Aries

Chapter 7

"I'm Ariana Grayson."

Nova bent down to her level, and I tensed as I placed my hand over Ariana's shoulder. Her hair fell as a curtain and her fingers went up to hold her fair-haired locks back.

"I love your dress." She said and Ariana gave her a little twirl. "Wow, you're like a little princess."

"That's what Uncle Aries calls me," Ariana said, matter of fact.

Nova smiled at her words and stood back up and smoothed down her skirt. Ignoring her long legs and how tight and hot that skirt was, I looked down at Ariana.

"Come here, princess." I picked her up and ran my hands down her ruffled dress. "Wanna help me add some art to my office?"

"Yes!" She cheered, throwing her hands in the air.

"All right, let's see what you got."

I walked past the bag of chips, pretending like I couldn't see them, and made my way to the office. I opened the door and once we were inside, I closed it and set her down. I pulled out her crayons, coloring books, and markers and handed them to her. She laid down on my sofa and began coloring while kicking her legs back.

"Uncle Aries, can you put on some music?"

"I can."

I typed away on my keyboard and adjusted the volume. A Disney playlist on Youtube did the job as song after song played throughout my office. Ariana hummed and sang along as she drew and colored, paper after paper. I sat down on my desk and grabbed my phone to check up on Leila.

I texted Aden. 'Is she okay?'

'She's been a little down after having Alias. We dropped him off at mom and dads. Made her an appointment to talk to her doctor.'

'I'm sorry, bro. I hope she feels better. If you need anything, call me. Ariana can stay with me for as long as you need.'

'Thank you, Aries. It means a lot to me, to Leila.'

'Of course.'

After she finished drawing and coloring she gathered them all up and sang loudly and adorably to You're Welcome on the Moana soundtrack as we taped them to my wall. My wall was now an entire art gallery exhibition to Ariana Grayson and the smile on her face made me happy. I helped her clean up her crayons and markers and I turned off the music so we could admire the wall together.

"I think you should be an artist," I told her. "You're so good at coloring and drawing."

"Uncle Aries, is mama upset?" She asked, her fingers twiddling in her lap. I reached for her and held her in my arms before sitting down on the ground.

"Mama isn't feeling good, but she's not upset with you or with Alias. She's just having a bad day." I tried my hardest to explain. "I don't want you to think hard about it, okay princess? Baba is with her and he's taking care of her."

"Can I call him?" She asked, her chin trembling and I nodded.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Aden's number and handed her the phone. She sniffled and waited for him to pick up the phone.

"Baba, I miss you and mama and Alias." I rubbed her back, comforting her. "Yes. Yes. Okay. I love you, too. Here." She handed me the phone.

"Yeah, sorry. She wanted to call you."

"It's fine. I miss her as well. Is she giving you a hard time?"

"No, not yet." I laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "How's Leila?"

"She's doing well. We just got home, and she fell asleep. Poor woman's exhausted." He let out a sigh. "I might pick Ariana up at night."

"How about you go and get some rest as well and I'll drop Ariana off?"

"I don't want my daughter on that bike, Aries."

Shit. I forgot. "Uh...I'll have Alex switch rides with me. I'm sure he has a car with a booster seat." I said. "Just go and sleep and relax. She's in good hands." I reassured.

"Let me know what happens. Hug her and kiss her for me. Thank you, again."

"Stop thanking me. It's annoying. Rest." I said. "All right, bye."

"I'm hungry." She muttered from in my arms. "I want chicken."

"Chicken nuggets?"

"Of course, Uncle Aries." She rolled her eyes and I laughed at her attitude. I kissed her cheeks and the sass left her as she laughed with me.

"One chicken nugget meal coming up."

A/N: Ugh how cute is Ariana?