Each shakey breath… Every tightening of his arms around my neck… To every last whimper… It tore my heart to see my boy in such a state.
Although he had ever told me what his life was like before I met him, I had figured that he most likely didn’t have a very good history with his biological family. But I never thought that it would be this bad.
How could a mother ever treat their own flesh and blood like that? Pushing him around so roughly… Crushing his confidence so into rubble with such malicious words… Instilling such fear into his little body that he couldn’t even move in her presence…
I remembered how his clothes were in tatters and how gaunt his face looked when I had first caught him rummaging through my house. His skin was so pale and sunken in that he looked as if he could have collapsed at any moment.
Based on the state of his condition, he must’ve spent at least a few months living on the streets by himself before I found him, meaning that he was probably only a bit older than two years old when his birth mother kicked him out.
I was horrified when I found out that little two-year-old was stuck surviving out in the harsh winters of New York by himself. He didn’t trust me in the slightest when we first met and nearly bit me when I tried to get close to him. But as we got closer, I soon found out how mentally matured he was for a two-year-old, a true genius in hiding, explaining how he managed to survive in the streets for all that time by himself. But even if he was mentally matured, there was still no reason that could ever validate abandoning such a young child like that.
I had always wondered who could be so cruel to throw a child away so heartlessly like that. But after seeing his birth mother for the first time, it didn’t seem as impossible as before…
My heels lacked through the empty hallway as I searched for a private room, a safe place where I could slowly coax Liam out of his panic attack.
Although I wanted to get Achilles, I knew that it wouldn’t be possible. The incessant chatter of the banquet hall kept flooding in, making Liam’s breath grow heavier with each passing second. The voices were slowly but surely overwhelming his senses, and I was certain that he would pass out if I carelessly brought him into the center of such a large crowd.
Spotting a series of curtains fluttering passed the luminous moonlight, I quickly made my way over to what appeared to be a private balcony on the upper floor. I let out a sigh of relief when I found it that was empty and immediately closed the balcony doors behind me, pulling the curtains shut in an attempt to block out as much of the external noises as possible.
As the panic from earlier slowly started seeping out of my body in the safety of our private safe, my legs collapsed under our weight, making me fall onto my knees with Liam’s little body pulled close to my chest.
I tried to gently ease his head out of the crook of my neck, softly cooing, “We’re safe now, honey… No one’s going to hurt you here…”
He resisted my nudges and tightened his arms around my neck instead, burying his face even deep into my neck with a nearly inaudible whimper.
It felt like my heart was being stabbed to death from seeing him in such a state.
I rubbed a soothing circle on his back and patiently rocked him from side to side, whispering comforting words. Telling him not to listen to her words. Reminding him how much Achilles and I loved him. Telling him that we would always be by his side. Listing all the things that we adored about him.
Several minutes passed without any response from Liam as the chilly winter air blew passed us. With time, Liam’s breath eventually started to calm down. His grip slowly loosened from my neck, but he never pulled his face out of my neck.
I tried again, “Are you feeling better, honey?”
He nodded mutely, still not lifting his head from my shoulder.
I stroked his head comfortingly. “Was that your birth mother?”
He tensed up ever so slightly. His arms tightened around my neck again, but he at least nodded in affirmation, answering my question.
Wrapping my arms around him, I gave him a gentle squeeze and reassured him, “Everything she said was wrong, so please don’t take her words to heart. It pains me to see you like this.”
His fingers curled into little fists as he let out a heavy breath and asked hesitantly, “D-Did you h-hear e-everything?”
“I did…” I gently pulled his head out of his hiding place. He obliged my request this time and sat in my lap, straddling my waist with his head hanging solemnly. Cupping his cheeks in my hands, I lifted his head to look at me and firmly refuted that woman’s words, “But you are not worthless or a parasite in the slightest. I may not know what happened in that household before you met us… And I probably can’t ever imagine what kind of hell you went through… But you are Achilles and I’s son now. You are the precious eldest child of the Cordova family, so please hold your head up high. There is no reason to listen to those kinds of people.”
His lower lip wavered as he looked up to meet my eye. “But she g-gave birth to me… T-There must be s-something wrong with me if e-even my b-birth mother d-doesn’t want me…”
My heart clenched painfully at his words. “Liam, there’s nothing wrong with you, not a single thing. She may be flesh and blood, but she is not your family. A family is built on trust and love. A family will love you unconditionally and care about your feelings and thoughts. A family does not treat you the way she treats you. A family always thinks about you first, like the way Achilles always cares for us. They will be patient with you and wait for you even when you are being difficult, like the way Mr. and Mrs. Cordova still wanted to love you even when you didn’t trust them yet. Family will love you even when you don’t love yourself.”
I took a deep breath, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the thought that he hadn’t even received at least this much from that twisted biological family of his. I continued, “You don’t get to choose who gives birth to you, but you get to choose who you want your family to be. You chose Achilles and me to be your mom and dad, and we accepted fully heartedly because you are the most truly the best child in the world, and we will forever be grateful to your birth parents for bringing you into the world. But you do not need to respect those vile people. They treated you inhumanely without any reason, so it will never be your fault, and I want you to remember that. That we will be the only ones who you will ever have to consider as your parents from now on, okay?”
His fingers scrunched up clumps of my dress as he took in my words. “W-Would that r-really be okay for me t-to do?”
I kissed his forehead reassuringly, “Of course, Liam. You are our son and no one else’s.”
He melted into my arms, giving in to my words. “I love you, mom.”
“I love you too, my precious son.” I stroked his head lovingly.
He quietly asked, “I’m a good boy, right?”
“My best boy,” I reassured.
He mindlessly fiddled with the edge of my sleeve and continued, “… I listened to your instructions and finished all of my dinner before getting a dessert.”
I patted his head and praised him, “I know… I saw… But even if you didn’t, you are still our good boy… I would never get mad at you for something so little.”
His little fingers wrapped around my thin fingers, squeezing them as he let out a breath in comfort. A breathless whisper escaped his lip, “I love you so much, mom…”
My heart swelled at his words, words that held so raw and pure emotions. I happily tucked him into my chest, lovingly pressing my cheek up against his, and replied, “I love you so much more than you will ever know, Liam.”
He hummed softly, eyes twinkling brightly under the moonlight at my words despite his lack of words.
We enjoyed each other company in silence for a good while, just watching the cloud float across the sky between the streams of moonlight peaking through each star.
As the commotion inside of the banquet seemed to have started to die down, I gently eased him out of my lap and told him, “We should probably get back to the party before your dad sends a search party after us.”
He chuckled weakly at the thought and obediently stood up, holding out his hand to me as if to help me stand up from the ground.
Even though he was much too small to actually be able to pull me off the ground, I couldn’t help awing at his adorable gesture and graciously accepted his hand. I patted my dress off, trying to remove as much of the dust as possible before we rejoined the crowd of high-standing guests.
I intertwined my fingers with Liam’s hand as we made our way back to the main floor. As we made our way down a set of stairs, entering from the back side of the main floor, I raised an eyebrow at the sight of Achilles’s guards rushing up and down the sides of the room in a panic as if they were searching for something.
But the moment my heel clicked onto the marble floor, they all immediately halted mid-step and seemed collectively release a sigh of relief.
One of the guards closest to us bolted right up to the right of us. He wasn’t nearly as tall or muscular as Achilles, but he was definitely above average and easily towered over me, making me instinctively push Liam behind me protectively.
My breath hitched when he leaned in and exclaimed in a low whisper, “I’m so glad I found you, madam. Please come with me quickly. The sire is-”
My eyes widened when a large hand suddenly clamped down on his shoulder, yanking him away from me. It felt like my heart nearly jumped out of my chest.
Watson stood right behind the guard with an eye that was practically twitching in frustration as he scolded the man, “How many times do I have to remind you to give extra space to the madam? She’s not comfortable around strangers, especially clumsy behemoths like you. You’re going to frighten her like this, and Mr. Cordova will definitely have your head for that.”
The younger man paled at Watson’s words and start to profusely apologizing me, nearly falling onto his knees to beg for forgiveness, but Watson pushed him aside. Taking an entire 180, Watson flashed me a reassuring smile and calmly explained, “Madam, Mr. Cordova has been searching frantically for you for the last half hour. Do you mind coming with me for a moment to ease his worries?”
I nodded meekly, glancing warily at the other unfamiliar-looking male guards around us.
Noticing my hesitation, Watson waved the other guards away and politely made way for me. He gestured me toward what I assumed was the general direction of Achilles’s location, taking extra care not to accidentally touch me, which I greatly appreciated.
My heart was still beating frantically from the earlier interaction. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust them. I knew that they were Achilles’s trusted guards, people who would lay their lives down to protect me, but I still couldn’t shake the fear built into my body when it came to anyone of the opposite gender that didn’t include my husband or son.
Liam must’ve noticed my anxiety because he squeezed my hand comfortingly, easing my anxiousness ever so slightly.
I smiled at him, silently thanking him, as I made my way toward Achilles. As we walked down the side hallway along the side of the main floor, I eventually found Achilles barking orders at a few guards with several new creases on his shirt and his sleeves rolled half way up his forearms.
“For fuck’s sake, how can you not find my wife?! There’s only one fucking acre on this goddamned property!” He ruffled his hair frustratingly and continued shouting, “Check the video cameras again and see if-”
His voice fell off the moment our eyes connected as a wave of relief washed over his face. He pushed his repenting guards aside without care and rushed right up to us, engulfing us in a giant bear hug and nearly crushing us in his thick arms.
He whispered shakily, “Thank god you two are safe… You have no idea how scared I was when you disappeared all of a sudden…”
I wrapped my arms around him and rubbed his back soothingly, apologizing, “I’m sorry, Achi. We didn’t mean to scare you… Something… happened, but we’re alright now.”
He frowned at my words and pulled away from my arms, scanning both Liam and me up and down for any injuries. He questioned, “You were gone for more than an hour… What happened?”
Liam pressed his lisp into a thin line and shuffled into my side ever so slightly as if he was trying to fight the urge to hide from his father’s scrutinizing gaze.
I quickly leaned up and whispered to Achilles, “I’ll tell you later. Just please give Liam some room for now.”
He sighed but nodded in acceptance anyway. He scooped Liam up into his arms and changed the subject, asking our son, “How about we cut the cake now? I heard that my mother picked out a triple chocolate cake, especially for you.”
I chuckled softly as Liam’s eyes almost immediately lit up at his words.
Liam replied in a soft voice, “I-I saw it earlier. I-It looked very pretty.”
Achilles hummed softly as he fluidly laced his free hand with my hand, “I think so too. Don’t you think that flowers look a lot like the ones we saw in Susie’s shop?”
Liam nodded and timidly asked, “Do you think the flowers are edible?”
Achilles chuckled softly in amusement. Darting his eyes back and forth as if he was hiding a state secret, he whispered to Liam, “I heard that the flowers are made of chocolate.”
Excitement shimmered in Liam’s eyes at the prospect of chocolate flowers. He was practically beaming in Achilles’s arms, completely forgetting about what had happened earlier.
I smiled at the sight as I leaned against Achilles’s arm.
Achilles truly did treat Liam as his own flesh-and-blood son. Even though they had only known each other for a little over four months, they had bonded closer than any other father-son pair I had ever seen before.
Although I was a little envious of their relationship at times, I was just glad that they were able to find a home within each other. And I was prepared to do anything to keep our little haven safe.
My precious son and lovely husband.
Our little family.