A few days passed since the birth of Ruben and Ren.
Lady Helen Draxion was still not talking to her husband because she was still angry.
It was not just because Asher had cheated on her or gotten another lady pregnant.
While that contributed a lot to it, she was constantly in pain because whenever she celebrated her son's birthday, she would remember that her beloved husband had another son elsewhere who shared the same birthday.
This was unforgivable!
So far, Asher had left her alone as they barely spoke.
As much as he tried to get her to forgive him, he was losing faith and let the natural course take place.
"She's still not talking to you," Asher's younger brother, Mace Draxion, inquired as he poured out wine he picked from the bar of the sitting room into two wine cups.
Mace was a lover of wine and exotic drinks, not minding the brand.
As long as the drink was good and hit the right spots, he was in.
Asher sucked his teeth and shook his head.
"I really don't know anymore, brother," he dejectedly expressed with a sigh following.
Mace approached Asher and handed him one of the two cups, urging him to drink away his problems.
"Well, brooding over it is not going to solve anything, you know."
Asher looked at Mace with a listless expression.
Of course, he knew and didn't need it to be rubbed in his face.
"And…" Mace mentioned as he relaxed on one of the couches, "...you still have Mira to contend with. Her son is already five days old and you haven't even visited them."
Asher said nothing.
He just took a complete gulp of his liquor in one go without concerning himself with any other thing.
The quality wine struck the right nerves, his facial expression rightly showing that.
He puffed his cheeks and blew out the air before dropping his wine cup on a table that separated him from Mace.
"I don't know, Mace. I thought I'd be the happiest man in the entire Verdant World because I have two sons born on the same day, but my life right now is quite the opposite."
Mace laughed, prompting a sharp glare to fix on him from Asher's eyes.
Asher particularly wondered what was funny about his dilemma.
"Are you serious?" Mace asked rhetorically. "The happiest man? Brother, your sons have different mothers. You weren't expecting them to shake hands and make peace, did you?"
Asher clasped his hands together and said nothing.
"Oh no… you actually did."
Asher gave no replies.
Mace continued to sip his wine.
"You know what, brother…" Mace finally spoke after a few minutes had passed.
Asher raised his head and looked intently at his younger brother.
"I can't help with your Helen problem," he said. "But… your Mira problem? I might be able to do something about that. You know that I am her mother's favourite."
Even if he tried not to give Mace the accolades, Asher's eyes couldn't help but light up, causing his brother to smile.
"I will go visit them and see what I can do."
Asher nodded. "I will appreciate that."
Mace downed the wine in one go, too, and got up to leave.
"Then again, I believe Father should be expecting you as well," he informed Asher. "As for that… you best sort it out as soon as possible."
The two brothers nodded to each other before Mace finally left.
*********
At the home of the Rodborns…
Old Grace was seated in a rocking chair, knitting a sweater with practised wrist movements.
Meanwhile, Mira sat on another chair with Ren in her arms as she read him a story.
It didn't matter to her if the baby could understand her or not.
To Mira, it was her way of bonding with her newborn son.
Unbeknownst to her, Ren could understand her very well.
'It's quite shocking that the language here is the same as the one back on Earth,' Ren thought as he stared with bubbly eyes at his mother.
This woman has indeed taken care of him over the past few days and also shown him how much he loved her, despite what her situation was with the Draxion family.
"You know, dear. That was also your favourite story," Old Grace chipped into their mother and son bonding time.
"...I don't know why but for some reason, you really loved it very much."
Mira raised her head and smiled at her mother. "There's just something refreshing about it. How the little girl changed the lives of the bears even when she was not like them."
Now that Mira unknowingly summarised the plot of the story to Ren, something crossed his mind.
'I dunno if this is a parallel Earth but I remember reading a story with a similar plot to this one back in elementary school.'
Old Grace let out a raspy chuckle as her wooden chair bounced back and forth in a slow rhythm.
"Yes… it certainly is," she replied to her daughter.
As they talked about the story, a knock soon came to their door.
The two women looked at each other and Grace shrugged, signalling to Mira that she was not expecting someone.
Mira, on the other hand, was not expecting someone either but then again, someone crossed her mind that instant.
Could it be that Asher was finally man enough to come and see his son days after his birth?
Mira's face turned sour and she rose, carrying Ren to his cradle before going to attend to the door.
She reached the door and opened it up slightly, not allowing whoever that was to get even a quick peek into their home.
There, in front of her stood a smiling Mace Draxion.
Just like he promised Asher, Mace took the liberty of travelling to the Rodborns' home to see the newborn baby.
Mace raised his hand and waved at Mira.
However, before he could utter a word, the door slammed shut in his face.
"Oops…!"
Mace massaged his chin and chucked, thinking nothing serious of Mira's reaction since he expected it.
'You might really be in a deeper shit than you imagine, brother,' he thought to himself, concerned about his brother.
It was as if his presence, instead of Asher's, made Mira angrier.
He waited for about two minutes and still no response from the owners of the home.
Mace sighed and turned around, heading back to his cart.
Approaching the fence of the Rodborns, something sizzled through the air and bounced off Mace's head.
"So you think you can leave and not say hello to me? Eh… Mace Draxion!"
Recognising the voice, Mace smiled and turned back around.