Grim

12

"Tell us about yourself," Diane encouraged as she passed the macaroni to Ariela. They, along with Xander, we're sitting across from Azias and me. I would've thought that Diane would want to sit at one of the heads of the table, but she left those two seats empty and chose to sit with her daughter instead.

"Uh," I breathed shyly. "What would you like to know?"

Sensing my nervousness, Azias placed his hand on top of mine and gently caressed it, drastically easing my nerves. I looked up at him, and he offered a warm smile, which, in turn, got me to smile as well.

Ariela eagerly asked, "Age, background, what you like about Reaper-"

Azias cut her off by asking, "Want her social security number too? Besides, she calls me Azias."

"Oop!" Their mother teased as she smiled warmly at me.

Ariela playfully rolled her eyes, and I smiled a bit to myself before answering, "I'm 21. I study Psychology at Boston College, but I was taking a gap year before this whole disaster happened. I was born in Brooklyn, and that's pretty much where I lived all my life."

"How did you meet my son?" Diane asked me, and I grew nervous again. How could I tell her all of the events which led to me meeting Azias? She'd hate me for sure!

"She was at one of my dance clubs," Azias answered. "It would be nice if you could pass the macaroni pie, Big Head."

"Shut up," Ariela chuckled before sharing out some of the macaroni pie for herself and Xander. She then passed it to me, and I took some before passing it to Azias. "I remember the last time I went to visit Azias, Mom, and he couldn't keep his eyes off her."

Azias shyly looked away, and I found myself smiling as I watched him.

"With all that went down, Azias and I got separated. I went to one of his safe houses while he tried to track down the threat. We lost a lot of time together, but I'm grateful to be here with him right now," I lightly smiled. "There's a lot I like about him, but the top three would have to be his sense of humor, care, and self."

"What do you mean by that?" Ariela asked.

Azias joked, "Now she's Drewski. I just can't keep up!"

"Sometimes I forget that you're the older sibling," Ariela rolled her eyes, and I found myself smiling even more from their dynamic.

I went on to explain, "I like that he knows who he is and isn't out here pretending to be something he isn't. I like that he cares about what I have to say and tries to protect me as well, and I like that I can always have a great laugh with him, no matter the severity of the situation. I know that even when times are bad, there will be enjoyable moments when he's around."

Azias connected eyes with me as he continued caressing my hand, and the look he gave me made me grow shy. His eyes were so sweet, and I just couldn't handle all the emotions it made me feel.

"So...when should I expect my grandchildren?" Diane asked, taking me by complete surprise.

Children had been a very touchy subject of mine ever since I made the decision I did. I had only spoken in positive light about it when Azias and I had rekindled and were day dreaming about the future. I definitely wanted children with him— just after this threat.

"Uh..." I answered, and Ariela and Diane chuckled.

I knew that they were only being curious and silly in asking, but my mind couldn't stop drifting off. I was thinking about the day I went through with the abortion and how much I had cried. Even though I had gotten medication in the event that I would have to abort the child, I never wanted to. Arriving at the safe house and seeing the possibility of raising a child had given me so much hope. I knew it would be a strain on our resources, but it would have still been sustainable. Two children though? Two pregnant women? We didn't have enough for that. That day was probably the day that I had lost all hope. Azias not showing up at the safe house wasn't even a surprise to me, because I had already been expecting the worst from life. Really, his absence was the cherry on top.

It wasn't the abortion that made me sad. It was the hope and love that grew and left. However, that loss made me love Pharaoh even more. I didn't think of the sacrifices made whenever I saw him. I just thought about his beauty and what he stood for in such a chaotic, lonely time: hope. Even if I had lost all hope, I found the will to fight for him more than myself when we were under attack.

"How about we have that conversation when the threat's taken care of?" Azias responded, and I found myself slipping back into reality. I had been drifting away again. I didn't even know if further conversation had been held. I just knew that Azias' voice brought me back.

"Okay," Diane nodded, and just when I thought that her interview would be over, she asked, "Are you two in love?"

"Ma!" Ariela chuckled while playfully hitting her mother's shoulders. "Boundaries!"

Diane chuckled, but I could tell from the curiosity in her eyes that she still wanted an answer.

Azias turned to me and apologized, "I'm sorry if she's making you uncomfortable. She can be a bit of a trouble maker."

"I'm right here, you know!" Diane laughed lightly. She didn't give off any weird energy. I knew she was just curious, but her questions were very personal— especially the last two.

"It's okay," I politely responded. "I need to use the bathroom."

I excused myself from the table and calmly walked to the room that Azias and I had been sharing. I entered the bathroom inside the room and splashed some water on my face.

As I dried my face with a paper towel, I heard the room door open, and it wasn't before long that Azias had made it into the bathroom with me.

"Hey, are you okay?" he gently asked, and I nodded. He wrapped his arms around my waist and explained, "My mom meant no harm back there. She likes teasing. It's kind of our family dynamic."

I offered a quick smile as I replied, "It's okay, Zy."

"I noticed that you froze when she asked about kids,"  he brought up. "I just wanted to check on you. I know things have been hard for you, and I just wanna let you know that I'm here for you."

I sweetly smiled, "I appreciate it. Thank you!"

He smooched my lips before saying, "I love you, just in case you forgot."

"How could I ever?" I teased with a wide grin on my face, and he smiled widely as well. I wrapped my arms around his neck and went on my tippy toes to connect his lips with mine. "I love you too."

He teased, "I know."

I chuckled, "You be acting all tough and what not but you're a little softy too."

"What can I say? I have a really soft spot for you," he shrugged.

I smiled widely from ear to ear as I let him know, "I have a really soft spot for you too."

"Not true," he disagreed, making me frown.

"How you telling me?" I asked.

He chuckled, "Cause it ain't one soft spot."

Not following where he was going with this, I questioned, "What do you mean?"

"You have multiple soft spots. I know cause I be hitting them every time you tell me you ain't it deeper," he chuckled, and I rolled my eyes as I looked away. "And then there's your sweet spot on your neck. I'd call that a soft spot too."

It was then that I realized that I hadn't yet found his sweet spot. This guy knew every way to please me, but I couldn't say the same...

"Whatever floats your boat, marshmallow," I smiled, and he chuckled.

He then teased, "If you want that gangsta shit, just say that then. I don't gotta be sweet."

I burst out laughing, "No, I love the mixture!"

I liked that one minute he could be choking me out while fucking the life out of me, and then next he could be passionately making love to me. I liked that sometimes he was dark and mysterious and other times he was lively and sweet. His completely opposite sides kept me on my toes and made him even more interesting. I felt like there was so much to him that I had left to learn, and vice versa.