Cain held Ophelia on his arm as he walks around the school building, he was in a rush because not only he was late to his first period but Ophelia's Babysitter got sick last minute and everyone was busy so he had to bring her to work. Ramona was busy doing people's taxes which was a part-time job she had so basically made double the money. She is seven months pregnant and he told her that she can work from her home but she rather move around instead of sitting down all the time. "Ophelia, you sit and to be really good for Papa okay?" Cain looks into her eyes and Ophelia nodded with a small smile. She was one now almost two and she's really responsive, really sweet but also pretty mean one year old.
"There's gonna be a lot of big kids, so don't you get upset." Cain tells her and they walk into the large lecture hall, his classroom. Cain ended up becoming a professor at UTD for English Literature. He rushes in and he sees his assistant, Daniel who was teaching them. The Asian boy looks at Cain with wide eyes because not only he looked to be very tired but he also had a baby on his arm. "Sorry, for being late and interrupting as you can see.. I had to bring my kid so um continue with the lesson because I think little Ophelia made a poopy." Cain remarked making the class laugh because right when he said poopy, she smiled guilty. Cain sits at his desk and Daniel went on to teach and he Cain quickly changed her diaper, he sits her down on his lap and he rakes his hair back.
Cain catches onto the lesson which was pretty much the same as the last time and so he gets up, he decided to take over. "Okay, continuation from what Daniel was saying.. Culture makes a big impact in literature. A lot of authors incorporate that. They're adding beliefs, customs, values, and their daily activities into their writing. For instance.. Great poet Maya Angelou, the popular Still I Rise poem talks about how..." In the corner of his eye he sees Ophelia reaching for some pens and pencils on his desk, he casually walks his way over to her. "Being a black woman in society, talking about the prejudices and injustice that has occurred to her. The poem is meant to empower women just like her and it could to others as well but it focuses just mainly black women." Cain says as he struggled to get the pencil out of Ophelia's grip but she had a mighty tough one, he eventually yanked out of her and her scoops her up into his arms.
"Another example..." Cain sighed as he watches Ophelia chew on his jacket sleeve, she was still teasing and Cain looks at his class. "Another example is Pavillion of Women, displaying the roles of women and men especially in the 40s and self-discipline especially a woman leaving her husband because in many cultures, it's not good to get a divorce or leave the other spouse no matter how terrible they are to you." Cain explained and someone raises their hand, he nodded towards them. "How old is she?" The girl questioned him and Cain didn't know what she was talking about but then he forgot about Opelia slobbering all over his jacket. "She's one." He answered and a couple of aws come from the crowd and Cain grinned, he caresses her hair and she continued gnawing on his sleeve.
"I can hold her until the class is over, I don't mind." Daniel says and Cain gives him a look of warning. "Are you sure man?" Cain questioned and Daniel nodded, Cain gives Ophelia to Daniel. She stared at him and it is like she was slowly leaning forward, Daniel's eyes flickered to Cain. "Mr. Papillon, w-what is she doing?" Daniel questioned and Cain cleans his jacket sleeve. "She is gonna kiss you because she probably thinks you're cute, I suggest you let her because she will cry if you don't." Cain tells him and Daniel looked like he was about to freak out but Ophelia kisses his cheek and she smiles. Daniel relaxes and he lets out an exhale because babies were scary, so unpredictable. "It looked like she was about to bite me, does she bites?" Daniel questioned.
"Yes, she does-alright class open your textbooks to read an excerpt from Pavillion of Women." Cain says and Daniel whined making the class laugh.
His classes ended and it was lunchtime, Ophelia sat on his desk and he was feeding her bits and bits of his food that yes, Ramona Papillon cooked because she wasn't much of a good cook at all but she practiced on her free time and got voluntarily better. "Do you think Annette is funny?" Cain questioned and Ophelia thought about it. "No." She answered and Cain smirked as he gives her more of his rice, she chews slowly. "Do you think your Mom is the better parent?" Cain questioned and Ophelia stopped chewing. "No." She answered and Cain chuckles because he didn't know why he thought it was amusing. "Is Chip the better looking brother?" Cain questioned and Ophelia leans in for more and he gives her more. "No." Ophelia answered with her mouth full and Cain laughs because she said no for every answer, people could ask her if she's hungry and she will say no even though she is.
"Is Daddy ugly?" Cain questioned.
"Yes." Ophelia says and she starts laughing, Cain's mouth parted and he slowly shook his head. "You are more and more like your mother as the days go by but that's okay because the older you get the more you look like me so that means Annette and Louis can stop talking shit because you're gorgeous. Even if you didn't look like me you would still be beautiful. Just like your mother said... do you know what I'm saying?" He pestered and Ophelia rubs her hair as she sighed because she was tired of him asking all these questions when she just wanted to eat. "No." Ophelia answered but more out of frustration making Cain chuckle because he was annoying the crap out of her.
Cain gives her more and he watches her eat, she holds out arms and he picks her up. He sits her in his lap and she leans back into his chest, she continued to eat but she rather be in his lap because there's not a time where she wasn't. Cain started to read over papers and Ophelia sat with him quietly as she chewed on her fingers, drooling like crazy that he had to wipe her mouth every five minutes.
His classroom door opens and Ramona comes rushing in, her hair tied back and she wore a sundress because it was scorching hot even though it was supposed to be spring but it felt like summer. "Okay, I'm here." Ramona rushed and her baby bump was pretty evident in her dress and it kinda made him mad at himself because he didn't see what she was wearing early this morning which meant they would have to call in. "Well... look at you." Cain smirked and he gets up, he licks his lips as he leans forward and he kisses her as his free hand groped her bottom, she rolled her eyes as she shoved his hand. "Not right now.. Cain." Ramona chimed and Cain huffed as he shits back down. Ramona picks up Ophelia and she smiles. "How was your day with Daddy?" Ramona questioned and Ophelia smiles as she stares at her Mom. "Was it fun?" Ramona questioned and Ophelia nodded as she hugs Ramona, Ramona kisses her cheek and Ophelia began to talk but it was mostly just gibberish.
"Is that so? I'm glad you had fun." Ramona grinned and Cain stares at them both, Ramona stares at her because his eyes were watery and Ramona tilts her head. "What is wrong?"Ramona asked Cain, he sighs as he wiped the corner of his eyes. "This is exactly how I... pictured us.. You know.. With each other and we have a kid or kids. Don't you ever stop and just look around?" Cain questioned and Ramona nodded as she blinked rapidly because she was getting emotional herself. "All the time." Ramona sniffled and Cain wipes her face, he smiles as caresses her hair and he kisses her cheek. "We got what we wanted, Ramona." Cain tells her and Ramona nodded as she looks at Ophelia, the little girl was on her way to taking a nap.
"What do you want now?" Ramona questioned him.
"More children." Cain answered.
"Are you gonna have them?" Ramona sassed.
"Well.. it's not possible but if I could-"
"Exactly, you'll get what I can take and this is one is probably the last one." Ramona says motioning to her stomach, Cain rubs her stomach as he chuckles because that was a complete lie because she wanted more than two children. "Lies." Cain chuckled and Ramona pushes his shoulder because she couldn't take him but of course, she loved him so much. "I love you." Ramona smiles and Cain opened his mouth but Ophelia beats him to it. "I love you." Ophelia says it was kinda muffled but she knows what they are saying. "I love you and.. I love you." Cain says kissing Ramona then Ophelia, they both smiled and they had just about the same smile.
"Alright, tell Daddy, we will see him later. Oh, Chip, Jack and Dahlia are coming for dinner." Ramona says and she kisses Cain. Cain kisses Ophelia and Ramona starts walking and Ophelia waves as they walked off.
____
Dahlia carried Ophelia as they walked in the backyard, Dahlia was flourishing out of her toddler stage into her kid stage but the little girl is this kid genius and is so smart but of course, she would be her mother was a genius as well but overall Dahlia was Chip through and through. "Opie and I got to pet Mrs. Fraiser's dog, he's so cute. Daddy, can we get a dog?" Dahlia questioned Chip and he shook his head. "No, I think Agnes is good for you" Chip says and Dahlia lets out a huff, she puts Ophelia down and she stumbled around the backyard table to her Dad who was sitting, reading a book. "Agnes isn't even our dog." Dahlia replied and Dahlia looks at Chip's partner who became her other Dad. Jack's eyes went wide because if he even tried to oppose Chip then it would turn into a long debate so Jack clears his throat. " Dahlia, if your Dad says no then it's a... no." Jack tells her and Dahlia smirked, she was six and she just knew how to get the smoke coming out of their heads, always using her clever mind.
Dahlia bites the inside of her cheek and she looks at them in her eyes they saw determination and Chip knew she was gonna rip them to shreds. "I read a book about relationships and I read a part of the book called communication... the one significant other and he/she but in this case he... they need to do what is called compromise. Am I wrong?" Dahlia questioned them and Ramona stood at the table, watching the two men stare at Dahlia who was waiting for their response. "No." Chip answered and Dahlia nodded because she knew was right. "Well, you didn't even try to talk about it because by Dad's hesitation to say no it was obvious that he wants a dog as well but since you Daddy don't want one.. He wants to please you which is cute but that's just a win and lose situation when it should be a win and win. Meaning Daddy... Dad is not happy and that's not good and then an unhappy child isn't any better. Do you want an unhappy significant other and child?" Dahlia questioned and Ramona laughs as she picks up the plates, the two men looked at each other because it was like she read them but in a well mannered way.
"You two got yourselfs a lawyer, get her dog or I'm gonna have to because she obviously won." Cain says looking up from his book and Chip shakes his head as he motions for Dahlia to come to him, she comes to him with a big smile on her face. Chip knew she was much smarter than him, he loved it so much. Chip kisses her head and she rubs his clean shaven face, Jack looks at Chip and he gives him a pout. Chip shakes his head as he smiles a little. "Fine, I'm not taking care of it and we're going to the shelter, we're not buying from a breeder." Chip tells them both and Dahlia squeals as she hugs Chip then she hugs Jack. Chip looks at Ramona and she smirks as she sits down next to Cain.
"Your favorite strawberry blonde is here!" Annette exclaims coming into the bathroom and everyone exclaimed Annette's name, the kids run to her and Cain groaned because it seemed like he has seen her every single day. "Ughhhh!" Cain groaned and Annette laughs, she knew her presence always bothered him and she didn't give a damn. Made her want to come over even more. Annette comes over and she leans in to hug him, he backs away. "Ew, what are you doing?" Cain questioned and Annette laughs as she tried to lean again but he backs up. "Annette!" Cain exclaimed and everyone was laughing so hard at the siblings because they were always the ones who bickered. After five minutes of Annette chasing him she finally caught him and she hugs him.
Cain grumbled as she hugged him so tightly from the side, he patted her arm and she rubbed his back. "How you holdin'?" Annette questioned and Cain looks down at her. "You already know, you see me every single day." Cain replied making everyone laugh, Annette eyes him and he sighed. "I'm doing fucking amazing, Annette, how are you doing? Good? That's great." Cain smiled and Annette scoffed as she pulls away from him. "I didn't even answer." Annette griped and Cain rubs his suit sleeves, he sits back down. "I did for you, your welcome." Cain says and Ramona rubs her stomach as she looked between the two because Annette was being nice now but sooner or later she will—
"What's wrong? You act you haven't got laid in seven months." Annette says as she sits next to Bruce while Christopher was playing in the sandbox with Ophelia and Annette looks at Ramona's stomach, Dahlia tilts her head and she looks at Chip, Dahlia's mouth opened and Chip covers her mouth before she could say anything, Jack covered her ears. "Remember there's a child who knows everything so let's change the topic." Chip says and the two males uncovered Dahlia who was puzzled but she decided to mosey on to the sandbox.
"We do it all the time but of course you all know that." Cain smirked and Ramona throws her hands up as she went back to cleaning up. "I bet you throw your back out or get a charlie horse." Annette laughed and Chip lets out a stifled laugh but he covers his mouth and Cain smacked his lips as he looks at Ramona to back him up.
Ramona sighed and she chuckled. "He hasn't changed at all."
"So it's boring?" Chip questioned and the adults all gasped as they looked at Ramona, Cain looks at Ramona because he wanted an answer as well.
Ramona was still trying to wrap her brain around this situation but she honestly didn't care because it's not like no one knew. "No, not at all. I mean he's still the passionate, ravenous man and he's quite selfless but also can be quite selfish as well so it will never be boring." Ramona answered and that's exactly what Cain wanted to hear. Annette looks at Chip and Jack. "How about you two?" Annette questioned and Jack's face goes pink and Cain closes his eyes as he covers his ears. "Someone pat my shoulder when he's done." Cain says and everyone laughs because to this dad, Cain couldn't phantom the thought that his baby brother.. His everything fornicates.
"We... do things, sometimes they're kinda intense and Jack has a low pain tolerance." Chip answered and Ramona covers her mouth as she looks over at Cain but his eyes closed and his ears were covered. Annette slyly smiles and she looks between the two men. "Alright, see this is how to make a get together more interesting." Annette says and Ramona pats Cain's arm, he opened his eyes and he uncovers his ears. Ramona sits in his lap and she crosses her arms as she gives a side-eye to Annette. "What about you and Bruce?" Ramona questioned and Bruce was quiet for the majority of this time, he wasn't as always talkative as Annette. "Annette is pretty dominant and I find that extremely hot. I'm hardly ever in control because.. I don't want to be." Bruce says looking over at Annette and Cain pretends to pass out in his chair.
Ramona giggles as she pats Cain's thigh because he played way too much and he is such a drama queen.
Chip peers at Ramona's stomach and it was quite swollen, he was happy that they were having another kid because it wasn't possible for Jack and him to have one plus they didn't fit the requirements to adopt one. "Anyways... what are you gonna name the little one?" Chip questioned and Ramona looks at Cain, he smiles and rests his hand on Ramona's hands. "Loletha after... our Grandma Lola but of course, for short we're gonna call her Lola." Cain beamed and everyone cooed because it was such a cute name. "Cute but there's no way in hell I'm having another kid, it was like giving birth to a bowling ball." Annette says as she touches her lower abdomen and Ramona sighs as she covers her face. "Please don't remind me."
"Who wants to make a bet?" Annette questioned.
"I'm in!" Chip exclaimed and they wait for Annette's bet, Cain rolled his eyes because he knew it had something to do with them. "Let's guess how many children they will have... it doesn't have to be an exact guess but whoever is closest. Let's say twenty years from today we will determine how many kids they will have by then, each person has to put in two numbers. Each couple has to cough up two hundred to the winning couple." Annette declared and Ramona tsked them because they were always up to no good.
Ramona goes to get a pen and paper and they all write their number down. "On this exact, twenty tears from now.. We open that jar and by the number of children by then will determine who wins." Annette says and Ramona gathers the numbers, this was the craziest bet ever but it was all fun in games. "I swear to god Ramona, you look at the numbers and you have the same amount of children that Chip and Jack says.. I'm going to hunt you down and kill you." Annette threatened and Ramona chuckles and Cain looks at the numbers. "Are you fucking kidding me? Who said twelve?" Cain questioned looking at the couples and they didn't answer.
Ramona rubs Cain's hair as she calms down because twelve were just too many and they weren't Cheaper by the Dozen.
An hour later, the adults and children gathered inside the house. They all sat in the living room enjoying their family time and Cain held all the kids as they laid all over him, J-Baby was asleep on Cain's arm. Not wanting to budge or move an inch because he didn't want to wake anyone up. "Do you think that.. We all be together like this for the rest of our lives?" Chip questioned and everyone looks at him. Ramona frowns and she rubs his hair. "Do you think that we won't?" Ramona questioned and Chip shrugged. "We all come from broken homes and messed up pasts... don't you think it will all fall back on us and we end up not being as close as we are now?" Chip questioned and Cain wanted to raise up and hug Chip. "Of course we are, that's what makes us close because we did come from broken homes and messed up pasts... as kids we dreamed of something like this and we got it. We've got to hold onto each other. I love all of you so so much and I would do anything for you.. Even you Annette even though you are annoying, mean and you make me sick but I still love you." Cain says making everyone giggle, Annette smiled and she stares at Cain.
Annette strokes Christopher's hair as he laid next to Ophelia. "I know even though.. You get on my last nerves, you look like a serial killer sometimes and you are far out.. Funny." She says and Cain chuckles as he held out his hand, she puts her hand with his as she squeezes it gently.
Chip looks around and he began to teary-eyed, he wipes his face and laughs as sniffles. "Sorry, I just... when I was in Saigon, I never thought I would see myself here with you guys. I didn't think I was ever gonna grow up. It's just amazing how time goes by and they're changing, getting better. You guys know I'm not so religious but I prayed to God for many things and he hasn't given me most of them but this.. All of you here with me, together... It made me believe again because this is the one blessing, one prayer I was granted." Chip tells him and Ramona hugs Chip as she kisses his cheek, she smiles at him as she looks at everyone.
"Till death do us part." Ramona says.
"Till death do us part." Everyone confirmed and they all genuinely meant it.
The End.
Epilogue is coming soon,
Thank you so much for reading ❣️