Wednesday, July 11- 8:00pm
Antonia let out a muted shout when she sat upright in the bed. She had sweat pouring down her face, her hands were grasping at the sheets as she tried to catch her breath. She looked around the room, noting that it wasn't the room that she and Aiden had been sleeping in, and even more strange was that she didn't remember getting there. Her hand went to her forehead, feeling the light pounding of a headache as she listened for anything in the surrounding rooms, hearing nothing.
She thought of calling out to Aiden, but instead moved to get out of the bed. She could feel her stomach protesting her movements without food, and whimpered when her feet touched the ground. She sucked in a deep breath and immediately smelled a familiar cologne, and like a tidal wave, her memory of what had happened returned.
"Ace?" She whispered, standing up quickly, a rush of blood to her head made her dizzy and she sat down again, grasping her forehead in her fingertips. When she was able to get her bearings, she stood up slowly, shuffled her way to the door and opened it, listening for any noise. She shuffled down the hallway, noticing that the rain had stopped outside, and a sunset was trying to force its way to being seen. She looked around the house a bit, and then walked toward the back door, looking out onto the beach she watched the occasional person walking by out on the sand, and saw no trace of Aiden or Melody. Suddenly, the sound of a squealing child raked through the air outside, and the sound of a splash followed quickly by giggles. Antonia smiled, following the sound of the men's voices that followed, and more splashing.
She rubbed her eyes and yawned as she stepped over toward the courtyard area where the pool was located, just in time to see Melody jump from the side of the pool into water, where Aiden caught her as she squealed and giggled. She coughed as she bobbed up and down, giggling in his arms. "How much of the pool water has she consumed?" She asked, startling the two men as one wiped water from his face, and the other laughed from the chair on the side of the pool.
"We only had to refill the pool once." Aiden teased, holding out his hand to her. "Are you feeling better?" He asked.
She only lightly touched his hand, narrowing her eyes at him. "I feel a little more rested." She said, her hand just naturally going to her abdomen as she took a step back.
"Worried I'll pull you in?" He asked, laughing at her cautious nature.
"This is not my first time near a pool with boys." She said, taking another step back. She looked over at Ace as he sat on the side of the pool, his feet dipped into the water. He avoided eye contact for a moment, and looked up at her with a supportive smile. Antonia looked back to Aiden. "Have you eaten dinner?"
"We made some pasta, there's some waiting for you in the refrigerator." Aiden replied.
"Thank you." She smiled. "I figured you couldn't go too long without feeding the monster." She said, signing without thinking as she spoke. She watched Melody grin as she held onto Aiden. "I'm going to go eat." She said, pointing toward the house, she glanced to Ace again and smiled, and then walked back into the house.
She walked toward the kitchen, pulling out a covered bowl of pasta with sauce from the refrigerator, she set it on the counter by the microwave when she heard the sliding glass door open, and close again. She knew who it was, so she just waited patiently as she prepared her dinner. When she turned to face her visitor, she smiled shyly at him. "Ace." She sighed.
"Aiden is a good cook." He said, watching her tip her head, a smile on her lips as she sleepily sighed.
"He is." She said with a little shrug. "This is the first thing he ever cooked for me." She said, holding up the bowl as she brought it to the microwave and put in the time, starting it up. "It's nothing earth shattering, but it's good." She said with a nod, glancing to the microwave.
"Toni." Ace sighed.
"I'm sorry I freaked out on you earlier." She said, watching as he shook his head and watched her eyes carefully. "I am usually pretty good at holding my emotions in check." She whispered.
"You're just like your mother in that respect." He smiled politely. "You hold everything in until it boils over."
"This was more like a flash boil." Antonia smiled, listening to his light chuckle. "Do you really not understand how important you are to me?" She asked, looking up at the microwave as it beeped. She reached up for the bowl, pulling it from the microwave, she carried it to the table as Ace followed behind her, sitting across from her as she ate.
"Do you understand how important you are to me?" Ace countered, watching her shrug. "Toni, I am not in any position to tell you how to live your life. You're the only one that makes decisions for you, even I know that. I just want you to know that I worry about you."
"I know you worry about me." She said, continuing to eat, she looked up at him. "Sometimes I feel like you're my guardian angel or something." She shrugged. "That sounds stupid." She sighed. "I don't know." She said, staring into her bowl as she stabbed at her dinner, she avoided his imploring gaze for a few moments. She looked up at him and sighed. "One of my earliest memories of you, was right after Dad got out of the hospital. They had transferred him, or were going to. I don't remember, but you brought me my pendant." She said, reaching her hand up to touch the pendant around her neck. "I remember you insisted on putting it on me, and you got really close to me, and you looked right into my eyes and you…"
"I told you that I could see you." Ace said softly. "I remember."
"Yes." She sighed. "I had convinced myself that I was invisible. That's all I wanted, was to be invisible, and not be seen. I just remember thinking that it was the only way to be safe." She said, closing her eyes as she imagined that time. "But there you were, telling me that you could see me. I couldn't argue with you. You were talking right to me, looking right into my eyes. I felt safer knowing that you could see me, I felt like you really believed that I was invisible to everyone else, and that you were special because you could see me." She smiled, watching as his eyes shimmered with unshed tears. "You were this man, this adult that really just been dropped into my life, you know? You were this this big, tall, dark eyed, dark haired man that could make my mother smile. You just didn't let her get to you. Everyone else seemed to look at my mother with pity and sadness. You just seemed to move through it in stride, and take her anger with a level of understanding and ease that I watched with wonder." She shrugged. "Before Dad came home, and I saw them together, it was always you that could make her smile. Even when she was arguing with you, she was always listening to you. She trusted you, even when she felt that you had betrayed her, she trusts you or you wouldn't have stayed her partner." She sighed. "Mom and I love you very much, Ace." She said, reaching across the table to touch his hand. "I never want you to doubt that for a second. You got us both through some of the most challenging, confusing, and pain filled times of our lives."
"I love you both very much." He smiled, squeezing her hand.
"And that's just the stuff before Dad came home, you know? You are Dad's closest friend, his most trusted ally. Ace, I know you worry about me. I know that when you say things that other people look at as over the line, that you're just expressing that concern. I'm not offended by what you say. I am brash, and bold, and I don't always think things through before I do them, and I do need to learn to keep an eye on myself. For a long time, it was just me." She said, glancing toward the door and back to Ace, she lowered her voice a bit. "I always felt insulated, like I was alone in this. Mom had you and dad as partners, but I always felt like I was going to be able to do it all by myself." She swallowed. "I've never been in a relationship like this before either. I've never had to worry about someone else before. I've never had a partner, and now I have to worry and think about so much more." She whispered. "I'm sorry if I've made you feel like I don't care. I'm sorry if I've worried you."
"I know." He said, smiling tenderly. "You are a very important part of my life, Antonia. I want you to be happy, but I also want you to be safe."
"I'm going to try harder." She said, hearing the sound of the sliding glass door open and the pounding of wet feet slapping across the floor. "I have a lot to live for." She said as Melody came careening into the room wrapped in a towel, her cheeks pink with happiness as she launched herself at Antonia, with Aiden right behind her. She pulled the little girl into her lap, and laughed when she grabbed her fork and started to eat her dinner. "Hey, that's mine." Antonia signed as Melody looked up at her with a food filled smirk.
"Don't worry." Ace said with a smile. "I brought pie."
Antonia grinned brightly. "Royal Diner pie?"
"The one and only." Ace replied.
"I knew there was a real reason for keeping you around." She said with a laugh, pulling the little girl into her arms a little tighter, she smiled at Ace's laugh.
Thursday, July 12, 2:30am
Ace found himself roused from a fitful sleep with the sound of stillness surrounding him. He looked around the dark room and quickly remembered where he was. He listened to the quiet of the house for a moment and groaned to himself as he rolled out of bed. He yawned and stretched, and slowly shuffled out of the bedroom into the hallway. He could hear the hum of the refrigerator, the gentle rumble of the air conditioner. He walked down the hallway with a slight grumble, yawning again as he entered the kitchen, where the lights above the counter were still lit. When he turned the corner, he let out a gasp at what greeted him.
On the counter was half of a pie, still wrapped in plastic wrap, but obviously removed from the refrigerator. Beside the pie was a fork, poised to dig in, and holding that fork was a small hand belonging to a messy haired blonde girl with wide eyes and a dropped jaw.
"What are you doing up?" He whispered, noting that she sat as still as could be, almost as if she thought if she stayed still, he wouldn't see her. He watched as the fork slowly moved to the counter, and her eyes quickly welled with tears. "Hey, hey!" He whispered. "No, no..." He said, moving toward her, he immediately lifted her into his arms. She buried her head in his neck as she cried quietly, and he rubbed her back gently and carried her around the kitchen. "It's okay..." He whispered, "It's okay." His eyes flicked to the bedroom where he knew Antonia and Aiden were sleeping, and thought for a split second that he could just shuffle her into their room and disappear out the door as if nothing had ever happened. "Nope." He mumbled to himself. "I've got this." He said, feeling her sobs start to subside, he moved toward the cupboard and pulled down two small plates, and grabbed a fork for himself and a knife.
He made quick work of cutting two pieces of pie, and carefully turned her in his arms as he sat down at the counter, scooping out a slice for himself, and a slice for Melody. He placed her on the barstool beside him, and handed her a fork, her dark blue eyes moving to his as she swiped at her tears with the sleeve of her pajamas. She sniffled as she watched him slide the slice of pie toward her, and a smirk slipped onto her lips as her tiny tongue swiped her top lip. She watched him as she moved her fork toward the pie, almost as if she expected him to yell at her. He pushed his own fork into his slice of pie, and lifted it to his lips, watching her as well. He slipped the bite into his mouth and made a satisfied sound, reflecting it in his facial expression, he watched that tiny smile appear as she pushed her fork into the pie and shoved the biteful into her mouth. They sat and ate their pie, each watching the other so intently that Ace didn't hear the sound of the bedroom door opening, or the light footfalls of the other late night reveler who appeared around the corner.
"Who said you two could eat my pie?" Antonia said, feigning irritation as she watched the shocked look on Ace's face when he looked up. She watched Melody's head snap in her direction after seeing Ace's reaction, and didn't miss for a second how the little girl's hand lifted to the plate of pie and very slowly moved it toward Ace. "Are you eating my pie?" She signed, as Melody shook her head, her eyes wide as she watched Antonia approach her. There was a split second of panic in her eyes, but she immediately recognized Antonia's expression of playfulness.
"Ape was hungry." She signed, looking to Ace as she looked back to Antonia.
"Oh yeah? Ace was hungry, and he just decided to wake you up and share my pie with you?" Antonia signed, speaking out loud as she signed, she glanced to Ace and watched him smile.
Melody looked at Ace, and back to Antonia, and back to Ace again. "Yeah. I was hungry." He said, winking to the little girl, who smiled brightly at him. "Sorry if we woke you up." He said. "I was having a hard time sleeping."
"I woke up on my own." Antonia said. "I figured I'd check on her, since she's usually awake at this time." She said, moving toward the cupboard, she pulled a plate for herself down. She set it on the counter, and thanked Ace when he put a slice on her plate. She leaned against the counter and faced the two of them as she ate her slice, and smiled when Melody continued to eat her slice of pie. "We have to keep an eye on her, she is a midnight snacker." Antonia said, giving Melody a sly look as she looked up innocently from her pie.
"Food hoarder?" Ace asked.
"Yeah." She nodded. "It's a work in progress."
"I was a food hoarder." He said, taking a bite of his pie, he watched Antonia's eyes follow his. "What? I was a small kid, easy target."
"How were you broken of it?"
"Therapy." He said, shrugging. "I still wake up at 2:30 in the morning wanting pie every now and then." He laughed.
"Who doesn't." She laughed, shoving a bite into her mouth. "What um... what other things did you have to deal with? I mean, if you... if you don't mind me asking."
"Night terrors." He said, "I wet the bed until I was 13." He said, looking to see that she saw no shred of humor in her eyes, she simply nodded. "I'd get anxiety when my foster parents would leave me with a babysitter. I went through a horrible biting phase..." He said, shrugging.
"Maybe that was part of the whole food hoarding thing." She said with a glimmer in her eye, reveling in his laughter.
"I did have a lot of anxiety as a kid. Therapy did help a lot. The toughest feeling for a foster kid though, is just that need to belong. You want to feel connected to someone in some way, that someone understands what you're going through. There's no worse feeling in the world than feeling like nobody wants you." He sighed, watching the sleepy expression on Melody's face as she watched him intently. He reached out and touched her nose with his finger and he made a face at her giggle as she reached up and grabbed his hand, slipping her hand into his as he moved his fingers around and looked back to Antonia as she watched their interaction.
"Aiden and I want to adopt her." Antonia sighed, waiting for Ace's rebuttal, she watched him look into her eyes. "I know she's got some really big issues without even getting into the fact that she's deaf. Maybe it's just the maternal instincts kicking in or something, or..."
"You're just a compassionate, kind, loving person, Toni. Sometimes things just click. Sometimes you're not looking for something, and it finds you instead." Ace sighed.
"I'm sorry that the foster adoption thing that you and Rebecca were trying didn't work out. You guys really wanted that baby." She sighed.
"There's an example of how sometimes things don't click." He shrugged. "In the long run, it's probably for the best." He said, lifting a sleepy Melody into his arms, she rested her head on his shoulder as he gently rubbed her back. "The mother was young, she didn't know what she wanted, and who are we to deprive that baby of her mother... you know?" He sighed. "Beck had Parker, and you guys were always close. If I wanted to spoil a kid, all I had to do was visit your dad." He smiled, gently rocking the little girl in his arms.
"Soon you'll have a new baby to spoil." She said with a smile, watching as he looked at her and smiled back. He looked to see that Melody had fallen asleep against his shoulder, snoring softly against him.
"Make that two more that I can spoil." He smiled, kissing the little girl's forehead as he held her securely in his arms, and reached his hand across to Antonia, as they sat and talked a little more, before heading off to bed once again.