Touching the Heart of Ace

??... don??t understand.??

??I want to... he deserves better.??

??... He is mine... care a bit. Stay out of it.??

??Why? You don??t make sense Robert... Let him go if you...??

??... over my dead body.??

??Then get a div...??

??How... of your business. Get out!??

??Why not! You...??

I woke up to voices from my nap. Well, I did not remember lying down. Princess had a slight fever for two days and it broke only last night. So, we were both tired. We were playing in her playroom downstairs, she fell asleep and I thought lying on my back, was better while reading her story.

Viola! Passed out like a log.

I rubbed the sleep away and followed the voices to ??Robert??s Office?? at the far end. That was what literally written on his door. Goof Ball!

Wow!

They must be screaming at each other if the sound reached all way to the playroom. Robbie??s office was mostly sound proof, with a gigantic thick wooden door which I could only open with pushing both of my hands and using all of my body weight against it.

I knocked but I did not think anyone inside heard it over the shouting. I went in surprised to see Jason.

??When did you...??? I yawned big behind my hand, tears filling up my eyes. God, I was tired.

I noticed Jason was panting like he ran a marathon and Robbie was trying his best not to strangle him to death.

I walked to Big Baby and rubbed his chest, leaning to him. I felt him sniffing my hair. Weirdo! ??You two realize there is a tiny baby napping in this house, right? What were you fighting about??? They both looked at each other guiltily. ??Sorry, Angel, did we wake you up from your nap???

??Yeah but it is okay, I have to prepare lunch anyway. Jason, are you staying???

??No, he is leaving, Angel. Oh and Jason I expect you to finish the report by tomorrow 11 a.m.??

??With pleasure Boss Man, it is an honour.?? Jason politely replied but I could see the middle finger in Jason??s brain clearly and from Robbie??s narrowed eyes, he could too.

?? Are you guys back to being enemies? What? You only get along when you want to fight me???

??Haha, Goose, we are not enemies, we just want to kill each other with chain saws. Slower the better.??

??Agreed.?? Robert nodded to Jason in appreciation. I rolled my eyes when Jason nodded back.

??Why do I even bother? We have some pureed melon, if you want to stay, Jace.??

Jason turned green, he hated melons and to see it squishy was his nightmare. ??Tempting, but I came to kiss my girl.??

Right on cue, we heard Lia cry.

??Aha! Where is my love??? Jason jogged past us. Was this the same guy who said she was nothing but a nuisance? I sometimes wondered if Jason loved her more than me. Meanie! Well, not really, it was my baby so, it did not count.

??Angel, are we really having pureed melon for lunch today??? Robbie asked whining.

??If you don??t treat Jason right, you will eat pureed melon for rest of your life.?? I sassed.

??As long as it you serving me, I will eat poison, to make you happy.??

I pinched his hand hard. ??What did I tell you about your saying stuff like that???

??Sorry, love.?? He kissed my cheek. ??If you want to sleep some more, I will call for delivery.??

??No, I am awake. Come out when I call, okay.?? I rubbed his chest once more and Robbie deeply kissed me.

??I will be out in thirty. Don??t forget me.??

I fought my urge to roll my eyes. I always thought rolling eyes was an annoying habit, but living with Robbie and Jason made realize how some people got addicted to it. Princess was growing up fast, I did not want her to imitate me and start to roll her pretty eyes.

??Any recommendations???

??Pureed melon is fine.?? He winked at me, turning back to his computer.

I shook my head at his antics.

I resisted my urge to roll my eyes. I always found that habit annoying but living with Robbie and Jason made me realize how people got addicted to rolling eyes. I had to stop it before Princess starts to imitate me with her pretty eyes.

I decided on wraps for lunch. I had some chicken popcorns and veggies. If Jason was not staying for lunch; I could pack him some to eat on the way.

I smiled when I heard loud giggles and raspberries from the playroom. Was that the same Jason who had nothing to do with my baby girl at first. Sometimes I felt Jason loved her more than he loved me. Meanie! No, no really. He was loving my baby girl, so it did not count.

I hoped it remained like that forever.

Janice and Jason had some bad blood between them though he refused to tell me what it was. Then again no one in my family approved of Jason. It was okay when he was just my best friend or someone who sold my programmes. But when mom started to bring Jason to her business meetings and I started to introduce him as my business partner and brother, many people showed their true colours. Could I slip an eye roll? I decided not to.

I did not know how many of our relatives counting on my lack of interest in business as an opportunity to worm into Truscott. Co.

Even if Jason was not here, Mom would not let these backstabbers in the company. Truscott Co. was not just a business, it was a family of built upon blood, sweat and tears of loyal employees. Truscott. Co had value; other than our net worth.

I was dicing the bell papers when what Robbie and I talked came to my mind like a tornado.

You will eat pureed melon for rest of your life.

As long as it you serving me

Did he mean it the way I wanted it to mean? But I said ??rest of your life?? bit without thinking much thought to it though it was exactly what I wanted. Did Robbie just go with the flow? But then he added the ?? poison?? bit. I hated when he said stuff like that. He had no idea what it made me feel when he casually joked about his death or him being hurt or... I did not want to imagine him not being alive or not being happy or...

??Daffodils! Are you trying to solve world hunger? That is a hill of bell peppers.??

??Uhhh... You don??t have a kid to care for. You won??t understand.??

??But Amelia is too youn...??

??Shut up if you don??t want to eat melon puree.??

??Riiight.??

I asked Jason to boil water for tea and the lazy bum put the kettle on the stove then ran away. He heard Lia calling for her ??Uncle Jason?? apparently. When I called out on him, claiming she was too young to pronounce an alphabet correctly much less ??Uncle Jason?? he reminded me that she ate a lot of bell papers.

Joke was on him; I was not asking Robbie to extend his 11. am deadline. Ha! Take that!

Jason could not stay for lunch and I had to pack him wraps. Mom called me looking for Jason. He was supposed to run some errands for her and he came here looking for trouble. My eyes, please don??t roll.

Mom could not believe Janice had not come here yet. She asked me several time if I was sure. Of course I knew! I was literally living here. I would know if someone came to this house.

Did she believe me?

Nope.

She asked me to hand over the phone to Robbie so she could ask the same exact question she asked me to receive the exact same answer I gave her.

A big ??no.??

But my ??no?? was different from Robbie??s?? ??no??. It was a good thing I decided on being mature and to stop rolling my eyes. Otherwise they would have permanently stuck on my forehead.

I frowned when he took the phone to his office. I hated when everyone kept in the dark.

I thought mom talked to her when Janice came to our house in the evening. I... uh... honestly had no idea what to do. I had not seen her in a very long time. That day, when I snatched baby from the new nurse, she was screaming at her daughter and I was too focused on getting Baby Lia out of there to look at Janice??s face.

??Please come in.?? Then I felt stupid. It was her home; I was the visitor; I was the intruder.

She smiled smugly at me. For what?

??Where is...??? She looked expectantly at me.

Oh!

??I will bring her down now. She... uhh.??

Janice walked in confidently and in-charge, sitting legs crossed on the living room sofa. She was very beautiful, she looked like she was going to attend a very serious business meeting. ??No, I was asking about my husband. Where is he???

??In a moment.??

I ran upstairs looking for him. ??She is here.?? I announced seeing him fresh out of shower after the gym.

??Who???

??Your... your...?? My tongue was feeling heavy.

I watched Robbie gritting his teeth. Was he not happy that she was here?

??Baby, please ask her to sit in the office.??

??Is... everything okay???

Robbie snorted. ??Oh, it will be.?? Why did he look a tad bit scared?

Was it because of me? It hurt.

Then he kissed me on the lips, closing his eyes. So he was not worried about us? What the hell was going on?

It was not the time, anyways. I went back to the living room after checking on the sleeping baby.

??He will be down in a minute, Janice. He was...??

??Mrs. Brantley.??

??Huh???

??You will address me as Mrs Brantley.??

Fuck! Uhh... God! I... I... No No No...

Robbie, please, come down now, please please please

??Please wait in the office.?? Did I come out as rude? I could not call her that... I...

??He told me to wait in the office?!?? I nodded and she was not happy.

??Would you like to have something to drink???

I blinked at her order of smoothie. I lost at celery. But it was okay I guessed, because the rest of the order was starting with no.

No sugar, no salt, I did not know what the rest was. I thought I heard no gluten, too. But why would anyone ??add?? gluten to celery juice?

??Ace.??

Thank god, Robbie was here. I averted my eyes from his. There was so much a heart could handle.

??I will get that drink.??

??Will you please get Amelia before that? Give her a bath, you take a shower too. We will be in the office. Okay, Ace??? I nodded, looking down at my feet. ??You! Office.?? I heard footsteps leaving.

Okay, bath the baby and clean myself. I could do that. Thank God, I had something to do. I... uhhh...

Yeah bath, then shower.

Wait, did I stink. I sniffed my armpit. I was a bit sweaty but Robbie never had any problem before.

Whatever.

??Hey there, my sweet baby... I was waiting for you wake up, you know... come here you, let us take a bath.?? Lia cackled kicking and playing with her feet.

??Who is my happy baby? Oh is that you??? I loved when she gave me kisses. The open mouth lick on my cheek, or chin, or sometimes chest; one of the reasons, I stopped using ??goo?? much to Robbie??

s merriment, the other one was, well, Robbie loved it that way.

I thoroughly cleaned my baby girl, how could she be this dirty when all she did was sleep. ??Uhh, there is someone downstairs who came to...?? Was the right word? Uhh... ??It is your...??

Robbie would do the introductions. It was actually not my place to introduce them. Would Amelia recognise her mother, Jan...? Mrs. Brantley.

I did not care how much in love they are, how she was my baby??s mother; I would never call her Mrs. Brantley. I could not. It literally pained my heart.

I powdered Princess after her bath and showered myself quick. Should I doll up the baby? But it was her mother, not a stranger. Would her mother love it when Amelia was dolled up?

I finally decided on a simple frock, it was a white one with lot of light blue flowers. She looked so pretty in it with the material really soft and not too catchy.

Princess babbled to me though I was too distracted to reply her. She did not seem to mind.

I waited for a bit before knocking on the office door. I kissed baby??s palm when she patted on my lips. I slightly jiggled her on my hip, making her babble again.

I showed myself in when there was no reply. I frowned seeing only Robbie. ??Uhh... Robbie???

He was staring at the window lost in thoughts and jumped at my sound.

??There are my Angels.?? He smiled so big and gave us both a big hug and Amelia loved that cackling up. He kissed on our foreheads.

??Did she leave without seeing Princess???

??Yes.??

??Why???

??Why not???

Did she not want her baby? She did not seem to be ecstatic to meet her daughter, but she might want to right?

??She will come back later, stop glaring at me.?? Robbie cuddled up to other side of my neck.

??She is her child too, Robbie. You will not try to take her away from her own daughter, Robbie.?? What if she really had depression? Though she did not look depressed at the moment.

But that was a blunder.

Nobody really ??looked?? depressed. We could not predict a mental situation just by the person??s appearance. And I heard many pretended to be really happy, so they would not have to explain a lot and hear ??cheer up?? as a medicine.

I sighed, I would discuss it later with Robbie, he was not in mood to discuss anything, I could tell.

Was he shaking?

??Robbie???

??Angel, are you happy here???

??Why are you asking me that???

??Baby! Just answer the question!?? He glared at me, annoyed.

??Why do you ask??? I giggled and sashayed away holding my Little Baby closer.

??Ace!??

I jiggled Lia again and annoyed Robbie further. ??Why do you ask, Daddy, why do you ask???

I squealed and ??ran?? to living room, making Lia clap her hands.

?? You are so going to get it!?? Robbie growled and tried to catch me.

??Oh, baby girl, your daddy is so slow.??

??I will show you slow!??

Robbie ??caught?? us and pulled us to his lap, calling me an annoying brat. Hey! I thought I was an Angel. Meanie.

??Give daddy a kiss, baby.?? I told the giggling mess of a tiny baby and she drooled all over Robbie??s cheek. He melted on the spot.

??I will never let you go.?? He whispered.

??Robbie???

??You two.?? He kissed both of our cheeks, a bit frantically, to be honest. ??I will never let you go.??

Lia and I stared at Robbie, blinking.

Then Lia laughed like it was the most adorable thing she had ever heard in her whole life, making me smile.

I leaned to Robbie??s embrace.

??I am serious Angel, are you happy here? I want you to be happy, always.??

??Was it Jason???

Robbie sighed and I got my answer.

??If there is something I could to make you happier, tell me please.?? He begged. There was, but I could never ask him that. Especially when I loved Lia more than I loved him.

I smiled. ??There is.??

??What is it??? Robbie was ecstatic and it was adorable.

??You could let me drop out of college.??

He glared. ??No.??

I bit my lips, it was funny to annoy Robbie. ??Okaaay, how about, taking economics out of my online courses.??

??NO!?? Lia stared at both of us, confused if we were really fighting. I kissed her forehead and blew a raspberry on her neck.

??Daddy is silly, baby.?? She wholeheartedly agreed.

??Okay, how about the class on statistics???

??Angeeeeel.?? I giggled at his adorable expression.

??Robbie... I am here, aren??t I???

Robbie did not reply; I knew he hated when I answered his question with another question. I hated it too but I was in no position to reveal any of my real emotions. The love for him was too dominant, a slight

slip would be the end of my resolve.

The pain in his eyes took my breath away, and I rubbed his cheek with my thumb.

??I really don??t like this house, actually.?? Robbie stopped breathing. Shit! I should have kept my mouth shut. ??The stairs are a bit steep, it is a pain to climb up and down.?? I was truthful. My mom??s

house was bigger than this, but the stairs were not as steep and it would not make us pant after two steps.

I heard his loud exhale and I started to breath too. I wiggled in his lap and he tightened his hold.

??I miss gardens too.?? This was a beach house, the scenery was a beach, that was it. I was not saying it was not beautiful but I loved flowers and firm soil. ??So... make me a greenhouse, if you want to

make me happier than I already am.?? I shyly said.

??Done.??

??Uhhh.. don??t you want to...??

?? You want a greenhouse; you get a greenhouse.??

I want you more, but I will never get you.00000