PELAGIC - Ace x Reader x Law

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX: What I Want Most

***(Y/N) POV***

"You look like a potato." Ace commented with a snicker as he moved to sit by my side after stoking the fire. I rolled my eyes, tugging up the collar of my puffy parka, unable to argue.

"Yeah, well, it's cold, and unlike you I can actually get frostbite." Whilst we were hot on Blackbeard's trail, it was positively freezing where we had ended up. The Grand Line always threw me for a loop with the weather. One minute it was hot, the next it was cold. I could hardly keep up.

"I wasn't complaining. Now I have my very own teddy bear. C'mere." Ace pulled me into his lap, squeezing me tight around the middle, and I couldn't help but smile. At least for a moment.

"So, it looks like we're pretty close to finding him, huh?" As I spoke I rested my head beneath his chin, feeling him nod.
"Yep. From what that barkeep told me, he was here only a week or so ago."

Thatch...

Reaching up, I began to toy with the charm at the end of his hat cord, tracing the detailed carving.
"He took Thatch's Devil Fruit...Do you think he ate it..?" I had been thinking about that a lot as of late. We had no idea what powers that fruit held, so it was a dangerous mystery.

"Either that or he sold it, which would probably make more sense. Whichever it is, it'll be fine. I'm a Logia user. He can't hurt me." Ace nuzzled down into the top of my head, one of his hands trying to locate my hip beneath the puffiness of my parka.

Another thing that's been on my mind...

"Hey, back when we met Luffy's crew, one of the girls, uh, Nami, made a joke about something..." I spoke up, squirming when he finally gave my hip a meaningful squeeze.
"Mmm? Was it about your cup size?" He jested, immediately retracting it once I sat upright in his lap, glaring.

"She said maybe next time we met we'd have a...mini you or me with us..." I wasn't sure why I felt so nervous bringing it up with him. I had been trying to store it in the back of my mind since Nami had said it, but it just kept lurching to the front every few days.

Ace's face fell a little, brows scrunching together.
"Oh..." He murmured, looking towards the fire for a moment. "How'd you respond to that?" Now I felt awkward, and I was sure he did too, by his change in demeanour.

"I said very unlikely...but, um..." Why was I so worried about mentioning this? We were married. I had literally checked his testicles for ticks not two days prior, so why was this what was making me uncomfortable? "I realised we never actually spoke about kids..?"

Ace shifted beneath me, one hand on the small of my back keeping me from falling off. Between his heat and the burn of the fire, I was beginning to sweat. I was sure their warmth wasn't the only reason.

"Do...you want kids..?" He asked cautiously, and I huffed out a breath.
"I asked you first." I didn't want to be the one to start a possible issue, even though I had been the one to raise the topic in the first place.

Ace chewed on his lip for a long time, in deep contemplation. At least he was having as hard of a time as I was.
"To be completely honest...I don't want kids...At all. I'm the son of the worst man in history, and I don't want to keep that bloodline going, if I can avoid it...b..but if you want kids-"

"Oh, thank god!" I cut him off, throwing my arms around his neck before pulling back and taking his face in my hands. "I love you, and your bloodline has nothing to do with it, but I would make a terrible mother!"

I have never felt this much relief in all my life!

Ace was frozen in confusion for a while before he eased up, a smile gracing his lips once more.
"Damn, you really had me thinking you wanted a baby for a second there." He nuzzled into my hands, and I squished his cheeks together between them.