Chapter 36: 36. On a cold winter’s night.
It turns out that the twins’ birthday gifts for
are their own personal toys. Irene gave
a Barbie doll, then Sherlock gave
a superman figurine, after which Irene gave
a Cinderella doll and Sherlock seeing this, went and brought his Spiderman figurine. The next thing I knew, it was a war of who could give
the most toys.
In the end, after giving
almost everything they had, they reminded
not to forget to return them in the morning.
Children, they are so innocent and simple minded.
Emily gave
the written script of her comic as a birthday gift, and as a fan this is sothing I really appreciate!!! Everyone in the fanbase has been asking if the comic didn’t have a novel they could go read because the suspense was killing all of us!
And I just got it as a birthday present! Ecstatic, that’s how I felt, ecstatic! Now I get to read it ahead of schedule! It’s so fun to know that amongst every other fan, I am the only one who will know the ending before it ends.
Fredrick got
a set of beautiful, blue butterfly hair clips. I must say, the more I interact with him, the more I see Jonah King from Queen Em’s Lovers at forty. He is just like the man described in the picture. Big and dependable... obviously.
And really kind. I still can’t believe he partook in the birthday party for a person he hadn’t even t yet. Now, at least I know Duke wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t marrying
because he needed to be married to receive so kind of inheritance. I had just read too many novels, that’s all.
Alan claims driving
all the way here was his gift to , not like I expected to receive anything from him. And Duke, well, he did put all this together for , so when he didn’t have any gift for , I didn’t feel bad at all. Besides, he already got
that nice pair of glasses.
His existence alone in my life has been a gift. One directly from God. One I really appreciate.
...
"Bring him here, I’ll go lay him next to Renny." Duke leans down to pick up Shelly who’s fast asleep on my body. Renny already hit the pillow about an hour earlier.
I nod as I unwrap my arms from his body and Duke picks him up.
"Well," Frederick slowly rises up from the couch, and reflexively, I rise to my feet too, "I think I should also call it a night." He says with a smile, Duke walks away with Shelly in his arms. "It was nice eting you, Champagne."
"No, it_it was nicer for ." I stutter out the rubbish I can manage and he gives
that charming smile again.
"We didn’t have enough ti to talk properly today because of the party. What do you say, we chat over a cup of hot chocolate and fried bread?" He asks and I nod vigorously.
"T_that will be_ I an I will really like that." I say and he nods.
"It’s a date then. Good night, hon, and I’ll see you on Christmas." Are the last words he says before walking away.
I sink back down into the couch, rest my head on the head of the couch and just blankly stare at the ceiling.
I_ I like this family.
...
Emily already turned in early, Fredrick has followed. The twins are knocked out and Alan should be too.
That leaves
as the only person awake. Just ... And Duke. Just the two of us.
"Hey." He says as he returns from tucking in Shelly with a blanket in his hands
"Hey." For so reason, I’m suddenly feeling shy trying to hide a smile tugging at my lips as I stare up at him.
"Sleepy yet?"
"No_ not really."
"Thought so... Here, fold your legs up." He instructs and I lift my legs from the floor and wrap them underneath
as he places a blanket over the lower half of my body.
"Thank you." I arrange the blanket around my body while still trying to hold back that smile.
"Want a cup of sothing?" He asks.
"As long as it’s not alcohol, yeah." Bad things happen when I drink.
"Give
a minute." He clicks his fingers before walking away.
...
"You said a minute." I remind him as he returns almost six minutes later with a cup of sothing in one hand and a glass of whiskey on the other.
"Pagne, I am no Jesus. It takes more than one minute to make hot chocolate." He says as he hands
my cup and I mouth a thank you, instantly taking it to my lips only to pause and stare at him who is settling into the space beside .
"You didn’t add any of that in here did you?" I ask with a scrutinizing gaze and he laughs.
"Almost did. But I didn’t." Good thing he confessed. I sniff the contents of my cup to make sure and it only causes him to laugh further.
"Right now, with your hair roughly tied up like that and your nose sniffing your cup you look like a puppy Poodle." He says with a chuckle and I just eye him wickedly. I stop sniffing the contents of my cup and take a small sip after blowing on it.
"Ah, it’s nice." I mutter to myself as I blow into the cup and sip so more.
For long minutes, silence lood between us. Only the sound of fire crackling in the hearth in front of us, the cold air whistling outside, sotis shaking the window slides and causing so parts of the roof to creak. The sound of the two of us sipping our separate drinks, and the sound of our breathing.
Then I suddenly rember a question I wanted to ask. I don’t know if it’s the right thing to ask. It might be a painful thing, so maybe I should just not ask. But I think I should at least know.
"Duke,"
"Hmm?"
"Can I ask you sothing?"
"Hmm." He nods.
I bite down on my lips for so seconds before opening my mouth again, "T_ the twins’ mother. I_ I an their birth mother, what—"
"Ah, I didn’t tell you that part." He says as though he had truly forgotten about it. At least he doesn’t look pained about it.
"It was just a fling. A one night thing that then led to pregnancy. We both agreed that we were going to have the baby, but no marriage because what happened between us was nothing deep. Just a mistake on a drunk night at a friend’s party."
"Ah, I see."
"Yeah. But then..." He paused, "She didn’t survive childbirth."
"Oh, oh I’m so sorry." I didn’t expect that.
"Yeah. It’s okay. To be honest, we weren’t that close, we didn’t love each other. But then, maybe because she was carrying my children, we had built a kind of friendship, I had learnt to care for her. It was a sha she died."
"I’m sorry." I say again and he smiles at .
Again, silence washes over the two of us.
Dear God tell , what does one talk about on a cold winter’s night?
Reviews
All reviews (0)