The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 135

"That was awkward." Damon spoke to her soon after Aubrey and her parents left.

She nodded in agreement. "It was."

"Do you think we should..."

"We shouldn’t. Not like this." She interrupted him before he could suggest it. They couldn’t take their relationship to another level simply because Angel’s friend made him feel weird. She caught sight of Angel and walked over to him, picking him up to explain the situation.

"Are you confused about what Aubrey asked?" She asked, to which he nodded.

"There are different kinds of families. Sometimes your parents don’t have to live together but that doesn’t make you any less of a family than others. Some kids are even lucky to have two families!"

He looked down at her hand and picked it, pointing at her ring finger.

Her face flushed. "Uhm, a ring is a gift of marriage. I’m not married so I have none."

"But that could be rectified if we simply took a flight to Las Vegas." Damon insinuated, earning a glare.

"No one’s going to Las Vegas for any reason."

"Then we can call a priest and make arrangements. The court is good too."

She frowned at him. What was wrong with him? This was not the time to be joking around. Angel was sleepy so she carried him, only for Damon to take him from her.

"You shouldn’t be carrying anything—or anyone—heavy."

She facepalmed. Did he just call their son heavy? No one liked to be called heavy, and Angel glared at him to prove her point. She tagged along nonetheless and tucked the boy in, then they sat on either side of him to read him a bedtime story.

"...and the prince and his princess rode off into his kingdom, where they lived happily ever after." She concluded the book half an hour later, which she and Damon had taken turns reading. Angel was still awake and he blinked curiously when the book was done.

"Mommy, are princes real?" He asked out of the blue.

"There aren’t many royal families now." She nodded at the same time as she answered him. "But in the past, there were more royal families and hence more princes and princesses. Do you want to be a prince?"

He thought about it and shook his head. "I want to be a knight. That way, I can protect my brother or sister." He touched her belly.

That was the longest statement he had said in a while. It was easy to get used to it but it melted her heart every time. She held his small hand. "You don’t have to be a knight to protect the people you love. You just need to be yourself and be strong enough."

When she said the words out, she had thought Angel was too young to make head or tail of what she was saying. She and Damon slept beside him that night, and when they woke up, they were in each other’s arms.

"What the hell?" She sat up, relief washing over her when she looked down and found she was fully clothed. It would be a disaster if she had flashed her son by doing anything inappropriate. "Where’s Angel?"

Damon jolted awake and onto his feet as soon as he heard her question. He was not scared; Angel had been a lot happier lately and he had even received such great news. There was no way anything could go wrong. Even so, he anxiously searched for the boy with Avery tailing after him and they finally heard sounds coming from the gym.

"Why would he..." She pushed the door open, just in time to see Angel doing push ups on the ground. She picked him up with a chuckle. "Baby, what are you doing?"

"Becoming stronger." He innocently responded.

She wanted to burst out laughing. While he looked adorable doing push ups, her words gnawed at her insides. She had simply mentioned becoming strong in passing. Who would have thought the boy would take her meaning so literally?

She looked up to Damon for help, who cleared his throat and addressed the little boy. "Strength doesn’t always have to be physical. You are still very young and have many years before you can think about hitting the gym. Let’s play instead, yeah?"

Angel cast him a disdainful look, rubbed Avery’s stomach to say hello to his little sibling, and walked out of the gym. In the next few weeks, Avery was nearly terrified by his progress in school.

"He gets everything right." She raised her concern to Mabella before Angel’s next session. "Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining. Every parent feels proud when their child finds something they can do well. It’s just...he’s five! What does he know about putting in all his effort in schoolwork? He should be out there doodling circles or something." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

Mabella smiled at her concern. "A five year old is smarter than that. They only doodle circles until they’re in kindergarten, then they can draw an orange or a watermelon and use crayons to give it the right color. At five years, he should be able to write intellectual words pretty well."

She still felt strange about it. "But getting straight As in all his tests?" She realized Mabella may not know what she meant so she elaborated. "He didn’t care about class before. His only reason for going to school was to play with Aubrey. I...It was already good enough that he showed interest in interacting with other kids. I don’t want my son having to grow up at his tender age because I said something that implied his need to be a five-year-old adult."

"Finally, she said it." Mabella cupped her hand in both of us. "You are scared, aren’t you? You’re scared you will be a mother like Amelia and have unrealistic expectations for your son which will in turn have him do things beyond his capability just to please you."

She hated to admit it but she nodded. "There was never a gray area for me. I either scored straight As or I had failed horribly. Anything less than that was inexcusable."

"That’s not the kind of mother you are." Mabella assured her. "However, your son is the kind to achieve a lot without trying hard. I dare to believe he would still be a smart little boy if he wasn’t mildly autistic. Would you rather have him hide his potential so you wouldn’t panic?"

She shook her head.

"Good. Because it would be perfect for him to explore his full potential. Think about the words you said to him from the bright side. Maybe he was distressed about something all along and when you told him he was going to be a brother, his distress came to a sudden halt and enabled him to freely do what he wants."

That sounded familiar. Gabriel had explained his life to be as such; he didn’t have much motivation to do anything until she came along, then he vowed to protect her with his life. It was not Angel’s responsibility to protect his sibling but if he wanted to, she wouldn’t stop him.

The boy had been drawing something all along and when he was done, he brought it to show them. Avery’s eyes went wide at the sketch he had drawn. It was a dress, and she couldn’t believe her eyes.

"Something did snap in him."

_____

Meanwhile, Mina went for her check up with Gabriel sticking beside her like a parasite. She had told him it was alright and she could handle everything on her own but he was not having it. He wanted to be part of her pregnancy and nothing she said could deter him, so she let him tag along.

She felt nervous as the doctor squirted a cold gel on her stomach. Even though she had been warned of the temperature, she still felt a chill down her spine and she was sure it had nothing to do with the cold. Maybe it was the fact that she was experiencing this moment with Gabriel Vaillant and it was still unbelievable.

"Your baby is quite healthy. Are you ready to hear its heartbeat?" Asked the doctor, to which they both nodded. Then a strong heartbeat echoed in the room.

"Oh my God." Mina’s eyes watered as she looked at the screen, listening to the heartbeat.

"My baby..." Gabriel was incoherent as he heard it. His baby had a heartbeat. The reality that he was going to be a father hit him like a ton of bricks and it was nothing compared to when he heard the news from her. Elated was an understatement. He wanted to jump and yell but all that was tamed down by the taste of salt at the back of his throat.

The doctor had warned them that Mina might become emotional at the sight of her baby, but no one had told them of the possibility that he might turn into an equally emotional mess. He didn’t think he had ever cried before—no incident that he could remember—but he let it all out.

It didn’t matter if he got called a weakling for it. He was a father and it was the most magical thing that had ever happened to him.

"In five weeks, you will get to know whether it’s a boy or a girl." Announced the doctor.

They exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison. "We don’t need to know."

______

Mini theater:

Julie: And the prince and his princess lived happily ever after.

Aubrey: I want a prince too, mommy. I want one just like Angel.

Julie: Uh...