A/N - As promised, here's a quick update after the last chapter (while it is still the regular Sunday update but it still appears quick coz the earlier update was delayed :)
Hope this makes you happy and brings a smile to your face, just like it does to mine. Go ahead, dig in now!
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"Raul, why don't you go play with Nate for some time?" I told Raul so that I could talk to Norberto openly.
"Really, at this time? But we have Mr Fritz at home. You never allow me to leave when we have guest at our place," Raul was clearly surprised with my unusual request.
"It's okay. Mr Fritz and I have somethings to discuss. You can play with Nate at his place. I will come to get you soon," I replied to him.
"But I wanted to play with Mr Fritz too. Can he come to Nate's place too?" Raul pleaded with his puppy face. Any other time my heart would have melted at that look but not right now. My patience was running thin. Despite no fault of his, I would have said something harsh to him, but Norberto beat me to it.
"We can play together as much as you like, champ. But right now, your mother and I need to discuss some important things. We'll be with you soon," he said rubbing Raul's hairs off his forehead.
"You promise?"
"Yes, I do," Norberto gave him a sweet smile. As I had noticed yesterday, that smile seemed to change his face completely. At that moment, he looked like a real father to Raul. That's what he is, my brain chided me.
I knew it was the truth, but I was still surprised. I didn't remember seeing that smile of Norberto. Not that he never smiled but it was so rare that I could hardly remember him ever smiling this sweetly at me.
Was I being jealous? I could hardly tell.
Raul left for Nate's after being reassured by Norberto's promise. Once he was out of ear shot, I immediately came to the point with Norberto.
"What do you want?"
"That was quite straight."
"Answer the question."
"Of course, that's the reason I came here. But after that unpleasant start, we need to be comfortable while we discuss such important things. Won't you agree?" He taunted reminding about Tom. I decided to ignore.
Walking slowly up to the sofa seat, Norberto sat down on the single seat. Gesturing towards the opposite seat, he asked, "Would you mind?"
Not wanting to delay this further, I went to sit down opposite to him. It was a small room and even with us settled on the opposite sofa seats, our feet could touch each other if we so much as moved our legs. Being seated with him in my living room was the last thing I would have imagined if I was ever forced to imagine Norberto in my house.
That's because you were mostly on a bed with him!
The small voice smarted inside my head and if it was a person, I swear, I would have hit it hard. But before I could turn my irritation on Norberto, he surprised me with his next words.
"I want my son," he expressed with full seriousness.
"What do you mean?" I knew exactly what he meant.
"Just what you heard. It was cruel of you to keep my son away from me for all this time. Ten years I had no clue of my son's existence. Ten years you had him all by yourself. Now it's time to balance out the injustice. I want my son and I am going to take him." He explained in detail without blinking an eye. He was serious. He meant each and every word of it.
But I was damned if I let him do that to me.
"The answer is no," I replied looking equally sternly in his eyes.
"I was not asking a question."
"I don't care. Raul is my son, and nobody is taking him away from me."
"Well, nature took care of that part. He is not just your son. He is as much as my son as yours," Norberto replied acidly. That made me lose my goats. Unable to sit any longer, I jumped up to my feet and blasted at him.
"Forcing your seeds into me doesn't make him your son. He is my son and only mine. I am the one who carried him in my body for nine months and then in life for nine years. When you were busy fucking yourself nuts with countless women, I was nursing him with my blood and milk. I have my blood running through his veins, my labour in his muscle, my existence in his eyes."
"And yet he is a splitting image of me. I wonder if that's how I looked when I was ten years old. Or how he would look ten years from now. A perfect replica of his father."
"I pray not. He will be nothing like his father!"
"Your praying is not going to take you anywhere. Both of us know he is my son and I am not leaving without my son!" His face glowed with the temper running wild through his body. I could see he was upset with my denial, but couldn't he see he was twisting my heart out of my chest. I couldn't let him take my son. I would rather die.
I was raging in anger, but I also knew butting our heads out was not going to get us anywhere. He was right. He was father of my son and the fact that I had hidden this knowledge from him, did turn the things in his favour. Notwithstanding the circumstances in which I was forced to do so but surely, they would have some say. Afterall Norberto had forced his way with me. That should tilt things in my favour. Hoping that this was my ultimate weapon to shut him out, I turned back on him.
"How can you claim your ownership on Raul? You didn't even know when he was conceived. You never wanted a child; you never wanted a family. Truth is, you never bothered of the consequences of your actions. You gave me Raul by forcing your way with me. You impregnated me with a child when you were fucking me against my wishes."
"Is that what you had been telling yourself all these years? Is that what you have told him? That he was conceived while his father was forcing his mother ? Do you yourself even know when he was conceived? Was it really when you were being forced? Or was it when you were begging me to fuck you?" His words cut down the defense I had built around me and went all the way to hit me at my most vulnerable spot.
"Or have you forgotten?" He went in to twist the knife deep in my chest. "Was he conceived on the kitchen table or was he conceived on the bed? Was it under the shower when you had pushed your nails across my back or was it in front of the mirror when you had tasted yourself on my fingers?"
"Sh.. shut up," I barely managed to whisper, but he was not in the mood to stop.
"Why? Can't bear to hear the fucking reality? You keep saying I had forced myself on you but what about the times when you had rubbed your naked body on to me, begging me to take you, asking me to fill you up with my seeds? It's my fucking seeds that gave you your precious son. Pardon me for failing to know exactly which fucking moment my semen had successfully engaged with your eggs for I seem to be remembering countless sessions when both of us were fucking each other. Do you hear me? It was both of us fucking each other! Irrespective of how it started, you wanted it as much as I did, Mela. You fucking did!"
His words were too much. They hit too close home. I turned away, not able to withstand his glare. I wanted to silence him. My head was screaming with images and sounds of our time together. The very memory I was trying to avoid while he was busy painting it vividly in front of my teary eyes.
"Shut up!" I tried to stop him again, but nothing more than a hoarse whisper emerged out of my lips.
"So, you say, but all I can hear is how you would, fucking, moan under my touch, how you would beg me to go deeper?"
"I swear to God I will kill you if you don't shut up on that filth right now," I screamed, hoping he would believe in me.
"But I have just started remembering the details. Fucking Christ, Mela, you would goad me to go on and on whole fucking day and night!"
"Enough of your crap, you bastard!" Not able to take it any longer, I swirled around, charged on to hit him but I had miscalculated how close he was standing behind me. The moment I turned around, I collided into him and instead of hitting him on his face, I ended up shoving him off his cane. He staggered backwards, losing his balance and his cane.
There was hardly much space in the room, he would have fallen right on my small glass centre table. Too afraid of the fall, my hands went out to grab him without really thinking. It was all too sudden, and I only wanted to save him from breaking his head or his back on the table.
My hands snatched out to his shirt, and went around his shoulders and his back. He was too big for me but still I managed to hold off his weight and avoid the fall, only to lose my own grounds eventually and fell in the opposite direction on the couch. Along with him.
We landed on the couch with a thud. His shoulder landed right on my arm, forcing a groan from me. While my hand had been hammered under his weight, fortunately the couch avoided any serious injuries. Raising my eyes to his, I realized too late, that we were less than inch apart from each other.
I froze under him, with my arms still wrapped around him. My heart was running at the speed of a bullet train, but all I did was gape at him as he stared back at me. My ears were buzzing with the loud pumping of my heart, so much so, I was sure he could hear it too.
Despite the hatred I experienced for him just a few seconds back, I couldn't remember any of it at that moment. The only thing I could think of was the way his body was pressed against mine, making me sizzle all over. His intense gaze was burning holes in my face and as much as I wanted to look away, I didn't have it in me.
As my breathing continued to be heavily laboured, I waited for the inevitable. My lips slightly parted to pull in more air for my lungs and I flipped over my tongue on my dry lips as I failingly tried to calm my crazy senses. His eyes flicked across my face, moving from my eyes to my lips. We were less than an inch away and a slight movement would have our lips touching each other's.
He stared at them as if he could see nothing else, as if nothing else mattered. I knew he was about to kiss me and the moment that happened, I would be lost. Completely and irrecoverably lost. But for life of me, I couldn't lift a finger to stop him. Wide-eyed, I stared at his lips as he closed the minuscule distance between us.
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Dear Lovely Readers,
Are you happy or are you not?
These two are back at it again. But I must say, this time the both have reasons. Very solid reasons. Its about their son. But yes, that's where they go wrong, as always. Its their son, both of theirs and not belonging to just one of them.
But then, if they could see that straight, what would have been the fun in writing their story? Don't you agree?
So like I had mentioned earlier, for those of you who have been reading through my author's notes, I am fast approaching towards the final act of WLAHC. Don't worry, it is still some time before I upload all the chapters before the final act, but I have been thinking about what I would want to do with this story. And I think, you guys can help me. So, here's the thing.
Would you like the story the final act to be melodramatic, like how most of the story has been till now (albeit full of ups and downs)?
Or
Would you like some good old action to make the climax juicier?
Let me just add, in both the options, there'll be enough surprises and twists to keep you glued to your screens. He he he he..
So, yes, let me know which one you would prefer. I will be waiting to hear from you guys in the comments section. And plssssssssssssssssssss don't stay silent. I really really need some help here. So me your love :)
And yes, dont forget to vote for this chapter and all the earlier ones. Its important, i reapeat, its important, hence the request.
Well, till next time, signing off with lots of love,
Anna