Castle in the City

60

Damien's POV
If anyone told me that I'd almost be married at 24 and would have a child at the age of 22, I would have probably laughed in that person's face. I stared over at my two year old daughter and my beautiful wife and felt a smile being stretched across my lips. I couldn't wait for Sagacity's and my wedding together. We decided to wait while she was in school so that she could focus on her studies and so that I could work up enough money. Although her parents planned to take care of all the expenses, I still insisted on contributing, so I worked and saved whatever I could. Taking care of Aurora wasn't as hard as I thought it would be for the simple fact that Sagacity and I got a lot of help. Even Rico babysat Aurora when Sagacity and I had things to take care of. That's didn't stop Sagacity and me from taking care of out little girl on our own, however.

Sagacity looked over at me and smiled, and Aurora made wobbly walks over to me while giggling. "Dada," she giggled, and I smiled widely while picking her up. Since the very first time she called out to me, I had been smiling widely.

"What do you wanna do to celebrate your graduation, babe?" I asked Sagacity.

"How 'bout a vacation?" she smiled. "Dubai, maybe. Paris? Italy?"

I smiled, "We can do Paris and Italy since they're not too far from each other, and then we can do Dubai for our honeymoon."

She blushed and nodded with a wide smile on her face. "Sounds great," she finalized.

"Dada" Aurora giggled while placing her hand in my nose. She squeezed my nose and giggled, and I chuckled with her. She was so adorable and reminded me much of her mother.

"What's up, my little pumpkin?" I smiled, and she smiled even wider than she was before.

She said something in gibberish before poking me in my eye, and Sagacity started cackling. I gave Sagacity a playful bad eye before saying, "That was very mean, Aurora."

Aurora put on a sad face as she cupped my cheeks and asked, "Mad?"

I smiled, "I can never be mad at you, my little pumpkin," and she smiled widely again before attempting to kiss my nose. In reality, she just ended up slobbering my nose with saliva, causing Sagacity and I to chuckle.

Sagacity walked over to us with the dress Aurora would be wearing. "Alright, time to get you dressed," Sagacity said as she took Aurora from me. She quickly dressed Aurora and brushed her hair before asking me, "Ready?"

I nodded while grabbing my phone off the bed and stuffing it into my pants pocket. I adjusted my blazer and took Aurora from Sagacity.

"We have a wedding to catch," I smiled as we left the room. "Aurora, you ready for Uncle Nico's wedding?"

Aurora smiled while nodding, "Nico and Nat Nat."

"Yup," I smiled, popping the p. Sagacity and Aria were going to be bridesmaids, and Zach, Justin, and I were going to be the men of honor, only I was also Nico's best man. They wanted Aurora as the flower girl, although I was pretty sure Aurora would be more invested in eating the flowers than throwing it on the ground. "Remember, no eating the flowers, okay? What are you supposed to do with the flowers?"

Aurora smiled, "Eat?"

Sagacity chuckled, "No, greedy butt. You throw them."

"Throw," Aurora smiled and nodded before wrapping her arms around my neck and laying on me as I carried her to the car. After strapping her in her car seat, I got into the driver's seat and strapped myself while Sagacity got in her seat and strapped in as well. I then entered the location into the GPS and began driving off. I drove all the way out of the gated community that we lived in and took particular notice to a cherry red car that was parked by the side opposite to the gates. I had noticed that car once before, and another time, there was a black car. I had never seen anyone inside due to how heavily tinted the glass was in both cars. Seeing the cherry red car reminded me of my mother because that was her favorite shade of red. I immediately found myself a bit sad. I truly wished I could've spoken to her once more. Surely she had to have had a good reason to run and leave me behind. I knew I would never find out that answer because...because she was dead. She was dead and I didn't know why.

"Hey, you okay?" Sagacity asked from beside me. She gently placed a hand on my shoulder as she worriedly watched me.

"Yeah," I nodded.

With worry clear in her voice, she replied, "Between the nightmares you have and the zoning out at times-"

"I'm fine, City," I assured. "I just keep thinking of my mom. It sounds silly but I keep seeing things that reminds me of her. The fact that I know she's dead makes it a bit harder for me."

Sagacity sighed, "Why haven't you told me about this sooner?"

I shrugged, "Didn't wanna burden you. I appreciate you being worried about me, but I like to fight my battles by myself."

She nodded, "I understand, but what am I here for if I can't comfort you or go through things with you? I'm supposed to be a shoulder you lean on, not push away."

"You're right, babe," I nodded, a bit ashamed. "I'm sorry."

I stole a glance at her before focusing on the road again. "It's okay," she replied softly before lifting my free hand and smooching it. I smiled faintly at the tingles she caused to flow in my body, and continued to keep my focus on the road.

A/N: Hey, everyone! I just wanted to say that this will most likely be the second to last or third to last chapter. I'm leaning towards second to last. I've been trying to figure out how I wanted this book to end for the longest 😭 and I think I have it figured out. By the next chapter, which is hopefully the last, you'll see what I mean. See you all Sunday!!!