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*Asher*

(Feb 10, Wed)

"Nolan Kai Reeds!" I exclaimed from my room.

"Am I in trouble?" I heard him reply from the living room. He was playing

around with Zion and watching movies with him.

"Yes, and you need a punishment!" I called back, joking with him. I heard

his footsteps getting closer.

"Kinky," he responded, entering my room.

For the past few months, this had been Nolan's second home. He even had some of his clothes in my closet.

A lot had changed since his Homecoming night. For starters, Zion and I were like his family now. It had been amazing to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with the Reeds. Shortly after Christmas, Kalani and Justin tied the knot. I was able to find Nolan and his mom a smaller house, and they'd

gotten a couple more dogs to keep his mother company.

"I don't wanna get spanked," Nolan said, sitting down on my lap. I laughed.

"Guess who I just got off the phone with?"

He squinted. "Maya? Your parents?"

"Mm - god, no."

"You promised me you'd try to get in touch."

"And I will, love, I'm just not ready."

He nodded. "Okay. Who was it then?"

"Remember when I travelled to go model a bit? Well, the woman there just called me and said my pictures were, according to her, flawless. So she decided to show them to a designer and he wants me to take a few photo shoots to be considered for his new men's cologne.

Nolan jumped out of my lap, his eyes wide and bright. "Spank me, I must

be dreaming!" he gasped, his hand flying to his chest. "I swear if you give

me a heart attack... who's the designer?"

"I don't know, she said Macedo something-"

"Macedo Sholé? Oh my god."

"Still dreaming?" I smirked. He smacked my arm.

"This is huge! Did you accept?"

"I... I said I'll get back to her within the week."

Nolan gaped at me. "Accept, you nuthead. This is a chance in a lifetime, I mean... obviously I'm not the only one who sees potential in you. You...

you want this, right?" He sat down on the bed.

"I do, a lot. Modeling isn't as bad as I thought it would be, honestly."

"So, what's wrong? What's holding you back?"

I sighed and placed my phone on the night stand. "I'd have to go to New

York."

Nolan's face fell and he slowly nodded. "Oh. Um... for how long?"

"Not long, but... it's New York."

"If you really wanna go, deep down, nothing's stopping you. Kalani and

Justin have no problem looking after Zion, and I will, too."

"And you? I won't get to see you for almost weeks. Two days was torture

enough."

"Now, Ash, you know you can't let me stop you. We'll video chat or something. Come on, this isn't like 500 B.C." He smiled. "When does she want

you to leave?"

"In March."

"Okay. Well, at least you'll be here for my birthday." He winked at me, his

cheeks growing red.

"Two more days," I remembered. "I know."

We never pointed it out, but we didn't need to. We both knew quite well what was going to happen, and every time his birthday was mentioned, he'd blush.

"It seems like it's been forever since we met, you know," he admitted.

"Yeah. What I really want is a forever more."

I saw him glance down at his hands before he took a breath. "I, um... I

can't see myself being with someone else, I just want you to know that. I

know that I'll be going to college to do Culinary Arts but... you're all I want.

And I'm faithful, Asher."

I moved closer to him, literally feeling my heart thump at his words. No one could feel as special as I did in this moment. No one. I kissed him softly,

running my tongue over his every so often. He sighed into the kiss, drawing

me closer and eventually lying down then pulling me on top of him. We managed to tangle our legs together and deepen the kiss, desperate for more.

"Daddy?" Zion's voice peeled into the atmosphere. Nolan and I forced

ourselves apart and he got off the bed.

"Shit!" I silently cursed. "You didn't see anything, baby," I told my child. He was holding a toy car and a Buzz Lightyear in his hands, not fazed by whatever he saw Nolan and I doing. It wasn't exactly PG, much less for a four year old. Hopefully, he just saw a giant rainbow and a couple unicorns -whatever it is that little kids see.

He ran up to Nolan, placing the car in his hand and grabbing the other.

"Daddy, let's go play!" He exclaimed, tugging Nolan's hand.

We glanced at each other, perplexed. "Did he just..?" I began.

"I think he meant you."

"No, he was looking at you," I persisted. "He called you his dad."

Nolan bit his lip. "He got confused for a second."

"Yeah, no. He knows your name very well - even though he mispronounces it, but he knows who you are." I crossed my arms and smirked. "So, Daddy, huh?" I teased. "There something you wanna tell me?"

Nolan grimaced. "Excuse you, but I've never told your child to call me that! I

mean, I'm flattered, obviously." He touched his heart then winked at me."That's right, Ash. You're old news."

I scowled in mock anger.

"Ooh, damn, you're sexy when you don't get called Daddy," he said to irk

me, trying not to laugh.

"Now I'm really considering punishing you."

"Come on, Z!" Nolan picked up my child and rushed out the room, leaving me laughing.

When I got myself calmed down from laughing, I leaned back on my bed

and picked up my phone. If there was anyone in my family I could even say

a word to, it would be my sister, but I doubt she's still have the same

number. Well, maybe she did, unless she moved.

I blew out a sigh and scrolled down to find her number anyway. I tapped on

it and pressed my phone to my ear. It's been six years... I doubt she'd even

recognize my voice.

"Hello?" I heard.

Everything I wanted to say, vanished. Just hearing her made me sit up

straight, gazing across my room as if I'd seen a ghost. Her voice definitely

wasn't the same. It was slightly deeper now that she was, what? Nineteen?

She was fourteen when I left.

"Is this Aria?" I tentatively asked.

"Yeah, you got the right number. Who are you? I couldn't tell."

"Oh, um... I... it's Asher."

"Asher Hadli?" she gasped.

"Yeah, Hadli."

There was silence on the other end and I expected that she'd hang up out

of a fit of rage. Instead, I heard a sob of surprise from her.

"You're alive, Asher," she cried, sniffling. "Oh my god... oh my god..."

"Aria?"

"I'm fine, I'm just... shocked! I missed you! I can't believe it; the last time I

saw you was before you went to college!"

"You're not mad at me? You don't hate me?"

She scoffed. "I'm mad at you alright! But there are times, like these, where

knowing someone's alive is better than any wrong they did. My god, Asher, it's you, it's you!"

I sighed. "You're 19, Aria. You've grown up," I said in awe. I saw Nolan

come into the room with an eyebrow raised. I pointed to my phone.

"Sister," I mouthed silently. His eyes widened for a second before he smiled happily, giving me a thumb's up and leaving again.

"Are you coming back? Oh, please come back!" she begged. I frowned.

"Wait, Aria, you still live there? With Mom and Dad?"

"I have nowhere else to go, Ash," she sadly explained.

"College maybe? What're you doing there?"

"I don't... I haven't gone to college. Dad can't pay for it. I've been trying to find a better job. I'm working two right now."

"What do you mean Dad won't pay? Is he crazy? You have a bright future ahead of you!" It was like the man knew how to fire me up without even trying. "But he has enough to buy alcohol like a hobby, right?" My voice raised slightly. "And Mom's just acting like she doesn't know what's going on?"

"That's not the case, Asher. Things have changed since you left, okay? A

lot."

"How?"

"Well, Mom's been working her ass off lately too. Dad lost his job almost a

year after you left, and now he's quite ill. He doesn't drink anymore either,

which I guess is shocking. I... I think you not coming back made him realize you took what he said seriously, about staying gone. It depressed him, and

he's lost the drive to push on. I want to go to college real bad, but I wanna

take care of Dad more. I just don't want any more people leaving me, that's all."

"Damn. Where's Dorian in all this?"

"He sends us money every so often, but I feel like he kinda doesn't care

about Dad. After all the emotional torture, Asher, he probably thinks that Dad's better off gone."

I buried my face in my hand. "Our family's a mess." I couldn't stand it.

Where had it all gone wrong?

"I miss you," she whispered, nearly crying again. "I thought something

happened to you. I lied, okay? I'm not mad at you, I promise!"

"Even if you were, I wouldn't blame you."

"I was just sad. My friends weren't really friends."

"Aww, Aria... you're the strongest of us all, you know that?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, of course. Soon, you'll go to college and everything will work out for you just fine."

"Did you graduate?"

"Yeah, about two years ago."

"Oh, wow! What's your job?"

"Real estate agent. It gets busy, but I've been making out quite a lot of

time, surprisingly."

"Why? Someone special?" she giggled.

My face heated up and I relaxed on

my bed, grateful to actually talk to my sister again.

"That, too." I chuckled.

"What else?" she sounded excited.

"I can't tell you right now. It's a surprise. But I can show you."

"Wait." She gasped. "Oh my god, you're coming to see us?!"

"I'd like to, but I didn't know if... I was unwelcome."

"NO! No, you have to come! Oh my god, please!"

"You can't tell anyone. Just try to get Dorian to come over."

"That won't be a problem. Yes, I'm so happy! When?"

"Is tomorrow at nine too early? I work at noon."

She gasped. "It's perfect. Come earlier if you want! I'll be too excited to sleep! God, Mom's gonna freak out! So will Dad."

"Yeah. That's if he doesn't hate me for being in love with a man."

"I'm sure he's over it."

I laughed like it was a big joke, which it was. "Dad? Yeah, good one. He'll

probably kick me out again."

"No, Asher. He really wants you to come back."

"We'll see. I gotta go help my love make some food."

"Aww, okay. I can't wait to meet this lucky person. Call me back when you're not busy."

"I will. Remember, don't tell anyone!"

I hung up and got out of bed, making my way to the living room. Nolan was

in the kitchen making dinner so I went to sit next to my child on the floor.

"Guess what, baby? We're going to see your aunt tomorrow," I told him. He

just stared at me.

"What's aunt?" he asked curiously.

I smiled. "That's what you call my sister. And my brother is called Uncle."

"Ohh. Like Grandma and Grandpa?"

"Exactly. You'll see them too."

He lit up. "I get to meet Grandma and Grandpa!" He shouted, jumping up

and down. I wanted to feel as happy as he did but I couldn't. How could I

be sure Dad changed? That he really did want me to come see him?

I walked into the kitchen and wrapped my arms around Nolan's waist,

kissing his shoulder.

"So, tomorrow?" he asked.

"I want you to come."

"I get to meet the parental units?" he chuckled. "You're sure?"

"Of course. I can't face them alone or without you. You're my rock."

"I'll be with you, you know that."

"Thank you. Let me help you with dinner." I let go of him and began to help.

"So what're you doing for your birthday? You're 18, so this is gonna be big, right?"

"Not really. Jace is throwing me a party at his place so all our friends from the team will be there. He lives about an hour away."

"Oh. When will you come back?" I was saddened at the thought I wouldn't

see him on his birthday. I had a lot planned.

"No worries. It's during the day, so I'll be back by like... six or so."

"Good. I thought I wasn't gonna see you."

He smirked. "That would be very stupid of me, now wouldn't it?"

I smiled. "Actually... yeah. Yeah, it would be."

I heard Zion's little feet tapping against the tiles when he ran into the

kitchen. He wrapped his arms around Nolan's leg.

"Daddy, can you make cookies again?" he asked him, his big eyes full of

anticipation.

Nolan looked at me with a triumphant smile. "Did you hear that? Daddy."

I folded my arms. "I am not old news, Reeds."

He looked back at Zion and I knew he'd say yes to him. Nobody could

refuse those big eyes on such a small face. "I'll make you some cookies,

sweet angel."

Zion cheered and I sighed.

"It's okay if he loves me more," Nolan boasted.

"No, it's just his way of saying we should get married," I countered.

I saw him freeze for a brief moment.

"Children are smart, Nolan," I persisted, moving to kiss him. He dodged my lips and kissed my cheek.

"Set the table, please." Blushing, he continued to cook. I knew he was

aware of my intentions because of what he'd told me earlier, about not being able to see himself with anyone else. I wanted to love him for as long

as his heart would carry him; until its very last beat.

*******

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