The Devil's Honey

TWENTY-TWO

(Double update, don't forget to read chapter 21 first)
TWENTY-TWO
🍯Honey🍯

Am I basically a mother now?

First a wife, and now a mother, and I'm sure Xavier isn't done with the surprises.

Ayla holds one of my hands and one of Xavier's as we lead her into the house. She gasps and stares at the place with wide eyes.

"This is where you live?" She questions, letting go of our hands and spins on the spot, her mouth wide open. "Oh my God!" She squeals, and I notice Pumpkin and Boo have made an appearance, and she runs over to the little kittens, who already take a liking to her, snuggling their faces into the palm of her hand.

"God, they're still here. I could have sworn I left the back door open." Xavier grumbles, and I give him a shove and glare at him, although there is amusement on his face, and I know deep down that he adores the kittens even if he refuses to admit it.

"What are their names?" Ayla questions, looking at us over her shoulder as she kneels beside them.

"Little Rat One and Little Rat Two." Ayla frowns.

Ignoring Xavier, I walk over to where she is and crouch down to stroke them. "They're called Pumpkin and Boo," I tell her, and she giggles, picking up Boo and snuggling him to her chest.

"I love them. I tried to keep a cat once, but someone took her away from me because it wasn't safe for her on the streets." I smile sadly and stroke her hair. The girl hasn't had an easy life and she's only six. I need to ask her about how she got into that situation, but first I need to get her settled.

And then I want to decorate her bedroom with everything she likes, buy her loads of gifts and make sure she smiles twenty-four-seven.

"You said you like pasta?" Her smile brightens.

"Yes!"

"Should we go make some?" She eagerly nods her head, and we make our way to the kitchen and along the way I catch Xavier's eyes. However, on the plane journey back to New York he was very distant and wouldn't talk much, which tells me something happened earlier after I left with Rocky. "You want to join us?" He nods and grabs a hold of my hand.

Xavier leans down, his lips brushing against my ear. "We need to find out what happened to her and I don't think that's a good job for me." I nod my head in understanding.

...

Xavier wipes Ayla's face with a napkin as she finishes her second plate of pasta and my heart warms.

He's so good with her, it's like it comes naturally to him and I'm so proud and I know Hendrix will be too when he finds out. He loves his father, but Xavier always feels the need to punish himself for abandoning him even though Hendrix has forgiven Xavier.

"You're so messy." He teases and Ayla rolls her eyes but smiles up at him like he's the light of her life.

"Ayla?" I say her name once she's finished eating her dinner. "If you're not ready to talk about it, just tell me, but I need to know how you ended up homeless. Did you have any parents, or have you been on your own all this time?" Her pretty smile drops, and she looks down at her lap, fiddling with her fingers and now I feel bad form dampening her mood. Maybe I should have waited a little longer.

So stupid, Honey!

"I don't know my daddy, mama said he was a horrible man, but my mama, she did bad things." She whispers, nibbling on her bottom lip nervously and Xavier picks her up off her seat, and places her on his lap, running his fingers gently through her curly hair. "She did weird things with bad men for money, but she was good, she fed me and made sure I was warm."