Touching the Heart of Ace novel Chapter 81

"Headache?" Robbie brushed my strands and kissed my temple.

"No... just... feeling down." I pouted and he pecked my lips.

"Do you wanna leave? They will understand."

"Nooo..." I looked around and saw Lia laughing and running around with kids. Raphael ?C Winston's son, Andrew ?C Dr. Adam's son, Lilly ?C Dr. Adam's PA's daughter and of course little adorable terror, Tyron were all squealing and jumping around.

Of all babies, Andrew was the oldest and he did not forget to mention it in every few seconds.

I shook my head. He had a very big soft spot on my Lia. I smiled seeing him hugging her close and patting her back for a job well done.

What job! Don't ask me.

They were close. Especially since Andrew asserted that he was her big brother. Lilly was only a few months younger than Andrew and she had apparently refused to call him Big Brother.

Then my baby girl came in and Andrew had been the proudest Beebo ever.

Andrew tried very hard to correct her pronunciation and my Little Lia tried harder but... Andrew finally stopped trying to correct my baby and that was that.

Little Lia was everyone's favourite. Of course she was.

I meant have you ever seen a baby fairy princess with a pirate's eyepatch on her forehead?

Well, Raphael was the pirate but he was so infatuated with her that he gave his prized possession ever.

"Lia is having fun. Let her be."

Robbie patted his chest. "Sleep."

I smiled and cuddled closer, surreptitiously looking if anyone was staring. They were not. "We are at a party, Daddy."

"So what? Simon will understand."

How could he look at me like I was giving him the world when agreeing to sleep on his chest? I sighed.

Silly baby! Like I don't sleep on his chest every single night.

I did lie down. My right ear fixed on his heart beats and my hand curled around his neck. I was not sleepy but I wanted to rest my eyes for a bit.

"Is he okay?" Logan, Simon's boyfriend asked gently. "I could prepare the guest room."

Robbie petted my hair and pecked my ear. "He is fine. Just..."

"Please tell me if you are staying the night."

I could feel when people started to gather around us and getting seated. But it was okay. Daddy was holding me and I could rest well wherever he was.

"Tell me he is not losing sleep because of that... byatch!"

Robbie tightened his hold. "He did. But it is okay now."

He was right; I was okay.

"What does she want this time?"

It was astounding how much support we received from our friends. Everyone would assume that after Robbie's divorce things were a breeze but sadly life was not that way.

The court did hand over the sole custody of Lia over to Robbie but that did not mean that they wanted Janice out of Lia's life.

It was no secret that Robbie was not an ideal husband to Janice. And court saw that even though Janice was troubled and abusive in the past, since she was very remorseful and seemed to be interested in having her baby back in her life, she was allowed to visit Lia twice a month under supervision; to build a healthy relationship with 'my' kid.

I wanted to snort so bad inside the court.

But I was not too worried because I knew she would not show up, especially with the visitation under the supervision of Robbie and a child psychologist.

She did show up the first time and made a scene because she had been waiting for half an hour and that we were late.

We were not at all late. The time given to us were 11 a.m. to 11.45 a.m. We were right on time. It was not our fault she showed up at 10.30 a.m.

'A mother would know the pain.' Janice had told the psychologist but honestly that woman was not impressed. So her drama did not get much attention.

Lia sat there like a statue on Robbie's lap; did not touch the toys Janice had gotten her, or taste the sweets she had unwrapped.

Lia did not like chewy sweets and the toys were not catchy at all. Honestly, they looked like an after-thought purchase.

Into fifteen minutes of the session, Janice was more irritable than Lia and we adjourned after thirty minutes.

Next time she was ten minutes late, which we did not mind; but what happened to the mommy pain?

As I had already predicted she did not show up for the third, fourth or any other sessions. Yet, we all went obediently for three months without fail until psychologist took the matter to the court. Janice had to get another order if she wanted the sessions to continue which unsurprisingly had not happened yet.

I felt bad for her lawyer Marshall; heard that he lost his credibility among lgbt community and high end clients.

Oh, Robbie's famous ex-lawyer got his license suspended. Robbie handled him personally after, according to my little birdies.

Yet, that woman had the fucking audacity to pick my child from her care-centre. No, she didn't pick her up; she tried to.

This was exactly why I had my fucking digital eyes following my baby twenty-four seven. I had my shares of terrors and scares in my life including my kid having a panic attack inside a court because of this same vile woman. Yet, it was not close to the terror of seeing her shouting at the employees at the care-centre to let my kid to go with her.

Thankfully Robbie and I were both at home. That fucking woman had disappeared before we could be there.

Robbie almost popped a vein when the caretakers refused him from assigning personal bodyguards inside Lia's centre, from then on. But Daddy situated them outside and in my opinion that was enough.

My hand tightened around Robbie's neck and he started patting my back immediately.

"I could not believe that woman thought she could fool everyone with a forged will. You should be glad it is Davidson, if it was me I would have broken up with you already." Aaron, the charming prince added.

"I am glad and grateful, guys. He is my Angel. I would die for him."

Daddy should stop that nonsense. I was in love with him as much as he was. I only wish that he had been forthcoming with me from the beginning; could have saved us from lot of pain and stress.

I opened my eyes and saw him already looking at me. I pulled on his neck and kissed him when he leaned down.

"If you take me from Lia, I will make your life miserable. So stop talking about death and stuff, you annoying Big Baby."

He chuckled before pecking my head, demanding me to sleep.

"Na. I am up." I rubbed his chest then my eyes before yawning. He squished me to his chest as I yawned again behind my hand.

"Let us go home now, baby. You are sleepy."

I checked on my kid, yawning again and saw her giggling and painting something.

"Not yet." Little Tyron was sleepy and occasionally giggled before falling to the thighs of a man who was next to him reading a book. I smiled when I saw the man gently patting his back and kept on reading without batting an eye.

Tyron was amazing and so cute; as long as Lia could not hear my thoughts it was okay. She was her Daddy's daughter.

The party was hosted by Logan and Simon to thank all their favourite patrons on the success of Logan in the Annual Chocolate Sculpting Competition. He was inspired by the sculpture of fist Robbie had received as a gift from Jeremiah, the teenage who we had given a home.

So we were all gathered here to congratulate him and honestly, kids were here just to play and eat sweets.

Lia was having fun and I did not want to spoil it.

I yawned and rubbed my face on my man's chest. I heard Robbie sighing before rubbing my back again.

"I am so sorry. Please let me..." I opened my eyes soon when I heard a startled voice of a woman and saw Naomi standing next to the man apologizing on behalf of her son for falling asleep on him.

"It is fine. The kid is tired."

"I will take him now." Naomi tried very hard to pry Tryon from his hug on the man's thigh. But the baby only whined and cuddled closer and Naomi almost woke him up by yanking on his hand.

"Hey, hey... it is fine. Let him sleep. It is absolutely fine."

"But... but..."

I sighed.

Naomi was still so weary of white people; rich white men with authority to be precise. In her defence, in her whole life she had not seen anyone who was okay with her or her family among white people.

The man was Russel and he was an F.B.I agent. We had bonded over our love towards Logan's chocolate croissants and books. He was a fellow introvert and our initial meetings were very awkward; 'very' was not accidently added.

We would always awkwardly smile, then nod at each other for almost half an hour until we got our orders then hightail out sighing in relief of successfully avoiding a mundane conversation.

Yeah, it was painful. We were both cringing at our own behaviour.

But one day Little Lia bumped to his knee and we had to exchange words. It was awkward again but we somehow bonded over that.

Coming to think about that, freaking Tristian was no introvert. He did that to lure me in.

Meanie!

Well, we were friends now, kinda.

I noticed Russel was getting uncomfortable because Naomi was adamant that she wanted to take her baby away but the little terror was not letting his thigh go.

"Wait for a few moments Miss. He would turn around in his sleep. Then you can pick him up." Russel tried again, before tucking his nose back in the book.

I had once asked how he managed to do his F.B.I job. He said he was a profiler and a behavioural analyst, so less he talked more at advantage he was. He could do calculated manipulative talks but when it came to idle chit-chat, he was as lost as me. And when he was at the field it was less talking and more shooting.

I hoped he was joking.

I rubbed my eyes and yawned once more before walking over to help the man out.

"Hey, Naomi. How were classes today? We all had dinner. You just came in. You go ahead and grab a bite. Russel and I got your baby terror."

"But Mr. Truscott... he..."

"He is fine. He had been dozing off for an hour now. Let him sleep. You go have dinner."

I shooed that worried young mother away. I was pulled to a lap and frowned.

Hm... Daddy?

Was he next to me all this time? God! I needed sleep. I cuddled closer to Robbie and looked at Russel who had gone back to reading.

"She is scary." Russel mumbled out.

I giggled. "How do you manage it out there, Rus?" Naomi was scary? Compared to the psychopaths and sociopaths he had to arrest and contain in daily basis?

He did not reply and I did not bother to talk again. Robbie smelled nice. I took a huge whiff of his neck and promptly yawned again.

"Such a stubborn brat." Robbie affectionately chided me.

"Yes, she is." Russel replied and I could not stop giggling.

"Looks like someone has a crush." I was only teasing but Russel's ears turned like a ripe tomato. "Holy..."

"Shh... reading and sleeping." Russel patted sleeping Tyron's back again.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping too, brat?" Robbie pulled my head back to his chest and I whined.

I was not sleepy. Just my eyes were heavy and... tired and... Robbie smelled nice and... he was warm and... Robbie was my Big Baby and...

I was hiding from my Mom again. She was driving me to the walls. Yes, she had guests and I might agree with her that some were nice people but... why the hell was I needed there when they talked about new deals and stupid stuff.

I would spend this amazingly perfect evening, in this orchard taking in the scents of ripe fruits and blossoming flowers.

It had showered an hour ago and the flowers looked even more beautiful with water droplets on their pretty petals. I flicked a branch of a shrub and it flicked water on my face, tickling me.

Meanie!

"Ah!" I clutched my heart and jumped back. "You scared me. I did not see you there. Robert, isn't it?"

He nodded. "Robbie. Please call me Robbie."

I smiled shyly. 'Please go away. Please go away. I don't know how to talk to handsome strangers like you. But we had already talked that day and he was nice and had asked me about my studies. So are we strangers? Where is Frankie? Please go away until I figure this out.' I prayed in my mind before noticing water droplets on his shirt.

Thankfully it was not Hugo Boss like he had worn that day but it was still not nice to get them wet.

"Did I... I... uh... make you wet?" I winced. I should not have flicked that shrub.

"Yes." He roughly replied.

Oh shit! Was he angry? He looked a bit angry. He was biting his bottom lip not to shout at me.

But he was meanie.

At least he could have lied and told me I did not make him wet, you know. I told him I did not see him there.

Now I felt bad and that made me feel bad.

I felt bad when I felt bad. I did not like it.

"I am sorry. I did not see you there." I looked down to the wet ground and winced again seeing water on his expensive leather shoes. Dad had a similar looking one. I hated them. What was wrong with converse like mine? Mom did not like converse but they were cute and...

"You can do it again. I don't mind."

I gasped when warm breath fell on my ears and I jumped back in shock. I felt his burning hand on mine and he slightly yanked me back to him.

"Careful, Pretty... pretty wet, you..." He squeezed his eyes shut before letting my hand go. I rubbed them to get rid of the touch? Imprint? Warmth? on my right hand. "It is pretty wet... the ground... from the rain... you might slip."

Oh!

I nodded.

"Th... thank you. I am sor..."

"It is fine. You did not see me there. I have been standing here for some time. Thought you would have noticed me."

"Oh... uh... I did not... Your shoes might not be..." I pointed to his shoes. I could get mom buy him a new one.

"It is just shoes." He shrugged.

That made me smile. He seemed okay for not telling me a very farfetched story of how expensive and one of a kind they were. My eyes shifted to his before falling back to ground.

He seemed very okay... Stop it Ace. He was not a teenager to be your friend. He looked older and someone who knew everything. He would not want to be your friend.

"I must go..." I told him. "Enjoy your stay."

I hoped mom opened our homes to people like him unlike that people who she was holding court for. I would talk to her about it. I hated these many people and they were in my home. I pouted.

"I can go if you want." He suggested but did not make a move to leave. He wanted to be in this orchard.

"No, no... You are the guest. I can come here whenever I want. Please enjoy the view."

I felt as if he did not like my calling him a guest. Was he one of those annoying guests who would take over the home after two days of stay? He did not look like one.

"Oh. I am."

"Excuse me, what?"

"The view. I am enjoying the view." He was staring at me and I felt like I was intruding his very private moment with nature.

I nodded. "Then I shall leave you to it."

"Ace..." I did not know how to feel when he called me that. Only mom called me Ace. But he was okay and he did not seem like a person who would call me the 'A' word to make me cry. "You do realise we can both enjoy... the view... here. You don't have to leave."

"Oh..." He was a nice guy. He did not mind my staying and I did not mind him calling me Ace. "Thanks."

I turned away from him to look at the beautiful clear sky. But I could see another wave of rain coming from the fast approaching ashy clouds from far.

"It might rain tonight." I mumbled to myself.

"You like rain?" Robert asked still staring at me.

"Very much." I smiled. "You?" I shyly asked. He had not leave yet; that meant he wanted to be my friend, right? I thought I was finally getting the hang of making new friends.

"Not in the past. But... I think I am liking it from now on."

I giggled at that. None could start liking something just like that. "Why is that?"

"Hm? Why is what?"

I shook my head. "Why do start liking rain all on a sudden, Robert?"

He shrugged and went back staring at the sky. "Robbie... I asked you to call me Robbie."

"But you don't look like a Robbie." I covered my mouth in surprise. I could not believe I told my first ever friend that. But he was not a friend. Well, he would not want to be one if this was how...

His amused eyes met my troubled ones. God! He had gorgeous steel eyes and now they twinkled with mischief. I winced in embarrassment.

"I don't look like a Robbie?"

"Ummm..."

"Ace Truscott, why would you say that?" He advanced on me and I had to drag my hand over my mouth to pry it away.

Oh God!

My back settled on a tree and he leaned in closer. "Why would you say that?" He asked me again. Was he angry?

"Ummm... just that... you... uh..."

"I am what?"

"Just..."

"I am just..."

"You are big." I blurted out before covering my mouth again.

"I am big?"

Oh no no no... Body shaming!!! But it was a good thing he was big. But mom said some people did not like commenting them on their bodies. Why did I say he was big? But he was big and looked so strong and old... old like someone who knew stuff and Robbie would not fit him but... I should not have said he was big.

I did not know I was squeezing my eyes shut until I heard a deep masculine chuckle and I opened my eyes.

He had beautiful twinkling eyes. But I had a feeling he was not someone to laugh too often and had permanent twinkling eyes.

It has to be his lips. They were slightly lifted on the edge now, like he was teasing me.

But that was a good look on him; that smirk.

"Robbie is a boy's name and you..."

"And I?"

I gulped... "... are a man."

God this was difficult. This explaining things.

"But I want you to call me Robbie."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. So give it a go, pretty please, Pretty?"

I giggled. "You just want me to call your name for nothing?"

"Yes."

I giggled again. Why the hell was I giggling? Mom said I would stop it when I was bigger. Bigger like Ro... Robbie perhaps.

I blushed.

"Come on, Ace Truscott, you can do it." He made it sound like I was going to participate on Olympics. I laughed harder.

"Robbie."

I tried and he smiled wider. Well, smirked harder.

"Not so difficult, now, was it? I knew you had it in you."