The Fashion of Love | Adult F/M Romance [COMPLETE]

ch. 18 - May

He couldn't just let me be happy. He's incapable of taking the high road.

Despite the effort she made to shake off her anger, it hung over her like a dark cloud.

She yanked off her tiara. Happy birthday to me.

Sora swore at herself. She should have slammed the door in his face when he showed up. Trying to take the high road did her little good when she felt this...small at the end.

She stalked around the house for a short while, picking up toys, and needlessly straightening throw pillows till she ran out of readymade mess to clean. Frustrated, she tossed herself into a chair at the kitchen table where Ravi was reading the back of a cake mix box.

"Do I wanna know what's put you in a mood?"

"I don't know. What's brash, condescending, thinks swords are a fashion statement and just stopped by to wish me happy birthday?"

Ravi put down the box. "Run that by me again."

"He has dollar signs for eyes."

"Anthony wished you a happy birthday." Ravi was disbelieving enough for two.

"My happiness isn't on the list of things he concerns himself with anymore. He makes that clearer all the time."

"He's the poorest rich man I know. What's life without love like yours?"

"Oh, he's got love. He's waiting for Hana to see him again so they can continue their epic romance for the ages."

Ravi's sole reply was a nonplused grunt of acknowledgement. He wasn't any more reasonable on the topic of Anthony Himura than Anthony was when discussing him. God save me from men and their egos.

Ravi got down on the tile floor where Tommy was seated amid an explosion of crayons and construction paper Sora definitely hadn't bought him to try his hand at hand-colored origami. Her baby was in seventh heaven.

"You finally figure out that toddlers and flour don't mix?"

"I plead the Fifth."

"Uh huh."

Dhiren climbed down from the stool he'd been balancing on.

"The cupcakes are ready to go in, Dad."

Sora, who was well aware of the rules by this juncture, knew better than to venture into the culinary fray.

Ravi got up from his impromptu lecture on the fine art of making origami paper dolls for Tommy to put the baking pans into the oven.

"The instructions say they should be ready in twenty. We'll check in thirty 'cause they're always wrong." Sora envisioned twenty years of Ravi thinking he knew better than the printed instructions. She got up to inspect the fire extinguisher she'd purchased after finding out she was pregnant.

She turned around to find Dhiren covered in smears of batter. Don't think I can't see you've gotten into the frosting, kid. She handed him a washcloth which he used to scrub guiltily at the corner of his mouth, missing the remainder of the mess wholesale.

"Aunt Sora, can you teach me that soccer trick you used on Dad? I wanna try it out at a game next season."

"I don't know. You might need me to watch Tommy while you bake." By which she meant, 'safeguard her kitchen from the next Misra creation initiative.'

Ravi interjected, all too knowingly, "Go ahead. Tommy and I can handle the crayons, and I'll keep an eye out for the 'cakes. I'll make a menswear designer out of this kid yet."