Ari's Little Voice

5 Months Later

Marco POV

i just got off the phone with my sister. she says the baby is due on the 23rd of next month so she will be here shortly before that. hopefully. Layla had to leave only a week after Arias first words (with us at least). we still haven't figured out who the bad man is or what happened before we took her in, but for now we are just thankful to hear her speak to us. In the passed couple of months Aria has advanced in her vocabulary,

flashback
*Mo get me water? Mo get water for Ari? pees*

we got official word from the doctor saying, somehow, she has start over.

flashback
*it's almost like someone hit reset on her age. All of her old knowledge is still there it's just... hidden.*

and she will always be a baby at heart now,
which i'm fine with. Oh yeah.. also i've taken on the role of her Daddy.

flashback
*"Can i be your Carer baby? would you like that?" she violently shakes her head and clings to me. "Daddy daddy!!" well.. we have spent the past couple of months together, in which i've been caring for her and such. so why not just get confirmation?*

Aria is the sweetest thing. she always wants to help and be right by my side and if i ever tell her to go play.. she just runs along. she's such a good baby. i'm a lucky man to have her. And she was extra happy to get all of her things over to my house in my spare bedroom. she says it's huge and "too big" for her. but two months later and she'll barely leaves it, even for me!
We have been keeping Layla updated and shes been doing the same for us with the baby. every time i bring her up, Ari rambles on in baby talk for about half an hour. she's just so ready for a real baby that she can play with. it's gonna be hard to tell her, when the time comes, that she can't really play with the baby for a couple of months. not until she's big enough like her, at least 2.
I don't realize how lost in my thoughts I am until my little girl appears next to me at my desk, tugging on my shirt
"yes baby? i'm sorry i was just thinking about you, actually" she giggles and climbs up onto me with something in her hand
"can Daddy see?" without thinking, she gives me the note between her fingers. it has "bad man" sloppily written on it. oh shit.
Quickly walking to the living room i set aria down on the couch and turn the volume up pretty loud on the tv. she covers her ears and pouts to me, okay okay. sensitive thing.
once i believe that she is pretty distracted by the movie, i phone my sister and tell her about the note. just as a precaution. Layla tells me that it's probably just hidden memories that she doesn't understand so she writes them out, maybe. I would hate to risk it talking to Aria about it. it could scare her back to silence, but i say screw it and ask anyways.
sitting next to her, i turn off the tv and pull her onto my lap
"Hey pretty girl" i pull the note out from my hand while she hugs me tight
"can you tell me about this? I just need to know" she looks at it like she's never seen it before in her life, and shrugs.
"use your big girl words please."
"i no big girl... i babyyy" she laughs and slips off my lap, running to play. i guess that's better then silence or crying.