sea maiden

A strong, firm hand grasped your ass and you wiggled a little in excitement as her grip quickly turned punishing. You didn't even try to make out the hallways of the Moby Dick or the people you were passing, everything fading into a blur of wood and fabric as you squirmed in Marco's hands in a mock show of getting out of her grip. You couldn't just give up on your torment once you were caught, that would be too easy.

Before long, Marco stopped, pushing open a door and going inside. The familiar scent of the First Mate's room filled your nose, the excited-nervous knot in your stomach tightening.

You shivered in anticipation, after so long without relief — as Marco had forbidden you from touching yourself without her permission and while you were just fine with breaking most of her rules, it only took one time being put into the chastity belt for a week to follow that rule perfectly. So instead you pushed at the edge of the rules, trying to goad Marco's restraint into snapping so she would fuck you.

You were unceremoniously dumped onto her bed, immediately scrambling up to try and escape, but you didn't even get part way off of the bed before Marco was grabbing you again, this time, manhandling you over her lap, a strong hand pinning you in place unable to do much more than squirm.

"Stay still, yoi," Marco scolded, hand briefly digging into the fat of your ass, which was presented deliciously on her lap. Just to tick her off a bit more, in for a penny in for a pound as they say, you let out a little moan, fluttering your eyelashes in case she could see.

She sighed, an exasperated, tired sound, but you could detect the tiny traces of fondness in her voice. You grinned to yourself, loving the effect you had on the usually collected woman.

Your smile was wiped off of your face when the first smack landed on your ass, the force dampened by the clothes you still had on but that didn't mean it didn't sting. You hadn't realized you had yelped in surprise, caught off guard by the sudden hit, until Marco chuckled softly.

"So you can stay still, birdie. Good to know I won't have to restart your training from scratch." She pet at your still clothed ass, your thighs clenching together as you anticipated a strike that never came.

"Tease," You hissed, gritting your teeth together. That was totally unfair! Marco usually loved to tell you just how much punishment you had incurred before she started, letting the fear-arousal ramp up as the knowledge, so you truly weren't expecting her to start your punishment so fast.

"I'm a tease?" She asked in a tone that made it clear she wasn't really asking, "Well then what you could be when you wore no panties in the busy infirmary all day today, bending over at every opportunity to show off your pussy like a needy slut?"

"That's different," You protested, although your words lacked any conviction, she was right you just refused to give in just yet, she'd need to work more for that. You always eventually gave into her, but it was no fun if you lost the game too fast.

"Is it, yoi?" You could practically hear the amused lift of her eyebrows in her voice, but you nodded your head anyway. She hummed to herself, quickly ripping your thin transparent tights and skirt off of your body until your bottom half was completely exposed to Marco, goosebumps prickling at your skin from the cool air now sweeping across your skin.

"Well then," She mused, tapping her fingers against your bare skin, "I suppose you'll just be punished for being a whore, not a tease instead, yoi."

Your head spun, trying to figure out what that meant, if you were going to get off lightly today — though you doubted it — or if you had just made your punishment worse by mouthing off to Marco.

But before you could get lost in your own head, mulling over the options, Marco made her move. She rained down a series of slaps on your bare ass, the stinging pain leaving you breathless with your mouth parted. You panted, Marco seeming to let you catch your breath before she continued your punishment or was it to cause fearful anticipation for when she would strike next, you didn't know but both options had your lower stomach tightening.

This time when Marco struck you, she focused on one area, making sure that you would be bruised for days after your punishment. You shivered at the thought of the ache, the pain of sitting down, of having to hie your expressions at mealtimes for as long as the bruises took to heal.

Marco spread your legs a little, shoving your hands in between your thighs to swipe two fingers through your folds. It was only then that you realized you were wet, practically dripping onto Marco's thighs and the bedsheets. You bit your lip as embarrassment welled up in your chest, as much as you knew in your head that being spanked got you off, it was always embarrassing to be reminded of that fact in the middle of a punishment.

"What's this, yoi?" Marco dangled her slick fingers in front of your face, grabbing your jaw when you tried to look away, "You do know this is supposed to be a punishment, right birdie? Or are you just so depraved you'll get off on discipline?"

You opened your mouth to retort, to try and save some semblance of your dignity even though you knew it was futile, but were cut off by your own yelps and moans as Marco smacked you again, harder this time, shivers running up and down your body uncontrollably at the sensation.

This time she didn't let up for a long while, striking your ass with her bare hand until you were a whimpering, shaky, mess in her lap, voice cracking on moaned pleads for mercy, of which she'd never give.

"Are you ready to apologize now?" A comforting hand running up and down your spine, and you fought against the shaking of your body, flooded with arousal, to open your mouth.

"Mommy," You whined, begging for something but you were unsure of what that something really was. You wanted her to stop, you wanted her to continue the punishment, you wanted to cum, you just couldn't put any of it to words. You shifted your thighs, the ache intensifying pleasurably, and you were suddenly aware of how close you were to cumming, you just needed a little more, the coil of your arousal tight in your stomach.

"Yes, birdie?" Her voice was calm again now, the very picture of the First Division Commander that everyone else saw, "What do you want from Mommy?"

You struggled, hips twitching down to Marco's leg in a desperate attempt to get some friction, to maybe topple yourself over the edge without help but Marco stopped you with another slap, this time to the tops of your thighs.

"Use your words." She scolded. You could sob, and maybe you were crying you weren't really sure, it was so hard to talk, to think about what you needed.

"Please," You wailed, barely gathering together the brain power to make a coherent sentence, the ache between your legs and on your ass diverting most of your attention. You clawed at the bed in front of you, desperate for something to ground you

Finally you were able to gasp out, squirming around desperate for contact, "Mommy, I need to cum."

"Oh birdie," She patted your ass in mock sympathy, "You didn't earn the right to cum tonight, yoi." This time you were sure you were crying, sobs catching at your throat before tumbling out of your lips, burying your face in the bedsheets.

"Please," Your voice cracked, muffled even to your own ears.

"If you're a good girl tomorrow, you can cum but you better be on your best behavior." Marco talked as if she didn't hear your plea, but you knew she did, her ears some of the best in the crew.

She picked you up in her lap, settling you against her shoulder, and you curled into her, greedily soaking up the physical contact even as your neglected pussy leaked onto her lap and your ass ached painfully from the position you were sitting in.

Marco pressed a kiss to your forehead before scooping you up to carry you to the bathroom, settling you on the counter, your sore red ass a stark contrast to the cool stone you were sitting on.

Soft sniffles and whimpers still fell from your lips as you pouted up at Marco, hoping that she would feel pity and let you cum but all she did was wipe away your tears with a damp towel before beginning to wipe you clean.

She paid special attention to your pussy, careful not to provide you any of the stimulation you so craved while cleaning you up. A pitiful whine slipped out of your mouth but Marco was gracious enough to pretend to not hear it, you weren't in complete control of yourself in that head space.

Your hands twitched, curling into the soft fabric of Marco's shirt, needed it to ground you as the clashing sensations of arousal-pain-chill wracked your body. She allowed that comfort, your punishment was already over after all, and you loved to cling to her for comfort after sex.

"Come on birdie, let's go to bed yoi," She picked you back up, seeming to know that your legs were too wobbly still to support your weight before walking back to her big comfortable nest of a bed.

He had lied straight to your face and handed Ace over to the marines anyway and now he was going to be executed. Maybe he was already dead. You tried to get that thought out of your head, but it was futile, your brain conjuring images of Ace bleeding out, of him lying on the floor his head separated from his body until that was all you could think of.

You felt stupid. You should have known that the man who stabbed one of his brothers in the back without a shred of remorse would have no qualms about making false promises for his own gain. But you had wanted to believe him, had wanted to believe that your former crewmate had some respect left for his commander.

That fucking hope was what got you into this situtation: heavily pregnant, unsure if it was Ace's or the traitor's baby inside of you —you had suspicions but nothing clear —, and stuck inside pure darkness with no way to know how long it had been or what was going on outside.

Any hope you had left about your crew coming to save you in the months after the deal died. They probably hadn't even known you were gone or needed help, since Ace didn't return to them like you thought he did.

Tears dropped steadily from your cheeks, you hadn't even realized you started crying, as you fought to supress your sobs. No one could hear you here, something Blackbeard found great joy in reminding you right before he dumped you back into the darkness covered in and dripping with his cum, but you refused to fully give in to their control. Every time you broke in front of them felt like another mark of shame, filling you with guilt; its what they wanted, they wanted the reminder that you were forcing yourself to obey, so you did your best to hold yourself together.

But with the realization that it had all been for naught, you couldn't help yourself, a few sobs escaping your lips. Once you gave up on wiping away your tears, letting them flood your cheeks and soak into your nightgown, your hands insticntively rested against your swollen stomach, as if to protect the little life inside of you.

You had accepted your situation, had accepted that it didn't matter whose baby was in you because you weren't leaving until Blackbeard got bored of you, — you had lost hope in being saved after the sixth month though a small part of you was still holding on — hat it was worth it to protect your commander. Now you were hoping it was Ace's, to have a part of him after his execution. Maybe that was selfish of you, but you were tired of feeling guilt for your emotions, so being a little selfish was just fine.

***********

You were beginning to get bored, if that was even possible, the waiting period stretching out into a constant buzz in your head. Sometimes it felt like you would prefer to be used by Blackbeard, because then at least you wouldn't be stuck in this hellish void without any stimulation; a ringing had devleoped in your ears from the constant silence.

Like always, you didn't know how long had passed in the outside world until you were pulled out of the darkness, having fallen asleep for a long time once you had worn yourself out and only briefly waking up between bouts of restless sleep.

The first thing you saw was Blackbeard's grinning fucking face, staring down as he loomed over you, caging you with his body. You didn't have the strength, physically or mentally, to do much more than sit on the floor and stare blankly up at him. You were burning up with hatred inside, a numb hot feeling settled deep in your ribs, but you didn't act on it, there was no point.

"Morning, Doll," He mocked, probably expecting your usual forced response or you to snap after what he had shown you. You just couldn't muster up the energy for a response so you continued to stare up at his face, empty eyes directed at that near toothless smile.

Distantly, some part of you wondered what he wanted you to do this time, he never told you he just took what he wanted and expected you to keep up. Before, when you were still under the impression that Blackbeard had upheld his end of the deal and so you wanted to uphold yours, you would

"Aw, not feeling like talking today?" He cooed, hands already reaching down to his belt. Blackbeard never truly cared about you responding or reacting, he only cared about what he got from you, he just liked pushing your buttons.

"You lied," You hadn't even realized you had spoken until the words were already out of your mouth, your tone flat and even. The hot feeling in your ribs pulsed along with your breaths.

Blackbeard laughed, a genuine one which was almost more scary than his usual mocking chuckles, "We're pirates, doll, we all lie to get what we want. Well the good ones do anyway, that old man never understood that."

You swallowed down your hatred, the burning magma creeping up your throat. You wanted to throw up all over his stupid shoes, youu wanted to go home, you wanted a lot of things you knew you weren't going to get so you swallowed your emotions down and let your brain feel numb.

He didn't react, just kept on talking about being a better pirate than your Captain — your Pops — because he was more ruthless, less kind and loving towards his crew, as he unbuckled his belt and fished his dick out of his boxers.

Blackbeard didn't even pull down his pants, pulling his dick through the hole and beginning to jerk off above you. You were around face height with it while sitting down, watching numbly as he jerked off right in front of you.

Part of you was relieved that he didn't seem to want you to do anything to him at the moment so you could soak up the rare moment outside of the void without being forced into sexual acts. The other was confused and almost upset that you didn't know what he wanted from you if it wasn't you servicing him in some way.

Your eyes began to wander as the numb rage in your chest lessened slightly, as other than Blackbeard beiing right in front of you and having to listening to his groans, it was actually quite nice to just sit there on the deck of the ship and look at the clouds and waves.

"Look up here doll," Blackbeard panted, a threatening tone coloring his voice; it was distinctly a command not a suggestion. Not wanting to get punished for disobeying him him when you weren't having a horrible day for the first time since this all had started, you quietly looked up, meeting his eyes past the view of his dick in your face.

"Good, good," He groaned, his hand moving quicker over his shaft. The tip was nearly bumping into your nose with each buck of his fist into his hand, and absentmindedly you thought about sticking your tongue out to see if it would hit it. But quickly remembered just who was jerking off over you, revulsion replacing the wonder in your brain, the rage tightening in your chest.

How dare Blackbeard make this seem almost normal to you, like being forced to be his sex toy was a choice you made, and though technically it was, it wasn't because you wanted to do anything of this but because you wanted to protect Ace.

Blackbeard's hand movements grew faster as you stared at him, quietly humming a silly shanty in your head and wishing he would just finish whatever he was doing so you could go back into the void, all the hope and fight — not that there was much in the first place — had drained out of you, you just wanted to get through this.

After what felt like both seconds and an eternity, Blackbeard groaned, a long and drawn out sound, and you finally realized why he had yanked you out of the void just to jerk himself off as ropes of cum spilled out of his cock and decorated your face. Cum landed in your hair and across your face, so you quickly shut your eyes to avoid getting any cum in them.

Blackbeard continued to cum for a long time, nearly covering your face in his semen, and distantly you thought that he must have pent himself up to be able to cover you like this. You kept your mouth shut tightly, you hated getting his cum in your mouth although sometimes the choice wasn't up to you.

Once he stopped cumming, the stress and rage finally boiled over as you started retching and dry heaving, nausea boiling in your stomach as the past months and the realization that Blackbeard broke your deal came to a head.

Before Blackbeard really had a chance to react to your bodies movements, a sudden quick wave of cramping swept through your lower stomach, stealing your breath away. The gagging stopped once the wave was over and you were able to gulp some breaths of fresh air.

Confusion set in on what had just happened as you panted for air, cum still dripping down your face onto the floor. You didn't have much time to be confused though, before another wave of pain ripped through your stomach.

Fuck. You were in labor.

***********

A lot changed with what Blackbeard expected from you after the babies were born. More specifically that he didn't expect much out of you, unlike before when he would pull you out of the darkness, what felt like, often to service him in different ways.

It was a long and tumultuous birth with Doc Q at the helm — and you hated now you knew each of them by name — only compounded by the surprise of having twins. But somehow, you were allowed to rest in the infirmary bed for a couple of hours as the doctor made sure they were healthy, though he had to be dissuaded from using his devil fruit to speed things along.

The twin's heritage was obvious from the first moment that they were place in your arms. They had Ace's freckles and eyes, your heart skipping a beat when you first saw them.

You held back your tears, refusing to cry anymore while Blackbeard's crew was still in the room, but internally your emotions were tearing at each other in your chest. You were both relieved that your babies weren't also Blackbeard's and upset because their father was most likely dead. Then was the question of why Blackbeard had allowed you to keep them, and more confusingly, why it felt like he had faciliated your pregnancy. You didn't want them to a pawn in his schemes, but you were unable to prevent it.

A couple of hours after birth, once Doc Q had confirmed that you and the babies were okay and healthy, — a suprise for you since Blackbeard hadn't seemed to care very much about your overall health before outside of the pregnancy — Blackbeard sent you back into the darkness, this time you weren't alone but that almost felt worse, having to bring newborns into that void with you.

For, what you assumed to be, around a month or two, you were mostly left alone with your children in the darkness. It couldn't have been good for the babies to start their life in darkness but there was nothing else you could do but care for them as best as you could.

You weren't able to put them down properly, worried that you would lose them in the void if you took your hands off of them for a second and stress effected you feeding them. You found yourself crying more and more often as you juggled being a prisoner with being a single parent.

Children weren't ever something you truly thought about, being a pirate took up most of your life, so you were also woefully underprepared to be thrust into parenthood without any choice on your part. You loved your babies, truly, it wasn't their fault they were born and stuck here with you, but you wished you had made the choice to have them without Blackbeard's influence and control.

The only control you had over the situation was their names, so you vowed to never tell Blackbeard or any of his crew what you named either of them. It wasn't much but it was something of yours — and your babies — that he could never have.

***********

The next time that you got to feel fresh air and see the sun was — from what you assumed from the growth of your babies and the vague semblance of a sleep schedule that you could muster up — several months later and quite honestly you were about to keel over if you didn't get some food and a break from constantly cradling your babies.

But that's not what happened — though you expected that.

The entire experience was unusual: first because you were on an island instead of being dragged out of the void onto the deck of the ship and then because there were people outside of the crew staring at you. Suddenly you felt exposed and without letting go of the twins, you did your best to cover yourself up, distinctly aware of the thin fabric of your white nightgown.

You felt a hand, big and familar, clamp down onto your shoulders as you curled up on the floor, trying to protect your modesty and your babies from these strangers.

Blackbeard began to speak, his hands pressing down hard on your shoulder, an ache developing in the joint as it fought to stay stable under the weight, but all you could hear was his exclamation that someone else was going to be raising your children while the crew sets back out to sea, you in tow.

Pure fear filled your body and you forgot about your modesty as you attempted to prevent your babies from being taken from you. The same tendrils of darkness that had hurt you so many months prior easily pried your limbs apart, plucking your babies from your hands and handing them off even as you struggled and fought to get free. For the first time in a while you had something to fight for.

"Keep the brats alive! I need them mostly unharmed for later," Blackbeard barked at his underlings, hand twisted into your hair as you attempted to get free, without any luck.

You heard someone screaming wordlessly, but it was only when you were pulled out of the house and out into the burning sunlight that you realized you were the one screaming, wordlessly begging for your babies back.

"Shut up, whore," Blackbeard growled, twisting your hair even tighter in his fist; he was obviously upset with you and your screaming but you didn't care, your last connections to Ace and the babies that you had grown to truly adore had been taken from you. You fought even harder against the shadowy tendrils if that was even possible, but it was all for naught.

The tendrils only released you onto the floor, your head thunking onto dirt and grass as Blackbeard let go of you, once you had gotten a decent distance away from the house. But before you could regain your bearings and crawl towards the house, he had grabbed onto you again, a snarl afixed to his face.

"If you don't want to shut up, I can just make you. You belong to me, remember that." You fought against the burning pain in your scalp to get away, even as you heard the now familiar sound of a belt unbuckling.

It had been a while since Blackbeard felt like he had to punish you and part of you wanted to obey, to go limp in his grip and do what he wanted so that it wouldn't hurt as bad. But a bigger part of you continued to struggle, to get away, and you felt hoarse screams rip from your throat as you stared into the horizon, head stuck in position where he was gripping your hair.

Blackbeard moved to rip your nightgown off of your body, ignoring your weak attempts to fend him off when suddenly you saw something off in the sky above you, a bright teal light getting closer and closer by the second.

Right as the light encompassed your vision, Blackbeard let go of your hair a second time and this time when your head hit the ground, spots danced in your eyes and the world went dark.

***********

You woke up in an unfamiliar ship, the light streaming in through the portholes burning your eyes and causing a throbbing in your head. You groaned, squeezing your eyes shut as your memories slowly came back to you.

Before you could really process what you were doing, you were upright in the bed eyes wide open as you looked around the room of the ship you were in, ignoring the pain in your head and eyes to look for your children. It wasn't Blackbeard's ship, that was for sure but you couldn't place what crew it belonged to.

The room was small but bright, completely empty except for you and the medical equipment surrounding your bed. Recalling the bright blue flash you saw before you passed out, a tiny faint spark of hope flickered in your chest, maybe one of your crew had finally come to save you. You snuffed that hope out quickly, hope only hurt you it never worked out.

You began to stand up, untangling yourself from the mess of wires connecting you to to the various medical devices around you; you needed to leave this room, find your children and figure out what was going on.

But before you could take more than a step away from the bed, the door creaked open and a worried but familiar face greeted you. Marco, the first division commander and first mate of your crew.

The relief that washed over you was so overwhelming that your legs buckled and you almost toppled over onto the floor before Marco caught you and you clung to his shirt. You weren't extremely close with the commander before you left but right now it felt like he was your lifeline, you could almost — almost — kiss him.

He put you back on the bed, talking quickly about your vitals and other health related things but you couldn't focus, tears welling up in your eyes.

"You came," You said, your words coming out as barely a whisper, you had truly given up after finding out that Blackbeard had reneged on his end of the deal, thinking that with Ace gone and the second divison likely in chaos that you would simply fall through the cracks and be forgotten.

Marco paused his talking, staring down at you with an unreadable expression, staying silent for a while before speaking, "We wouldn't leave a crewmate behind."

His words were the trigger for your sobs, your head thumping into his chest as you held onto Marco's shirt and sobbed in relief. Your nightmare was over, you were safe again.

Marco just let you cry, a warm hand resting on the top of your head, until your tears peetered out. You knew that once you were reintegrated into the crew and were healthy again you would be embarrassed at this show of vulnerability, but at the moment it was all you ever needed.

Finally, once your tears had dried out and you let go of Marco's shirt, an alarm went off in your head, "Wait, my babies–"

"Are in a different infirmary room being looked after by the nurses." Marco interrupted your panic, reattaching you to the medical equipment and making sure you were okay. You sagged into the wall behind you in relief, the last of the panic and fear leaving your system as you finally breathed without a pressure on your chest for the first time in what felt like nearly a year.

***********

Slowly you recovered in the small side room of the infirmary as the ship traveled back to the island the crew had been staying on for the time being, crewmates filtering in and talking to you as you got better. Once your babies had recovered from being raised for first few months in pure darkness, the nurses let you hold them throughout the day and watch them play on the floor of the infirmary while various crewmates entertained them.

It filled your heart with joy to see your family stepping up to help you, as you knew they would, with your kids while you recovered from nearly a year spent unmoving in the void.

Marco and the nurses were the ones to explain what had happened during Ace's intended execution to you and how they found you. It was a precaution just in case the information caused you to go into some type of medical emergency, at least according to one of your friends from the second division who told you once they came in with one of the twins for you to hold.

The crew had suffered heavy losses, Pops being one of them — and they had to pause their explanation so you could sob for hours when they told you — but Ace had made it out, though severely harmed.

Once he had woken up after most of his life-threatening injuries had healed, he had apparently insisted on the crew going to go save you, even though they had no idea where Blackbeard or his crew where. The thought made your face flush, even through the shame and guilt you felt like you deserved for not seeing through the traitor's lies.

It took them a while to pinpoint the island Blackbeard had decided to make his base, after which they had taken a smaller ship, since the Moby had to be retired after escaping the execution, and a volunteer crew from each of the divisions to come get you and take revenge on Blackbeard.

He had gotten away with most of his crew but you found that that didn't worry you as much as it would have before, you were surrounded by your crewmates who understood what had happened and didn't judge you, who loved you and your babies.

The only worry that you still had after Marco and the nurse's explanation was irrational: that Ace would hate you for failing to protect him or for having his children. That fear still persisted, even as the ship drew closer and closer to Sphinx island.

Your division crewmates — most of which had already known about your crush on Ace since gossip spread quick in your division — had attempted to reassure you that Ace cared for you deeply and had even tried to insist on coming with Marco and the others to come retrieve you before he had to be strapped to the bed and reminded that he was still healing from nearly dying at Marineford.

Their words helped, a little, but as the ship docked and you began to make your way up onto the deck, your heart started to flutter in panic. You soothed yourself by fussing with the buttons on the clothes of the baby you were carrying, one of commander Izou's division had figured out how to whip up some passable baby clothes while you sailed towards the island.

You couldnt hold both of your babies at the same time, didn't have enough strength anymore, but Marco cleared you to carry one at a time while walking and you took advantage of that to distract yourself from the fear of seeing the rest of the crew again, Ace especially.

But as you stepped onto the gangplank and started walking down it, with Marco as a now comforting and steady presence behind you, holding the other twin in his arms, your eyes swept across the crowd of your crewmates waiting for you and the others to disembark and instinctively found Ace's eyes.

He was still covered in bandages, being supported by Haruta to be able to stand, and the very sight brought pangs to your heart. It was evident that what Marco said was true, he had brushed against death but had somehow come out the other side alive.

But in his eyes there was no hatred reflected back at you, only a tearful relief that turned into shock as his eyes dropped from yours and he saw the baby. You swallowed hard, forcing yourself to continue walking even as fear gripped your heart and tried to convince you to flee back into the bowels of the ship.

You thought that maybe the crowd of crewmates around the ship was talking, cheering maybe, as you reached the end of the gangplank and stepped onto the island where the crew now resided, but you couldn't hear them, your whole body was focused solely on Ace and his reaction to seeing you.

He broke away from Haruta, which probably wasn't a great idea, stumbling towards you as you couldn't help but step towards him, like you were both magnetically attached to eaach other.

"Are they–" Ace cut himself off, words failing the normally confident and charismatic man, but you knew what he meant to say. He was asking if the twins were his; you were almost tempted to lie and say that they weren't but you couldn't, not only could you never lie to your commander and crush, but it was obvious that they were Ace's, anyone would kno from just a glance.

"Yes," You finally whispered back, not wanting to include the rest of the crew in the quiet moment.

For a moment, Ace didn't move, eyes stuck on the baby in your arms and you worried that you had done the wrong thing, that Ace would hate you for carrying his children even if it wasn't truly your choice.

But in the next moment, Ace was gathering you up in his arms, pressing his face into the top of your head. You felt his shoulders jerk around you and realized, with a sinking heart, that he was crying. Your face twisted, tears prickling the corners of your eyes but you willed them back.

He was warm and everything that you had ever wanted, and you almost hated yourself for it, but how could you when it felt just right? So instead you closed your eyes and tucked your baby into your chest to be more comfortable, leaning into his arms like you had wanted to for years at that point. You finally felt safe again, wrapped but not caged in his arms.