"Do you know how much my heart hurts right now?" Damian asked, his eyes fixed on Valerie who remained silent. "I'm in so much pain... You hid the fact that I have a son... My mind is filled with regret for not being able to pay attention to him since he was in the womb... I never dreamed of being a neglectful father to my son, especially my firstborn. I admit I made mistakes, but it doesn't mean you can retaliate with such pain..."
Valerie bit her lower lip, as if can't said anything.
"Let me be with him... I'm his father... I want him to see me as more than a stranger..." Damian glanced at Daniel, who looked at him with resignation. "I want to always be with him from now on... I want to make up for the missed moments with him... Maybe it will never be enough..." His eyes welled up with pain, imagining what the baby looked like when he was born.
"Sorry," Valerie whispered.
"I don't want him closer to Samuel than me; that's my final decision!" Damian asserted through gritted his teeth.
Valerie could only stay silent, feeling slapped, now overwhelmed with guilt.
Damian looked back at Daniel and smiled. "Son, you have to trust me. I won't hurt you... I can give you anything you want..."
"Mama..." Daniel pointed at Valerie, his eyes pleading.
Valerie approached and caressed Daniel's head. "It's Okay, Honey... He's your dad; he won't hurt you." She smiled reassuringly, then looked at Damian. "You have to work hard to make him comfortable with you... Maybe he's scared of you because he saw you beating Samuel yesterday."
"He deserves it, and I even want to break his neck!" Damian still showed his anger.
"Please, don't say bad things in front of my son!"
"Our son!"
"Yes... our son..."
Damian turned away, not wanting to argue with Valerie anymore. He invited Daniel to see the aquarium, pointing at a red and yellow fish.
"Look at that... The fish is very beautiful," he whispered near Daniel's ear.
"Fi... fish," Daniel replied with his cute voice, pointing at the fish until his hand touched the aquarium.
"Yes... Do you want to touch it?"
"I want..."
"Oh, wait... Daddy will get it for you..." Damian walked a few steps to grab a small net next to the aquarium.
Valerie felt estranged now. She looked around at the silence and then back at Damian, who was struggling to catch the fish while holding Daniel, and the aquarium was quite high.
"Let me carry him." She reached out to Daniel.
"No, he'll always be with me!" Damian stared at Valerie with annoyance.
"But you're having trouble..."
"I can do it!" Damian kept trying to catch the fish until his hand entered the aquarium, and the sleeves of his gray suit got wet. "I'll make my son proud, and he'll understand that I'll do anything for him... Right, Sweetie?" He looked at Daniel with a smile.
Daniel just stayed silent, his round eyes fixed on the fish swimming around, panicked, as if not wanting to be caught.
Valerie sighed, looking at them with frustration. 'I guess it'll be tough after this. What if he doesn't let me take him home?'
"Ohhh, we did it, baby!" Damian lifted the small net with the fish, looking joyful.
Daniel immediately smiled, clapping his hands.
"You can play with it now. Let's put it in a small container!"
Damian walked to the kitchen, not caring about the water dripping on the shiny floor.
"Men are always messy!" Valerie followed immediately.
Damian realized Valerie was following him, turned to face her when she stopped in front of him.
"You don't always have to follow us. He needs to get used to being with me!" he insisted.
"Huh, I just want to grab the mop!" Valerie replied annoyed, pointing at the wet floor. "Look, the floor is wet... You could make someone slip!"
"That's just an excuse!"
"I'm serious! When you realize you have a toddler, don't let the floor get dirty it wet because they can easily slip, especially when they can't walk steadily yet!" Valerie emphasized, then walked to the kitchen.
She already knew the rooms in the house well because Damian used to invite her to spend time there.
...
Valerie mopped the wet floor, while Damian accompanied Daniel sitting on the blue-gray furry carpet, rummaging through Transparent box container to get the fish but failing.
"The fish will die from stress!" she said.
"Not your concern!" Damian replied without looking, occasionally kissing Daniel's head. "Hmm, I don't like the smell of his hair. You should buy better shampoo..."
Valerie stayed silent, as if lazy to respond to Damian's complaints.
"I want to take him shopping..."
"He's tired because lately I've taken him out a lot."
"In that case, I'll order later..."
"Hmm..."
Valerie went to the kitchen, returning the mop to its place. After that, she looked around at the clean, luxurious white surroundings dominated by white and golden furniture, suddenly reminded of Elena.
"Where's your mother?" she asked when she returned to the living room.
"She's shopping with Anna," Damian answered without looking.
Valerie sat on the sofa, watching Daniel, who seemed to yawn often, as if sleepy, but his pants and shirt were a bit wet from splashing water.
"Please, don't keep playing with the fish continuously; look, his clothes are wet!" She approached them with frustration. "I didn't bring change clothes for him!"
"Hey, don't worry about it; he likes playing!" Damian replied.
"But he's wet... Are you crazy? Letting him play with water for so long in winter?" Valerie took Daniel, making him stand and realizing how wet he was. "Uhh... I can't let you wear these pants again!"
Damian fell silent, pouting, watching Valerie squatting down while taking off Daniel's pants, leaving him in a white diaper with a Hello Kitty pattern. Suddenly, he became curious about their previous life, how she managed work while taking care of him.
"You managed to hide it well until he became a toddler... Wasn't it difficult for you?" he asked.
"I had a babysitter, more precisely my good friend from Arizona," Valerie answered, carrying Daniel to the sofa.
"Mama... I want milk!" Daniel whined, patting Valerie's chest.
Valerie quickly unbuttoned her black shirt, then lowered her bra, and in an instant, Daniel was on her lap, eagerly sucking on her nipple.
Damian immediately smiled, recalling the night in the hotel with Valerie. He stood up and sat on another sofa, watching them until the woman covered her breast with her hand.
"Your eyes are wild!" She exclaimed.
Damian chuckled. "You don't need to be afraid; I used to see that. But about the milk... I'm trying it for the first time."
Valerie shivered.
Damian reached out to stroke Daniel's black hair, his eyes focused on the baby sucking on his mother's nipple.
"He's a lucky bastard..."
"He's not a bastard!"
"Technically, the son of a bastard..."
Valerie glanced at Damian in horror, increasingly annoyed and resentful. 'I never dreamed of being in this situation. He's still such a jerk... If I don't want to clear my name, I won't see him again!'
Damian is the lucky bastard, maybe you don't like his character, but maybe we can see how he tries to correct his mistakes and make Valerie as the only girl he loves and treats her like a queen