Adeline's Pov
I woke up sweating and baffled as I didn't recognize where I was. I felt something encircling my neck and restricting my breathing.
Without wasting any minute I grabbed the soft duvet around my body and shoved it to the floor. My hands found there way to my belly as I clutched the t-shirt I was wearing.
Breathing heavily I kept my eyes glued to the duvet covers I had just thrown. I couldn't understand why it would try to choke me.
As my glaring continued, the duvet moved trying to finish off what it started and I sucked in a harsh breath unable to comprehend how this could be possible.
I moved back towards the headboard and tried to figure out its movement when suddenly a foot with slippers on, came into my view.
I realized it was the door who moved the duvet when the abandoned foot entered my room. I was about to scream until I looked up at the panicked blue eyes identical to mine. Julian.
He was always calm and collected but right now all his movements were uncertain. Why does he look worried?
I heard several footsteps coming towards my door and a confusion sets in. Within next five seconds, all of my brothers except Cyrus were in my room.
Each of them with their hands behind their back, scanning my face and the surrounding as if something is about to happen and they're here to prevent it.
"What happened?" Rhyett asks Julian as he was the first one in my room.
“I don't know. I heard her scream so I came here but there was no one and she was just... staring at her blanket." Julian replied with his voice sounding strained.
Why is he lying? I didn't scream.
"Why did you scream, Adeline?" Ewan asked with gentleness that I haven't heard from him before.
"I didn't. I just woke up." I looked at him like he was crazy.
"Yes, you did." Altas sounded pissed off. "We all heard you scream that's why we came here."
I was sure all of them won't be pranking me at this hour of the night. And with Rhyett here, I knew he wouldn't disturb me without any reason so I believed them.
I usually don't scream with the nightmares but tonight must've been really overwhelming with the whole miscarriage scare.
My eyes widen at the realization and I look down at my lap in embarrassment. My breathing had settled now but the panic of the unfortunate situation was still there.
Just when I was about to open my mouth to utter some foolish excuse, my stomach twists and a nasty bile comes up my throat.
I didn't even have enough time to slip on my shoes and had to rush to the bathroom barefoot. As he did in the restaurant, Rhyett followed me and stayed by my side holding up my hair until I had emptied everything out.
Once I cleaned up and gained some sense of my surroundings, I was relieved that no one else followed me. It was already embarrassing as is.
I hesitated looking at Rhyett, already feeling bad that I'm being such a burden on him.
My pregnancy doesn't give me an excuse to make his life difficult.
"I had a nightmare." I mumbled.
I knew he would ask. Rather than telling him that in front of everyone outside, this seemed to be a better choice.
"About?" There wasn't an ounce of emotion in his voice and I wondered if he's worried or pissed off?
"Spiders?" My answer was closer to a question. I had a hard time lying but with age I was slowly getting better at it.
Rhyett quietly looked at me for a few moments and slowly nodded, looking unconvinced. We moved outside to our awaiting brothers and all of their curious gaze fell on us.
"What happened?" It was Ewan.
For some reason he was really interested in my crying last night and now my screaming accompanied by a long session of throwing up was obviously all the more suspicious.
"Nothing you guys should worry about. She just had a bad dream."Rhyett perfectly watered down the situation and all of them looked convinced.
I turned to him with big proud eyes for how amazing he was at bluntly lying to our family. I don't know why I was so impressed by that but I was.
His gaze met mine and he gestured for me to slide into the bed. I didn't say a word and laid down under the covers as Rhyett tested the button of my side lamp as if this majestic mansion would house any broken items.
"Can any of you stay with me tonight?" I blurt out the moment everyone turned towards the door.
The all halted and stared at me like I had just committed a crime. Red rushed up my cheeks and I blinked trying not to make it any more awkward for myself.
I should probably just take the request back.
Just as I thought Rhyett had opened his mouth to make me realize how childish I was behaving, Adam cut him off. "I can."
I sighed from relief that I didn't awfully humiliate myself. But as I lifted my gaze back up, I saw everyone eyeing Adam like he was some weirdo.
"What?" He questioned sounding annoyed. "She's scared, maybe she'll feel better if I was with her." He shrugged.
My heart warmed that he considered staying for me and not because our father had told him to do so —as he always did whenever I needed something.
It may be Lucius' way of getting to connect us and make us behave more like siblings. But constantly forcing my brothers to do stuff for me didn't feel like the right approach. They already don't like me much!
"Thank you. That'll be great." I smiled at him.
Rhyett stayed in the room for a moment too long —almost as if unsure to take his leave— before following everyone out.
Adam went out too and I really thought he played a prank on me until I saw him taking something —which I couldn't see due to the dim lights in the corridor— out of his waistband and handing it to Julian before returning.
Was that a gun? Did all of them run to my room with guns because I screamed? Was that what they were hiding behind their backs?
"Do you want the lights on?" Adam asked closing the door and setting up the AC to a lower temperature.
"Off." I answered politely. I was more than grateful that he was doing this for me.
Adam slipped under the cover and laid down next to me with about an arm's length of distance.
"Do you guys not cuddle?" I asked after minutes of useless twisting and turning to bring back the already gone sleep.
"Us? No. We all sleep in our own rooms." He said it like I was dumb to think that.
"I didn't mean now. Like when you were younger?.... Or my age?" I hinted but he still wasn't getting it.
"Until we were around eleven, Altas and I couldn't sleep when we watched some horror movie. So Dad or Cyrus had to cuddle with us."
"What about Rhyett?" He seemed nice today, he must've been even more gentle and caring with our brothers.
"He doesn't like that shi- stuff." He corrected. "Dad was very lenient when it came to us, especially me and Altas, since we are- we were the youngest. So naturally, Rhyett had to be our strict parent. And if he cuddled with us, it would've destroyed his image." He chuckled.
"What about Ewan?" I was curious and didn't hold back on the questions.
"Ewan was and still is the biggest bully. He does anything of piss us off. Luckily for him, his boyfriend has the same love for pranks and unethical rituals. When we were young, scaring us and making us believe that dad would send us off to boarding was his favorite hobby." He laughed like he was remembering all of it again.
"And Julian?" I turned to him propping myself up on one arm.
Adam tenses on the question before he met my gaze. His eyes were wary now and I regretted bringing up a topic that I didn't even know wasn't discussed.
"Scary movies were his favorite. He was never scared or tried to scare us, instead he was..." He laid on his back again, breaking our eye contact. "Altas and I were toddlers when mom left or died as we were told," He laughed bitterly.
I didn't dare utter a word and waited for him to continue. "But Julian was four, he took mom's absence the hardest. He used to cry everyday, wouldn't even eat anything. Dad was the only one who could handle his temper."
I was stunned that he was sharing something that felt like a secret among them. Maybe he trusted me or he was just being careless about such a difficult part of his brother's life.
"Soon things became as good as they could get but Julian always had better bond with dad then any of us. He preferred to talk to him about everything. Whenever he would address us, it would be out of necessity or he'd say something sarcastic to annoy us." The corner of his lips tilt up.
I've noticed Julian doesn't talk a lot but I always considered it to be his way of stopping himself from saying even more absurd things than he already does.
"You might not believe me but if he says something... don't take it to heart, it's just in his nature. He doesn't mean to hurt you."
For some reason I believed him. Blame it on the delicious mac n cheese but I had started liking Julian. Lucius' defensive comments about his son also added to my emerging tolerance of him.
"His therapist says it's his response to the trauma of losing a parent. Even if he didn't quite understand it that young but he felt it and held upon it." He exhaled harshly like this conversation was straining him.
I still didn't understand why he'd share so much with me when I didn't feel worthy of it. I hadn't formed —or even tried to form— any sort of connection with anyone in our family and here my brother was talking to me like I was a part of them.
"He never had any friends. He used to sit with us and didn't bother talking to anyone. Apart from classic literature, his training took the rest of his time." I don't know what training but sounds like something Mafia men would force their kids into. "And he liked it that way."
"We were all hopeful that he was getting better until..." I came here. "Dad told us what he and mo- Mary had done."
It was as if he then realized that he isn't supposed to address the women who gave birth to him with such an endearment.
"So he's mad at Lucius?" I asked quietly though I already knew the answer.
He nodded and turned to me again. "Now he doesn't talk to dad either."
"I'm sorry." I didn't know what else I was supposed to say.
Why do I always opt to apologize whenever the situation isn't in my control and I'm confused?
Adam smiled. Something so surreal and honest. "It's not your fault. They might have separated because of you but you didn't have any say in it."
"Thank you." He didn't know how much his words meant for me.
Though I knew I wasn't the one to blame, a small part of me always stressed me out with the constant nudging of the thought that how perfect their family would've been if I was never born.
I didn't mean to but I was really off at the timing and Adam saw the yawn I tried to stifle.
"I take that as you're sleepy now?" He drawled.
"Kinda..." I bit my lip feeling horrible that I was suddenly feeling sleep crushing on me while my brother wanted my company. When will we get a chance to talk like this again?
"You wanted to um... cuddle?" He seemed like he didn't know if he was overstepping a boundary even though I was the one to initiate.
"If that's ok with you..."
Instead of replying, he opened his arms and I happily climbed in. I laid one arm on his torso and brought the other to his chest.
His arms loosely wrapped around my back and waist and soon I got more comfortable by dropping one leg along with all my weight on the poor guy.
Adam lightly brushed my hair away and hummed something. I don't know when sleep took over me but it must've been no more than two minutes.
Even in my sleep, I was careful to not put pressure on my stomach and did turn the other way after some time, keeping Adam’s arm around me.
———
When I woke up, Adam was gone. I turned to the other side and grabbed my phone to check the time, only for my eyes to bulge out.
It was fifteen minutes past the breakfast time. I was late. I usually wake up half an hour earlier or some maid comes to wake me up. But today, neither happened.
I swung my legs off the bed only to stop mid air and rest my foot down like a good human being. I really have to stop being so careless.
I pad my way towards the bathroom and brush my teeth in supersonic speed before splattering my face with water, not bothering to use any soap.
I need to get downstairs. My food must be getting cold.
I descended the tiring-long staircase as fast and cautiously as I could. Distant chatter could be heard from the dinning room as I neared it and like always, everyone fell silent when I entered.
They always took some time to return to their conversation. Meanwhile as if on habit, Lucius asked me a question or two, followed by some creative comment from one of my three annoying brothers.
Today however, was different.
Firstly, there's never been this many people here for breakfast. It's always Lucius, Rhyett, Cyrus and occasionally Ewan which is why I felt rather comfortable having breakfast here then dinner —as all of our presence was necessary for it so the last three joined us too.
Secondly, instead of eyeing or ignoring me entirely, Ewan was looking at me with expressions that I was unable to put a name to.
Thirdly, Cyrus was absent. He must've left for London last night because he didn't even come to my room when I screamed.
Lastly, which was an absolute shock to witness, Rhyett wasn't in his usual formal suit. Though he was dressed casual yesterday when he took me to the clinic but that was late night so it had made sense.
But why right now? Isn't he going to work today?
"I'm sorry, I'm late." I said taking my usual seat.
"How're you feeling now?" Lucius asked taking a bite of his pancakes and color drained from my face.
It could be a possibility that Rhyett told him despite promising me he won't. I didn't want to doubt his word but I had major trust issues —since I found out I don't even know my own mother who I always looked up to.
"I'm fine."
I was unsure of how to answer it so he'd reveal what exactly he knows. But I'm not good at manipulating people.
"Rhyett told us to let you sleep, you ate late last night." Lucius offered as an explanation to why no one got me for breakfast.
"But we're sorry, tigress. We should've known that you'd want more food." Altas grinned at me.
I don't think Altas' love for pointing out my eating habits will go away anytime soon. I kinda have to make peace with the fact that some people are simply irritating to the core.
I didn't bother replying but Rhyett did. "Last time I checked, you aren't the one paying for it."
"It was just a joke." He muttered before picking up some sliced melon and munching on it.
I knew everyone will leave soon for either work or school so I decided to just take some cereal until then. Once they're gone I can have the waffles and pancakes all to myself.
"Is that what you're having?" Rhyett questioned the moment I set the bowl with milk in front of me.
"Yes, I'm not that hungry." I lied and picked up the jar of cereal before someone grabbed my wrist.
I looked up and Rhyett was standing there with his usual calm composure. I immediately looked across from me where he was settled a split second ago. How can he be here so fast?
Rhyett released my wrist. "Pancakes or waffles?" I couldn't refuse having either so I opted for the truth.
"Both?" I was embarrassed but I didn't care. As long as I was feeding my baby, I was happy.
He nodded, not a hint of judgement on his face. Even if he was judging me for being greedy or lying, I wouldn't know, his expressions were always unreadable.
He took the bowl, putting it aside before assembling a plate with two pancakes and some homemade blueberry jam. And another with two waffles, vanilla sauce and strawberries.
He placed both in front of me before taking the seat next to me —formally Cyrus' seat— rather than the one opposite me. He had also brought his own plate here and resumed eating.
After a few bites I realized the waffles could use a little more personality. I half stood and tried to grab the Nutella bottle which proved to be slightly difficult as it was out of my reach.
"Sit down!" A voice that sounded close to a growl echoed near me and I immediately slumped on my seat. I hadn't heard Rhyett speak so aggressively before.
"If you need anything, ask the person closest to it. Don't bend over the table." I blushed hard because I knew what he meant by not bending over the table but no one else did.
Lucius and the rest of my brothers were looking at Rhyett weirdly. As far as I know, he isn't the one who loses his temper easily. And ever since I had come here, none of his displeasure had ever been directed towards me.
Him not keeping his calm must be something to be cautious of.
"Oh, yeah. She might snap in half." Julian muttered unamused. "By the way..." He took a sip of his apple juice as Ewan handed me the Nutella. "She desperately needs to exercise. She has the worst stamina I've ever seen." Does he not realize that I am still sitting here? "Can't even climb up the stairs without taking breaks. I thought she would faint."
"Still you didn't bother standing next to me in case I did." I glared at him and from my peripheral view I saw Adam stifling a laugh.
Julian wanted to reply back but Rhyett spoke before him. "I think you should change your room. You can pick one downstairs."
It was an order. One that I understood was for my own benefit. I should be taking rest and climbing the stairs twice —for breakfast and dinner— was proving to be a horribly challenging task.
"Good idea. Take out the last bit of workout from her routine." Julian rolled his eyes as if he actually cared if I was rotting my body with lack of movement.
Lucius ignored him and turned to Rhyett. "I don't think that's necessary. And it's better if all of us sleep on the same floor in case of... emergencies."
"I'll take the room next to hers." Rhyett offered as a solution.
Lucius was calm but there was a frown present on his forehead that bothered me. "Alright."
I was glad that nobody asked me about my nightmare. I was sure Rhyett must've told them some story as he was quite natural at lying.
Ewan hadn't spoken to me which wasn't unusual but today it felt intentional as he kept stealing glances my way. He must be wondering why I was crying and where Rhyett took me last night but I was thankful that he didn't bring it up in front of everyone.
I was halfway through my food when Lucius stood up to leave. Rhyett stayed seated though they always left together. He wasn't even dressed today so he must be taking the day off.
Maybe to get his beauty sleep that he couldn't complete because of me?
Lucius crossed past my chair and without thinking I lunged for my father's wrist as if he'd run away if I'm not fast enough.
He stopped and looked at my hand holding him in place then back up to my face. His eyebrow raised in question and I inhaled bracing myself for what I have to do.
“Can I talk to you?” I gulped. “Alone?”