Blood Money - The Sequel

•37•

"It's okay.. I'm right here." You say softly, rubbing Daniels back with your palm as he cries quietly.
He decided to tell his parents that he's gay last night.. and they look it less than graciously.
I don't understand.. how could you do that to your own child. How could you abandon them when they need you the most. Why even be a parent if you're not going to love them unconditionally?
"They're so disappointed in me." He cries.
"Hey Daniel can you-" Haz walks into the room and stops mid sentence when he sees what's going on.
"I'm sorry- I'm sorry." Daniel apologizes, wiping his face quickly and looking up to Haz to see what needs to be done.
"Is everything okay? What's going on?" Haz asks.
"I'm fine, what needs to be done sir?" He asks.
Haz takes a seat in the chair across from us, giving Daniel a concerned look.
"Nothing Daniel, nothing needs to be done right now." He shakes his head.
"You can tell him. I promise." I whisper to Daniel, who looks at me with his bloodshot green eyes, not knowing if he should open up again. He's scared.
"I Uh- I'm-" Daniel stutters, squeezing his eyes shut. "I'm gay."
Haz simply looks between the two of us, not understanding why Daniel would cry over it. Although he doesn't realize what happened with his parents.
"Good for you kid, I'm glad you could tell me that" Haz says and Daniels eyes lift to look at him.
"You don't care?" He asks.
"No, not really." Haz shakes his head. "Is someone else giving you a hard time?"
"Yeah. My parents." Daniel almost laughs.
"Parents are.. tough. They'll come around, but for now you've got all our support. Proud you could tell us that kid." Haz smiles.
"I- I'm going to go get cleaned up and get to work." Daniel says as he stands up.
"See you around, let me know if I can help." Haz pats his shoulder as he walks out.
I pat the seat next to me, and Haz sits down, putting his arm around me.
"You are perfect. You're going to make an amazing dad." I say.
"The kid just needed a pep talk." Haz shrugs.
"Haz he's been crying for an hour.. you fixed it in five minuets." I state.
"I can't imagine ever treating my kid poorly over something so stupid" he shakes his head.
"Even if your kid was born with an elephant trunk?" I ask.
"Even if he's born with an elephant trunk." Haz nods.
"What about if he had a rat tail?" I ask.
"Yes Ari, id love him even if he had a rat tail." He laughs.
"What about-"
"I've got to get to work Aria" he giggles, kissing my head.
"Even if he's eight feet tall?" I call as he walks out.
"We're both under six foot that's not going to happen!" He calls back.
___
I sit on my bed, laptop open and searching for things to fill the nursery. I already picked out the big things like a crib, rocking chair, and changing table. Now I get to have fun with picking out room decor and clothes.
I took the elephant theme Tom started with the mobile and ran with it. I decided the room is going to be grey and blue, and elephant themed. Our little boy is going to have the cutest room ever.
"Definitely this one" I mutter to myself, adding the sail boat outfit set to my cart.
"What are you doing?" Tom asks, plopping down on the couch next to me as I shop.
"Buying things" I say.
"So now that we know the baby is a boy.. I'm thinking you should name him Tom?" He suggests and I laugh.
"Never in a million years" I say.
"Oh cmon! It's a good name!" He exclaims.
"No Thomas." I laugh. "I like Todd."
"Like the fucking fox and the hound? Are you serious?!" He asks.
"It's cute." I shrug.
Haz walks in and Tom scoffs.
"Listen to this, my dumb sister wants to name the kid Todd." Tom says.
Haz cringes at me and I frown.
"You don't like it?" I ask.
"Not at all." He shakes his head. "It's an old man name."
"Oh and Harrison isn't?!" I say sassily.
"Why do you think I get called Haz!" He laughs.
I continue my online shopping, nudging Tom off of me.
Okay.. maybe the hormones are starting to kick in a bit. I'm finally starting to feel my pregnancy and i want it to go away.
"Someone's moody" Tom says and you glare at him. He's quick to excuse himself and leave for his office.
"How about Lucas?" Haz suggests as he takes the spot Tom was sitting in.
"Lucas sounds like a dirty teenager." I shake my head.
"Okay.. liam?" He asks.
"Is our baby in one direction? I don't think so." I say.
"What about.. Hmm.. Noah?"
You think on that name for a moment, saying it out loud to test it out. It just feels right.. it feels like that's your baby's name.
"That's it. That's the name.." I smile.
"It is?" He grins.
"Yeah.. and I have the perfect idea for his middle name too."
We decide on the name, and decide to keep it a secret until the last month. It'll be hard to not tell anyone, but for now I need to head over to the new house and get measurements for the nursery.
"Sneak out, fuck Tom." I say.
"Darlin I can't just leave in the middle of work" he laughs.
"Shame, guess I'll just have to go to that house filled with big sweaty men all on my own" I sigh dramatically.
"Fine. You win. Let's go." He groans and I smile proudly. I drive my Lambo to the new house, punching in the code to drive in through the gate. I notice the work trucks parked everywhere, must be everyone doing the renovations.
"I'll meet you inside, just gotta take this call" Haz says.
I walk inside, greeting the working men as I pass them, that is until I get to one specific person.
"Aria Keenan? Is that you?"
He hops off the ladder and my eyes widen, stepping back from him.
"What in the world are you doing here mark?" I ask.
Mark is someone I never thought I'd see again.. when my mother got into her accident, I was desperate for money.. he offered me a deal. He paid my mums hospital bills in exchange for.. me. He got me a few nights a week.. did whatever he wanted with me. Course I didn't really like it all that much, but being desperate for money and lonely I did it anyways.
"Working on the house of course" he says. "Hey how's your mother doing?"
Haz walks up, putting his arm around my waist, having no clue who this man is.
"She died a few months back.." I say and mark gives me a sympathetic look.
"I'm so sorry Aria." He says.
"So.. how do you two know each other?" Haz asks.
For the love of god please don't say it Mark.
"We have a long history" Mark says.
Course Haz doesn't think much about it.. Mark is older. He never would expect that anything happened with him.
"Yeah well it was good to see you." I say quickly, pulling Haz away to the nursery.
I shut the door, pulling out the measuring tape and taking the measurements I need.
"Darling?" Haz says.
"Hmm?" I hum.
"Are you okay? Who was that guy?" He asks.
Sometimes I wish I could have a poker face like the other guys, I hate that I wear my heart on my sleeve. Haz can always tell when something's bothering me and normally that's a good thing, but right now it's not. The last thing I want is for my boyfriend to know I was a fucking prostitute.