Fallen in love with a serial killer

Chapter 5

Hannibal seated me and my children at his table and it was like a whole new atmosphere compared to his office. It felt homey but also formal, it was a strange feeling, but not a bad feeling. While Hannibal was collecting the dishes - that smelt so heavenly - I checked on my children. Victoria was sat beside me, in her high chair. I kept her hair half up and half down, and I dressed her In a cute little baby blue and white cardigan. Will, who was at the opposite end of the table to me, wore a buttoned up shirt and tiny waist coat. He sucked his hand while his curls hid his ears and nearly his eyes. Tyson, who was next to Will, wore a buttoned up shirt and little leather jacket.

"Then what happened after your teacher put the baking soda into the volcano?" I asked Will with a smirk on my face, since I know what happened already. He clapped his hands together and tried to vocalise the sounds of an explosion, making me giggle to myself. Then, Hannibal came into the room, catching my eye, and I saw how well he presented the dishes. This is about to be so much better than a takeaway.

———

I couldn't stop myself from laughing so I had to sip some of my red wine, while avoid choking on the amazing smoked salmon Hannibal prepared me. Hannibal couldn't stop snickering and Will couldn't stop hysterically laughing. His little child's laughter lit up the room. Victoria looked around clueless and Tyson was trying not to laugh, but he was struggling.

"I-it's mussels, Victoria" I choked up my words to her. She looked over at the mussels neatly presented on a fancy dish, in the middle of the table. Victoria can't stop calling mussels 'nipples'. She even once shouted that out in the middle of a store and I had to hide my face from all the customers.

"So, how was your new patient?" I asked Hannibal, now that I had calmed down. He stared down at his plate for a few moments then cut up some of his meat.

"He was an interesting case. Although this is breaking doctor-patient confidentially, he was a strange man" Hannibal informed me.

"Ooh, mysterious" I smirked to Hannibal. He smiled back at me then I checked on Will, who was nibbling on some fries and Tyson was devouring his steak. I checked on Victoria to see her picking up pieces of broken up bread to dip into her soup.

"This might be the quietest they've ever been while eating" I chuckled to Hannibal. He snickered to himself then picked up his red wine and clinked glasses with me.

"I suppose I chose the right meals" he teased. I giggled at him and nodded my head.

"The best meals, possibly" I replied back to him, feeling another outburst of laughter about to come through. Hannibal sipped his red wine and had to contain himself.

"That might be pushing it" he joked. We both laughed and this was a very good night.

———

I looked around the table to see Victoria struggling to keep her eyes open while Will was just 'resting his head' he said. Meanwhile, Tyson was simply on his phone. I helped Hannibal put the dishes into the kitchen, since it was the least I could do. I put some dirty dishes beside the sink and saw how clean and stocked his shelves were. He was simply made of money.

"Thank you" Hannibal came up behind me to say. He grabbed my waist to get past me and I felt my entire body shiver. He let go once he got past me and he began filling the sink with warm water. I didn't realise I was doing this, but I couldn't keep my eyes off him. I watched him carefully roll his sleeves up, revealing his veining, tanned arms and I noticed a few hair stands fallen in front of his face, and the light defined his jawline and cheekbones. Unexpectedly, he met my eyes and I couldn't let myself look away, and he didn't look away either.