Killer's POV:
'Another day in the Boss's castle' I thought more than tired.
Taking care of a child was really exhausting, Crescent's energy seemed endless and when he was finally getting tired it was already quite late. I had planned to prepare dinner since the Boss had been locked in his office all day, but when I went to the dining room the table was already ready and dinner was served.
Throughout the course of dinner, none of us dared to speak, the only sound was the clinking of the spoons touching the plate and Crescent looking at his father and me with a confused look when he saw how we avoided exchanging glances.
It was difficult to see each other face to face remembering that embarrassing moment where I slipped and the Boss had to catch me.
I thought we would spend the rest of the night without speaking to each other, but the moment I got up from my seat to head to my room, the Boss stopped me and took me to one of the hallways to talk to him alone.
~Flashback~
'I've eaten enough...' I thought as I got up from my seat and took my plate to the kitchen with the intention of returning to my room.
"Killer?" The Boss spoke from the entrance to the kitchen, taking me by surprise for a moment "Do you have a minute?" He asked trying to look directly at me.
"Yeah...?" I answered somewhat doubtfully, following him to one of the many hallways of the castle. When we got a little further away, the Boss turned to me and looked at me to start talking.
"I need you to do something for me" he finally spoke, with some hesitation in his tone.
When I heard that phrase, many things crossed my mind:
'Does he need me to get rid of someone? Maybe my presence is no longer needed in the castle? Has he been bothered by what happened this morning?' I asked myself upset, without showing any emotion on my face.
"I am at your service Boss" I responded, closing my eyes and bowing on one knee.
The response to my action by the Boss was a sigh, leaving me bewildered. Had I made some mistake?
"My request has nothing to do with work... it's about Crescent" Upon hearing that I raised my head and looked at him confused "I'll be busy so I was wondering if you could accompany him tonight. Crescent still hasn't gotten used to his new surroundings and if something happens like last night I would like you to be there to keep him company..." he finished saying.
'That's right... the only reason I'm still in the castle is because Crescent developed an attachment to me' I remembered calming my mind.
"That wouldn't be a problem Boss" I responded standing up.
"You can just call m-" he stopped in his speech "..." and continued without saying anything.
"Yeah?" I spoke for him to continue.
"Forget it, it was just a sudden selfish thought" he apologized, shaking his head "You can go to the dining room, Crescent must be waiting" he finished speaking, giving me a slight smile. These days it was no longer unusual to see him smile from time to time, but this smile did not seem completely genuine to me...
I stood still for a few seconds looking at him, waiting for him to say something else but the Boss didn't say anything... so, I bowed and then turned around and went back to the dining room where I would meet Crecent.
Upon arrival it was just as Nightmare had said, Crescent was sitting obediently waiting. Seeing how accustomed he seemed to be to the situation, I assumed that waiting after finishing dinner must be a nightly occurrence for him.
"Crescent" I called him. The little boy looked at me and stood up immediately, running towards me and hugging my legs. "Today your uncle Killer will be in charge of telling you a bedtime story" I spoke, stroking his head.
"Uncle Killer?" the little boy asked, raising his head in confusion.
"It's better if you call me that from now on" I said by way of explanation.
'This is the best way to start drawing a line between us, if I don't start now, it could become difficult in the future' I thought analytically.
"Mom is Mom and Uncle is Uncle, Mom can't be Uncle and Uncle can't be Mom" Crescent replied "Why would Mom be Uncle if that's not possible?" He asked without understanding the meaning of my words.
'I should have known it wouldn't be so easy' I thought, sighing.
"Listen carefully," I said, placing myself at his height "I can't be Mom, but I can be Uncle. If you think about it, Mom and Dad love each other while Uncle and Dad respect each other" I finished saying, proud of my explanation. It may not be how it is in all cases, but this way Crescent would understand the answer easily and stop calling me Mom when he saw the difference, right?
"I understand!" Crescent exclaimed.
'I knew he would understa-'
"Mommy loves Dad!" He responded with a smile that covered his entire face.
"..." I was left speechless.
There was a moment of silence, I didn't know how he had come to that conclusion but there was only one action I could take:
"What story would you like me to read for you tonight?"
Yep, the best course of action was to change the subject, forget this conversation happened, and use a better plan next time.
"I want an action one!" Crescent responded enthusiastically.
"Is that so? Then... let's go there!" I answered, taking him under the arms and picking him up to begin being guided to his room.
~End of Flashback~
'It's good that he fell asleep faster than last time...' I wandered in my thoughts, caressing little Crescent's sleeping face.
For a moment I stared at the stuffed rabbit that Crescent was hugging with so much affection. This was the second time I had seen it, but today I found out by pure chance about its background.
At first I thought that the reason for his shape was because Crescent liked rabbits and that's why I asked him directly, but to my surprise the answer was that his Father told him that it was his Mother's favorite animal and therefore That's why he gave him that stuffed animal when he turned 2 years old. According to what he had said at the beginning, he did not have any feeling of like or dislike for the animal, but over time he became curious and began to be fond of rabbits.
Armed with this information, I told him that I liked them too and that I took care of one, ending the conversation with the promise that one day I would introduce him to my bunny Vinny.
'I'll have to figure out how to bring Vinny in when Crescent lets me leave his side' I thought.
I decided to take advantage of the moment of silence to check my phone, noticing how I had several missed calls and several unread messages from 'The bad gays' group.
Taking a quick look I could understand that the group was talking about how the meetings had been suspended for a while due to the amount of paperwork that Nightmare had pending for the weeks he had taken on vacation before officially presenting Crescent as his son.
The missed calls turned out to be from Dust so I left Crescent's room and teleported to the castle courtyard to call him back.
"So you're finally showing signs of life" Dust spoke from the other end of the phone with a sigh.
"Sorry I was..." I looked towards the castle "A little busy" I finished saying.
"Are you still in the castle at this hour? Is the Boss exploiting you with overtime work?" Dust asked, sounding angry.
"No, it's nothing like that" I assured "Crescent didn't let me leave and I ended up playing with him, without noticing the passage of time" I responded with a small laugh as I remembered the hours we spent together.
"That little demon?" He asked more as a statement "Will you stay with him tonight too?"
"Yes, I decided to stay for a while longer" I replied, an idea coming to mind "Could you come over tomorrow and bring Vinny? I miss my little furball and I found out that Crescent likes bunnies so I could kill two birds with one stone" I continued talking excitedly.
"I have nothing to do since the meetings are suspended for a while so I can pick her up and take the opportunity to spend some time together so you can update me on everything that has happened" Dust answered me, with a somewhat serious tone in the end.
"Okay, we'll see each other tomorrow in that case, rest well..." I responded noticing how Dust was yawning, apparently I called him when he was about to sleep.
"Same. Don't go to sleep too late" he said and then hung up.
Finishing the call I returned to Crescent's room and lifted the sheets to lie down next to him, to which the little boy responded by coming towards me and snuggling into my chest.
I couldn't help but smile at this, wondering if he was by chance dreaming about being snuggled up to an oversized pillow or if he thought I was his Father.
______________________________________
So far today's chapter hoping you liked it!
What did you think of today's chapter?
Finally we return to the current timeline, for the moment I don't plan to change perspectives so much and I have decided to focus on finishing the book this year.
Do not hesitate to comment on your doubts or gaps that you see in the story, after all, I would not want to have to write several chapters explaining events from past chapters when the book has already concluded.
As always, I want to remind you that this book will have 2 endings and 2 epilogues, one good and one bad. The good ending will be the official one and the first to come out. If you want to stop reading the book when this first ending comes out, that is your right, and if you are sensitive to sad endings, I don't highly recommend reading the second ending...
Thank you for reading, voting and commenting in this book.
I want to remind you that English is not my first language and I use the translator and what i know about the language to make this version of my original book that is on my profile in Spanish, if you have been interested in the book and know how to read Spanish feel free to check it out.
Even though this is a translated version, I read each of your comments and take them into account. Remember, language is not a barrier, if you have any questions or concerns you can write to me privately and I will respond as quickly as I can.
With nothing more to say
Bye~
1800 words.