ANGELOS POV.

"I thought people liked being an only child." I groaned as we walked into the apartment.

"They do but I want a baby sister. Or brother. I don't care as long as I can dress them up like they're my personal doll."

   "If it's a doll you want then-,"

"I'm fifteen, I don't want a toy, I want a small human."

    Yeah, that's never going to happen.

"Yeah right, like he would want to have more of you." I didn't know Morgan was still here.

"Have you been here the entire time?" I asked as he sat next to me, holding a bowl of cereal.

I didn't even know we had cereal.

"Anyways, he's right. You're more than enough."

"As in I'm too much?"

"No, as in you're a perfectly fine child. I don't want to share the love."

"Right." She squinted accusingly. "I'm going to take a shower."

"I just ordered sushi, I'm starving." Morgan continued eating his cereal.

"Where'd you even get that?"

"I bought it you idiot. There isn't anymore, I finished it with this bowl."

"You finished an entire box of sugar filled cereal in one day?" I rolled my eyes.

"No. I haven't had it for the entire day. More like two hours."

"Can you still do that thing where you eat anything and you don't even react?"

"Yeah, I made a lot of money in high school by doing that."

"Prove it." He held up a a lemon wedge that came from one of the four fucking restaurants he had delivered. "I'll give you twenty dollars."

Shit, easy money.

Without even questioning it, I took a bite out the wedge, rind and all.

   "Pay up." I grinned.

It wasn't even that bad.

"Woah Woah Woah. You didn't even let me finish. I'll give you the twenty if you're daughter can do the same thing." The smile on his face made him feel as if he had bested me.

Yeah right.

"Mercury baby?" I called.

She perked around the corner while drying her hair with a towel.

Thank god those curls are back.

"You and Gino both call me that when you want something. What is it?" She looked us up and down.

   "Come win me some cash."

She shrugged before walking over to us.

"See that rare steak over there?" Morgan nodded in its direction.

Oh fuck.

"One bite, and he wins." He smirked.

What a dick-

"How much would he get?"

"Twenty dollars."

She raised a brow. "Shit. Twenty? For a vegetarian to eat a piece of barely cooked meat?"

"Precisely."

Before I could even register what she was doing, she had cut a piece and ate it.

Holy shit.

"I've eaten worse for less. I probably would have done it for five bucks." She shrugged. "Believe it or not, I used to be a huge meat eater. I just felt bad for the animals and got grossed out at how they looked dead."

"Angelo, what the bloody hell did you create?"

What exactly did I create?

"A me apparently. That's my girl!" I gave her a high five. "What did I say to tell people who owe you?"

"You made the list?"

"No, the other one."

"Oh." She turned to Morgan. "Bills out Monopoly man. Can I go to bed now or do I have to eat another piece of a dead body?"

Still her usual vegetarian self I see.

"Night love."

"Buona Notte Amore."

"Night guys." She waved behind herself as she walked off.

"Right, now that the little critter is off to sleep, I happen to have a cigar in my pocket that I've saved since the last time we saw each other. What do you say?" Morgan and I were sitting out on the terrace.

At least one of us has grown up a bit.

"I'm fine. Help yourself."

"Oh come on. We were fourteen when we stole our first cigar, why stop the tradition?"

"I happen to have a little human that needs me, and I'd rather not die before she's thirty." I rolled my eyes.

"So no more women? No more cigars? No more getting stoned and then getting other people even more stoned?" He eyed me.

"Nope. I've had plenty of time for that. I'm tired of it."

"Maybe I should get myself one of those little things. She seems like a good influence." He shrugged as he lit up the cigar. "Ah, speaking of she-,"

I'm surprised he didn't ask about her earlier.

"-Care to dish about Adaline? How is she? Does she look different? Is she single?" He sat up.

"She looks the exact same, she is not single, and if I were to kill anyone in this world without any consequences, it would be her."

"You're lying. You two were inseparable!"

"Yeah, and then she didn't tell me she was pregnant, had our daughter and then subjected her to fifteen years of emotional and physical pain."

Morgan stared at me wide eyed. "Hold on, what do you mean pain? Did she abuse her? She was always the one to tell you to stay out of fights. Your mother didn't even do that."

"No, her ex-husband hurt the both of them. Long story short, he almost killed Mercury and it turns out Adaline left her in the hospital with nothing and no one."

"Ok, you know what? Fuck Adaline. She's no longer hot to me. Mercury doesn't need her, Step-Daddy Mo will make sure she's taken care of."

"Step-Daddy Mo?" I questioned.

"Step-Mummy works too."

"Good to know." I chuckled.

"Point is, just forget about Adaline. She's useless."

"I'm supposed to see her and her little family tomorrow."

"Dude, what the fuck did I just say?"

"The only reason I'm doing this is because I don't want Mercury to feel like she's alone again, and I certainly don't want to be the cause of it."

That's the worst thing in the world in my opinion.

"How would she feel alone you dumb ass?"

"She's only ever had one person that cared about her in her entire life. She finally meets the other person, but her mother is gone. She's only got one of us again. It was torture seeing her upset and miss her mother, and I really want that avoided until I know that I can play both mom and dad for her."

"Well, when you put it like that." He groaned.

"Don't have kids man, it'll tear you the fuck up." I sighed and leaned back.

We had been on this balcony many, many times throughout the years, and I still never saw either of us having this conversation.

"Please, you seem to enjoy it."

"Oh it's the greatest miracle anyone could ever receive and I wouldn't change it for the world. But seriously, never fucking have a little you running around. It'll ruin your life."

"I think I'll just stick with being Step-Daddy Mo from now on."