of her, holding her. Comforting her. When she can see the pain that she put in his eyes. Her crying calms down eventually and she just stares at him.
"You're angry at me," she guesses. She starts to feel more tears well up, but she forces them not to fall.
"It's this whole situation, Reyhan," he says with a frustrated sigh. "I hate what Melisa is doing and I hate not being able to figure out why. Or to stop her from hurting us. You, especially. But I'm mostly sad she was able to come between us like this. That you don't trust me."
"Emir ..."
"No, I get it," he interrupts her. "I do. I've hurt you so much in the past that I still need to earn your trust."
"I didn't do this to hurt you," Reyhan explains, still admirably keeping the tears at bay. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't suffer because of me. But you're suffering anyway. And I'm the only one to blame. I'm so sorry."
She gets up and goes into the bedroom, leaving him in the living room. Hoping he'll come after her. But he doesn't. Instead, she hears the front door open and then close and she knows he's gone. Too late Reyhan realizes Melisa got exactly what she wanted.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Emir waits until he hopes she's asleep before coming home. But he's surprised to see the light on in the bedroom. She isn't in the bed, though. She's fallen asleep in the chair by the window. Probably looking for him all night. He feels guilty for leaving her to worry. He's not going to lie. He was angry and hurt. But he just needed some time to fix his bruised ego. Too many times before, his pride has caused more problems than necessary. He refused to let that happen this time. So he went out. He cooled down. And suddenly her point of view isn't as incomprehensible as he originally thought. He can see where she's coming from. He understands the pain he's put her through in the past. He understands her insecurities. He's just going to have to work harder in the future to let her know that she's the only one he wants to be with.
He walks quietly into the room and walks over to her, his heart aching at the dried tears on her cheeks.
"Reyhan," he whispers to her, sweeping a lock of hair out of her face. "Wake up. Let's get you in the bed."
"I'm not asleep," she mutters, sleepily curling towards him.
All he can do is smile at how cute she is.
"I can't sleep without you," she adds, still half asleep. "We have to make up."
That makes him laugh.
"You are asleep, Baby."
"I'm up. See?" She blinks open her eyes and lets out a huge yawn. "Don't be mad at me anymore, okay? I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry for," he tells her, nuzzling her nose with his own. "We played right into Melisa's hands and I let my pride get the better of me. Again."
"I'm still sorry," she says, stroking his cheek with her hand. "I even got you flowers, just like you got me flowers the other day to make up."
"Oh yeah? I thought it was the guy who has to buy the flowers," he chuckles.
"Not those kinds of flowers."
Her hands go to the tie of her robe and loosens the knot. It opens to reveal a sight that leaves Emir gasping for air. He suddenly can't take his eyes off of her. True to her word, there are flowers. Strategically placed flower appliques sewn carefully on to the sheerest nightgown he's ever seen. But they are flowers, without a doubt. And they're covering just enough for him to want them gone. Now.
"Do you forgive me?" she asks.
He shakes his head and blinks a few times to come to his senses before looking up at her face with a huge smile.
"For things you haven't even done yet," he says with an enthusiastic nod as he drags her to the bed.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
They take Ayla for a doctor's appointment the next day. She's healed well over the past couple of months but the doctor still wants them to be careful. Plus this gives them the chance to ask the doctor about a paternity test. Reyhan and Emir worked through the issues between them the night before. But they decided it would be best to have the evidence in hand to prove Melisa wrong. This test isn't so much for Reyhan's sake. It's to shut Melisa down and show her that they solve their problems together. No matter what she throws at them.
"I'm adjusting the dosage on her medication because some of her numbers are a little low. But other than that, she's doing much better," the doctor tells them. "You two are doing a great job with her. Keep up the good work. I hear the adoption will be final soon?"
Emir and Reyhan look at each other and have a silent conversation. She sends Ayla to the corner in the doctor's office with the toys to let her play for a few minutes while they talk to the doctor. Once Ayla is out of ear shot, Reyhan nods at Emir to continue.
"The adoption hit a little snag," Emir admits. "There are questions about Ayla's paternity. We need to get her tested against some samples. We're hoping we can use blood you've already drawn from her for the tests."
"That may not be necessary," the doctor explains. "Are you trying to prove or disprove paternity? I assume you want to disprove someone's claim on Ayla. Do you know the blood type of the person claiming to be her father? Blood types can't prove paternity. But there are cases they can disprove paternity."
Emir tells the doctor his blood type and the doctor pulls up Ayla's file on his computer. It barely takes him a minute to find the answer to the question.
"Good news. You two have nothing to worry about. The blood types aren't compatible. There's no way a man with the blood type you told me could have fathered Ayla. Of course, a DNA test will be necessary for any legal proceedings. But that test will only back up what I've told you here today."
Emir turns to Reyhan with a big smile on his face.
"Thank you, Doctor bey. You really have eased our minds."
"Well, I'm glad," the doctor returns the smile. "Anything to keep our little Miss Ayla happy and healthy."
With one last reminder to them to ensure Ayla gets started on her new medication immediately and to not miss any doses, the doctor lets them go. Emir feels like he has a new lease on life. He feels like their family got a second chance at happiness. Although it made him angry and sad Reyhan needed the test, he's glad they looked into getting the proof. Now, they all can breathe easier.
"Is this really over?" Reyhan asks on the way home. "Will we really be able to adopt Ayla now?"
"It really is," Emir says, taking her hand and pressing a quick kiss there. "All we need now is to get the court to order a DNA test. But I doubt Melisa will take her game that far. A forged test to stop the process is one thing. Getting a real test done will only make her look like a fool."
And Melisa won't want to look like a fool. She'll have to give up this game. There's no winning for her.
"I almost want to be there to see her face when she finds out," Reyhan says. "But never seeing her again will be good enough for me. Making Ayla ours will be enough for me. I'm ready to get on with our life, Emir. I'm ready for our happily ever after."
"And that's exactly what we're going to have," he promises her. "It's time for that happily ever after."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
After telling Defne the news from the doctor, the woman gets busy with working towards finishing this adoption case. Just as Emir guessed, the court did in fact order a new DNA test based on the blood type results. The test would be handled by an independent lab with the results being sent immediately to the court.
But on the day of testing, Melisa didn't show up. Two weeks passed and Melisa missed two other test appointments. At that point, her claims were dismissed and the adoption was set to become official the following week. It took longer than they initially thought, but it's finally happening. Their dreams are about to come true.
They go to Defne and Zafer's for a pre-adoption slash pre-birth celebration dinner. Or in other words, the last time the foursome will be able to get together before they all officially become parents with Defne's due date getting closer and closer. Emine and Murat happily watch their "granddaughter" for the evening. Because after all they've been through, Reyhan and Emir deserve this time of celebration.
"Can you believe it, Man? We're really doing this," Emir says, his astonishment evidenced in a slightly drunken tone. "This time last year, I know neither of us could have imagined the life we're living now. Married. About to become fathers."
"And happy about it," Zafer adds with a laugh. "But here we are. About to make dreams that we never knew we wanted come true."
"Are you?" Emir asks his friend. "Are you truly happy?"
"Really and truly," Zafer admits. "Defne is kind of amazing. She's really amazing, actually. Every day I wake up looking at her beautiful face and realize my life was nothing without her."
"Who are you and what have you done with my friend?" Emir teases, laughing when Zafer blushes.
"You're one to talk. I blame you for this, by the way. You and all your gushing over your wife. I told you you two were going to rub off on me."
The doorbell rings just then and Defne waddles to the door to get it. After signing for the delivery, she turns to Emir and Reyhan with a mysterious smile on her face.
"And now you're about to see how amazing my wife is," Zafer whispers to him, going to stand next to Defne. She hands the envelope to Emir and Reyhan and they just wait on the reaction.
"What's this?" Emir wonders, opening the package. He pulls out papers and quickly scans them. Reyhan is reading over his shoulder and lets out a gasp.
"The adoption papers? It's official?" she asks.
"I thought we had to wait until next week," Emir says. "But look, Baby. The date. It's today."
"I may have pushed this through the system," Defne admits proudly. "I know you were worried about any other tricks Melisa would try to play, Reyhan. So I did what I could to get this approved as quickly as possible."
"Does this mean ..."
"It means Ayla is ours," Emir tells her, pulling her into his arms. "She's officially and forever ours."
He spins her around, pausing to kiss her.
"Get a room," Zafer teases them. But he wraps his arms around Defne and gives his friends a content smile. It's good to see them finally living and loving so freely.
But not everyone is happy. Melisa watches them much like she always does. She has been following Emir and Reyhan all week, looking for other weaknesses. She was upset when her plot to stop the adoption didn't work. She was sure Reyhan would either leave Emir or force Emir to leave by proving she didn't trust him. Melisa knows Reyhan asked for a paternity test. But instead of getting mad, Emir apparently agreed to one. Melisa wasn't expecting that. She wasn't expecting to actually have to take a test. A test that would prove her claims completely baseless.
But she's running out of time now. The adoption will be legal soon and it will be that much harder to get Emir. If not impossible. That kid will tie them together forever.
"But what if there is no kid?" Melisa whispers into the darkness. "What will the two of you do then?"
Time for plan B.
She picks up the phone and places a call.
"Take the kid. Now."
And just like that, she's in control of this game again. She frowns, watching Emir spin Reyhan around. Kiss her.
"Let's see how happy you two will be without your precious little princess. Let's see who Emir chooses to be with when Reyhan can no longer dangle that kid in front of his nose."