Her Last Plea✨

Chapter 43

Before Delphina turned in for the evening, barely a quarter past eight, she motioned for Mike to sit next to her on the sofa as their children laughed and played with Alexis on the floor. Mike obliged, sitting down next to Delphina.

"We have to tell Ara about Alexis before school starts," Delphina started saying quietly. "But, if you're going to invite Alexis to spend the night.....then we need to talk to Ara now."

Mike scowled. "Don't say 'invite' as if I'm having some cheap affair," he hissed under his breath. "You're the one who invited her to live here when your condition worsened. We're all bloody exhausted, and I only asked her to do what you already asked her to do."

"Why are you using that voice, Daddy?"

Delphina and Mike looked at Ara, who was sitting halfway on Alexis's lap as Marvin tried to crawl on top of his sister.

"What voice?" Mike asked, pretending to play dumb.

"Your angry whisper voice."

"Daddy wasn't angry whispering."

Ara cocked her head to the side, narrowing her stare slightly. She tilted her neck back after a moment, looking at Alexis who dropped a fleeting kiss to her forehead. "I think Daddy was using his angry whisper voice," she tried to say quietly, but failed to as she still hadn't quite mastered the art of whispering.

Alexis laughed, lightly tickling her sides. "I'm not sure. I didn't hear him."

"He was," Ara stated, stubbornly as a soft giggle escaped through her lips.

Mike sighed, dragging a hand down his face as his shoulders dropped. "Ara, love, will you come sit on my lap for a minute? Mommy and I need to talk to you about something."

Ara hesitated. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, you aren't," Delphina replied.

Alexis pulled Marvin away from Ara so she could escape, and plopped the little boy into her lap. Ara walked over to her father, laughing as Mike picked her up and kissed her cheek before placing her on his knees. Marvin grabbed Alexis's hands, making them clap as she kept an eye on Mike and Delphina. She could sense what was about to happen, and felt a pit begin to grow in her stomach.

Mike wrapped a finger around one of Ara's curls for a moment, eyeing Delphina as he waited for her to speak. It was, after all, her idea. Besides, he had already, albeit inadvertently, told Mira. It was only fair, in his opinion, that Delphina should tell Ara.

Delphina caught her husband's silent message and looked at her daughter, holding her hands together in her lap. "We had a lot of fun at Nana Faith and Papa Will's house the other day, didn't we?"

Ara nodded her head quite enthusiastically. "The best day! We made snowmen....ate macaroni and cheese....and I gots to show them all of my new princess dresses!"

"You did," Delphina said with a nod. "They are quite fond of you and your siblings....and that makes you three very special." She swallowed the lump in her throat as she smiled for Ara. "And Alexis.....well, she loves you, Marv, and Mira very much."

Sensing her mother was getting upset, Ara tried to crawl out of Mike's lap, but he kept her in place, wrapping his arms around her middle. "Stay still," he whispered softly in her ear. "Listen to Mommy."

"Remember the other night," Delphina said with a small smile. "When Daddy went to give Marv his bath and you and I were reading? Remember when you asked me about who would be your Mommy when I was gone?"

Ara nodded slowly, unsure of where the conversation was going.

"Well," Delphina said, trying to muster as much enthusiasm through her sorrow. "No one can replace me and I'll always love you, no matter where I am. But when I can't be here....I've asked Alexis if she will be a Mommy to you and your siblings. She would be a good Mommy, right?"