The Twin's Christmas Gift: Reuniting Mom & Dad

A Mother's Worst Fear

Julia

As soon as those words tumbled out through Ryan's lips, I felt my whole carefully concealed truth start to unravel before my eyes, and what's even more excruciatingly painful was the fact that there was nothing I could do about it.

Lucien turned to look at me, wide-eyed, and in the corner of my eye, I saw Olivia coming down the stairs. I felt my heart beating wildly in my chest; I could almost swear they could hear it.

“Is he telling the truth, Mommy?” Lucien asked, his tone small and breathless, but all I could do was glare daggers at Ryan, who was watching the drama he had single-handedly stirred up unfold.

It irked me to no end how he had the power to ruin something I thought I had complete control over without much effort.

I felt a small warm hand slide into mine, hanging idly by my side, and I looked down to see Olivia looking up at me, her eyes wide with questions.

“Is he really our daddy?” she asked, staring up at me expectantly with those big, innocent eyes, but I couldn't utter a single word in response as I felt the weight of the truth clamping down on my throat, sucking the air out of my lungs and forcing me to stay mute.

“Say something, Mommy.” Olivia shook my hand impatiently, and I exhaled a slow, shaky breath, forcing much-needed air into my lungs as I looked down at my daughter, and ever so slowly, I nodded, hoping they wouldn't bombard me with questions that I didn't have the energy in me to answer.

There was a long stretch of silence after my muted response; I could physically see the gears turning in her head as she tried to process the truth. Slowly, she raised her head and met Ryan's gaze, breaking the tense silence.

“If you're really our daddy, then where

were you all this time, and why didn't Mama tell us about you sooner?” she questioned him, looking up at him with a small frown on her button nose.

Ryan cast a brief glance at me, his gaze heavy and intense with emotion, before crouching before Olivia and taking both her small hands in his.

“You see, daddy had to leave for a little while, and mommy wasn't sure if I'd be back; that's why she didn't talk about me with you two,” he murmured, his gentle tone soothing and almost placating, but her frown only deepened.

“Why did you have to leave?” She whined, “Don't you love us?” Her voice was small as she asked that, and Ryan quickly shook his head to dispel the thought from her head quickly before it took root, but a part of me hoped it would as a punishment.

After all, if he loved them as he claimed, then he wouldn't have betrayed us—not that they knew exactly why I hated him; it'd be cruel to tell them, but I wasn't doing him a favour; the twins were still too young to understand anything.

“Of course I love you both, little one; don't ever think otherwise,” he murmured in reassurance, tucking a rogue strand of fiery red hair behind her ear as he regarded her with clear adoration. It made me grit my teeth in anger as I realised he never once thought how his actions would impact the lives of the twins even before they came into the world.

The thought reignited the anger I'd been trying so hard to stifle for the sake of peace; I had to clench my fist so hard that my nails dug into my palm. The pain was a welcomed reminder that I had to keep my anger at bay, especially seeing as Olivia and Lucien were present.

“I had to leave little one, but it doesn't matter anymore because I'm back now, and I have no intention of leaving you two ever again,” he said, his intense grey orbs flitting up to meet mine briefly when he mouthed the last part of his sentence, and I scoffed.

“Did Mommy ask you to leave?” Lucien asked out of the blue, and all eyes snapped to him, mine in alarm.

“No, she didn't,” Ryan responded without missing a beat, and I frowned, looking at him as different questions swirled around in my head.

He had every opportunity to tell the truth, which would inadvertently cause the kids to question my decision, but he didn't. Not that he was doing me a favour—no, something told me he had an ulterior motive, and I knew it was only a matter of time before it was revealed.

I took Olivia's hand in mine, detaching her hand from him as I brought her to my side. Ryan rose to his full height, his face indecipherable as they clashed against mine in a heated stare.

“That's enough,” I said in a clipped tone, watching as his gaze narrowed, that being his only reaction.

“I want you to leave,” I added, ignoring Olivia's gasp and gesturing towards the front door.

“But mommy, you can't make him leave, not when he just got here,” Olivia whined, trying hard to pull her hand out of mine to go to him, but my hold around her wrist was firm but not hard enough to hurt her.

“You can't do that, Mommy,” Lucien cried, big fat tears rolling down his chubby cheeks, and I felt my heart clench at the sight.

“Why don't you two ever listen!” I snapped, feeling my frustration rising, and Olivia burst into tears beside me. I cursed under my breath, falling to my knees in front of the twins and gently wiping away the tears streaming down both their cheeks.

“Lucien, Olivia, I need you to listen to me,” I murmured, looking between them as I waited until their sobs died down to sniffles.

“I promise I'll explain everything to you both as soon as I can,” I said, my tone dripping with conviction.

“But you'll ask Daddy to leave and never return,” Lucien argued and sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of my nose. I said nothing in denial to Lucien's claim, and he noticed, his face scrunching up in a frown as he narrowed his stormy gaze eerily identical to Ryan's at me in suspicion.

“If you make Daddy leave, we'll go with him, Mommy,” Lucien said in finality without batting an eyelash, and I stared dumbfounded at the five-year-old who was going to be six on Christmas. Sometimes it was hard to believe that Lucien was just a five-year-old, if I didn't birth him myself, I'd argue he wasn't.

He took his sister's hand, turning around, and began trudging up the stairs with her but paused midway to look back at us.

“We'll give you some privacy while we wait upstairs, Mommy,” he explained in the most innocent tone possible, but I wasn't fooled.

He turned, and they both continued up the stairs until they were out of sight. I blinked when I heard their bedroom door slam shut, pulling me out of my shock-induced state.

Slowly I turned to face my ex-husband, seething in silent rage when I found his gaze filled with what I thought was mock concern already on me.

“Don't you dare give me that pitiful stare when this is all your fault!” I snapped, gritting my teeth so hard as I glared daggers at the man I'd known for almost half my life.

He sighed like he was tired of dealing with an obstinate child, taking slow steps closer as if he were trying not to spook me, and this time I stood my ground, seemingly having enough of his bullshit for one night.

“None of this was ever my intention, Julia,” he spoke softly, his expression almost pained as he held my gaze steadily.

“And yet it happened,” I responded, my voice a breathless whisper, ”But if you feel even an ounce of remorse, then leave and never show your face here ever again.” His jaw ticked at the venom lacing my tone, and

I watched him clench his fist so hard by his side as different emotions flashed through his eyes all at once.

“I can't do that,” he muttered in response after a brief silence.

“Right, of course you can't,” I taunted. “Then don't pretend to feel remorseful!” I snapped and pinned me with a sharp gaze that almost made me want to retract my words. Almost.

“Do you understand that if I decided to fight for custody, you wouldn't stand a chance against me?” he breathed, his deep baritone dangerously low, reverberating through me, causing my skin to prickle with apprehension.

“You wouldn't dare,” I scoffed, and he grinned, but there was no trace of mirth in his darkened gaze. I realised that I'd pushed him to the wall and brought out a side of him that I'd never had to face.

“Oh, I would, darling, and you know better than anyone that I never lose,” he said with a conviction that shook me to my very core. For the first time, I was afraid of losing my children because no matter how much I hated Ryan at that moment for causing havoc in my once serene home, I knew for a fact what he was capable of.

Ryan came from a long line of lawyers; his grandfather was chief justice before he passed. He wasn't just an attorney but a damn good one at that, so I knew I stood no chance, not because I didn't have the resources to hire a team of good lawyers but because I didn't have it in me to put the twins through that ugly experience.

“You wouldn't want to drag the kids through all that, do you? You know how messy these things can get,” he added, tilting his head to the side as he held my gaze. I gritted my teeth so hard to stop myself from breaking down in tears in front of him out of helplessness; I refused to give him that satisfaction.

“What do you want?” I asked, my voice a shaky whisper thick with emotion.

“A second chance.”