Loved

Iris’s p. o. v.

” Mommy am I going to be okay?” Louisa asks as I tuck her in.

We had finally arrived home after a brief, suspiciously quiet, tiring drive.

Seriously, the silence made the journey longer than it should.

” Yes baby but the doctor said for you to be okay, all you have to do is sleep, eat, draw and sleep some more” I answered with a smile.

” Yaaaay” she cheered but it ached my heart when I heard how weak it sounded.

” Go to sleep cupcake” I whispered and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.

” Mmmmm” she moaned softly and slowly shut her eyes in an attempt to fall asleep.

I noticed her little winks and sighs and unknowingly, a chuckle escaped my lips and I began using my thumb to trace her plump cheek outline.

” Mommy, what about daddy?”

Huh!?

The surprising question came nothing short of shock and it’s like she realized the awkwardness of her question because she jerked up into a sitting position.

It’s been at least two years since she asked me about her father, what exactly relates this situation to him?

” I mean, Mr Hunter. What about Mr Hunter?” She corrected a little too late.

” Did you just call him daddy?” I narrowed my eyes at her.

” N-no” she blurted out too quickly.

” You’re lying”

” It was a mistake!”

” Since when do you make such mistakes?”

When she didn’t answer but began tearing up, I realized this may be deeper than I thought.

I placed my hands on her shoulder and looked her into the eye.

” Honey just talk to me okay? Did he force you to call him daddy?”

I swear to God if I find out that he forced her to do this, I’m gonna castrate that bastard!

But then again, does he know that Louisa is actually his kid?

Mom may have been right when she said he may know but is still pretending to be oblivious.

My goodness, how long has he known!?

Louisa shakes her head in a ‘no’ response and confusion etches itself across my face.

” No? Then why did you call him daddy? Who told you he’s your daddy?”

” N-no one”

This isn’t getting funny.

” I told him to be my daddy and he said yes” she continued.

I really couldn’t express my shock with any more facial expressions.

I was dumbstruck.

” You.. you asked him to? Why?”

She started to fiddle with her fingers as she responded.

” Some girls were laughing at me in school that I don’t have a daddy but I told them I do and I said it’s Mr Hunter then they said I was lying, that if it’s true he should drop me at school the next day but he couldn’t so they started laughing at me and calling me a liar but then he came and called me his daughter in front of everyone, so I asked him to be my d-daddy” she narrated and I gave myself two pats on the back for bad parenting.

This happened directly under my nose and I had no clue.

” Why didn’t you tell me?” I finally mustered enough energy to say.

” I thought you will be angry with me” she looked up at me with tears in her eyes and I actually understood how she had felt that day.

” It’s okay hun. Go to bed alright?” I nudged her to lie down once again and smoothened out her hair.

” I’m sorry mommy” she silently said.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

” It’s okay”

——————————–

Louie was finally asleep and it was time to face Hunter about this.

I marched out of the room and was about to go up the stairs when I noticed the lights of the living room still on.

Instinctively, I went to switch it off but instead I met with Hunter who was having a drink by the bar.

When he saw me, his eyes only ran down my features once-over and went ahead to pretend like I wasn’t there.

It was now or never.

” I don’t care whatever got you mad at me but I have a few things to say to you. Louisa asked you to be her father and you accepted? Who the hell do you think you are?”

He didn’t even turn to regard me, he just continued to sip on his wine.

” I’m talking to you!” I yelled at his ignorant behavior but he didn’t still move a muscle.

Then I walked up to his side and snatched the bottle of wine before him.

” Iris leave me a-” he began but I quickly cut him in.

” No. Answer me!” I demanded yet he didn’t seem fazed.

He wanted to take another sip from his glass that still contained wine but I ripped that away too.

” Iris I swear-”

” Answer me!”

” Leave me the hell a-”

” Fucking answer me!!” I yelled at the top of my voice.

” Fine. But did I lie though?”

He finally responds and it gives a hint that he may have known.

But I wasn’t spilling yet.

” What do you mean by did you lie though?” My tone coming down as I asked.

He doesn’t say anything, rather he puts his hands to his pocket and pulls out a sheet of paper then tosses it at me.

I drop his wine and glass back on the table before picking the paper and unfolding it.

I saw a fucking DNA test result.

When in the world was this also done?

Am I also as ignorant in this house!?

” What the hell is this!?” I questioned and read the tests over and over again.

Ninety seven point three two percent.

Couldn’t the device have gone wrong and produced a result with half value?

” That, is supposed to be the compatibility test between you and your daughter, but the technician made a mistake and ran it between us instead. They do apologise for their inefficiency. Even though I’ve never been happier with a mistake”

I couldn’t utter a word. He figured out today, clearly meaning he had no idea when Louisa started calling him Dad.

Despite all my efforts to avoid Hunter and Louie’s blood from being recognized, he still found out.

He found out at the hospital.

That explains his silence.

” Oh you’re dumb now? I thought you had a few things to say? Well in that case listen to me cause I also have a few things to say” he sneered and used his fingers to make air quotations at the word few.

I lift my gaze from the paper to listen to him and he began.

” Five years Iris! Five fucking years of guilt! I apologized didn’t I? I cried. I begged for your forgiveness and you claimed you had forgiven me, yet you hid my own child under my nose” he started and to be truthful, he looked more hurt than angry.

When he saw that I wasn’t going to say anything, he continued.

” Were you ever going to tell me? If they hadn’t made this mistake would I have ever known? My kid had been alive all these years and I was busy mourning no one. I even told you to say hi to him for me in your dreams. Dreams of lies!”

” I didn’t lie, you did lose a kid” I butted in

” Oh yeah? Well-”

” Louisa was a twin!” I shouted at him and he actually paused for a moment.

He took some seconds to look at me to be sure if I’m lying or not.

” A twin?”

” Yes. Her twin brother”

His eyes narrowed to slits and he ran his hand through his hair.

” Why didn’t you tell me!?” He barked and I flinched at the impact.

Why didn’t I tell him?

It’s not like he cared from the start.

Even till now it’s not like he still cares when he’s still getting married tomorrow.

Heck.. today.

I couldn’t give my daughter a demon as a father no matter how much I hated her.

There was actually no use letting him know.

” Now that you know, what difference does it make?” I asked as I watched him for an answer.

He halted in his tracks and stared at me like the question caught him off guard.

” You know what. You’re right. It actually makes no difference. I need to stop wasting my time on this and go catch some sleep for my wedding tomorrow”

Thinking, analysing and accepting it is one thing.

Hearing him declare it out loud is another.

A hurt feeling melted into my bones when I saw the carefree expression in his eyes when he made that statement.

He doesn’t really care about anything else.

” Good” I muttered and whipped around to march away but his words stopped me again.

” Ensure to give Louisa her drugs so she can be strong enough. She’s gonna be our flower girl tomorrow”

Ouch!