Chapter 15 #4
“I didn’t respond because I’m not sure that coming to your house is the best thing for Aurora. As you said yourself, if we share things together, we might confuse her, and I don’t want to hurt her.”
What she was suggesting was sensible and was exactly what I had said when we discussed the terms of our relationship, but I was willing to change those terms, and that was something we needed to discuss in person.
“Just for today, Devon. Because we went to the beach and she’s very tired, but she hasn’t stopped asking for you,” I said, and in that I wasn’t lying.
We remained silent for several seconds, until I heard her sigh.
“All right. What time do you want me to be there? Because Aurora eats dinner early and it’s already seven.”
“Right now Delia is giving her a bath and I’m also going to take a shower, but we can have dinner as soon as you arrive. Can you leave now?”
“Okay, I’ll leave in ten minutes. Do you want me to bring anything?”
I was going to tell her to bring the sexy nightgown she had worn when she slept with me, but I preferred not to pressure her or reveal my idea of her staying overnight. Yes, I wanted Devon to spend the whole night with me.
“You don’t need to bring anything. Thank you, ‘Dulce,’ for everything,” I simply said.
“See you in a bit,” she said, and ended the call.
When I got out of the shower, I put on jeans and a t-shirt and went to find Aurora. Delia was combing her hair.
“My love, I talked to Devon and she’s coming to have dinner with us,” I said, to excite her and try to keep her from falling asleep before dinner, and my daughter’s joy confirmed the love she felt for her; then I looked at Delia and added, “Dr. Devon Dulcet is coming to dinner with us tonight, so I’d appreciate if you could set an extra place at the table. ”
“Of course, sir. Dr. Dulcet is charming. I had the pleasure of speaking with her the night she stayed here because Alba had left,” she stated, and I wasn’t surprised that she had also won Delia’s heart.
“She is,” I said, while taking Aurora in my arms. “Are you happy that Devon is coming?”
“Yi. I want Divon to play with me.”
“I’m sure she’ll play with you,” I affirmed, as we left the bedroom.
While we were in the living room coloring in a book, Aurora looked at me and said:
“Divon is my mommy.”
I froze at that statement. My daughter had never said that word, and I didn’t know what to tell her.
I sat her on my lap to talk to her and make things clear.
We had already had the conversation about her mother’s death.
I had consulted with a psychologist to know the best way to convey the news to her as she grew up, and she always repeated that I should make it clear that she would never see her mother again and that I should mention the word death to avoid feeding fantasies or insecurities, and especially to avoid giving her false hopes.
“My love, Devon is not your mommy. Devon is a friend of yours and mine, but she’s not your mommy. Your mommy’s name was Cristina and she passed away; we won’t see her again.”
“But now Divon is my mommy,” she insisted.
“Did Devon tell you she was your mommy?” I asked, because I didn’t believe she was capable of saying something like that, but I found it strange that Aurora would say it.
She didn’t answer me and climbed down from my lap to continue coloring in the book. Coloring was something she loved to do and she did it very well for her age. At that moment, I heard someone knocking at the front door and saw Delia heading to open it, but I told her I would take care of it.
Once again, her appearance had a strong impact on me. She was wearing white pants with a blue tank top and looked spectacular and damnably sexy.
“Hello, William. Did I arrive too late?” she greeted me shyly.
“Not at all, Aurora has been waiting for you anxiously,” I said, and although what my daughter had said was still spinning in my head, at that moment I preferred not to mention it. “Come in.”
Devon walked past me without greeting me, but I didn’t allow it. I took her by the arm, made her turn around, and gave her a kiss on the lips. It was a delicate and innocent kiss that left me wanting more, and she looked at me with surprise reflected in her beautiful face.
“Aurora is in the living room. If you want, go to her and I’ll let Delia know she can serve dinner.”
“All right, thank you,” she said, and headed toward where Aurora was.
I notified Delia and then went to get them. Devon was sitting on one of the sofas with Aurora on her lap, showing her the book she had been coloring while they chatted and laughed.
“We can go to the table now,” I announced, and Devon stood up, put my daughter down on the floor, but they held hands and began walking toward me.
When they reached my side, Aurora stretched out her little hand for me to take it, and the three of us walked together with her in the middle, holding both our hands.
She looked at us and smiled happily, which squeezed my heart again.
I noticed that Devon looked at her and then at me nervously.
She was uncomfortable, I had no doubt about that, but I didn’t understand why.
When we reached the table, Delia looked at us and couldn’t hide her surprise, and I think that was what ended up intimidating Devon, who gently let go of Aurora’s hand.
“Hello, Delia; how have you been?”
“Very well, doctor. How are you?”
“Very well. I came to dinner because I promised Aurora,” she clarified, and I assumed she did it to make it clear that she wasn’t there because of me.
“It’s a pleasure to have you here, you should come more often,” Delia said, and I noticed she looked at me with a conspiratorial smile. “But please, take a seat so I can serve dinner.”
I settled Aurora in her chair and then sat down next to her. Devon sat across from me.
“I want to sit with Divon.”
“You need to have dinner next to your father, don’t forget that he missed you very much and it’s been days since you had dinner together,” she said sweetly.
“It’s not a problem,” I said, but she insisted.
“For me, it is, because you are her father,” she stated, then looked at Aurora and added, “If you insist on changing seats, I’ll have to leave because the right thing is for you to sit next to your dad.”
I looked at her and smiled, but Aurora wiped the smile off our faces in one fell swoop.
“And you are my mommy,” she said with a frowning face.
Devon turned pale, and I fixed my gaze on her.
“That’s not true, princess,” she said affectionately. “We already talked about this and I explained that I’m not your mommy, I’m just a friend who loves you very much.”
Hearing her gave me peace of mind, but it also confirmed that Aurora had already said this to her. I looked at her and nodded.
“But I want you to be my mommy.”
“Devon can’t be your mommy because you have a mommy. She’s not with us because she died, but she will always be your mother.”
“But I love Divon,” she insisted.
“I love you very much, but I’m not and won’t be your mommy, although that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends and play together.”
At that moment, Delia came in with another one of my employees to bring the dinner plates, which interrupted the conversation, though I could see that Devon was becoming increasingly uncomfortable, and I didn’t like that.
During dinner, we talked about everything they had done during the days I was in New York, which eased the tension.
After dinner, I prepared to take Aurora to her bedroom, though I was sure she would ask Devon to come too, and I wasn’t wrong.
“It’s better if you go with your dad. Good night, princess,” she said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Daddy, I want Divon to come.”
“Devon, would you come with us?” I asked.
“Actually, I need to go,” she replied, and again I noticed she was nervous, but I wasn’t going to let her leave because I needed to talk to her.
“It’s just a few minutes, she usually falls asleep quickly,” I said, and I wasn’t lying, my daughter had never had trouble sleeping.
“It’s just that...”
“Come on, Divon,” said Aurora, taking her by the hand and tugging at her.
When we reached Aurora’s bedroom, Devon helped her put on her nightgown.
Then Aurora climbed into bed with the book she wanted us to read to her.
Devon ended up sitting on the bed and I sat in the armchair next to it.
By the third page, she was already asleep.
I placed the book on the nightstand and stood up as Devon watched me attentively.
I stretched out my hand for her to take it, which she did, though hesitantly.
We left the bedroom, I closed the door and pulled her toward mine.
“Where are we going?”
“To my bedroom,” I said, and continued walking, but I only took a couple of steps because she suddenly stopped and stared at me with a furrowed brow.
“We can’t go there,” she stated.
“We can and we will. I need to talk to you and I want privacy.”
“It’s not right for me to enter your bedroom.”
“Why not?”
“Your staff is here and...”
“‘Dulce,’ I don’t explain my life to anyone. Let’s go,” I said, and pulled at her hand again, but she stopped once more, and I got tired of it and took her in my arms and continued walking.
“Put me down, William,” she demanded, but in a low voice.
“No; I already told you I need to talk to you.”
“We can talk in the living room.”
“Stop protesting because we’re already here and we won’t be leaving for a good while.”
I set her down on the floor and she continued looking at me with a frown.
“This isn’t right,” she said, with her hands on her hips and shaking her head.
“Devon,” I said, taking her face in my hands, “don’t worry so much.
Come.” I pulled her toward me and embraced her, I needed to feel her in my arms and, when she rested her head on my chest, I was invaded by a fierce feeling of possessiveness, something so primitive that I didn’t recognize myself because I had never experienced anything like it.