Baby

Chapter 14

Life is unpredictable, it changes with the seasons, even your coldest winter, happens for the best of reasons, and though it feels eternal, like all you'll ever do is freeze, i promise spring is coming, and with it, brand new leaves.
- e.h

I stand behind Aries, eyeing the women in front of us. She walks over to us quickly, causing me to step back in fear. I quickly turn and bolt out the door, running into the first door I see. I quickly shut the door behind me, panting as I tried to calm down.

I lean my forehead against the door, catching my breath. I didn't mean to panic, but seeing that lady who looks just like me freaked me out. I thought I was ready to meet my family, but I guess I wasn't.

"What are you doing here?" I hear a deep voice say it from behind me. I gasped, turning around quickly to see a tall, muscular man with graying hair. I stare at him wide-eyed, my mouth opening and closing as I try to come up with an answer to give him.

Before I can come up with an answer to tell the man, the door opens up again behind me. I turn around to see who came in to see Aries with a worried look on his face. "Baby, are you okay?" He asks me as he comes over, pulling me to his chest. I nod, telling him I'm okay. The man behind me clears his throat, bringing our attention to him. "Pop," Aries says, nodding to the man behind us.

I look between the two of them, confused. Aries looks back down at me. "Baby, this is my dad; dad, this is Baby," he says, introducing us. I look from Aries to the man, wide-eyed, not knowing what to say. I stick my hand out for a handshake, remembering Viola teaching me that the man blinks at me, his face softening as he takes my hand in his larger one, shaking it.

Once we pull away, Aries dad nods to us before leaving suddenly, causing me to frown, but I don't think too much about it. Aries turns to me. "I sent your mom away," he tells me. I frown at him, wondering why he did that. "When is she coming back?" I ask him, confused but still wanting to meet her.

He looks down at me, confused. "I thought you didn't want to see her," he tells me, confused. I shake my head at him and say, "No, I do want to; I just got scared." I tell him, and he nods in understanding, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"Well, she left her number, so you can talk to her when you are ready." I nod, leaning my head against his chest. We pull apart and head out the door. He leads me down to the lounge and to the bar, lifting me to sit on the stool before taking a seat next to me. He waves his hand in the air, causing me to look at him, confused.

"What are you doing?" I ask him, confused, and he smiles at me. "I'm getting us a drink," he tells me as a man comes over. "What can I get you, prez?" the man asks him, "a whiskey, and" he pauses for a second, glancing at me before back to the man, "a strawberry mocktail." The man nods and walks away.

Aries turns back to me. "I'm sorry for how my pops acted," he apologizes. I shake my head, dismissing his apology. "That's okay; he seemed nice," I tell him, giving him a small smile. Aries scoffs, "You're the only person to ever call him nice." I'm about to reply, but before I can, the man comes back with our drinks, setting a light red drink in front of me.

I glance at Aries before hesitantly grabbing my glass and bringing the rainbow straw to my lips, taking a sip. My eyes widen at the taste as I start taking gulps of the delicious liquid. I hear Aries chuckle beside me, causing me to turn red and stop drinking, sitting it down on the table.

"Baby," I hear Aries call me. I turn to him. "Your mom told me something's about you after you left," he tells me slowly. I nod, waiting for him to continue. "She told me what your real name is," he tells me. I frown in confusion. "What do you mean?" I ask him.

"Apparently, when you were born, she couldn't think of a name for you right away, so while you were in the nursery, she thought of you, but when she finally decided, you were gone." Aries tells me the story, causing me to be shocked into silence as I process what he said.

After a minute, I finally ask him, "Then what's my real name?" Aries smiles at me, brushing my hair back from my face before answering.

"Nova"

He tells me I smile to myself at the name "it's pretty." I tell him, and he nods, smiling back at me. We sit in silence, both in our own thoughts, as we finish our drinks me much faster than him.

I climb off the stool, moving to Aries and standing in front of him in between his legs. He wraps his arms around my waist, pushing his head into my neck. I wrap my arms around his neck, holding him. We stand in each other's embrace for a minute before he pulls back.

"Let's head home now; you've had a long day," he tells me, standing up and leading me back to the apartment. "We should shower," he suggests to me. I nod, and we both head to separate bathrooms.

Once I'm finished showering and putting my pajamas on, I head back to the living room, seeing Aries already there, waiting. He sits on the couch in boxers, his strong, tattooed chest bare.

I squeeze my thighs together as my face turns red before walking over. I climb into his lap, sitting sideways, as I run my finger along his chest, outlining his tattoos. Aries wraps his arms around my waist as he looks for a movie for us to watch on the TV.

He finally settles on a movie about a man who talks to animals. We watch together for a while, with me giggling at the TV when something funny happens. I lean my face against his chest as I begin to get tired. Aries rubs my back as I listen to his heartbeat.

I'm awaken I feel Aries moving suddenly, lifting me up in bridal style. "Shhh, go back to sleep," he says to me softly. I lean my head back against his chest and go back to sleep to the sound of his heart beating again.

************************************

I'm woken up once again in bed when I hear a loud noise. I jump as the door opens up, and Aries comes in already dressed. I look at him confused since it's still dark out. "Come on, come on," he says, pulling me out of the apartment quickly. He leads me into the clubhouse, where another lady is sitting on the couch. "Stay here," he tells me before leaving abruptly.

I walk over to her and sit next to her. She gives me a smile. "What's happening?" I ask her, afraid. "There's another club attacking." She answers before I can start asking more questions. She is quick to reassure me. "Don't worry, the men are out handling it."

I nod, not saying anything as I listen to the strange bangs and yelling happening outside. "I'm Lola, Blaze's old lady," she tells me. "I'm Baby," I say, holding my hand out for her. We both sit and listen to what's happening outside for a while until it's quiet.

The door opens suddenly, and a few men crowd inside, some with cuts and beat-up faces. One man catches my eye as his stomach bleeds against the hand he holds over it. He sits down on the couch across from us. Doc rushes over to the man and starts helping him.

I look around for Aries, not seeing him. I'm about to get up and ask someone when the door opens again and he walks in. I quickly walk over to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and hugging him, relieved. "Are you okay?" I ask him once I step back, and he nods, telling me he is fine before moving to help the other men.

(Authors note:
The name Nova means hope)
1437 words