Part eight
As Ares stepped out of the portal and into his shared penthouse with Clare, he dropped his helmet on the small end table and ran a hand through his hair. He needed to jump into the shower before Clare started to complain about him dragging dust and sweat into the house.
"Carry!" the god called, yanking his shirt over his head and balling it up.
Ares was met with silence.
"Babe, are we watching Birdie and Hayden tonight or was that for next week?" He turned for the stairs. "Camron?"
No response.
With a deep frown, Ares began to head upstairs. From the way the back of his neck prickled, he knew Clare was in the apartment. But she wasn't responding to him and that was never a good sign. Ares began to mentally check to see if he had forgotten a date or missed any important meeting Clare may have asked him to accompany her to.
The bedroom door was wide open as the god walked down the hall and spotted Clare sitting at the edge of the bed. Her head was lowered and she stared at something in her hands, her back straight as a needle.
"Hey," Ares said, walking in and tossing his shirt in the laundry bin. "I've been calling you."
Clare did not move. Her silence was beginning to grow a knot in the pit of the god's stomach as he peered at her, trying to see past her thick dark hair.
"Clare?" Ares stepped forward. "Babe."
Ever so slowly, Clare lowered her hands and looked up.
Her wild gray eyes were drawing in sorrow and tears. Her lips quivered and her breathing labored as she lifted her gaze to Ares and started to cry.
"What's wrong?" Ares immediately rushed over to her side and kneeled.
Clare looked down at her hand and held up the small white stick she had been holding.
"It's negative," she said, her voice a broken whisper.
Ares felt his chest tighten and his insides coil. He placed his hands over her and slipped the small test out, not wanting to look at it himself.
"Do you want to take another one?" He asked, looking at the box on the nightstand table.
"No," Clare shook her head.
"These things are not always accurate, right?" Ares tossed the stick onto the bed and reached for the box. "Take another one and se-"
"I took four already!" Clare jumped up and pushed Ares' hand away. "They're all the same. They're all negative."
"Clare, we c-" Ares looked up at her, trying to reach for her hand.
"We can keep trying?" Clare said. "Is that what you're going to say?"
Ares shut his mouth.
"We keep trying!" Clare pushed her hands into her hair and tugged at her roots. "Over and over and over. But nothing is happening!"
Seeing the tears run down her cheeks, the knot in Ares' chest tripled its size. Clare had all the rights to be frustrated. Ever since they decided they wanted a baby, they had been trying nonstop. But every month that damn test came back negative and they repeated the same cycle of tears and anger all over again.
Rising to his feet, Ares walked over to Clare and took her face in between his hands. He pulled her closer and gazed down at her eyes, using his thumb to wipe off the hot tears.
"We're going to have a baby," he said to her. "I swear it."
Clare's eyes watered all over.
"She's going to be beautiful just like her mother," Ares leaned down and kissed away the tears before they could run down her face. "And strong, and loving, and smart, and brave, and stubborn."
