🔪 BABYSITTING THE LITTLE MOBSTER🔪
🍧From nanny, to mummy… 🍧
📖📖 Chapter Twenty Six. 2️⃣6️⃣
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🍷THE KNITTED SWADDLE🍷
GENRE: Dark romance & Thriller
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Setting: New York City 21st century
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*
Lord Dom went to Aria’s room and knocked at the door but she didn’t repond.
After he taught her the courtesy he knocking before entering others room, and he’s consistent about knocking before entering her room too.
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He peck in and saw her organizing somethings in hurry and he closed the door discreetly wondering what she was hiding.
She respond to the knock later and he went in smiling brightly.
“What were you busy with? I thought I was going to stand out there forever,” he whined.
“Nothing, it’s a secret,”
“Oh… so you’re now keeping secrets from me,”
“Daddy, I already had my bath and brushed my teeth, now I’m hungry,”
“Breakfast is ready, let’s go and eat,” he said, and chuckled at her attempt to change the conversation.
*
They both joined Celia at the dinning and she pulled out a seat, and Lord Dom looked at her.
“Aria said it was fine. I have been standing while setting the table so I thought it did be fine if I have breakfast too. I still have medicines to take and I—“ Celia was saying, but Lord Dom interjected.
“Maintain the table manners,” he blurted, and her face brightened.
They all ate in silence for a moment until Celia broke the silence.
“I actually want to eat without talking, but in certain tables people engage in important conversations while eating,” she said, and they both glanced at her.
“What do you have to say?” Lord Dom muttered.
“Ok, since I’ve the permission to go ahead… I have really wanted to ask this. I don’t care about how long the vacation last or how long I’ll stay, to be frank, I actually like it her. But… lately I have been thinking. What are we really doing here? I mean, we are all here in Maldives, at Malè the highlight to be precise but we haven’t done anything since we got here. Searching for a blessing showhow, I concluded that when I was admitted was the only time we left the island since we arrived here…” she was saying, but Aria cut in.
“Do you want to return to the hospital?” Aria blurted.
“No, not that. Never! There is no way that’s the case,”
“What are you really getting at?” Lord Dom snapped.
“The purpose of this vacation,”
“I clearly told you it was a break which explains why I’m tolerating your nuisance right now,” he said, and she flinched in fear before composing herself.
“Well… since you’ll condole it anyways, then you should continue doing that. Yes, this is a break, but do you know the highlight of a break?”
“Are you questioning me now?”
“Bingo!” she shouted, and swung her fingers, “Yes, it’s a question, but as expected you don’t know. The highlight of a break is the moment you enjoyed. Explorations! There are a lot of places to visit here in Maldives. Relax, we don’t need a tour guard. I already do a lot of research, including their location—“ she was saying, but he cut in.
“That’s enough! You can clear the table after Aria,” with that, he stood up to leave.
“I knew it… he just wants us to be stuck in here and go nowhere,” Celia whined.
“Celia, do you want to go out that baldy?” Aria asked, and she nodded.
“I’ve never went on a vacation before, not even for a day. All my life I’m always working trying to make ends meet, and here I’m still working but I thought we could go out for a bit and release some stress, we should explore, it would be fun,”
“Yes,”
“What about you? Have you never gone on a vacation before?”
“Vacation, no. But break, yes. Daddy and I always go on few trips together but with the other men. It was never a break. We spend a few days out and return to New York,”
“Why don’t he want us to go out here? Is it because of me?” she grizzled, wondering if he felt uncomfortable with her being around after he made her heart fluttered with his promise.
“I don’t know. But the truth is, my Daddy can be powerful, howbeit, he has a lot of enemies. We’re out numbered so he doesn’t want us to get hurt,”
“But no one knows we’re here,”
“I also want to explore this city, so I’ll ask him to take us out,”
“Wow! You’re the best!” Celia said, and gave her a thumb up.
**
**
Lord Dom stared blankly at the sea trying to gather his thoughts together. He has been worried about whoever the attacker could be but nothing came to his mind, and neither Mr. Cason nor Jake report anything back.
He was engrossed in his thoughts when he felt a small touch. He forced a smile, and looked at Aria.
“Daddy, do you know the highlight of a break?”
“You aren’t here to convince me to go out, are you?”
“Bingo!”
“You want to convince me while you’re keeping secrets from me, that’s not fair,”
“Do you want to strike a deal?”
“Wow. Now we have to strike a deal. Fine, here is the deal. You’ll tell me the little secret, and I might grant that request,”
“Might? You aren’t ready for the deal!” she snapped, with folded arms and he chuckled.
“Fine, let’s do it,”
“Daddy, you won’t get angry, right?”
“Have I ever get angry at you?” he asked back, and she batted her lashes, “Oh… I must’ve got angry at you unknowingly but I promise not to henceforth. You know I always keep my promises,” he said, and she nodded.
*
They went to her room and she brought out a safe from her wardrobe. She input the codes and he chuckled wondering what she was hiding there.
She brought out a white swaddle and he was puzzled for a moment. — it was the same swaddle she was wrapped in when she was born.
“How… how… come you’ve that?” he shuddered, and collected it.
Anne(his wife) spent several months knitting the swaddle, and after it was completed, she used another color to knit Aria’s name on it but she couldn’t even complete the name design.
“Answer me!” be yelled.
“Daddy, you’re getting angry unknowingly,” she whimpered, and he sighed in heavily trying to control his emotions.
“Yeah… it’s unknowingly, I was just wondering how you got it,” he said, and bent low to her height, gently patting her hair.
“I won’t tell you because you will get angry,”
“I promise not to,”
“Not at me, but at…”
“Jake?” he said, and she bowed her head.
He clenched his fists trying to control himself from overreacting.
“Why did he give this to you?”
“Because… just because… Daddy, you’ll get angry at him,”
“I won’t if you answer me now,”
“Because I asked him about my mother,”
“Why’d you ask him? You should’ve asked me,”
“You never told me anything. You only said ‘she is probably in a beautiful place’,”
“Aria…”
“I don’t know why I’m hiding this, but I think it should be hidden. The knitting of my name is incomplete, so I was trying to complete it,” she said, and he looked at the swaddle.
“Who could’ve thought Jake kept this,” he thought, remembering when he trashed it.
*
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FLASHBACK to o when Aria was a year old***
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Little Aria crawl around the compound until Mr. Cason carried her and walked over to Dominic.
The little girl stretched her hands towards her father but he looked away.
“Why did you brought her here?” he asked, and Mr. Cason handed her over to her nanny.
“Daaataaa…” the kid slurred staring at her father.
“She is intelligent Wes expected. I tried to teach her to pronounce few words like ‘Daddy’ and ‘Grandpa’, so she can address you and the Boss,”
“I didn’t ask. Answer what I asked,”
“We’re visiting Boss at the hospital, she should be there too, he is her grandfather,”
“Father never accepted Anne, I don’t think he will want to see her either,”
“But you accepted her, so why can’t you accept your child?” he muttered, and Dominic glared at him, “She’s an innocent little girl,” hei asked.
“She’s not coming with us. Jossy, you can leave,” Dominic said, and Jossy bowed slightly before leaving.
Aria smiled broadly waving her little hands at them and Mr. Cason waved back.
“Such an adorable little girl,” Mr. Cason smiled.
“Let’s go,”
“Little Boss, you really need to lessen your—“
“If you want her to come so badly then take here! Spare me the lecture!” Dominic lashed, and Mr. Cason smiled throwing his fist in the air.
*
After leaving the hospital, thier car broke down on the way and Mr. Cason insisted that they take the van to the closest beach to fetch a comfortable ride and Dominic reluctantly gave in.
Mr. Cason summoned Jossy and engaged her in irrelevant conversation while Aria played by the seaside next to her father who was staring at the water.
Water suddenly surged out of the sea and almost covered her. Dominic didn’t realize what was going on until he heard her faint cry.
“Daaataaa…” she cried, and he looked at her as she floats on the water.
**
“I know. Aria and I have nothing to fear because you will always protect us,” he remembered his wife said, and he smiled brightly touching her baby bump.
“Hi little bunny, Little Aria, Daddy can’t wait to hold you and protect you from all the harms in the world,” he said, and smiled at his wife who gently patted his hair.
**
His eyes widened as he realized what he was doing. He might have failed to protect his wife, but he also made a promise to his daughter as well and he just failed.
“Aria!” he shouted, and ran after her until he caught her.
She was already in tears, and she wrapped her little arms around him in fear.
“Daaataaa…” she cried.
Staring directly at her, he could see his wife in her. She was just everything like her mother. Her beautiful eyes, small eyes, and rounded face. He didn’t even notice all those things, he neglected her the whole time occupying his thoughts with regret.
“Aria, I’m sorry, Daddy is sorry,” he cried, and he felt someone touch his shoulder.
“You made a right choice, Little Boss,”Mr. Cason said.
Jossy collected Aria from him, and he looked at Mr. Cason.
“She would’ve drown!” he yelled.
“You would’ve let her drown, but I protected her by wearing that vest on her. She can float on the water while it last, and you made a right choice by protecting you. You already chose, Little Boss, you chose to avenge her mother and protect her so you should do just that. The Little Lady is an innocent child, and it’s your duty as her parent to make her see all the beauty in the world and protect her from all the harms. Make her grow strong as the immaculate Little Lady of the South,”
*
He watched Aria sleep after they return home and he kissed her forehead. He wanted to leave but she squeezed his thumb with her fingers smiling from her sleep. She was just like her mother.
He left her room later and return to his. He sighted the swaddle that his wife knitted all through the journey of her pregnancy which was the same swaddle she was knitting before the fire broke out.
If he could turn out time, he would wish his wife was never pregnant and could have wished she was able to protect herself instead of saving thier daughter with that swaddle. The thought of blaming his daughter crossed his mind again, so he tossed the swaddle in the trash can and go out with it.
“Little Boss, allow me throw out the trash,” Jake who was by his door said and collected the trash can from him.
“Don’t trash it, I want you to burn it into ashes,” he said, and returned to his room with determination to stop blaming his daughter for her existence, and protect her even though he failed his wife.
*
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FLASHBACK ENDS***
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He stared at his daughter who looked weary, and he put the swaddle away and forced a smile.
“Come here,” he muttered, and dragged her in his embrace, “The swaddle is yours, you should keep it. You don’t have to hide it from me. I thought I trashed it out, I never knew Jake kept it. But that doesn’t mean I’m angry at him, because he did nothing wrong,” he assured her, and she wrapped her hands around him.
The door slugged open later and they disengaged to look at Celia who was by the door.
“Oh… sorry. I hope I didn’t interrupt anything,” she said.
“Celia, Daddy has agreed to take us out. We’re going out!”
“Really? Wow! I’m so excited,” Aria said, and Celia giggled.
Lord Dom scoffed looking at the both of them, wondering how little things could cheer them up.
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TO BE CONTINUED…
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