Her Last Plea✨

Chapter 44

Note: The underlined, italics sections are flashbacks. (They are two separate flashbacks for two different timelines)
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Delphina turned in for the evening, exhausted by the day's events. Mike went with her, quietly making sure that medicines were taken and assisted her with her other nighttime rituals, while Alexis said she'd handle the kids for the night. As he tucked Delphina into bed, propping her up a bit with some pillows, he felt her frail hand reach for his with a tight grip. "Mike?"

"Yes?"

She stifled a yawn with her free hand as her back sank into the cushion of the pillows behind her. "Make sure you fall in love with someone who loves you back.…the way you're supposed to be loved."

Mike laughed, leaning in to kiss her cheek as her hand freed his. "I think I'm going to have enough on my plate….falling in love with someone isn't even remotely close to being on my radar."

"And don't close yourself off, either," Delphina continued, ignoring his words. "You deserve to be happy."

"Get some sleep," Mike whispered. "I'll see you in the morning." As he walked towards the door, he began to pull it shut before he heard his wife call out his name one more time, her voice light and sleepy. Peeking his head in, he looked at her with a raised brow. "Yes?"

Delphina yawned once more, looking at him tiredly. "You realize I'm talking about Al-"

"Goodnight wife," Mike said firmly, cutting her off mid thought.

"Goodnight husband," Delphina replied with a heavy sigh as she rolled her eyes at him.

Shutting the door behind him, Mike dragged a hand over his face. Sighing, he climbed up the stairs and entered his son's bedroom that was beside his own. Marvin was sleeping soundly with a thumb in his mouth and another hand holding a plush toy. It was hard for him to believe sometimes at how big Marvin was getting. Mike remembered like it was yesterday the day his son was born - how tiny his feet were, his little hands and how they kept a death grip on Mike's finger when his father cradled him close to his chest.

Leaning against the doorframe, he closed his eyes for a moment, remembering the moment his wife handed him his son, swaddled in blue as he perched himself at the side of her bed.

"He looks just like you," he heard Delphina speak as he stared at the infant in front of him, committing the moment to memory as his eyes scanned over every inch of his son, just like he'd done twice before with both of his daughters. Little Marvin Nathan Watson looked a lot like his immediate older sister Ara had when she'd been born, considering she carried Mike's genetics rather than Delphina's.

"He has your nose and your curls," Mike said, as his eyes green stayed fixated on his son's identical ones.

"He could have gotten the curls from your mother too," Delphina pointed out with a soft smile.

Mike's chest constricted at the thought of his mother who wouldn't get the chance to meet her grandson. "I guess...."

"We finally have a son," Delphina whispered. "Everything will be better now. You'll see."

Mike felt a shiver radiate through his body as he snapped back to the present. Quietly, he shut the bedroom door and climbed another flight of stairs to reach Ara's room. He neared her door, but stopped still when he heard the quiet voices of his daughter and Alexis. Unseen, he peered into the room and saw Alexis propped up in the bed, raking her fingers through Ara's curls that were fanned across her body as Ara lay on the bed diagonally so that her head was on Alexis's stomach.