The Protector

We arrived at Mateo's house about an hour ago. Mila was sitting on my lap while she played with my hair.

I was waiting for Mateo to come back since he had left thirty minutes ago to go handle "business" downtown.

He left me in our bedroom before he took off. I sighed lightly before I placed Mila down next to me.

"Here," I handed her iPad over to her and she smiled before she took it from me. She placed all her attention on her iPad so I got up from the bed before I walked over to where my closet used to be. I opened the door and my heart skipped a beat.

All my clothes were still there.

I thought he would've gotten rid of them by now. I walked into the closet before I sat down on a chair in a far left corner of the closet and memories of Mateo and me came flooding through my mind.

I still remember the day Mateo brought me to this house for the first time. After seeing it I begged him to buy it for us. Not that I needed to beg him for it, I just wanted him to see that I needed him. I wanted him to know that I loved the house that he picked out for us.

And what's not to love Mateo knew me better than anyone else in this world. He knew what I liked and disliked. He knew everything about me back then, he was my life.

I wiped a stray tear from my cheek before I stood up from the chair I was sitting in. I should go check up on Mila.

I walked out of my closet and froze in my steps when I saw Mateo kneeling down in front of Mila. She had a broad smile on her face as she listened to whatever it is that he was telling her.

"Mateo-" I started and he looked up at me.

"Here's your mom now. Shall we go down to the kitchen then?" Mateo asked Mila and she excitedly nodded at him.

"Come on, mommy! We're gonna make pizza!" Mila told me as Mateo picked her up from the bed. He threw her over his shoulder before they left our bedroom and I looked at myself in the mirror before I followed them downstairs.

I don't want Mila to know that I'm upset.

Once we were all in the kitchen I smiled at Mila. Mateo placed her on the ground so I knelt down in front of her.

"Mila, Mr Mateo is a very important person and he was wondering if he could get to know you better." I told Mila and she frowned at me before she looked over at Mateo.

"Who is he, mommy?" She asked me with a frown on her forehead and I looked over at Mateo who nodded at me.

"He's an old friend, cariña." I told Mila and she looked down at her shoes.

"I thought you didn't have any friends." She uttered in confusion and Mateo knelt down in front of her and I stood up so that I could move out of their way.

"Mila, I know this might sound a bit strange to you but I care about you and mommy. I wish that we could've met a little bit earlier than now but I promise you that I will cherish every moment I have with you." Mateo told Mila.

"I trust him." I told her in a reassuring tone and that's what finally convinced her to look up at him.

"You know me being your mom's friend means that I'll protect you and your mommy from whatever gets in your way. Nothing bad will ever happen to you as long as I'm around." Mateo told Mila and her eyes widened at his words.

"Really?" She asked him with hope filled eyes.

"Really." Mateo told her and she stretched her tiny hand out to him in a greeting manner. Mateo lightly chuckled before he shook her hand and I wiped a stray tear from my cheek.

She will never know that Mateo is her father. I'll make sure of that.

"The family wants to welcome you back on Christmas. They want to meet Mila." Mateo told me before he picked Mila up into his arms.

"Do I have a choice?" I blankly asked.

"It's your duty, Hera." He told me and I just silently looked at him.

"Mateo-" I tried to argue but he stopped me before I could even start.

"Hera." He said while looking into my eyes and I nodded at him.

"Fine. I'll go but only if you tell everyone that we're getting a divorce." I told Mateo and he frowned at me.

"Fine, stay at home." He blankly told me. "But I'm taking Mila with me." He said and my eyes widened in shock.

"She's staying here with me." I told him and he gently placed Mila on the countertop before looking at me through narrowed eyes.

"What do you think, Mila?" Mateo asked Mila who was looking at us while quietly sitting on the countertop.

"We should go, mommy!" She told me and Mateo smirked at me.

"Fine but I'm only going because Mila wants us to go." I told Mateo and he nodded at me.

"Very well then. I trust that you will be on your best behavior." Mateo told me and I nodded at him.

"For Mila I will." I told him before going over to wrap my arms around her.

"You should probably start making the pizza." I told Mateo and he nodded before walking over to one of his cupboards.

He searched the cupboard for dear life until he found all the ingredients that we would need. Clearly he doesn't cook.

Mateo started making the pizza and Mila told us a story about her art teacher and Mateo and I intently listened to her talking. She can talk quite a lot when she feels up to it.

Once the pizza was done I fixed a plate for Mila.

"Mila, you have to compare my pizza to mommy's okay. Tell us who's pizza taste better, okay?" Mateo told Mila and she nodded at him.

She cut her pizza into tiny squares before she digged in. Mateo and I hopefully watched her as she chewed the food in her mouth and Mila placed her fork down on the table.

"I'm sorry, mommy's taste better." Mila told him in an apologetic tone and I gave her a high five which made her smile so broadly it made my heart melt.

"Yeah but mine is still good, right?" Mateo asked her in concern and she nodded at him with a smile on her face. I quietly watched as Mila offered a piece of her pizza to Mateo.

He looked up at me with a smile on his face and I gulped the painful knot in my throat down.

He must hate me for keeping her away from him for this long. Probably just as much as I hate him for killing my dad.

I will never forgive Mateo for what he did. And Mila can never find out that he's her father.