45. Kennedy
Kennedy
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
I wake up to the sound of the baby monitor, and it’s the perfect excuse to escape. I don't have any clothes, so I grab Hades' shirt, which reaches almost to my thighs, and without any lingerie underneath, I head to our son's room, avoiding thinking about what we did throughout the whole night.
When I heard King's grumbling, I hadn't been asleep for half an hour, my body completely exhausted because Hades didn't seem willing to stop, nor did I want him to.
I open the door and see my little boy standing in the crib, his eyes full of tears, probably because he's unfamiliar with the room.
"Shhhh, Mommy's here, my love."
I take him out of the crib that Amber had set up for him and sit on the bed with King in my arms, leaning against the headboard. I wait for him to fall asleep, but when I try to put him back in the crib, he starts crying again.
The scene repeats with each attempt, and finally, I give up, just closing my eyes and giving in to sleep as well. But I wake up shortly after and initially think I'm dreaming when I feel my body floating in the air.
I open my eyes and see that Hades has picked us both up at the same time—me in his arms, King in mine—and is walking back to the room we were in before.
"It's better if I spend the night there. He cried, I think because he's not used to the room," I explain, stumbling over my words.
The way the man looks at me leaves me breathless. "I noticed, but your place is with me. There's enough space in the bed for the three of us."
My foolish heart beats like crazy because for such a rough and cold man, Hades is being extremely sensitive in understanding that King needs me and bringing us both to be with him.
He lays me down on the bed as if he's handling a crystal, completely different from the way he made love to me several times during the night.
I position myself sideways, facing King, who continues to cling to my neck like a baby koala bear, and wait for Hades to settle down too. But instead of going around the bed, he lies down behind me, embracing us both.
I tell myself I'll only allow this today because we're in a strange house, but in New York, I'll ask for my own room. Things are happening too fast, and although I'm willing to try, I don't want to give away my heart too quickly.
"Sleep, Kennedy. You're thinking too much. Relax. I'm here, and I'll take care of you like I should have done from the beginning. You're safe, my woman."
As if his words are some kind of spell, I fall asleep almost immediately.
"Mommmyyyyy!"
I sit up, completely groggy, still not opening my eyes. First I stretch out my arm to try to grab the baby monitor, then I’m groping the bed beside me looking for King.
Only when the second "Mommmyyyyy" is heard, accompanied by a giggle, do I realize where the sound is coming from.
I open my eyes and find Hades with his mini-me in one arm and a breakfast tray in the other. He's wearing trousers and a dress shirt, looking more handsome than ever, and when I look at my son, I realize he's dressed in jeans, a polo shirt, and sneakers I don't recognize.
"Good morning," Hades says with his powerful voice, and at the sound of it, my body ignites because I remember everything he said and did to me during the night.
"Mommy, good morning!" King repeats, laughing because he's learned to say "good morning," "good afternoon," and "good night," and finds the expressions the funniest thing in the world, although I doubt he knows their meanings.
"Good morning," I reply awkwardly, thanking God I'm still wearing Hades' shirt. "I don't recognize that outfit he's wearing." I think I sound annoyed because I'm nervous and embarrassed at the same time.
"I sent my staff to buy clothes for the three of us. There was nothing here. Ernest went to your house with bodyguards to pack for you," he says, approaching, and without asking for permission, after placing the tray on the dresser, he leans in to kiss me.
King takes the opportunity to throw himself into my lap, literally.
"You didn't have to bring us food or buy us clothes," I say and then immediately feel like an idiot because I couldn't have walked around naked in Amber's house. "I'm sorry, I'm nervous."
"I thought you might be hungry." He doesn't finish saying what he's thinking, and he doesn't need to. I can understand what he doesn't say: I thought you might be hungry after all the activity during the night.
"I am. Thank you," I say, avoiding looking at him.
"What do you want? There are eggs with bacon and toast. Fruit, juice, coffee, and milk. Yogurt too."
"Are you going to serve me?"
"I think if I bring it to bed, King will make a mess. Apparently, he found it amusing to throw food at himself and me at breakfast."
"I want fruit first, please," I ask. "He's in a phase where he thinks eating is a game," I add defensively.
"It wasn't a criticism. In fact, the mess he made was worth it because he smiled the whole time."
Well, now I feel like a witch.
I'm arming myself against him, and Hades seems to be trying to please me.
"I'm afraid of raising him wrong," I confess as I put a seedless grape into my son's mouth.
"He's wonderful, Kennedy. I have nephews. King isn't any more mischievous than any other child his age."
"But because we haven't been together for so long, I feel obligated to give him the best of everything. At the same time, I'm afraid of spoiling him. If you haven't noticed, he’s got your temperament."
"I noticed, yes, but if he's just like me, he'll soon learn that his mother is the queen of his life, just as she is of mine." He's sitting on the bed, and his huge hand strokes my ankle.
" Mine !" my son repeats.
"Stop that, Hades."
"It's not just you who has lost time to make up for, Kennedy. I have too. As a father and as a life partner by your side. Don't push me away. Don't shut me out. This is a journey that needs to be made by all three of us. It will only work if we all embark on it."
"I'm trying, but I can't go so fast. You're too intense."
"I'll give you space. I won't force myself on you. Just . . . don't leave." He gives King's little head a kiss and leaves the room.
I feel lost because I thought that was what I wanted: to breathe without Hades' presence preventing me from thinking because apparently, my heart is too stupid to understand that the man represents danger to it. But the moment he leaves through the door, I miss him.
The frightening thing about living with Hades, and it's been like this from the start with me, is that he's not someone you can ignore.You might love him, you might hate him, but once he enters your life, he'll leave a mark on it forever.
I fight against the feeling I sense emerging within me again, but deep down, I know that if I were to tell him that there's no way to forgive him, if I were to exclude him from my life and try to be with someone else, they would all be mere sketches compared to him.
To me, they would be imperfect pieces, because the only one capable of completing me is the one who, until recently, was my enemy.