ONYX(unedited;1st draft)

I Came To Check Up On You

35. I Came To Check Up On You

  I knocked. For the first time ever, I knocked before entering Ace's office. I knew he was in there and he's been in there for a while.

  He was standing by the glass wall, staring out at the forest with his hands held behind his back.

  I pushed the door closed and stood there, chewing on my bottom lip, finding something to say. I finally settled on, "I canceled my class."

  "Really." He says, but he didn't sound very interested.

  "Yeah, and ah," I fiddled with my fingers, "The kids are sleeping..."

  He lets out a low laugh, "You make it sound like we have kids," He says in amusement.

  I placed my hands on my hips, "Well I did ask you if we can have a baby."

  Instead of answering, he shook his head then turned around and made his way over to one of his plush couches against the wall and drop down on it lazily.

  "You can always say no," I cross my arms, "And I can always ask someone else," I said, my statement​ trailing off, "Like... Blondy."

  With his head resting on the back of the couch, he turns his attention to me and stares at me with his eyebrows raised, "Syl, come here." He says softly.

  I frowned, but make my way over to him, "What?" I ask, standing next to the couch and looking down at him.

  He pats the space next to him and I hesitantly take the spot, folding a leg under me to get comfortable.

  He immediately wraps and arm around the back of my neck and holds me to his side,"I'm gonna change your schedule and add a health class." He says lowly against the side of my head.

  I frowned, "Why?"

  He smiles, "There are important things that you need to know and I don't think I'm gonna be able to explain them very well."

  My eyebrows furrowed, "Umm... Okay."

  We sat there for a bit and it took a while for me to realize we were breathing in sync with each other. I relaxed and allowed myself to be content with the silence and his breath hitting my hair. I don't know how long it was before I actually said something​.

  "I feel bad," I said lowly, playing with one of the buttons on his shirt.

  "About what happened today?" He asks, his voice deep. I nodded, "I thought you want me to kill her ages ago." He says, letting out a chuckle.

  "I did." I said softly, poking at his stomach, feeling the hard ridges of his muscles beneath his thin shirt.

  "Well aren't you happy about it?"

  "That's why I feel bad," I tell him, only for him to laugh, "I mean, I came to check up on you, but I can't do the whole, 'cry with you' thing..."

  He chuckles again, "I'm not crying,"

  "But you're dying on the inside." I pat his chest, "It's okay, you can let it all out," I coo.

  He laughs, "Stop making fun of me!"

  I lean away to look up at him, to see him smiling down at me and frowned, "You don't look like someone who's dying on the inside..." I voice.

  He laughed, "That's because I'm not."

  I blinked rapidly, "So I'm just here trying to make you feel better about nothing?"

  He shrugs, "Pretty much. I don't feel as bad as I thought I would. I feel..." He thought for second before letting out a breath, "Relieved more than anything." He explains.

  I nodded, "That's good... But I'd feel better knowing you were dying on the inside since I cancelled my class and all..."

  He shook his head, holding back a smile, "Anna. She's probably still crying her heart out in her room, you can go make something of it." He says in amusement.

  "Aww," I frowned, the image popping up in my head, "That's too bad," Trying to sound sympathetic, but I knew I failed when I saw a grin slip onto his face.

  "Heartless," He shook his head, "Absolutely heartless."

  "That's..." I bite down on my lip, staring at him, "Probably the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me in my life." I nod at him slowly.

  He throws his head back on the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling with a large grin.

  There was a knock at the door and Ace answered without looking in it's direction, "Yes?"

  One of the double doors pushed open and in came a woman holding a little boy. My face immediately lit up and I got up.

  "This little guy couldn't sleep and he kept crying," She says as I made my way over and took him from her.

  "Hey what's wrong?" I ask him, reaching up to run my fingers through his hair. He sniffles, laying his head on my shoulder and putting his thumb in his mouth.

  The lady smiled widely at me before leaving and I stared at the closed door in confusion before turning back to Ace and making my way over to him.

  Ace smiled at me as I sat next to him again, only this time, cradling Dante in my arms, "What?" I ask with a frown.

  "How bad do you want a baby?" He asks randomly, when I didn't answer, he looked down at Dante, "How about him?"

  That's when he got a reaction out of me. My jaw dropped and I looked down at the boy that was now fast asleep, then back up at him, "What? C-Can you even-"

  "I'm not gonna steal him, Syl," He cuts me off with a chuckle, reaching to brush Dante's curls gently, "There's this thing called adoption. You remember what that is right?" He looks up at me and I nod at him, "It'll take a while, but hopefully it'll happen." He says lowly.

  He narrows his eyes at me, "Just so you know, kid's aren't toys and they're a lot of work, so if we do go through with this, promise me you'll be responsible." He says.

  I nodded vigorously, my head bobbing, "Of course I will!" I said a little too loudly, causing Dante to stir. I pressed my lips together and stilled until he settled. I look back up at Ace with a sheepish grin, "Sorry."

  He dropped the look he was giving me then shook his head with a chuckle, "Anything to make you happy," He says lowly, more to himself  really. He leans over and presses a kiss to my forehead, which has my heart going on overdrive, before pulling away and standing up, "I'm gonna get some work done. Stay here if you want but you can go set him in my room if you feel like it," He waves in a nonchalant manner.

  I collected myself before getting up, "I think I'm gonna do that," I tell him and he nods with a small smile, "Thank you," I whisper. No one's ever tried to do anything for me before and the fact that he's doing this kinda makes me want to kiss him. Kinda.

  He nods again, his smile stretching wider, "No problem," I started to leave, but before I did, I heard him mutter, "Anything to make you happy."