Ace

Nurture

A couple of weeks later, I was sitting in our bedroom.

I was bored and Ace was at work. I lay on my bed contemplating something that had been playing on my mind. I wanted a child; I really wanted a child. We had to give Parker to the state and he got put into a foster home. Parker was glued to my hip for the 2 weeks that he was with us and I adored it. It gave me a sense of purpose, a sense of being needed by someone who wasn't Ace.

Ace paid the police to put Parker in a good home but that didn't make it any easier to give him up. And ever since, I've wanted a child. But I wasn't sure how to approach Ace about it. I know him better than anyone yet I'm still very scared to tell him I want a child right now, especially since I'm only 17 and he's 18 going 19 next month. Maybe he'll say yeah but make me wait a bit longer.

So I phoned the person I trust. Ice.

He came up to the room after I called him, telling him to come up to me. "Sofia what is it? I swear to god, if you want me to paint your toenails again, I'm not doing it" Ice raised his voice after bursting into the room. "I need to talk to you about something" I spoke gently, showing him my puppy dog eyes. "Oh no, are you pregnant" Ice gasped, all the colour draining out of his face, leaving it a whitish colour.

"Why is being pregnant such a bad thing!" I exclaimed throwing my arms up in a fit. He glanced at me worriedly. "Because you're young and have your whole life ahead of you without having to care for a child" He spoke very quickly, giving me a cautious glare. "Is this what you wanted to talk to me about ? Babies and kids" He questioned curiously. "Yeah" I nodded. "I mean, I can be the sperm donor if you want, just incase Ace's sperm doesn't work" Ice grinned evilly. "Stop with the jokes" I rolled my eyes before grabbing a pillow and burying my face into it.

"Okay fine, tell me what is going on inside that brain of yours and I'll take it seriously" He muttered with a more calm tone while poking my forehead when he mentioned the word 'brain'. He crawled on to my bed, and laid next to me while I sat up with my legs crossed, playing with my hands due to my nerves.

"I want a baby; I-I want a child" I admitted nervously. I glanced at him, only to see his face void of emotion. "I'm not surprised" Ice responded with no hint of shock in his voice. "Really?" I raised my eyebrows in shock. "Sofia, if anyone knew you well enough, they would say you have a nurturing soul, you just want to take care of all the people you love or have some sort of a relationship with. Someone who has so much love in their soul needs somewhere to put it, so no, I'm not surprised you want a baby" he spoke confidently.

"The only issue Ace would have, if he had a child is that he wouldn't be a good father. He didn't have a good father to look up to when he was young so he has constantly worried that he doesn't know how to be a father. He knows you want a child Sofia, and him watching you with Parker has made him want one too. He doesn't want to disappoint the child but mostly he doesn't want to disappoint you" Ice rambled on.

A silence filled the room after Ice stopped speaking. "How do you know this?" I mumbled softly, playing with the hem of Ace's jersey that I was wearing.

"He brought it up a few weeks ago while we were drunk" Ice snickered slightly, remembering the conversation. "I don't even know how I remember because I was definitely pass the blackout stage" he rolled his eyes with a smile. "It must've just impacted me somehow" he shrugged standing up. "Sofia, you're young. You have all the time in the world to have a child with Ace because I know his dumbass would never leave you" Ice spoke with a certainty in his voice.

"I'm not saying don't have a child. I'm saying have one when Ace is ready because you'll always be ready. You may be my best friend but so is he, and I just don't think he has healed enough yet from his own to father to be a dad himself" Ice said before leaving the room. He was right. It was selfish of me to want a child when we're both probably mentally exhausted from our own parents and family's. Not to mention all the crazy shit that has happened since we've been together.

I want a child, but I want Ace to be happy just as much.

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I bit into my sandwich that I had made whilst Ice ranted about why pineapple shouldn't be on pizza. "So that brings my side of the argument to a conclusion" he spoke with a happy tone, as if he achieved something. "I'm not going to lie, I didn't listen to any of that" I smiled evilly at him, earning a glare from him.

Then, I heard the front door swing open and slam shut. My eyes met Ice's before we both stared at eachother worriedly. "What did you do?" He hissed quietly at me. "Me? What did you do?" I whispered with a crease between my eyebrows. Ace stormed in, I swear I could see steam coming from his nose and devil horns growing from his head.

My mouth opened slightly, but Ice kicked my leg, making me close my mouth. We were both confused and shocked at what was making him so angry.

"Nobody fucking speak to me for the next two hours!" Ace roared at us before storming out. "It's times like these I miss Dante" Ice sighed after Ace left the room.