AFTER NATASHA'S WHOLE confession, it definitely worked to improve their relationship. However, it was a lot more awkward than ever. Unless, it was always awkward and Avelina was only noticing after hearing everything that went down between Natasha and Vincent.
They were sitting around the dining table. Everything was black from the table to the chairs. Avelina loved the modern touch to everything. It made it look all the more fancy and elegant. The baby was sleeping soundly after being fed by her mother. She was calmly resting in a carrier beside Avelina at the dinner table. Luckily for them, she could sleep through anything.
Avelina sat beside Adrik while Natasha and Vincent sat across from them. They were so silent, the only sounds that could be heard were the forks clanking against the plate and scraping against their teeth.
"So..." Avelina interrupted the loud silence. "Adrik, you wanted us to all have dinner?"
She was searching for something to start a conversation off with.
"Yes, I have a special announcement that will wait for later," Adrik stated. Avelina gave a tight-lipped smile. She should've known he wouldn't be much help in starting a conversation.
"Natasha and I actually had a really great conversation earlier," she said, smiling at Natasha. Natasha returned the smile, but continued to eat her food.
Vincent perked up at the sound of it. "Conversation? About what?"
"Oh, God—" Natasha whispered under her breath.
"About the two of you. I'm kind of hurt you weren't the one to tell me, Vin. I didn't know you were actually together to the point y'all were going to have a baby," Avelina said. Natasha's shoulders fell. She turned so pale that it looked like she had seen a ghost.
"We weren't going to have a baby," Vincent said matter-of-factly.
It was only then that Avelina realized that she wasn't supposed to be talking about that. She flashed Natasha a very sincere, apologetic look as she stabbed her fork into her green beans. Again, silence had overcame them. If she thought it was awkward before, it was definitely awkward now.
"I'm sorry but... what do you mean a baby?" Vincent asked Avelina. Avelina didn't bother looking up. She didn't want to lie, but it wasn't even her business in the first place. She should've just kept quiet.
"A baby? I meant me and Adrik-"
"Adrik and I," Adrik corrected her.
"Adrik and I's baby," Avelina tried to cover up.
"You are lying," Adrik said. She gave him a pointed look, but it didn't make much of difference because he was too busy eating to pay any attention.
"What baby?" Vincent tried again. This time, there was absolutely nothing that Avelina could do. She just forced her mouth full of the rest of her green beans just to shut herself up. She wasn't making anything better.
Natasha sighed. She had been avoiding eye contact with him the entire time, but it seemed she finally built up enough courage to look him in the eye. "This conversation can wait..."
Vincent placed his fork down on his plate, igniting a loud 'clink.' The silence was so loud that the small, little noise he made was deafening. Everything only grew more tense as they sat there, waiting for someone to react.
"I'm not stupid, Natasha. She wouldn't say something like that unless you told her about some baby. So, what fucking baby Natasha?" he yelled. Avelina flinched back at his tone.
"Be careful about who you are speaking to," Adrik stated, leaning forward in his seat. Avelina wanted to bang her head on a table. She just started another war between Adrik and her very own brother.
"Or what? What the hell are you going to do about it? I'll take my sister and niece and walk right out of here. You'll never see them again. They're here because I allowed them to be. Don't forget that!" Vincent fought back.
Avelina stood and glared at her brother. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her eyes grew darker. "You don't allow anything," she seethed out.
"You are my brother... you're not my father. What goes on in my life is none of your business. Neither of you can make choices about what I want to do with my life, do you understand me?" she ordered.
"Oh, my God! Can everyone just please stop fighting?" Natasha exclaimed. "I was pregnant with your baby, but I lost it shortly after you left me. There! Are you happy now, Vincent?"
Vincent's eyes grew wide just before they softened as he gazed down. There was no telling what was going on in his mind, but whatever it was. it was heartbreaking. He just went from arrogant to just deeply heartbroken in the matter of seconds.
"You weren't going to tell me?" he asked her in a soft voice.
"Could you blame me?" she laughed unenthusiastically. "I don't care if this makes me a bad person, but when I miscarried, I found myself grateful. Yes, I was deeply pained--don't think for a second that I wasn't--but I was grateful that you were not the man I was going to be forced to spend the rest of my life raising an innocent child with."
Avelina felt the punch in her own gut, and Natasha's words weren't even directed at her. She could only imagine how her brother must've felt after hearing Natasha's confession. She didn't know if it was right to feel bad, or if he deserved it.
He was silent. He still hadn't bothered to lift his head up.
"And you know what the worst part of all is? You have yet to apologize to me. You threw me out! You made me out to be some villain for all this time! You threatened to kill me! And despite every fucking thing you put me, my brother, and even your own sister through, I loved you more than anything in the world, yet you treated me like absolute shit! You still do! You come up to my room, and you fuck me only to leave moments after. Just like you always do--every single time--you walk away!" she screamed.
Tears were streaming from Natasha's eyes. "I'm not letting you or anybody else make me out to be someone I'm not anymore. I know who I am, and I am a good fucking person. If you can't see that, then leave me the hell alone!" she yelled.
With that, she stood up from the table and walked away. Vincent finally lifted up his head for Avelina to catch a glimpse of a tear that had rolled down his cheek. A frown settled on her face as she watched him.
"Natasha taught me how to love to the best of my ability. When she says the word 'love,' I always notice how she looks at you. There is no hate in my sister's heart. There is no anger. I fail to comprehend emotions, but her emotions are so loud that it's difficult not to notice-- it is quite frankly very annoying," Adrik spoke up. "There is reason we have yet to kill each other. There is a reason why you have been given many chances to kill Natasha, and yet, you never do. You love her, too."
Avelina glanced at her baby to find that she was still sleeping.
"I can't love Natasha..." Vincent finally spoke up, gaining Avelina's attention.
"Why not?" she asked him.
He chuckled unenthusiastically. "There is no such thing as coming back from everything. There's no coming back from that trauma. This isn't some damn romance novel--maybe for the two of you, but not me and Natasha--"
"Natasha and I," Adrik corrected.
"It's reality. I've hurt her, and she's hurt me. No forgiveness in this world could ever make us okay. I could love her from a distance, but I can't love her like she wants me to. I mean that..." Vincent explained. He stood up from where he sat, buttoning up the last button of his suit jacket.
Avelina watched as he came up to her and planted a kiss on her forehead. He then did the same for the baby. When he got to Adrik, he settled with a curt nod. "I appreciate the dinner."
"So, you're just not going to talk to her?" Avelina asked, standing up. Adrik stood up as well to accommodate her. Vincent clenched and unclenched his jaw.
"You don't understand, Avelina," he said.
She scoffed. "She's right, you know? You are acting like a coward. Maybe you are right about things never being the same between you two, but she deserves an apology. You don't get to just walk away like she said!" Avelina expressed passionately.
"Avelina, enough!" Vincent yelled.
"Do not raise your tone--" Adrik began.
Suddenly, Avelina began to fall to the ground, clutching her stomach in her hand. Adrik quickly caught her before she could fall.
"She is hot! She is extremely hot! Oh, no!" Adrik began to freak out. He carefully placed her down on the ground. "Vincent tell Natasha to call the doctor immediately!"
"What's going on?" Vincent asked panickedly.
"Go!" he shouted.
-
Thank you so so much for reading! As I said before, this book is finally coming to an end soon. It has been a long, long journey. I want to say two years which is ridiculous. I lost not only inspiration but myself in the entire process of writing this book. I suffered a lot of loss, and I changed so much. It was hard keeping the characters the same when I wasn't even the same anymore. That's why this story is special and unique to me.
If you would like the next chapter, join my Patreon https://patreon.com/EroticMarie or click the link in my bio! I would love for you to join my Patreon fam!
Much love!