Chapter 28
Damien
3 months later
“You can’t eat it all,” I say to Lake as we make our way back home from trick-or-treating. “Your teeth will rot.” His pumpkin bowl, which Ivy had thought was too big, was full of candy. Since Lake is one of the very few kids in this apartment building, he had his fill of sweets from a lot of older people, happy to share their candy with someone younger than thirteen.
The little Spiderman looks up at me in his expressionless mask. Even though I can’t see his face, I can tell he’s disappointed. “That’s what mom says,” he says.
“And mom is right. You should listen to her.”
His head droops. “That’s why you’re the green goblin.”I chuckle, my laugh reverberating in my green goblin mask. “Hey, sometimes villains tell the truth. Next time you request I wear something cool like an Uncle Ben costume, maybe I might be nice.”
He giggles and shakes his head. “Uncle Ben doesn’t have a costume!”
I refrain from informing him about real people costumes as I press the button to our elevator. He seems to be in a better mood now that he’s found something I don’t know about. “Sorry. I thought he had his costume like Peter Parker. A crab costume. Crab Man perhaps?”
Lake giggles even harder as we enter the elevator. “This is why you should watch the movies, Dad.”
It’s been three months and my heart still sings when he calls me dad. “You’re right, I should. I don’t want to embarrass you in front of your friends.”
“We should watch all of them at once, like a party.”
I absently nod at this suggestion as I take my phone out of my pumpkin bowl that I have been using as a purse and call Ivy. Her sultry voice answers on the other end and my loins stir. “Are you home yet, or do you want me to come and pick you up?” I ask.
“I’m home. I took the subway.”
“Again?” Her dedication to not asking me for help was going to put her in harm’s way. Instead of calling me or one of my men to drive her back home, she always insisted on taking her own way back home. “What if there’s a knife attack?”
“Someone waved a knife at me.” My heart skips a bit. “Ghostface was on the subway. Although he was dancing, so I don’t think that can be considered an attack.”
“Be serious,” I say as she laughs. I try to sound mad, but it doesn’t work. She can never make me angry. She’s still smiling when she opens the door. Her eyes go wide when Lake presents him with his basket full of treats. He waves it at her and she receives it like it’s a trophy. “You boys sure worked hard.”
Lake’s happy with himself. “You can have some. Just not the chocolate stuff.”
“Thanks,” she says to him, “Why don’t you sort it out yourself first? I need to talk to Green Goblin over here.”
Lake runs to his room, leaving me and alone with Ivy. I remove the costume mask and sigh as I breathe non-rubber air for the first time in hours. “How was work?” I say before wrapping my arm around her waist and kissing her on the mouth. The kiss was meant to be a simple peck, but with most things between us, it evolves into a brief make-out session as my mask falls to the fall and I take her in my arms. She settles into my embrace and her breasts press against my chest. My cock immediately responds as it grows hard against the green suit.
“Busier than I expected even though I knew it was Halloween,” she says.
“Don’t tell me you went viral again.”
“No. Seems like Sonya’s talents are spreading all over New York. Soon we might open another branch.” She says it so matter-factly and I am surprised she’s not taking it well.
“Isn’t that good news?”
“Not when you might be pregnant.”
The room goes silent and the only sound that can be heard is the distant crinkling noise of Lake sorting out his candy. She doesn’t look happy. She seems concerned? Unsure? I don’t know how to gauge her. Does she not want another child? Or is she still thinking about the divorce? Our life together has been good so far. We’ve been living like a family and we’ve had little trouble, if at all.
“Do you… not want another child?”
She breaks out of my embrace. Oh oh.
“No! What? I do. But do you? I mean, knowing you have a kid in one year is one thing, but two? I’m not sure you’d be comfortable having a baby around now that— ”
I draw her into my arms again and kiss her. It’s a long sweet kiss that I hope tells her how I feel. “You could give me ten babies right now and I would be the happiest man on earth. I would consider myself lucky to be the father of your children, Ivy Hawthorne.”
“Are you sure? A baby is a different matter from a seven-year-old.”
“There’s nothing I’ve been more sure of in my life.”
“But two children in a loveless relationship? Isn’t that pushing it?”
“Who said our relationship is loveless?”
“I am incapable of that kind of love.” She throws my words back at me and I cringe at my former self, who uttered those words. I would never say that to her now. Not when I know what love is. What it feels like to wake up next to someone you want to wake up next to until you die.
“What if I told you that was a lie? That I couldn’t face the feelings I had for you. I’ve always had for you, so I told you a lie to make myself feel better.”
She shakes her head. “Damien.”
“No, listen to me. I know you don’t believe me and you might never love me again, but there is love in this marriage. From me to our son. From me to you. I love you. I don’t know when I began to have those feelings, be it three months ago, be it eight years ago. All I know is they’ve been there for a long time and I was just too cowardly to admit how insanely in love with you I am.”
“Damien--”
I put my hand on her mouth. “You don’t have to say anything. At least not now. Just know that I love you and I want to spend the rest of my days with you.