ALANA

91

ALANA

"Momma!" My son squeals, running across the parking lot as soon as Griffin takes him out of his seat. I kneel and catch him in a hug, almost falling backwards.

"Careful bud." Ares says as he answers a phone call and steps away.

"I missed you so much." I kiss Ace's beautiful silky hair.

"I wove you." he whispers making smile. I pull him back to look at his pretty face.

"Did you have fun baby?" I ask him, brushing back his hair. He nods excitedly.

"Sí, I saw wabbits and squiwals and twees!" He exclaims in his cute little baby voice. "And we got icecweam and and cheese fwies." his eyes widen for effect. I smile at his enthusiasm.

All these words with r's against my poor baby.

"That's so wonderful honey, did you miss momma like she missed you?" I ask him to which he nods quickly. He probably didn't not since he's only 2 so its okay.

"It's only been a few hours Lana, don't make me feel bad." Griffin comments as I pat the corners of my eyes. I laugh.

"No it's just me being dramatic, I am a little emotional today." I brush off as I pick up my child. Ares comes back, his stance a little tense and rigid. I look at him questioningly.

"Oh everything okay?" he asks softly. I smile at his concern.

"Yes she's fine." Ares quickly dismisses his tone sharp and a tad loud. I just give Griff a confused smile.

"Thankyou for taking him out today Griff, you know how much he loves these one on one days with you and the guys." I smile at him greatfully. "Acey did you say grazie to Zio Griffin for the wonderful day?" I ask him.

"Grazie Zio Gwiffin." Ace gives him a huge cheesy smile making the two if us laugh. Ares just stands there looking distracted.

"Youre welcome Ace, let's do it again sometime." he fist bumps our son. We say our goodbyes then I get Ace settled into his car seat, taking out the sanitizer from the console, I spray some on his hands.

"Rub your hands together like this." I show him and he quickly copies.

"All cleann" he sings making me giggle and boop his little nose.

"Where Batman?" Ace asks just as Ares comes towards us. I open his bag, fishing out the rather large action figure of Batman and handing it to him. He loves Batman. His last birthday was Batman themed.

"Hey what was that about." I turn to him, motioning towards the area we stood in with Griffin minutes ago. Ares very rarely talks that fast, his replies are usually lax and collected.

"What do you mean?" he asks, buckling up the car seat.

"When Griff asked if everything was okay, you seemed to jump the gun. You know, the response was a little hurried for you." I shrug.

"I did not jump the gun. Are you not fine?" he asks, his eyes tense.

I frown with confusion. He was perfectly fine just 10 minutes ago. But he seems distant all of a sudden.

"I am fine, and I was not trying to offend you, just asking if you were okay." I say, trying to avoid talking when he is clearly not in the mood to.

"If there is a problem then talk about it now, do not bring it up later when I am busy." he says, a little harshly, his tone clipped and dismissive.

My heart drops a little. What is with him? His mood pivoted 180 degrees and I have no clue why.

Before I can respond, his phone rings again and he rolls his eyes, walking away to answer it. He almost never takes phone calls when we're on dates or out with Ace. I did think it odd that he did earlier but I do not mind because I know he's not in a habit of it. I just wish he would talk to me if something I said made him upset.

"Is daddy going?" Ace asks, watching his father walk away from the car.

"No baby he's just talking on the phone for a minute okay?" I tell him to which he nods.

I decide to sit in the car while I wait for Ares to finish his call. I was getting a little tired.

"Did you eat the lunch I packed you amore?" I ask my son.

"Sí mama, I eat all of it, it was vewy yummy." he says proudly, making me smile. His little errors in grammar don't bother me. Mama said it is common in kids who are bilingual. Ace speaks both Italiano and English. Well sort of, he's still learning.

For lunch, I packed him a bologna and cheese sandwich, a blueberry muffin and a juice box. If he ate that, the cheese fries and icecream then he should be good on food.

"Thankyou darling. So you aren't hungry?" I ask him.

"N-nope!" he says happily, making wooshing noises as he makes batman fly around.

"Good, we'll get milkshakes when daddy comes back and if you're hungry you can ask for something else aswell okay?" I say to him. He gives an okay then continues playing.

"I wove milkshakes." he squeals making me snicker.

"Me too."

We sit in the car and we wait. And wait. And wait. 30 minutes go by and Ares still does not come back. Jeez how long can a phone call possibly take. I look to the back and see that Ace has fallen asleep. Poor baby.

After another 15 minutes, I see Ares finally walking towards the car so I unlock it, he gets in, his aura telling of his anger.

"Is everything okay? You seem stressed." I ask in a soft tone as he starts to drive.

"Fine." he dismisses. Again.

I just shrug. I cannot decide if I should leave it be or try again. I mean he did leave us in the car for 45 minutes and did not even offer a reason. He doesn't have to explain himself but its not like him to stay so quite.

"Are you sure? Maybe I can help."

"Alana I said I am fine. Just stop asking." He says, his voice is loud. Loud enough just I feel myself jump a little. I cannot remember the last time he raised his voice at me like this and dismissed me for no reason. Not since Ace was born.

I worked on this in therapy. When I feel anxious because someone raises their voice, I should count on my fingers. It really helps with my anxiety and the sharp stomachache that comes with it.

I look at the side of Ares' face. His jaw is clenched, his grip on the wheel tight. My eyes sting with tears.

I feel myself become sad at his behavior. Now I can't help but think this is about our baby conversation from earlier. Maybe not entirely but I am sure that is part of it.

Sigh.

AN:

Im sorry they're fighting already again. But dont worry its just married people stuff... kinda.

Also, the plot for the book is over. Now, they are just learning to overcome obstacles of married life and be good parents. For everyone asking, I don't know when the book will end. I just enjoy writing about these characters so I do it 🤷🏻‍♀️