Chapter Twelve

~Nicolae~

The ride back to the house was silent, however, my thoughts spoke enough to outweigh the stillness of the cab of the truck. A sigh escaped my lips, thinking of the attack on Vincent and my brother's problems. It was around midnight when I had left Vincent and started towards home, the darkness of the surroundings was only lit by the stars and bright white moon in the jet-black skies. The sounds of fiends roaming the outside went by in a blur, as the sound of a motorcycle approaching brought light to the outside as the rider rode taking their light with them, leaving the surroundings dark once more. After midnight, I had pulled into the dirt patch beside a home that was familiar to me; the lights turned off. Save from the dim light that was Aria's bedroom, turning the truck off, making my way to the home, unlocking the door, making my way through the home, careful not to wake those that slept upstairs. I rubbed a tired hand through my hair sitting on the couch, laying my head back with a sigh. The sound of approaching footsteps followed by the overhead light coming on, caused me to look up. Charmaine walked over to me, dressed in one of my shirts, with a pair of black leggings, she sat down beside me. "How is Vincent?"

"He told me to come home."

She smiled. "See, I told you he was a stubborn old goat, he'll be fine, come and get you something to eat, then head up to bed. Aria and I went out and got you something for your birthday, we'll give it to you in the morning, you just try to get some sleep tonight."

I looked at her. "Aria didn't tell you? I don't celebrate my birthday."

"She told me, several times, but I didn't listen." She interrupted me as I sighed. "So, suck it up, we're celebrating your birthday, you only turn twenty-seven once, you could at least act like you're happy, or at least smile when people come over tomorrow for your party."

I looked at her. "A party? Why wasn't I asked if I wanted to have a party?"

"Because, I knew you would have said no, or do what you're doing right now. Nicolae, you're cute, but you can be stubborn. If it helps any, I didn't tell Yuffie and Cid, I didn't invite them."

"Well, that's one less hassle to worry about, but you invited AVALANCHE so that much more of a hassle has been added."

"You don't like Tifa and Cloud?"

"Tifa is too overprotective and Cloud, I don't need someone else to make the party dull and boring, I can do that well enough on my own."

"So, I suppose that the TURKS are not invited as well, not even Rude and Reno."

"Especially them, they want to take Aria from me, so not a chance."

Charmaine sighed. "Dude, no one wants to take Aria from you. I promise, they know to leave her alone, Reno probably wants to see her since he is her grandfather."

"How can you be so sure that Rufus doesn't want her? He is her father, I'm not even that."

"He's not that anymore, Rufus, signed his guardianship to Aria over." She got a manilla envelope from the table, laying it on my lap. "This is what Reno tried to give you the other day, could you at least look at the last page, then if you want you can read the other page."

I looked at the envelope in my lap, picked it up, and opened it. "Rufus, signed his rights over to me, to be Aria's father? What's the catch?"

"Dude, there's no catch. Did you think Leonard kidnapped Aria, Rufus gave her to him, since I was leaving the company, and didn't have a place for her to stay, Leonard had brought up the idea that he could give her to you, he wanted to keep her but with the schedule he has, Rufus agreed he would hand over Aria to you. Because of his company, and not wanting the responsibility of being a father, he knew you cared for her, and she's your daughter now."

I was silent for a moment, then I lay the papers on the table, looking at the woman that sat beside me. I wrapped my arms around her, feeling a tear come to my eyes. She wrapped her arms around me, rubbing my hair. The two of us were silent as I felt the tears roll down my face, as Charmaine released the hug, looking at me concerned. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

I looked at her. "After all the negatives I've had these past few days, I'm just happy something finally looks bright and positive for once."

She smiled, kissing my hands. "Everything is going to be alright, why don't you get some sleep and try to let all this sink in when you're rested, Vincent, is going to be alright. I promise, just get some rest. I'll sleep on the couch."

"No, you can sleep on the bed tonight, then tomorrow I'll clean off the guest bed."

She looked at me. "Are you sure? I can take the couch, it's not a problem."

"I'm sure, I'm getting tired so I'm going to sleep."

"Alright." She stood up, as I got a decorative pillow, lying down, closing my eyes. Soon I fell asleep.