His Other Half

Twenty-eight

Ahsha

It had been four, almost five months since me and Ares's shower confessions. After everything that happened between us I never actually thought Malik or Ares would change. From what Kat told me about the possibility of Malik's humanity shutting off I just assumed that was the case, but now—. Malik was back to his sweet, kind self I met in the beginning. Ares, although he was still very protective and knew kindness and being gentle wasn't apart of his nature, true to his word he was trying. They both were making conscious efforts to handle me with care. Although I truly appreciated their effort, I was still hypervigilant for them to revert back.

I sighed softly as I stared at my reflection more specifically my mark. I lightly ran my finger over the cursive feeling a chill run over my body at the touch. Malik had been gone for just under two weeks when he came back yesterday to tell me we had an event to attend. I trailed my hand down the expensive dress I was required to wear for tonight before my eyes dropped to my stomach. I shook my head before I untied the scarf from my head revealing soft waves and my laid edges that took me hours to. I walked into my closet standing in front of my full-length mirror. I picked out my tight curly hair trying to get it as big as possible not caring about the frizz that came with it. "You look absolutely beautiful, habitata." I looked at the corner of the mirror seeing Malik leaning against the doorframe with his hands in his pockets. "Thank you," I said with a small smile playing on my lips.

I turned to examine his outfit as well. "I picked the red to match your nails." He spoke seeing me eye his red accent pieces. I smiled. "I know you don't really enjoy attending these events so I was thinking we could cut tonight short." He said. "Really?" I asked. "Yes. I'd rather be in bed listening to you argue with the tv." He said. I rolled my eyes. "I don't argue with the tv. I simply offer my critiques." I countered. His smile turned into a chuckle. "Either way I'd much rather be home with you than playing politics." He said. I nodded my head. "Can we grab some food on the way home?" I asked. "Anything you want." He said. I nodded my head. "Okay, then." I agreed. "Good, we should get going. The sooner we get there the sooner we can get back home." He said.

--

I feigned a smile as I walked through the gala with Malik trailing closely behind me. "Ah Princess, you look beautiful as usual," Román said with a cheesy smile. "You know I used to like you, Mr. Lavallette," I said causing Malik to laugh and him to cringe at the formal name. "Touché," He said shaking his head laughing. "Hey Malik," Román said smiling. I stood patiently as they began to speak. I scanned the room looking at all the prominent figures when I spotted Kat rushing towards me.

"Bonjour mon amour." She said smiling rushing up to me pulling me into a tight hug. "I missed you," I told her. "Ugh, I missed you too. My dear brother here had me doing busy work in America." She pouted. "It was not busy work," Román said. They began to argue amongst each other. I smiled fondly at the two of them because they reminded me of Isaac. I had just seen my twin a couple days ago and we literally got into an argument about French fries. I chuckled at the memory when I felt a pair of eyes on me. I turned seeing Malik smile at me softly. He brought my hand up to meet his lips before gently kissing the back of my hand. I smiled as I looked at him.

"Malik I'm going to go head to the restroom." I told him. "Ooo I'll come with." Kat sang. "Do you wa—" "Malik." I said tilting my head as I looked up at him. "Okay." He said softly. "We'll be over here when you two come back." He said. I nodded my head leaning in kissing him before Kat I left.

Malik

"Well, that was a nice sight," Román said. "What?" I asked. "Last I heard you two weren't getting along." He said. I nodded my head. Román had been back home for some time handling business on his end, so he had missed out on the last few months. "Yeah, I know but I'm trying to fix the mess I made," I said. Román nodded his head. "That's good to hear. I was worried for a minute." He said. I nodded my head looking past him at Pablo's brothers. The oldest, Franco looked my way before he nudged his younger brother, Gino. I watched as they made their way towards us.

"Gentlemen," Franco said. "Franco. Gino." Román said nodding towards the two men. I raised my glasses acknowledging them. "Have you two heard from our brothers?" Gino asked. "No why?" Román asked. "Our brothers are missing," Franco said looking directly at me. "What?" Román asked surprised. "They were expected back from a business trip but no has heard from them," Gino said. "They were in Europe for a while but obviously it's not unusual for them to go a while without contact. But it's been almost three weeks, and no one's heard anything." Franco said. I nodded my head. "File a formal petition and the council and I personally make sure the appropriate people look into it," I said. Franco eyed me skeptically.

Both the brothers scoffed. "Are you sure you even want them found?" Franco asked. "What is that supposed to mean?" I asked raising an eyebrow. "I think you know," Gino said anger laced in his voice. My jaw tightened before I spoke. "I may have said some harsh words in the heat of the moment, but I can assure you that for Ahsha's sake I would never do what you're implying. Again, once you submit a formal request this matter will be given the utmost importance." I said calmly. Franco scoffed walking off spewing a string of curses in his native tongue. Gino stood a while longer watching me closely. "Whatever you did to our brothers I swear—." Gino paused clenching his jaw shaking his head before following his brother. Román turned and looked at me. "What are they talking about?" He asked. "I got into an argument with their brother a couple months back," I spoke.

Ahsha

I spoke with Kat for a little bit before we were surrounded by people. I spoke with a few of the people before I excused myself. I wandered around a bit until noticed there was a garden outside. I walked outside until I came across a nice little sitting area. I sat quietly catching my breath from all the chaos from inside. "There you are." I looked up seeing Kat. I smiled. "Here I am," I said. "Are you okay?" She asked. I glanced at her unable to meet her gaze.

"What happened?" She asked worriedly. I sighed shaking my head. "I missed my period," I whispered looking at the dirt. "What? When?" She asked. "Last month," I mumbled. "Ahsha." She said looking at me in disbelief. "I don't get my period every month but it does come on a regular schedule. Every three months and it didn't come last month." I spoke.

"Did you take a test?" She asked. I looked up at her unable to say the words. Her eyes widened. "Is this is a good or bad thing?" She asked. "Both," I said. "What?" She asked. "According to the doctor, I'm just about four months give or take a week," I explained. "Okay, go on." She said. "At the time I slept with Malik— and Pablo," I said playing with my fingers. "No." She whispered covering her mouth. "More than once." I winced before my shoulders sank. "I don't know who the dad is?" I said. She pulled me into a hug. "That may be true but we're going to have a baby." She smiled. I chuckled as she clapped. "We?" I asked. "Yep, auntie Kat is here to help." She said. I chuckled. "I have to tell Malik first," I said. She nodded her head agreeing.

"Hey." We both turned to see Malik rounding the corner. I looked at him before feeling my stomach jump. "You ready to go?" He asked. "Yep," I said standing. I held Malik's hand as the three of us headed inside.

--

Malik walked into the bathroom as I struggled to get my zipper down. "Here." He said as he came up and stood behind me unzipping my dress. He looked up locking eyes with me through the mirror. My dress fell to the floor bunching up at my feet. I turned and looked up at him seeing Ares. "Well, it's about time you made an appearance." I teased. He smiled. "Malik's better at playing politics than I am." He said pulling me into his arms. He dipped his head into the bend of my neck lightly kissing my neck. "We need to talk," I said.

He pulled away and looked down at me. "What's wrong?" I looked at the little bit of skin that was peaking through from his unbuttoned shirt. "I'm pregnant," I said. He was silent for a moment before he grabbed my chin tilting my head up. He leaned in and kissed me. It started off slow and gentle and quickly grew more intense. "Thank you." He said breaking the kiss as he pressed his head against my forehead. "For what?" I asked. "For just being you. Being here." He said.

"Have you gone to the doctor? Do you know how far along you are? Is there—" "Breath." I said cupping his face. He closed his eyes taking several deep breaths before he opened them and I saw both him and Malik. "I've gone to the doctor and I'm only about four months," I said. He got nodded his head before his eyes drifted down to my stomach. "We're having a baby." He said smiling pressing his forehead against mine.

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