The Fall Bride (TSBS-3) ON HOLD

Chapter Fourteen

To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves.
― Federico García Lorca

Janet Julien

As Ivan whished past me sneakily after surprising me with the peck on the cheek, I felt an almost half a decade old inevitable passion reawaken inside me.

Ivan Dwayne had been a one-night stand.

We would've remained complete strangers for the rest of our life, without ever meeting each other again, but the outcome of the one-night stand forever intertwined our lives.

Only for Caden.

Everyone expected a reunion between the two strangers; become romantically involved and blissfully accept the marriage they had never wanted in the first place.

And, Ivan seemed to join the bandwagon. At first, I thought he would detest the idea of being married to a stranger. Completely ridiculous, he would've said. Perhaps, he did when he knew about it, but later, he found it to be beneficial enough to convince me to move States for a month.

If it was only for his business, I would've had no hesitation in punching his face, but the thought of Caden being close to the father he wished had enough strength to quash any doubt in me. The only thing that irked me nowadays, was Ivan's willingness to follow through the marriage vows he had taken so benevolently in front of Elvis Presley.

As strong as I portrayed myself, it wasn't near enough to what I was from within.

Ivan Dwayne had not only been handsome, but persistent and persuasive. Even that night in the hotel bar, his words said otherwise, but his eyes were a mirror of what he needed.

Companionship.

Was that it? Even now?

Under the pretense of a marriage we had trapped ourselves in, Ivan found the straw to hold onto. Without the knowledge of how he grew up and what he had been doing, I knew what he craved most, a family.

Of course, according to him, Family was never complete without the presence of mother and father, and their companionship for each other.

No matter how safe it was, it was truly our attraction that hadn't been making it easy for me to avoid making a connection with him once again. But living under one roof, it was hard to avoid his forwardness, and even harder to not want it anymore.

Perhaps, Mia could see through me accurately, for giving into Ivan's advances seemed much more sensible than being unattached and unaffected.

After all, we were both adults. If things wouldn't work out, we could move on from this, right? 

All throughout the day, I had been mulling over different scenarios over my reasonable conclusions, and convincing myself to follow the same philosophy of being bold and free till our responsibilities came calling.

This time, the end of the month would be the morning that would decide our fate.

"Mommy?"

Pulling the blanket to his chin, I smiled down at him. "Yes, honey?"

"Sophie's daddy always stays with her. Is my Daddy staying too?" He drowsily asked, trying to keep his eyes open as he awaited the answer that could drive away his fear of not seeing the father he wanted the next day after he opened his eyes.

I wished I could take away his insecurity. I wished, as a mother, I could give him what he wanted from the beginning, but I had failed.

Perhaps, it would actually be worth it to see if Ivan and I could make it work.