Play House

Chapter Twenty One: Ace

It's been a little over a year since I've seen Aurora and I still think about her daily. I drove past her house to see Nova and Otto in the front yard with a child. And when I looked upstairs to see if I could see if she was in her room It was decorated with children decor. She had moved out. Which meant I had no idea where she was and would never see her again. I am finally accepting that and trying to move on. I tried to fall in love with Layla after our child was born thinking the child would form a romantic connection between us but it just didn't. Layla got a boyfriend and he's been very jealous of me even though we've both assured him I'm not over my ex. He doesn't seem to care nor trust me around Layla. Recently Layla's been ignoring his calls and not responding to his texts. I unlock the door and sit down on the sofa. She's on the phone and she looks annoyed. "Okay well this isn't going to work, he's my child's father. And nothing more. Were literally fucking friends, and theres no trust here. Goodbye.'' She hangs up the phone and sighs, turning to look over at me. "Any success?" I shake my head. "None." She gives me an apologetic look. She stands up and walks into the kitchen. "Spaghetti for dinner by the way, it's my day to cook. And Luca needs to be picked up from daycare in an hour." I stand up nodding. "Sounds good to me." She gives me another look of pity seeing how upset I am. "I'll be okay, I promise." She smiles at me. "What about you? You just broke up with your boyfriend." She tilts her head back laughing and I can't tell if she's going to have a breakdown or if she's genuinely laughing. "Oh my god Ace, I was with him for the sex, I hated him honestly." I smack my forehead and grab my car keys. Throughout the year Layla and I have become best friends basically telling each other almost everything. We tried a relationship when luca was bored but neither of us could do it. Luca doesn't seem to mind that we are just friends and raising him together because to him his parents are happy and not arguing and under the same roof. I pull out of the parking garage and make my way towards Luca's daycare. When I pull into the daycare parking lot I park and walk inside. The secretary checks him out and goes back to grab him. He's only about 6 months old now and is very rambunctious. He smiles and wiggles his fingers. I pick him up and kiss his forehead. "Hey buddy." I kissed him on the forehead, waving goodbye.

When I arrived back home unlocking the door Layla was sitting at the counter watching something on her  phone. She looked up smiling, taking Luca out of my hands. "Hi baby, how are you?" She kissed him, placing him in the play pin. He giggles and crawled towards a toy picking it up and shaking it above his head. He's a very peaceful baby, easy to entertain, and not very much of a crier thank god. Layla plates the spaghetti and sets it on the counter. "So is this going to become a yearly thing? You driving past the old home hoping to see her?" I turn to look at Layla and shrug my shoulders. "I don't know Lay... maybe. She's my soulmate. I can feel it in my heart, I can't just give up." She smiles and nods. "I think you should, it's romantic... but also kind of creepy." She shoves a fork full of spaghetti into her mouth laughing. I shake my head and continue to eat. I will find Aurora even if it's the death of me. Even if I don't find her 80 years from now. I will find her.

I place the dishes in the sink and begin cleaning them. Luca fell asleep in the play pin so Layla is putting him in his crib. She comes back out with a huge smile on her face. I know whatever she's about to suggest isn't going to be good. "What?" She shrugs. "What if she's around here somewhere?" I shrug because that would make it harder to find her. "I don't know... Layla that would be a huge coincidence... She is moving 45 minutes away from her family." Layla shrugs "You'll find her ace.. When it's meant to be it will always be." I smile at her and she laughs. "I'm so poetic, what can I say!" She throws her hands up in the air walking away "Good night Ace!" I laugh "Goodnight Layla sleep well see you in the morning!" She turns around and does finger guns! "Of course!" I laugh she's so cringey. I climb into bed. I opened instagram. "Aurora Diago" I type into the search bar. An instagram pops up with a photo of her smiling with a baby in her hand. I click on her profile and click on the pinned post. It's the same photo as her profile pic and it's captioned. "Welcoming my beautiful niece into the world, a new chapter in my sister's life has been unlocked and I couldn't be more happy for her." I scroll through her posts, their all quotes about relationships, with the occasional post of her. She's holding keys in front of an apartment. So she did move. "New home, new beginnings." That was 9 months after I left. I shut my phone off placing it on my nightstand and roll over and fall asleep. I'm going to find that girl... my girl.