I bit into my nails as I walked back to the hospital ward Serenity was with Stacy. I felt like shit. I already knew this would be the outcome but I still couldn't get used to it. How was I going to deal with pretending to be a happy couple with him when I despised him? Pretending meant I'd have to share a bedroom with him too. That could be fixed, right? He wasn't giving me a chance to negotiate. I didn't have a choice but to follow his orders.
I groaned and pushed the door open. This time, the children were complete. Zayne was crying as he hugged Serenity who was laughing and petting him on the head. Zyaire was seated by the window with Zach keeping a keen eye on him. Savia just sat quietly, watching everyone. She was the first to look at me.
I sighed and walked into the room. "Zayne, stop crying, your sister isn't going to die,"
"He's crying because he knows that," they replied simultaneously. It gave me the creeps whenever they did that. It didn't happen often but whenever it did, I always got goosebumps.
"Dad!!!" Serene shrieked with excitement.
"Dad?" Zyaire asked with confusion. I forgot that he wasn't there when Rominic came. When he saw Stacy and the bodyguards following us, he didn't bother to ask who they were and why so I assumed Zachary or Savia already told him. Guess they didn't.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot to tell you," Zach said with a non-apologetic face and tone. "Zyaire, that man is responsible for our existence," what a creative way to address your father without straight-out calling him a sperm donor.
"Huh?" Zyaire looked at Rominic, who was still standing behind me, with more confusion than before. "Why is he here? How is he here? Mom, I thought he didn't know about us?"
"I didn't until three days ago," Rominic gently brushed past me and headed for the bed where Zayne and Serene were. I couldn't find Stacy. "My name is Rominic B. Verlice. I'm sorry I didn't come for the past three days. I needed to clear my head and acknowledge the fact that I'm a father,"
"Um…?" Zyaire looked at me. I wasn't sure what he was trying to confirm but I simply nodded. He shrugged. "Well, I don't really care,"
Rominic sat on the bed next to the youngest and smiled at me. His compulsive smile. Damn him. "Okay, since we're all complete, I'd like to announce that your father wants to take all of you back to his home—"
"Chicago!" Serene exclaimed with yet another excitement. I looked at her with bewilderment. "Daddy told me," she explained with a giggle. Again, how long were they together?
"Yes, Chicago. It's a law in his family to always take care of a bloodline, direct or not. You're also his only children according to him. Leaving the five of you behind will be dishonoring himself and disregarding his family's law. So the question is do you all want to go with him?"
Zyaire raised his hand. I nodded at him. "Shouldn't the real question be if you're going with us too?" Like I said, sometimes he was smart. The others looked at me expectantly.
I forced a smile. "Yes, I will. He won't let me leave even if I want to," oops.
"Mom, don't you want to go? If you don't, we won't go anywhere," Zayne said firmly, which was a bit surprising. He was also staring at his father suspiciously. "Is he a bad man?"
"He's a good father," that was all I could say. Rominic wouldn't be a bad father. No one in his family can ever be bad at parenting because they loved family. "And I have to go too because I can't leave my babies,"
"First of all, we're not babies," Savvy said calmly. "Second of all, he can just leave and pretend like we don't exist," she shrugged. Rominic smirked. Urgh.
"He can't, sweetie. Family is important to him so you'll have to go. Plus, since it's already like this I might as well prepare for your future. Your daddy is wealthy so with him, you can all return to school," Zayne's ears twitched. Something he unconsciously did when he heard something interesting. "You can buy as many clothes and jewelry as you want," Savia's eyes lit up. "You can get as many dolls and toys, games, gadgets, whatever," Zach's lips curved into a smile for a second before he frowned again. Zyaire was already staring at him like he was Santa. "He will provide anything for the five of you and you get to meet your grandparents and aunties,"
Serene gasped. "Do we have grandparents? And aunties?!"
"And hopefully, cousins?" I asked Rominic. He shook his head. "Your sisters still haven't gotten hitched?"
Rominic stared at me as if I was stupid. "Who in their right mind will marry that psychopath?" I gave him a blank look and he mouthed an ‘O’. "Oh, right, Phineas."
"What about Tyra? Surely she must have something going on for her?"
"She has a daughter, but that's that,"
"So we have a cousin too?! Sweet!"
"Is it me or has Mom been opting herself out of the 'we'? Are you excluding Mom from it because she isn't your wife?" Zach asked again, smiling innocently.
"That's not it. Everything is sudden and unexpected so both your father and I are still adjusting to it. Please, don't misunderstand. Your father will be here in Las Vegas for a while and he wants everyone to move into his villa for now, until he returns—"
"I object," Zach, Savvy, and Zayne said firmly. I looked at Zayne specifically. He blushed and pouted. "Mommy, I don't know him and I don't trust him," he said shyly. "I'm not comfortable being with him either,"
"We can't just move into his house as if everything is normal when it's not. I don't agree with that. What I think is that we can use his time here in Vegas to get to know if we'd like to go with him. I like the fact that we can return to school and all, and the benefits that come with it, but we also need to mentally adjust to the fact that we don't just have a mother now, we also have a father. It'll also take a while to forget about everything Mom has been—"
"Savia," Zach whispered. Angry tears rolled down her face. She stood up from where she sat and stomped to the door.
"I'm not staying under the same roof as him until we leave Vegas. If anyone tries to force me, it won't end well!!!" She slammed the door shut angrily after stomping off. Zach jumped down from the window.
"No, let me," I turned and walked out of the ward. As expected, she was standing against a wall with her arms folded. I walked to her and crouched in front of her. She looked at me with annoyed puckered lips. I smiled back at her. "Remember when you said I had to choose between my children dying and getting hated by you or keeping your existence secret? Well, I chose,"
"I know but—"
"Your father might have been horrible to me, Savvy, but he's an amazing family man. I can swear on that, and even if he isn't, his family will take good care of you. As soon as you're all legitimized, you'll never lack anything again,"
"It's not about the money, Mom. It's just… I just can't… I don't know,"
I placed my hand on her cheek and caressed it. "It's harder for me but I have to do this for all of your future. You'll forgive him soon,".
"That's never going to happen," she said confidently, an unwavering determination in her eyes. Something that would break sooner than later.
"Savia, you're his daughter so I know he'll warm his way into your heart soon enough," Savia could easily win anyone over, as well as the rest of them. It was a Verlice thing. "Just endure it for now, okay? I mean, you get to be a princess and have underlings you can step on," I winked at her.
Her cheeks pinkened. "You're making me sound like an evil child, Mom. I just want people to boss around,"
"Then, will you agree to accept him? It's part of the consequences—"
"I'm not saying I don't want him, I'm just saying that he should get out of our sight for the rest of the weeks we have in Vegas so when we move to Chicago, we'll know we are starting a new life with your ex. Is that too much to ask?"
"No, it's not," my heart almost jumped out of my chest as I jumped up with a small squeak. I grunted and placed my hand on my chest, throwing him a dirty look. "Sorry," he chuckled.
"I've told you to stop sneaking up on people,"
"Lavender did, Jamila didn't," I stared at him incredulously. Seriously?! He shrugged. "And I'm sorry if I'm making a mess of things right now. So let's do it this way. I'll have a small place rented for you and the children during my stay here. I'll try to stay away from the six of you… no, it will be difficult to stay away from Serenity and Zayne, so we can arrange to see them constantly while I stay clear of the remaining ones as much as possible until they are used to me. Then when it's time to leave, we leave but the marriage registration will still hold. How about that?"
"And let me guess, you'll still leave some bodyguards with us, correct?"
"And trackers," he smiled with his eyes. "And it'll be good to reduce our meetings so the reporters won't get a hint of what is going on. The children aren't ready to face paparazzi," I forgot he was a popular person. "This much should suffice for now,"
"For now," I murmured. Zach was standing at the entrance door. Rominic turned and carefully walked back into the hospital ward. Zach surprised me by smirking and crossing his arms.
Savvy chortled sinisterly. I turned my head back towards her and saw that she was mirroring the charming smirk both Rominic, his father and his sister possess. The same one on Zach's face. She ran her hand into her hair, pulling her bangs back and grinning lopsidedly. "So, brother, what do you think of my acting? Oscar-worthy, isn't it?"
"It's like I've always said, sis, you're a superstar," what the hell!
"You little…!" They giggled. I stared at my two children with amusement. They can never stop surprising me. How did they come up with that plan? How did they even know it would turn out like this? I slapped my hand on my forehead and stood up. There was no point thinking about it. These wee devils will always do what they like. "I'm not even going to ask, but thank you, sweeties,"
"It's the least we can do because we forced you to expose yourself. Plus, we need time to mentally prepare for war," Zach said seriously. The most amusing thing was how their defensive walls would crumble. Rominic might not be able to break Zach's walls, but his family definitely will.