To say that the entire experience was nerve-wracking was to say the least.
Achilles had stared at the packet of adoption papers in Liam’s hands in silence for a good few minutes without a single word, movement, or even any sign of breath. It was almost as if he had been turned to stone.
And it definitely didn’t help that his lack of response only made Liam more nervous.
Liam hesistantly glanced up at Achilles, still stretching his arms out with the papers in hand. When Achilles still made no move in response, Liam’s face dropped as he started to slowly retract to packet.
But it seemed like that was all that as needed to snap Achilles out of his trance. Achilles caught onto Liam’s little hands before he could fully retract his present and sputtered out, “D-Do you really want me to be your dad?”
Liam nodded timidly as he shyly peered up at the taller man through his lashes. “Do you not want to?”
“No, no, no, I do want to be your dad, but I thought that I wouldn’t be allowed to take that role until I married your mom.”
Now it was my turn to become bashful, completely caught off guard by their hidden, behind-the-scene agreement.
But the two took no mind and continued their conversation with no notice.
Liam scooted closer to Achilles and pushed the papers further into his hands. “I know that you love my mom very much and that you will take good care of her. I know that you will be a good husband for my mom and I believe that you will be a good dad for me as well. Don’t you think so too?”
“Of course, I do, Liam. I had planned to make you a part of my family as much as I do with your mom from the very start.” Achilles gratefully accepted the packet with a small smile as he leafed through the papers. “This is the best present I could ever receive. Thank you, Liam.”
A bright grin spread across Liam’s lip as he eagerly crawled into Achilles’s lap.
With a pen in hand, the two immediately got started on filling out the adoption papers together. Reading through each line and signing here and there, page after page.
They truly did look like a father and son pair already. The same shaggy midnight black hair with sharp facial features that couldn’t be replicated anywhere else. Both holding such strong auras that could dwarf any other person.
I leaned against Achilles’s shoulder as I watched them fill out the last few pages, only signing my own name when directed by one of the two.
By the time they finished filling out all the paperwork, an hour had already passed.
Liam had a bright smile on his lips as he stared at Achilles’s intricate signature on the last page. His eyes shone so brightly that they could probably outdo any star in the sky.
He looked up at Achilles with sparkling eyes and innocently asked, “Can I call you dad from now on?”
Achilles’s eyes softened at the sight. “Of course, son.”
Unable to contain his excitement anymore, Liam threw his little arms around Achilles’s thick torso and exclaimed, “I love you, dad!”
Achilles fell back against the headboard in surprise but quickly wrapped his arms around Liam in reply. “I love you too.”
Splayed across Achilles’s body, Liam lifted his head off of Achilles’s chest and reached out of me. “I also love you too, mom.”
I flushed at his adorable display of affection as I took his little hands into my own, not wanting to interrupt on their little moment too much.
But Achilles wrapped his free arm me and pulled me flush to his side with ease. “I love your mom too. I’m the luckiest man ever to have to two of you as my family.”
I blushed at his compliment and snuggled into his side. As my eyelids grew heavily under the comforting warmth of my boys, I sleepily whispered, “I love you too. Thank you for giving me the best year of my life.”
I never did hear what they said after that, but the comforting squeeze around my waist and tightening of a pair of little hands around my fingers was all I needed to know that they felt the same.
It was the most peaceful sleep I had all year.
I wouldn’t have wanted any other way and I knew that I would never regret putting my trust into Achilles.
By the time I woke up the next day, the sun was already high up in the sky and shining brightly through the cracks in the curtains.
But oddly enough, my boys were no were to be found. The bed was completely empty and the left side of bed had only reminents of warmth left behind.
I pushed myself up into a sitting position as I sleepily looked around the room. I rubbed the sleepiness out of my eyes as I reached for my glasses from the nightstand.
Once my vision had cleared up, I realized that the room truly was as empty as it sounded.
I carefully slid myself out of bed and slipped on my slippers along the way. As I wrapped a thin shawl around my shoulders, I slowly made my way out of the room toward the light clanging of pans echoing from downstairs.
Surely enough, I found the two huddling in the kitchen with several bowls of food scattered around them.
Though they were in the middle of a hushed battle of whispers, they immediately perked up at the sound of my footsteps.
Liam shot up and ran passed Achilles without another look before jumping straight into my embrace. With his little arms barely wrapping all the way around my waist, he cheerily greeted, “Good morning, mom!”
I internally awed at his deadly level of cuteness. It was like an arrow straight through the heart, but I somehow managed to pull myself back together to respond. “Good morning, honey. Would you like to tell me what you and Achilles are doing to make such a mess out of the kitchen?”
“We wanted to make you breakfast in bed to celebrate a late Christmas, but you got up too quickly!”
I giggled lightly as I poked at his chubby cheeks. “I didn’t mean to ruin your plans, honey. But how can you expect me to stay asleep when my boys are missing from my side?”
He makes a hard thinking face before nodding in understanding. It was quite funny to see how seriously he was talking my words.
But before I could tease him any further, Achilles walked out with a platter of pancakes and fruits cut up into an array of cute shapes. Right as I was about to greet him, he leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to my lips, taking no mind to the little kid between us. “Good morning, my love.”
I blushed under his affectionate gaze and stammered, “G-good morning, Achilles.”
“Since you’re down here already, why don’t we have breakfast in the greenhouse today? I can get it heated up pretty quickly and I’m sure it would be nice to watch the snowfall from inside.”
I nodded mutely, unable to draw my focus away from his grey eyes. Though they weren’t any particularly brilliant color, Achilles’s eyes held so much affection that I just couldn’t draw my attention away.
He wasn’t one to speak all that much, but he poured his love into his every action and truly cherished those dear to him despite his brute-like appearance.
He pressed on last kiss to the side of my temple as he walked out of the back exit of the kitchen toward the green house.
Snapping me out of my trance, Liam chirped, “Mom? What are you staring at?”
I coughed on the embarrassment of being caught by my son and quickly covered it up with, “Nothing, honey. How about we find you some slippers before heading out into the greenhouse?”
He eyed me suspiciously before dropping the subject and tugging me along to find his slippers.
My mind wandered back off to Achilles as I mindlessly followed Liam around the house.
Even though he was now wearing a shirt unlike his half naked state from last night, I still couldn’t help staring at Achilles. He was built just as perfectly as all the other girls dreamt about if not even better. All I wanted to do was to run my fingers up and down his chest, tracing all his muscles, wondering how it would feel to have him pressed up against me without any barriers.
I gulped dryly as I tried to clear the indecent thoughts from my head.
I internally reprimanded myself for having such sinful thoughts while walking around with Liam. I was a terrible mother for fantasizing about another man while being next her child.
Luckily, Liam took no notice of my divided attention and happily pulled me back toward to the greenhouse once he found his slippers. Barging straight through the glass doors into the greenhouse, he called out to the messy, lush filled room, “Dad? Are you ready yet?”
From somewhere deep within the nusery, a deep voice that could make my legs tremble called out in reply, “Yep! Just bring your mother out to the little clearing in the back.”
And somehow, with those vague instructions, Liam managed to weave his way through the maze of plants straight to Achilles without any issues.
Once we passed through an archway in repair, we entered a tiny square with a small white table and a few similarly patterned chairs. An assortment of fruits, pancakes and drinks were spread across the table with cute little utensils that were usually only ever seen at brunch places.
Although it all looked very sweet and endearing, it was the complete opposite of Achilles’s sharp appearance.
Liam’s tugged me over to the middle seat and plopped me down before settling down into the chair to the left of me. Similarly, Achilles plopped down into the seat to the right of me and started to serve different types of pancakes into our plates like how he usually does. Chocolate chip pancakes for Liam, blueberry for me and bananas for himself.
Meanwhile, Liam also insisted on pouring the drinks by himself despite my pleads to let me help him with the heavy jug. Somehow, he managed to pour out the juice for all of us without spilling anything.
When everything finally settled down, with much pressure not to let me help with anything, my two boys eventually sat back down into their seat in content and looked up at me expectedly.
I raised an eyebrow in question, unsure of what they were waiting for since they usually dug into food like hungry wolves.
As if coordinated, the two synchronously said, “Merry late Christmas!”
An uncontrollable smile grew across my face. It was too much of a heartwarming sight not to.
I leaned down and kissed Liam on the top of his head, whispering a soft “Merry Christmas” in reply and earning a bright grin from my little boy.
Then, I turned toward my big boy and leaned up to press a kiss on his cheek, whispering similar “Merry Christmas” with an additional “Happy late birthday, Achi,” and earning a tinge of pink on the tips of his ears.
He bashfully asked, “How did you find out when my birthday was?”
“Your mom told me.” I glanced up worriedly, hoping that I wasn’t crossing a line. “Did you not want me to know about it?”
He shook his head. “I wasn’t trying to hide it, but I thought you might be a bit put off by it.”
I looked up at him in confusion.
“It’s just that I’m turning 30. I thought it might remind you of our 7-year age gap.”
Oh…
“I was just worried that you might feel like I’m too old and decide to find someone better suited for you instead.”
His shoulder’s dropped at his own words as his gaze lowered to his plate, halting in his motions. His once happy aura had dropped so low that the greenhouse’s internal temperature could’ve easily dropped a few degrees.
But what I couldn’t understand was why he felt so insecure about himself. He was so confident in all other areas of his life, easily commanding those with years of experience over him, but when it came to our relationship, he was always doubting himself.
Taking one of his giant hands into my own hands, I gently brushed my thumbs across the back of his hand and lifted his hand up to press a soft kiss on his knuckles, earning an even deeper shade of red along the tips of his ears.
“W-What are you-”
“Achilles, we are already engaged.” A kiss on the back of his hand. “And even exchanged rings.” A soft hand on his cheek. “And also moved in together with a child to call our own. Do you really think I would still leave you after all that?”
His cheeks heated up under my touch as he sheepishly shook his head.
I tenderly brushed my thumb over his cheek, watching as he unconsciously leaned into my touch. “I don’t mind the age gap at all. If anything, I like your maturity. It makes me feel safe knowing that my partner is so capable and understanding my messy history.”
He hummed softly in acceptance as he turned his head to press his lips against the inside of my hand. Cupping my hand in his own, he continued to plant a series of tender kisses along the sensitive parts of my palm, making me blush from such a shameless display of physical affection.
He quietly muttered between his kisses, “I guess I’ve been feeling a bit possessive over my lovely fiancee. Too many people have been trying to get her attention when I want her eyes to be only on me.”
Flustered by his words, I stuttered, “A-Achilles, L-Liam is sitting r-right n-next to us…”
Resisting my tugs, he held firmly onto my hand as he pressed one last kiss into the inside of my hand before finally releasing me from his grasp. “I doubt he minds. Right, Liam?”
Said little boy shrugged wordlessly as he continued to chew on his overstuffed mouthful of chocolate pancakes. When he finally swallowed his bite, he nonchalantly explained, “He’s always like this when it comes to you. I’m used to it already.”
Achilles smirked at his answer and added, “Just wait til the day I finally get to make your mom my wife. I’ll be so disgustingly affectionate with her that even your sweet tooth wouldn’t be able to handle it.”
“Achilles!” I burst out, completely overwhelmed by his newfound cheekiness.
But all I got in return was a hearty chuckle.
To think that this man would eventually become my husband.
My cheeks flushed at the mere thought, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.