He breathed a sigh of relief, which must have looked odd because she had not let him off. Seeing her confused expression, he explained. "I'm not planning anything against our son. This means you will not have anything to punish me for. On the other hand, you do not need to get your hands dirty. You can have me deal with the villains you want out of your way."
She didn't say a word but her expression called him out for spouting too much nonsense.
He didn't blame her for not trusting him even though he meant everything he had just said. They were his family but that did not mean he was going to let them off for what they did to her and Angel in the past.
"Papa!" An excited voice rang out before the boy slotted himself between them and hugged Damon. He then turned to Avery and hugged her legs while mumbling "Mommy."
She looked down at him with a smile and picked him up. "Why are you not sleeping yet?"
He didn't say a word and rested his head on her chest. Apparently, he had forgotten that he had just played with her and Damon for most of the morning and was treating this as his first meeting with them since morning. It was bittersweet.
Tousling his hair, she guessed that it was because she had not taken him out to play like she did on all the other weekends. It must have messed up with his mind that seemed scheduled to look forward to certain things on specific days.
"Angel, do you want to go out with papa tomorrow? I can take you to the zoo." Damon suggested.
Avery gave him a glare that said, "I know what you are doing."
That did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm as he vehemently promised the boy that he would be able to see all sorts of interesting animals. He even leaned over to half-whisper, "I will show you what your mommy is scared of. She's a scaredy cat."
"I'm still here, you know." She harrumphed and he laughed.
"She's scared of deer." He sounded like his words were meant for Angel but he was indirectly jabbing her.
"I am not!"
"Are too!"
"I'm not."
"Are too."
The banter continued for so long that Angel started to sway his head to the rhythm.
___
Six years ago.
"Hey, angel." Damon greeted excitedly when he managed to find Avery before she left class. He was just in time. She was putting her belongings together and she would have left if he was half a second late.
She turned around to face him and chuckled when she saw that it was him, even though she had already guessed it from the form of address. "Why do you keep calling me that?" She asked with an amused smile.
He planted himself on the empty seat next to her, resting his head in his palm to get a clear view of her beautiful face. "That's because good things started happening in my life since you appeared in it. Isn't that the most obvious characteristic of an angel? Not to mention, you are so beautiful. You must be an angel."
She shook her head and laughed as she closed her bag after dropping her phone and notepad in. "How cheesy. Is that the line to try and charm all the girls on campus?"
"No. I only want to charm you." He flirted. It was surprising how he managed to do it without having the urge to bolt away like he did in the past.
She slung her bag on one shoulder and looked at him. "Well, I'm not charmed. You will have to try harder than that."
"Does that mean I have permission to sweep you off your feet?" He stood to follow her when she started making her way through the row of seats.
"You can try." As soon as her words were out, he bent slightly and picked her into his arms. She yelped in shock. "What the hell?!"
She comprehended his actions as soon as he laughed. She rolled her eyes. "Put me down."
"I will if you agree to let me drop you off."
She was embarrassed so she nodded without thinking through it. "Okay, put me down!"
He smiled after getting a chance he had not even dared to think about. He led her to his car and opened the door for her, closing it when she settled in the shotgun seat.
The ride was silent at first, with her shrinking in her seat and making him wonder what was going through her mind. When he saw a sliver of her flushed cheeks, he finally understood it. She was shy! Was it because he had literally swept her off her feet?
A thud jolted him out of his thoughts, followed by her panicked scream when they jerked forward from the sudden impact.
"You hit someone!" Her face was pale with fright.
He cursed under his breath and got out to take a look. She followed him in panic and he held her shoulders to calm her down. "It's a deer."
"You hit a deer?!" She looked even more scared than she did when she thought it was a person.
"It's alive, luckily. It doesn't look injured. We can take it to a vet nearby."
She didn't hear a word he said because she had broken down in tears of horror.
"She is scared of other things too, but she will never let you know." Damon continued to fill his son in on details he didn't fully comprehend. Did you know that she can't sleep in complete darkness because it makes her feel paranoid?"
Angel gave him a blank stare.
"I thought so." He chuckled and poked his son's face. "So, you must be a man and let her feel safe around you. For a darling as cute as you, you only have to smile and kiss her, and her fears will instantly fade away."
"Enough rambling. My son doesn't even know what nonsense you are going on about." Avery called him out for stalling for time.
Having been found out, he kissed his son's forehead and turned to Avery, leaning over. Their faces were so close that she could swear he was going to kiss her, but he didn't. He was gone before she could process it and she hated her phone for ringing when it did. When Damon's car disappeared into the distance, she thanked her phone for ringing and interrupting the insanity that had started to buzz in her mind. Why was she reluctant to let him leave? She was either going crazy or worried that Angel would miss him. Of course, it was because she was worried that her son might be sad about his papa's departure. That was all there was to it.
She glanced down at her phone and wanted to groan. The Vaillant family, again?
"What do you want, Amelia?" She answered in the most unfriendly tone. It wasn't even fake because she felt nothing but repulsion from the moment she saw the digits plastered across her phone screen. He gently put Angel down so she would not accidentally hurt him in her infuriated craze.
As usual, Amelia started off by playing the caring mother card. "How have you been?"
"Awesome until you called." She did not mince her words.
"I've been fine too. Your father and I have been missing you."
"If you don't get straight to the point, I'll hang up." She threatened and her thumb actually hovered over the red circle on her screen.
"We found out who the father of our grandchild is." She sounded excited, which must be part of her act.
Our grandchild, huh. Of course they would refer to Angel that way if they thought there was something in it for them. She remained silent for so long that her mother decided to continue her speech.
"It's such an awesome coincidence that the D'abovilles and us have a grandchild in common. Our kids are in love! It just so happens that your father and I are trying to get them to accept our proposal on a project that could save our asses. There might be a closed bid for it but that will not be necessary if they decide to partner with us. Could you have your baby daddy pass the message to his grandfather?"
Avery's lips twitched in disgust. Was the woman on the phone really her mother? She really wanted to check her DNA again. Sadly, the results would just wind up being the same as they were every time she doubted Amelia was her mother and did the test.
"Mrs. Vaillant, you are being delusional. First of all, my baby daddy has a name. His name is Damon. Or Demon. Whatever. As long as it suits him. Secondly, if you did your homework a little more beyond what excited you, you would know that Damon and I are no longer together."
"So what? You have his son in your custody." Amelia interrupted.
"That brings me to my most important point." Avery rested her head against her palm as she enunciated every word. "My son is not bait.
Even if I had the means, I would never help you out. How many times do you want to have this kind of discussion?" Avery almost yelled.
Amelia was infuriated, as expected. "You ungrateful skank! Have you forgotten everything we did for you?"
Ungrateful skank.
She was probably the only mother who would call her daughter that. She once again questioned whether she really was in that woman's womb for a day, let alone nine months. Because although Angel happened at what she felt was the worst time and was the reason why his father dumped her, she loved him more than her life.
Her second round of questioning her identity in a row ended in her spilling what she had been holding in for years. "Perhaps no one told you this, Amelia, but motherhood is not just about you and your husband making a baby. You have every right to have a DINK marriage but when you decide to have children, you are obliged to raise them and provide everything they need. It's not a sacrifice. It's your role. Don't use it to lord over me! Not to mention, did you even fulfill the said role? What right do you have? Forget knowing how I felt growing up in your toxic family. You probably don't even know my middle name!"
"How dare you take that tone with me? Even if I didn't give in to your attention-seeking whims, I'm your mother!" Amelia raised her voice and it probably had everything to do with her being ashamed after being told off.
Avery hung up and blocked the contact number. She had said it before but perhaps part of her had been reluctant to really cut off ties with the Vaillant family. But after that call, the thought of having no family no longer dampened her mood. She sent a text message to Mina and asked how to legally dissolve familial ties with one's biological family.
While waiting for a reply, she glanced at the only family she had left; the little boy playing with his favorite figurines.
She picked the clueless boy and placed him on her lap, kissing his cheek and hugging him to her chest. "If you ever feel sad about anything, tell mommy about it. No matter how petty you think it is."
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