I grunted with exertion, clutching Ariah closer to my as I pushed our way through Adonis' front door. The house was silent upon entry, but as I shuffled further into the floor plan, I began to hear a sound of conflict. Fist against, leather - he was boxing without me. I cursed under my breath.
"You're late," he bellowed with annoyance when I hadn't even made my presence known. He must have heard me and not seen me, but his words hit my core. "When I ask you to be here, I expect you to -"
He paused once he saw I was holding my daughter. His eyes squinted and he stepped away from the punching bag, sweat adorning his forehead in a way that made my fingertips tingle. "I can explain."
He huffed out a sigh, "Baby Rue, you know my rule. I have nothing against her, you know that, but you can't mix her into this -" Ariah batted her thick eyelashes up at him innocently as she stuck a finger into her mouth. His irritation seemed to melt away from his shoulders in waves until his facial features relaxed completely. Adonis held out his tape-covered hands for her and I swallowed hard. "I'll hold her, you warm up."
"I'm sorry I'm late," I rattled off as I passed her over. "She had a diaper explosion and I had to give her a bath, which is why her hair is wet. She was sleeping on the way over here, or at least I thought she was." I peeled off my jacket and stepped into the area he was previously standing.
"You walked here?" I nodded. "By yourself?" Another nod. "With your toddler daughter?" He frowned. One thing about Adonis is no matter how upset he is with me, he still remains protective over me. He could cuss me out for hours but still make sure I was good; that's just the type of person he was. "I'm taking you two home when we're finished. I don't want either of you out this time of night by yourselves."
I began with push-ups - seventy five of them. Around push-up thirty four, I saw him sitting with her in his lap. Her eyes were tired but she was more than curious about her surroundings. She'd come with me to his house a handful of times but had never seen his in-home gym. Sitting in his lap, she looked more like him than I'd ever seen; genetics are weird.
"What time does she usually go to sleep?"
I grunted and raised up on my knees. "She's usually passed out by now. I guess she's being nosy, but you can tell she's sleepy."
He stood. "I'll go lay her on my bed. Tape your hands and start tossing out some combos, loosen yourself up."
"Night night, baby." I pressed a kiss into her forehead as the two of them passed by on their way out and removed my top shirt. "Thank you, Donny."
•••••
"Damn it," he cursed with a laugh, pressing the heel of his palm to his lip. "Ain't gotta hit me that hard, Baby Rue!"
"Sorry!" I sputtered an apology, blushed all kinds of red. Our sparring had gotten intense, but all in good fun. He got some nice hits in, and apparently I had gotten some even nicer hits in. I backed away and jogged into his kitchen at the first sight of blood. I yanked open his freezer door and grabbed a pack of frozen corn. "Here."
He hissed on contact, but his grin remained. "So much hostility." He sat on his barstool and panted. "Nice hit, though."
"Shut up," I laughed. I began unwrapping my hands; our night was obviously finished at the moment. I checked the time and it was only three in the morning - Ariah had been asleep this whole time. "How'd I do?"
"I think you're ready for your match in a few weeks. Just make sure you stay loose and on your toes."
I don't know who was injured worse: him or me. I had a purple bruise on my cheekbone and a deep pain in my ribcage, but from what I could see Adonis only had a busted lip. Unless he was just better at concealing his pain.
"You know I don't have a car seat for Ariah, right?"
He nodded with another chuckle. "Yeah, I only said that so you would stay. You two can go home in the morning." He held out his hand and I unwound the tape from his fist. "You can take my bedroom so you don't have to move her. I'll take the guest room." I swallowed hard at his statement; the last thing I wanted to do was be anywhere near that bedroom. The memories that bedroom held were bittersweet the say the least. I tried my hardest not to think and dwell on it because it meant absolutely nothing - but at the same time it meant everything to me because nine months later I was blessed with my ray of sunshine.
I showered first, if only to put off laying in that bed for as long as I could. He didn't offer his shower to me but I didn't care. He didn't offer his clothes to me but I didn't care. It wasn't until I sat up on his bed that I regretted coming out to train with him. My eyes trailed to the door and the movie from that night began to replay.
