Baby

Chapter 8

And then I realized that to be more alive
I had to be less afraid, so I did it
I lost my fear and gained my whole life
-Ruby Francisco

I giggle at George the monkey as I wait for Aries to wake up. I take another bite of my cookie crisp that Aries showed me how to make while watching TV.

"Baby?" I jump when I hear a voice behind me. I turn, smiling at Aries. He looks confused at me, glancing at the clock on the wall. "It's five in the morning. Why are you awake?" I frown at him, confused and shrugging.

I hear him sigh before the couch dips next to me. I crawl over to him in my nightgown and into his lap, sitting on him. He wraps his arms around my waist as I lean back onto him, watching TV. "We are going to do a DNA test today," he tells me after we sit in silence for a few minutes.

I turn my head to look at him. "What's that?" Looking at the hair growing on his face around his mouth. I turn around to face him, reaching up and rubbing it as it prickles my hand. He sits stiffly, letting me rubs his face as he answers my question. "A DNA test will help us find your family," he tells me.

I nod, looking into his eyes as he looks down at me, slowly leaning down till we are an inch apart. My eyes close as I feel his lips brush against mine. I lean up against him, pushing my lips against his harder and kissing him. He grips my waist tightly as he kisses me softly.

I pull back as I run out of breath, leaning my head on his chest and listening to his fast-beat heart. We sit in silence again, both of us breathing heavily, before he breaks it. "Do you want to go into town today?" He asks me, and I look up at him quickly, excited.

He chuckles. "Is that a yes?" I nod quickly, climbing off his lap. "I'm going to get ready," I tell him, running to my room to get dressed.

After we finish getting ready, we head out on Aries's motorcycle. We stop after a while of driving in front of a building. Aries stops the bike before getting off and turns to help me off. I skip besides Aries as I walk to the building and inside, with Aries following.

I find people sitting at tables inside with a yummy smell circulating around the room. I let Aries lead me to a table and sit down with him sitting across from me. "Where are we?" I ask him, looking around, "We are getting breakfast; it's dinner." He tells me, grabbing a folded piece of paper off the table and looking through it.

I jump when a woman suddenly appears beside us. "Hi, what can I get you today?" She asked, holding a book of paper and a pencil. Aries lists off some things, and she writes them down before leaving. We talk until she comes back a few minutes later with plates of food and two drinks.

We eat the food consisting of pancakes, eggs, bacon, toast, and fruit before leaving and getting back on Aries's motorcycle, driving further down the road. He parks the bike again, and we get off, walking down the sidewalk past the stores. I jump closer to him when men walk by us, grabbing his hand. He squeezes my hand comfortably as we continue to walk.

He guides me into a store that seems to be a motorcycle shop for motorcycle stickers and other accessories. We walk around looking for a few minutes before he chooses something, leading us to a table where a man stands behind them. They talk as I look at the colorful stuff surrounding the counter.

I smile when I see the familiar brown paper grabbing it. I head over to Aries, tapping him as he still talks to the man. He turns to me, and I hold up the package, pointing to the familiar picture. "That's a Hershey bar. Do you want it?" He asks, grabbing it as I nod.

He gives the man the green paper, and the man gives him a bag. When we get back outside the store, he reaches into the bag, pulling out the candy. He opens it and hands it to me, watching as I quickly eat it. We walk down the street, talking and walking into a few stores.

I stop as we pass one store, looking at the beautiful dress in the window of the store. Aries stops next to me, looking at it, and says, "Do you like that dress? Its very pretty." I nod, still staring at it. "Okay, lets go buy it," he says, tugging me through the door. We buy the dress, then continue walking down the street for a while, eating lunch and dinner at small restaurants, till we head back home.

When we get back, we drop the bags off at Aries House before heading to the club. Aries leads me through the lounge and up the stairs, nodding to a few men on the way before opening a door that looks like a medical room.

A man stands on the side of the room, tapping at a computer. "Hey man," Aries says, leading me over to the man. The man looks up and greets Aries back before turning to me. "Hi sweetheart, I'm Doc." I look at him before sticking out my hand for a handshake.

He chuckles, shaking my hand. "Nice to meet you; I'm Baby." He greets me back before nodding to the table. "Why don't you sit down, and I'll get started?" I nod and walk over to the table, sitting down. He grabs a stick of something and a tube before walking over and standing in front of me.

Aries walks over, standing next to me, his hand resting on the small of my back. Doc pulls on something white on his hands before grabbing the stick. "Okay, all you need to do is open your mouth, and I'll rub this on the inside of your cheek," he tells me gently. I nod, opening my mouth.

He sticks it into my mouth, and I feel a soft, dry thing rub in my mouth. A few times, I look into his eyes as I wait for him to finish. When he looks up, catching my eyes, he takes it out and sticks it into the tube. "There, it's done," he says, sitting the tube on the table. He turns back to me, looking at my eyes again with furrowed eyebrows.

"Why are you looking at her like that?" Aries growls next to me, his hand gripping my waist as he steps closer to me. "Hold on," Doc says, walking to the table, grabbing something, and walking back over. "I'm going to shine this light into your eyes, okay?" He says, and I nod, confused.

"Why?" Aries asks for me as Doc points the light into my left eye. Doc looks at it for a minute before pulling back and holding his hand over my right eye, causing me to see only blackness. "Can you see the light?" Doc asks me, "No," I tell him.

He takes his hand away and switches off the light. "What's wrong with her eye?" Aries demands from Doc, looking worried, "She's blind in the left eye." Doc tells Aries, causing him to frown, and he leans over, looking into my eye. "There's no reason to worry; as long as it isn't causing her pain, it's fine; she just won't be able to see from it."

Aries nods, relaxing and rubbing my back up and down. I look from him to Doc, confused. "What's blind mean?" I asked Doc. "It just means you can't see from your left eye," he tells me.

I nod. "Okay, I'll have the DNA results within a week," he says before we say goodbye and leave, heading back to the apartment. We watch TV and eat snacks for the rest of the night before heading to bed.

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