[///ON HOLD///] Animal House (Rendezvous #2)

Chapter 2

“It seems your diaper’s wet, Denora! Let me take care of that for you.” With a grin on her face, Mrs. Mills swiftly took the baby out of Declan’s hands and walked to Nora’s bedroom. Archer and Raccoon followed Mrs. Mills, but she cooed at them and they stayed put outside the room. There was a definitive click of the door as it slid shut, and that was the signal.

Nora glared up into Declan’s nonchalant face.

“Get out.”

He wiggled the box. “Yes or no?”

“No! Of course no! Are you stupid? Why would I agree to marry you?!” Nora shouted and half-expected one or both of her brothers to step out of their room to see what the yelling was about. But luckily, they didn’t come out.

“And why not?” Declan asked before he snapped the box closed. He didn’t put it away though and simply held it in the palm of his hand.

“Why not?” Nora parroted before she scoffed. “Are you really an idiot? Did you think I would’ve said yes to a proposal like that?!”

He tilted his head. “Should I have gone the fancy route then?”

“Nothing would’ve changed except maybe the fact that you would’ve humiliated yourself even more.” Nora sighed and leaned against the kitchen table for support. All the shouting was making her light-headed. “What are you planning, Declan? Just tell it to me straight instead of using confusing tactics.”

“I’m not planning anything.” He answered. “I just want us to get married. Is that such a bad thing?”

Nora gritted her teeth. “We had an arrangement.”

“I never said I would take part of it.” Declan casually crossed his arms across his chest. “You said you wouldn’t reveal that I was the father of Denora, and I believe you. But I want to be a part of my daughter’s life. By all means, go to the tabloids and reveal it. It’d just benefit me.”

“You can be a part of Denora’s life without marrying me. We don’t even love each other!”

“Don’t you think a united family is better than one broken apart?”

“Not when there’s no love!” Nora raised her voice again, but quickly quieted it back down. “A household that doesn’t have love won’t be good for Denora, especially since-”

But she didn’t have to finish in order for Declan to know. Denora’s lack of speech bothered both of them. Even when they took her for a check-up, the doctors told them that nothing was wrong with her physically and the cause was most likely psychological. Even babies could experience such things and that was apparently what Denora was going through right now.

“And that’s exactly why I want to be with her, Nora.” Declan spoke her name, causing her back to sizzle. “I want to watch as she grows up. I want to be there for her, to support her. Maybe by having both of us by her side at the side time, she’ll finally start talking.”

Truthfully, Nora had thought about that possibility as well. She knew that babies were the smartest during their early years. Perhaps Denora caught on to the situation between Nora and Declan. Maybe their separation and not-so-fond feelings towards each other influenced her.

So really, it was Nora fault that her daughter was like that.

Before Nora realized it, she began to cry.

Declan panicked from the sight of fat tears rolling down her cheeks. However, Nora didn’t make a sound and just stood there. That caught plenty of attention though.

Archer and Raccoon immediately ran to the kitchen and Raccoon nudged Nora’s legs while Archer growled at Declan. Normally he wasn’t afraid of animals, no less pets, but even he could tell that these two were serious in their devotion towards Nora.