"Of course," Will responds.
At this moment, Wilbur seems to finally notice that Will is injured. I'm not sure why he didn't immediately see the heavy limp when we walked up or the split lip and black eye. "What happened to you, my boy?"
Will hesitates and reaches up to touch his lip before looking at me, unsure if he should tell his father. I nod to him, and Wilbur glances from Will to me then back to Will. "Remember how we were trying to find Dawn's father?" Wilbur nods slowly, unsure where Will is going with this. "Well...I found him."
Wilbur puts two and two together, and I see him look from Will to me with surprised and worried eyes. Will puts his arm around me possessively and gives his father an assured look. "Everything has been taken care of."
I gasp inwardly as I realise that we still have to tell my family about Oscar. I put my hand on Will's arm, look up at him with wide eyes, and whisper, "My family doesn't know."
Wilbur's eyes follow the affectionate flutter of my hand to Will's arm. He raises an eyebrow at the ring on my left hand, but doesn't say anything, allowing Will to lead him to my family's common room.
I guess Wilbur got over our family's financial background because he was entirely civil to Mum and Charlie. Will refused to tell me why we came to see my family before settling his father into a room first, but I figured it out later when I saw Wilbur and Mum talking, sat side by side, hips almost touching. I don't know how I didn't see it before, but I think they like each other. The earnestness in Wilbur's face when asking about Mum two days ago makes sense now. The light blush that arose to Mum's face when I told her where Will and I were going that morning also makes sense.
The first words out of Wilbur's mouth to Mum were an apology for leaving like he did all those years ago without a genuine reason and without any parting words. She was speechless at this, but moreso at his sheer presence. I delighted in the look of utter surprise on her face when we walked in. She got flustered and awkward for a while before settling into comfortable conversation with her newfound peer.
I nuzzle into Will's side as we watch Wilbur talk to the grandparents and rekindle his relationship with Mum. Charlie bounces up and down on a couch beside Grandma Georgina who sits with a calm, pleasant smile on her face, knowing nothing of what is going on around her.
Mum hasn't seen the ring yet, but when she does, it's going to be a scene. I just can't tell if it'll be a happy scene or an angry one. She generally likes Will and has seen that he makes me happy, so she might be joyous and excited. Then again, it has been just two weeks since meeting for the first time as adults. She might think we're moving too fast and be mad that I would promise myself over that quickly. I'm an adult perfectly capable of making decisions for myself, but I'd hate it if she stopped talking to me over something like this. If I tell her about Oscar and how Will saved us all from him, she might be more inclined to hold her tongue about the brevity of our relationship. The incident with Oscar keeps slipping my mind, seemingly wiped away by the night with Will and all worries gone down the drain with the blood.
"What happened to your eye, Will?" Charlie comes over and lifts his top hat a little so his face isn't hidden in shadow. Everyone in the room suddenly stops talking and looks at Will. The cordiality immediately disappears and is replaced by a heavy, ominous feeling. Wilbur raises an eyebrow, no doubt wondering why we haven't told my family of the matter yet. I sit up straight and take off my top hat with turquoise trim, no longer feeling jovial and kittenish.
Will clasps his hands. "Yes, ah, I wanted to talk about that. Mrs. Bucket, you might want to sit down..."
Mum had been retrieving tea from a tray in the corner, but hastily finds a seat next to Wilbur at his words. Something tells me she wouldn't have obeyed so readily if his tone hadn't been so serious. She also saw the way my hands fiddle with the turquoise tulle anxiously and decided protesting against being bossed around wouldn't be a good idea. Will stands and paces closer so everyone can see his face well and observe the careful way he holds himself which hints at further injuries beneath his clothes.
"There was an man who nearly broke into the factory last night who was asking for trouble," he starts. "That man's name was Oscar Mitchell." He studies the wrinkled faces of my grandparents, the slightly weathered face of my Mum, and the smooth, bright face of my kid brother. Charlie lights up in recognition, but manages to hold his tongue in exchange of more information. No one else seems to know the name, just as I suspected they wouldn't. I don't feel right not telling my family everything. They deserve to know exactly who showed up to take advantage yet again. Will opens his mouth to continue, but I interrupt.
"Oscar Mitchell is...the name that...it's the name that...that Dad took when he...when he left us," I stutter. I stare into my lap as my hand twists into my borrowed shirt, tugging at it with anxiety. There is a collective gasp as they realise that it was the man who was once part of our family who hurt this new part of our family. I glance up furtively after a moment to find everyone's eyes on Will who stands at the fireplace, gazing into the flames.
He takes a deep breath. "I saw him on the security cameras and went to confront him when this little one..." He turns away from the fire to look at me and gestures to me affectionately, his eyes dancing playfully. His words are of a father reprimanding a child, but his eyes are of a lover who sees an angel in my place. "This little one decided it was a good idea to follow me." I squirm uncomfortably with everyone looking at me and most likely judging my decision to go after him. Will takes note of this discomfort unhappily and starts toward me. "I asked him to leave politely, I really did. It was only when he began to harass my Dove that I attacked."
"You attacked?" Mum gasps in disbelief, overwhelmed hands shaking as they latch onto Wilbur's arm. A look of horror at all the new information crosses her face. If Will hears her, he doesn't acknowledge the remark, instead coming to stand behind me.
"You initiated the squabble?" his father asks, disapproval in his voice.
"No, he started it the moment he left twenty years ago," Will answers fiercely. He puts comforting hands on my shoulders, and I lean back into him. He takes a deep breath and forces the anger away. "Regardless, he attempted to enter the factory on the grounds that he was Charlie's father, but I refused to admit him. I encouraged Dawn to leave and dealt with the caitiff in as clean a manner as I could manage. I didn't get away unscathed, but I didn't get the worst of it, believe you me."
Mum just about has a fit at hearing her ex-husband tried to break in. It wasn't exactly an active break in, but that's the picture Will has painted. Oscar sure thought he was getting in and was active enough for me to let Will paint whatever picture he wants about the encounter. Will finally looks down and fiddles with my hair that falls loosely around my shoulders.
I notice Wilbur's arm around Mum's shoulders as she looks to us with forlorn eyes. "So he's still out there? Just waiting for the moment we step foot out that gate? We can't stay cooped up in here forever! I-"
"No, no, no, my good lady!" Will interrupts. "He most certainly is not 'still out there.' You needn't worry, I've taken care of everything."
There's an awkward silence as everyone studies Will with wary eyes while he plaits my hair loosely, completely oblivious to their suspicion. I crane my neck back to look up at Will who gazes at me with warm eyes and a slight smile. He places gentle hands on both sides of my face and bends down to kiss me softly. Almost the second our lips touch, he draws back, wincing and clutching his midriff with his left hand. I catch his right hand and turn around with sympathetic eyes.
"Are you ok?" I ask, slightly panicked. I knew he should have gone to the hospital! Something's seriously wrong! Will nods calmly in response to my question, but even then he's coughing uncomfortably. I can tell the coughs are suppressed, most likely for our parents' benefits. Because I know he doesn't want to give anyone reason to think he even came close to losing the fight with Oscar, I continue in a low voice. "Do I need to call someone?"
The coughs slow to a stop as he looks into my attentive and worried eyes. "No, my Dove. I'm quite alright, simply shaken with an ailment of the heart. 'Twas mere unpreparedness to gaze upon such a face of beauty. You really ought to warn a man before you go looking all pretty like that and tasting even better." He purses his lips as if traces of our split-second ghost kiss remain.
I blush hard and give his arm a playful slap, rising to stand with him. He gets poetic when he's feeling awkward, and I turn my eyes to the roomful fo people watching our affectionate behavior with fascination. It's one thing to say those things to me, it's another to say them in front of my family. I move to give his arm another light slap, but he catches my hand and laces out fingers together. Will leads us to a seat in front of Charlie, and I can tell he's waiting for the child to make another observation.
Not one to disappoint even unsaid entreaties, Charlie remarks on the new iridescent ring that I wear on my left hand. Will smiles somewhat smugly as Mum doubletakes and pulls my hand to her for a closer look. My grandparents all strain closer, clapping and 'aw'ing excitedly.
Wilbur nods approvingly at his son. "Is it safe to assume congratulations are in order?"
Will nods once in confirmation happily. "I was going to wait for a little while longer, but it felt right."
I smile at Will with a heart so full, I feel like it's bursting at the seams, happier than I've ever been. He pulls me into a warm embrace and kisses my head.
>< >< >< >< ><
We waited until both of us had completely healed to get married. We didn't discuss it outright, but there was a feeling if lingering mental pain that accompanied the injuries. Neither of us wanted to enter the next phase of our lives together with reminders of the people who hurt us. On our wedding day, we wanted to only think about how we'd never let anyone hurt the other ever again.
It ended up being four months of planning before the wedding. In that time, Will and I only had eleven anxiety episodes between the two of us, and we both healed to a physical one hundred percent. I think we would have gotten married the day after he proposed if we hadn't wanted to wait until we had both healed. One of the Oompa Lopmpas is a certified minister and we didn't want to go overboard anyway, so an immediate wedding was possible and we both wanted it. But we wanted to heal first more.
Mum wasn't too thrilled about the proposal at first, but she managed to hold her tongue and got more and more excited as the wedding approached.
Will worked to integrate Charlie and I into his life as a chocolatier. We worked tirelessly to build me into his room. It took longer than it should have because of Will's broken ribs and my broken arm. Instead of two people working on it, our efforts combined felt like one person. Charlie also got a lot of upgrades to his room and the two conspired over chocolate the whole time. Will finally did give us that grand tour of the factory and started teaching us about the production and creation of his candies. I was afraid Mum would feel left out because Will still seemed a bit cold to her, but she apparently doesn't mind. She has Wilbur to distract her now.
There was a small fear in the pit of my stomach that Will and I would find fault in each other during these four months and call off the wedding. The exact opposite happened though. We discovered things about each other that only made our love stronger. It seems everyday we grow closer and closer together, and tomorrow we won't just be together, we'll be one. Tomorrow is our wedding.
Sorry this chapter is so late. I hope you didn't hate this chapter, I think it's kinda boring. There'll be only one or two more chapters where I'll write little scenes about the wedding and their lives together.
Thank you so much for reading!
xoxo, Tilly