Another Lifetime

Chapter 42:

Monse's POV:
"I need you." I say and then I hang up. I'm watching Mona sleep on my bed when he finally knocks on my window. "You know you don't have to do that anymore." I tell him when I open the window. "I know." Cesar says but I just go right back to watching our baby. "You still thinking about what Eby said?" He asks and I nod. "No one's gonna take her from us." Cesar kisses the side of my head. "What if they do?" I ask. "Then they'll give her to your dad and he'll give her right back to you." He assures me. "I think you're forgetting how many times my dad's been to prison." I remind him. I lay on my stomach and just watch Mona. "How'd she come from two of the most dysfunctional people ever?" I ask him. "We're all born perfect but the world fucks us up. We'll protect her." He runs his hand over my hair. "I don't think I can." I sit up and face Cesar. "What do you mean?" He has that cute ass confused look on his face. "Ever since I got back all I can think about is how much I miss what it was like before. I'm happy that I don't have to run and hide constantly but I miss having that kind of family." I admit. "We're each other's family." He says. "Are we? We have a daughter but that doesn't make us a family. Vero told me what y'all talked about... why do you keep choosing her? Even after we talked about it you just keep picking her." I can't tell if I'm angry or hurt. "I'm not choosing anything over you. You called and I came." Cesar reminds me. "Where were you when I called?" I ask but I already know the answer. "She's not a bad person. Vero doesn't deserve to be treated like shit and I don't either. If you made up your mind you can tell me but you can't just keep stringing us along." I hug my legs to my chest. "Why do you keep defending her like you know her?" Cesar asks. "Because I see the way she looks at you. I love you like she loves you... and right now she's probably even more confused than I am." I explain. "I don't love her. I have a lot of love for her but I only love you. I promise." He kisses me and I'm stupid enough to kiss him back. "I love you." He says again. "I believe you." I nod and he pulls me on his lap. "No you don't." Cesar can tell when I'm lying. "I'll believe you when you decide what you want." I say and Mona starts to wake up. "She's probably hungry. She fell asleep before I could give her a bottle." I go warm up a bottle and he follows me with Mona. "You wanna feed her?" I ask. "Always." He sits on the counter with Mona on his lap. My phone vibrates.
Eby: Vero's pissed where the hell is Cesar??
"You're girlfriend's looking for you." I hand him the bottle. "Yeah, that's why I shut off my phone." He laughs. "You don't get how you're hurting her." I say. "You called and I wanted to see my baby anyways." Mona just looks up at him like Cesar can do no wrong. "I wanna see whatever she sees." He says. "Me too. She looks at us like we're perfect." I play with Mona's hair and she finishes her bottle. "She's not wrong. You are." He lifts my chin and kisses me. "I'm not. If I was, I wouldn't be doing this with you again." I remind him. "You put up with me. Anyone who sticks with me has to be pretty damn perfect. I'm not the easiest person to love." He says and I nod. "You're not but I do." I say honestly. "We gotta put her to sleep." I take her from him and he gets off the counter. "You wanna try?" I ask. "I don't really know how." He admits. "What about Spooky's kids?" I ask. "Besides his oldest, Ky, and Vale, they weren't really around. I never put the boys to sleep 'cause I was still a kid and Spooky has a whole routine with Valeria." He explains. "Well Mona's easy. You just gotta hold her close, bounce her, and pray there's no gunshots 'cause then she stays up all night." I whisper and he takes her. I sit on my bed and let him figure it out. She cries when she realizes Cesar's putting her back to sleep but he handles it. Hopefully we'll get more nights like this but I'm not moving closer to him just so he can keep cheating on Vero. Once she's asleep he quietly walks over to me. "We're gonna need to get Mona her own room." He whispers and I nod. "Yeah, but until we do, you should go. I don't want her to wake up." I tell him and he kisses me.
Cesar's POV:
I climb out her window and Vero's waiting for me. me. "What are you doing here?" I ask. "She's why you left me five fucking miles away?" Vero yells. "I asked Eby to pick you up." I say and she still looks pissed. "She did, and the whole drive back I thought about how I was gonna rip off your balls and choke you with them!" She screams. "Shut the fuck up. My daughter's asleep in there!" I pull her away from the window. "Your daughter isn't why you came here, right?" Vero pushes me. "Right?!" She screams in my face. "We're done. We have to be done. I can't keep having the same damn fight with you." I tell her. "You're right. Whatever dumb ass reasons you have for not being with Monse, I don't wanna be one of them. I love you so fucking much but I wish I never had to see you again." She walks away. "Vero, wait." I go after her and she stops me. "Come find me when you're over her." She gets in her car and drives away. I walk back to Monse's window and I climb back in. "Did you forget something?" She asks but I don't say anything. I sit on the side of her bed and kiss her. "Vero was outside. I dumped her." I explain and she pulls me down by my shirt. "I'm gonna put the crib in my dad's room." She says quickly. "Why?" I smirk and she kisses me again. "Because we're gonna go to your place for a few hours." She whispers.