You Know That I'm Better in the End

"Getting back together. Yeah, I fucking know that, Scarlet. I'm reminded that countless times a day, every day, for the past 4 years. And honestly, I'm getting really sick of being reminded of it, because it just depresses me even more."

I stared at him, not able to even think of a reply to what he just said. He sighed before mumbling, "I'll have him back by 8 tonight", and then getting into his car. I crossed my arms over my chest and walked away, back to the house, trying to hold it together.

I sniffled quietly as I walked in, gently closing the door behind me. I cursed to myself as I saw Andy still standing in the kitchen, like he was waiting for me. I smiled slightly at him.

"So what'd he want?" He asked, smiling back.

"Oh, he just wanted to know if he could start getting Trav an hour earlier," I lied, waving it off like it was nothing. "I told him I'd think about it."

Andy nodded and walked over to me, wrapping his arms around my waist and dipping his head down to nuzzle into my neck. Which had to have been difficult and slightly uncomfortable for him, since I'm 5'2 and he's 6 feet tall.

I rolled my eyes as he started kissing my neck. I was not even in the mood for this right now.

"Baby..." I fake giggled. He chuckled into my neck, his hands going to my waist and squeezing me. "We're alone." He said huskily.

"We had sex last night." I stated, trying to make it sound humorous and not like I was annoyed.

"I haven't been around you for a whole month!" He whined, lifting his head up and pouting. I laughed and shook my head. "No. I've got shit to do."

"Yeah, and I've got YOU to do!" I laughed harder and he smirked. "Take a shower together?"

"Andrew, I need to go and get ready for the day, I've got another shoot to do."

"Fine," He groaned, pulling away from me. "Have fun standing in front of a camera and looking hot. I guess I'll just be all alone and shit."

"Poor thing." I cooed, standing on my tiptoes and pressing a quick kiss to his lips. "You have a hand." I winked, laughing at the look on his face after I said that.

"Yeah, and I've been using it for the past month!" He complained.

"Well I guess you're shit out of luck, then!" I grinned, prancing off to the bathroom to get ready.

"WE'RE FUCKING TONIGHT!" He yelled after me, making me roll my eyes again. I closed the bathroom door and started the shower.

There was the thing about Andy; he didn't know when I was upset or when something was wrong. I mean, unless I was moping around and really acting sad, of course he'd notice then. But when I just put on my fake little "I'm happy and everything's fine" face, he doesn't notice.

Ronnie always did. Ronnie knew right away when something wasn't right, and he'd pester me about it until I finally told him. Shit, I think it threw him off for the whole day when he knew something was wrong with me and I wouldn't fess up.

I groaned softly to myself, sitting on the closed toilet lid and putting my face in my hands, waiting for the water to heat up. I hate when I compare Andy to Ronnie. I shouldn't, and I really don't want to, but I do. All the time. And Travis kinda does the same, too.

"Daddy does it this way."

"This is how Daddy makes this."

"No, Daddy tucks me in this way."

I know it must be a little hard for Andy to hear that all the time. And I know it annoys him sometimes, but he knows that he can't get mad. He knows Travis loves and adores his Daddy more than anyone in the whole world.

Sometimes it's hard to be in a relationship with Andy. Of course I love him, if I didn't I wouldn't have been with him for almost 4 years now. But I always saw myself with Ronnie. For the rest of my life. I really thought we'd be together forever, because we'd been best friends for so long. I loved him to death. And I will admit, I still love him to death. And it hurts me to know he's so miserable after what he'd done to me, even though he SHOULD be miserable. Even though part of me hates him for what he did to me, most of me wants to just kiss him and cuddle with him to make him happy again.

I shouldn't feel this way, though. No, I have Andy. Ronnie fucked up, he deserves to be miserable.

I just have to keep telling myself that.

$$$

Now, I know a lot of people would think that modeling is a breeze. There's nothing to it, and it's the easiest job out there.

Wrong.

While I absolutely ADORE modeling, I have been at this damn shoot for going on 10 hours now. It started at noon, and it's just now finally being wrapped up. I was exhausted, and I just wanted to go home and lay in bed for the next week.

Ronnie called me at 8, telling me he was bringing Travis over. But then I told him my situation and told him to keep him for another hour. So he did, then called me at 9, I told him to just bring him over here, where I was shooting. I didn't need him going over to my house and killing Andy when taking Travis back.

I smiled softly when I saw Ronnie walk into the dressing room, holding a pajama-clad, sleeping Travis.

"Hey." He smiled a small, crooked smile at me. I stood up and he handed Travis to me. I giggled quietly when he buried his head in my neck, murmuring "Momma" in his sleep.

"When'd he fall asleep?" I asked quietly.

"On the way over here." He chuckled. I smiled and kissed the top of my son's head, carefully sitting down with him.

"I guess I'll get out of here..." Ronnie said awkwardly.

"Can you stay until I leave?" I asked politely. "I might need a little help with him," I nodded down to Travis. "like, getting him in the car and whatever. I'm leaving in like, 10 minutes."

"Yeah, no problem." He nodded, sitting down next to me. "Can you take him again?" He nodded and I carefully handed him back to Ronnie.

"Momma...?" Travis mumbled, his eyes slowly opening. He smiled sleepily when he saw me, rubbing at his eyes.

"Hey baby." I cooed, leaning over and kissing his head. "Momma's at a photoshoot right now, Daddy brought you here 'cause it's late. We're going home in a few, though." He nodded, resting his head on his dad's shoulder.

I went and quickly shoved all of my stuff in my pink overnight bag, already dressed in the sweatpants and tank top I came here wearing. I made sure I had everything before saying goodbye to the photographer and the whole crew here.

"Alright, let's go." I smiled a little at Ronnie and he stood up, carrying Travis out to my car.

"I'll see you tomorrow, buddy." Ronnie smiled, squeezing Trav in a hug. He wrapped his little arms around Ronnie's neck, hugging him tight.

"Daddy, the surprise?" I heard him whisper excitedly as I put my bag on the floor of the backseat. I raised my eyebrow as Ronnie chuckled.

"Tomorrow, bud. We gotta wait til' tomorrow, it's not Mother's Day yet."

"OK." I turned around and watched Ronnie put Travis in his car seat in my car, buckling him in and giving him one last kiss before closing the door.

"Surprise?" I asked cautiously. Ronnie smiled. "Has to do with Mother's Day."

"I'm scared." I said honestly, making him laugh. "No need to be."

We fell into an awkward silence for a few seconds, and I was about to tell him I had to go, but he spoke before I had the chance. "I wanna apologize for earlier today." I blinked and nodded slightly. He scratched the back of his neck, and I knew it was as awkward for him as it was for me.

"I just...I don't like the thought of Trav having, technically, two dads." He sighed. "And I know Andy's another father figure to him, and I know I should accept that. But it's like if I had a girlfriend, and Trav considered her his second "mom"...would you like that?" I frowned and shook my head.

"No, and I understand where you're coming from completely." He smiled a little, sadly. "But I just hate you how always insult him like he's the worst human being to ever walk this planet. It upsets me."

"It's hard for me," He said, inhaling shakily and not speaking for a few seconds. "it's really hard for me to accept him."

"I know it is." I mumbled, looking down at the ground. "But there's nothing you can do. I just want you to accept him, and for everything to be alright. I don't want to fight with you."

"You think I want to fight with you?" He whispered. I looked back up at him, seeing that hurt expression on his face. "I hate fighting with you now more than I did when we were together. I especially don't want to fight now, we're divorced, we have our shit figured out, we shouldn't have to fight anymore." I nodded, not knowing what to say after that.

"I should get going," I dug my keys out of my purse. "I gotta get Trav into bed." He nodded. "I'll, uh...be over tomorrow."

"I figured that." I smiled, making him smile back. "What time?"

"Probably around 1?" I nodded. "Sounds good to me. See you tomorrow." I said before getting in my car, waving at him. He waved back awkwardly, making me giggle a little as I closed my door and started up my car. I looked in my mirror and smiled when I saw Travis out cold again, then started the drive home.

$$$

***Next day, Mother's Day***

"HAPPY MOMMA'S DAY, MOMMA!" My eyes shot open and I turned slightly in bed, laughing tiredly when I saw Travis holding up a tray of breakfast, with Andy's assistance to make sure he didn't drop the heavy thing all over the floor.

"Well thank you!" I chirped, sitting up and rubbing my face before smiling at my adorable son. I laughed as Travis struggled to lift the tray up to me, but did it nonetheless. "This looks yummy! Did you make it, baby?" Travis nodded and smiled proudly. "Andy helped me!"

"Well I hope you made most of it, honey, because Andy doesn't know how to cook." I started cracking up at the offended look on my boyfriend's face. "I CAN COOK!"

"Cereal?" I mused. He narrowed his eyes at me and Travis and I giggled. "Come on up here, bud." Travis climbed up onto the bed with me, taking Andy's spot. I started digging into my strawberry waffles, feeding Travis a piece of strawberry from the small fruit salad he made me. "Well where am I supposed to sit?" Andy whined.

"On the floorfth." I spoke through my food.

"Like a doggy!" I started laughing again as Travis exclaimed this, having to put my napkin over my mouth to prevent me spitting my food everywhere.

"Yeah, l-like a doggy!" I managed to spit out during my laughing-fest. Andy stomped off dramatically, sending Travis and I into a giggle fit.

"H-How am I supposed t-to eat this if I'm giggling?!" I exclaimed.

"I dunno!" Travis giggled, falling onto me.

"Oh lordy." I grinned, finally calming down and enjoying the rest of my breakfast with Travis. After I'd finished, he insisted on taking the tray into the kitchen for me. I let him jump down from the bed before I handed it to him, getting out of bed afterwords. I quickly went to the bathroom and then walked out to the kitchen, where Andy and Travis were.

"Well look at you!" I smiled at Travis as he loaded the tray, plate, bowl, and glass into the dish washer all by himself. "You're a big boy now, huh?"

"I HAVE been a big boy, Momma!" He exclaimed, slamming the dishwasher shut. I held my hands up in defense, and Andy laughed. "Excuse me!"

Travis giggled and ran over to me, and I scooped him up in my arms. "When's Daddy comin' over?!" He asked excitedly.

"He said around 1 in the afternoon, so in a couple hours." I smiled, kissing his little nose. He scrunched his face up just like Ronnie, making me laugh. I noticed Andy looking at me, and I already knew why. "Did you have a bath yet?" Trav shook his head and I set him down. "Well go pick out an outfit for today and I'll be in there to give you one in just a minute." He nodded and ran off to his bedroom.

"So I guess I should leave at 1?" Andy chuckled, walking over to me. I sighed and nodded. "I don't need any fist fights on Mother's Day."

"When should I come back?" He asked, wrapping his arms around my tiny frame. I rested my head against his chest and shrugged slightly. "I'll call or text you when he leaves." I felt him nod and kiss the top of my head. I leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, smiling at him before pulling away to go and give Trav his bath.

The next couple of hours flew by pretty quickly, and before I knew it Travis was running to me, screaming that daddy was here.

"You gotsa stay inside I gotsa help Daddy wif the suhprise!!" He rushed, reaching for the doorknob and opening it, running out there afterwords.

"O...K." I said to myself, laughing. A few minutes passed and Ronnie and Travis came back in, Travis holding a bouquet of flowers that were almost the same size he was.

"Oh my goodness!" I squealed. Travis ran over and handed them to me, grinning. "That's a big bouquet!" I laughed.

"I picked it out yesterday!" Travis stated proudly.

"Well you did a good job, 'cause I love them! They're so pretty!" I gushed, leaning down and hugging my son tight. I set them down on the counter, and smiled as Travis grabbed the pink gift bag from his dad and ran over to me. "Happy Momma's Day!" I giggled and thanked him before taking the bag. I grabbed the first present, wrapping in pink wrapping paper, and opened it, squealing. "Ooh! Makeup!"

"Just what Momma needs more of." Ronnie laughed.

"Oh well!" I grinned, glancing over the little makeup set that had a 4 eye shadows, a blush, an eye liner, and a couple lip glosses in it. "I will be using that a lot!" I grinned again down at Travis, making him giggle.

"Open the other one!" Travis exclaimed. I laughed and grabbed the rectangular box out of the bag, ripping the paper off of it as well. "Uh oh." I laughed a little, seeing it was a necklace box. I glanced at Ronnie and he smiled. "You heard the boy, open it." I smiled and opened the black velvet box, my smile growing when I saw it was a heart shaped locket with Trav's birthstone in the middle.

I carefully opened the locket, gasping a little as I saw a picture of Travis when he was just a baby. On the other side of the heart, "Your baby boy forever" was engraved on it.

"You're gonna make me cry!" I laughed. I leaned down again, hugging Travis as tight as possible. "Thank you so much, baby. I love you."

"Love you too, Momma!" I pulled away slightly and kissed all over his face, making him giggle. "You wanna help me put it on?" He nodded and I pulled my hair over to one side, letting him put the chain around my neck. It took him a couple minutes to get the clasp to open and then close again, but he got it eventually. I pulled the locket around to the front and smiled down at it. "That was the best Mother's Day gift ever!" I squealed, attacking Trav in kisses again.

"So was that the surprise, the locket?" I smiled. Travis grinned and shook his head. "No, Daddy has the surprise!"

I looked at Ronnie and he smiled that adorable signature crooked smile at me. He walked over and handed me an envelope that had my name neatly written on it.

"I'll be right back!" Travis exclaimed, giggling to himself as he ran off to his room. I watched him do so, then slowly looked at Ronnie again. "Alright, what's going on?" Ronnie only smiled at me. "Read the card."

I opened the envelope and pulled out the card. The front of it was your normal, cheesy Mother's Day card. But when I opened, I saw Ronnie had written in the card.

Scarlet,

I've never seen a better mother. You give your all to Travis, and love him with everything in you. He's the luckiest little boy alive to have such a wonderful, loving, caring, beautiful mother like you. And I myself think I'm the luckiest guy, to have had a child with you. You know I didn't have a mother growing up, and I was always really afraid of ever having kids with any woman, because I didn't want my children to deal with the pain and heartache I had to. But once we were together, I knew that I was meant to be with you, and to start a family with only you. Seeing you with Travis almost makes me want to cry every single time. Watching how you are with him, how you much you love him and how you'll do anything for him makes me happy that I was able to give him something I never had. And even though we're not together anymore, you know that I love you with all my heart and that I'm forever grateful to have you in my life, for the rest of my life.

Thank you for everything. You've helped make me a better person, and you've helped make me the best father I can be to our son.

Love Always,

Ronnie

I knew the tears were running down my cheeks, a few of them had dripped off of my chin and splashed onto the card. I sniffled and looked up at Ronnie finally, to see him smiling at me.

"Thank you." I whispered, wiping at my eyes and laughing a little at the fact I was crying.

"I meant every word of it." He said quietly. I smiled, and I'm sure I shocked the hell out of him when I took a step forward and wrapped my arms around his neck in a hug. His arms quickly went around my waist, tightly.

"I love you, Scar."