Daemon has sorted everything that needs to be in just a matter of a few weeks. Quite impressive given the sizable damage the attack caused on his business and reputation but he managed to do it despite the countless stitches in his body.
Devon’s pregnancy became too noticeably hard for her. Morning sickness is more difficult to get by, she has no appetite, and she won’t eat unless Daemon prepares the food for her.
“It’s the babies’ fault. They want to get closer to you,” she pouted and hugged Daemon from behind.
They were in the kitchen. He is cooking beef stew for her while she clings to him like a sloth.
Her nostrils are damn crazy for his smell as she tiptoed to bury her face on the nook of his neck.
He gasped and turned off the stove to face her, carry her to the counter, and just stared at her fondly.
“I told you. It’s the baby, the hormones!” Devon shrieked when Daemon’s eyes got mischievous.
“I know. I know that’s why it’s more disappointing. You can’t get enough of me just because of your hormones. How disappointing.”
“No, that’s not true. I am only this to you because I need your cooking skills. Without that, I bet I won’t even look at you, not even a glance.”
“Really?” he teased her.
“Yes!”
He chuckled. “And please add my smell. You would, I mean the hormones love my smell.”
“You can add the smell from the things that my hormones love so that’ll only be two. I am only this eerily clingy to you just because of two things. How bad is that, huh?”
“That’s even more disappointing, baby!”
Her eyes widened. “I know, right!”
Both of them laughed at their silliness.
“You’re an idiot.” Devon spanked his butt with a spatula.
Daemon fought back by pinching her cheeks using a tong. She prepared to retaliate through the chopsticks in her hands but a smell of burnt meat stopped them.
“Oh my god, the stew!” they chorused.
Devon cried again, “My stew!”
Daemon shouted, “Yes, the stew!”
After eating the salvaged dish, Devon threw it all up. He called for a doctor and she assured him that Devon is alright. This is getting him more nervous than the first time he led the meeting of the Drufts as their leader.
“Why am I liking this side of you? Can’t you just be pregnant forever?” he asked when they’re on bed.
She’s on top of him hugging him like he would run at any second. He’s wiping the sweat on her back.
She rolled her eyes. “No, this is actually annoying. I can’t function a day without seeing and smelling you. It’s like you bewitched me. Are you sure they didn’t give me a potion?”
They continued bickering like they have always done it before.
“Why? Are you in love with me now?”
“How about you? Have you fallen with me because I bore you your son?” Devon asked back.
“But I asked you first,” he protested.
“But you didn’t ask me if I will let you ask me a question.”
“Same with you.”
She scrunched her nose and nibbled on the skin on his bare chest.
“Daemon?”
“Hmm? Yes?”
She didn’t answer, hesitant to ask. He peeked at her face.
“Why? What’s the matter?”
She sighed and stared right into his eyes.
“What if the baby is a girl? Will you still accept her?”
“Of course. She is my daughter,” he answered without even thinking.
“But a girl’s life inside the mafia family will be hard, Daemon. She will have no freedom to choose her friends, her education, or her future husband. She will be restricted. She will have no life outside of her obligation to be married off to men her family picked for her.”
“Just like your life?”
“Yes, just like mine,” she whispered.
“If the baby is a girl, she will live a life a lot like mine. She will be voiceless in the family. No one will take her seriously, her decisions will be ridiculed no matter how small and insignificant it is. I don’t want a child to suffer a life like that.”
A long awkward silence ensued before Daemon broke it.
“But I am not your father, Devon. I’m not saying I would break traditions but my child, no matter if it’s a boy or a girl, will be loved accordingly. You’re right. My world is not for girls. Only strong women could survive here, that’s why I would raise my daughter to be that kind of woman.”
That got her thinking. Is she still a girl or has she become a woman now? The thought almost made her cry when she realized one thing.
She is still a child deep inside. Her upbringing didn’t let grow up to be the kind of woman in Daemon’s world. How ironic that a child is pregnant and will be bringing forth another child in this world.
Daemon noticed her lack of response.
“You’re overthinking again. Come, rest now.”
He laid her on the bed and stood up.
“Where are you going? I can’t sleep when you’re not beside me,” she said and stood up to follow him.
He laughed. “Oh baby you are so needy. I will just switch off the lights for you.”
She waited for him before going back to bed together. She closed her eyes to try to snuck some sleep but wasn’t successful. Her mind is still on that little deep conversation they had.
“I like looking at you when your mind is somewhere. It’s like I want to be there for you in whatever place your mind has drifted to.” He paused to tuck the strand of her hair behind her ear. “No, I wanna be there for you Devon even after all this.”
Bewildered, she met his sincere eyes. Daemon is not like this. He’s one cruel mafia boss who loves to dominate people he considered below him. He’s not the type to say things like this.
“Even after I gave birth to your babies?”
“Even after that.”
“Even after our contract?”
“Even after that.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
He smiled and sealed that promise with a kiss.