Chapter 76 BEARING HEAVY NEWS
GALLAHAN’S POV
I accepted Willa’s offer.
After all, beggars couldn’t be choosers.
I also saw the rationale behind the condition Willa had firmly set. I didn’t know the twins that well enough yet, and I didn’t have much experience with children in general.
The decision, however, was soon met with watery eyes and quivering bottom lips.
Both Gillian and Calisto, who had already fully recovered, didn’t take the news well.
“But you said you were going to stay,” Gillian argued, gripping her spoon so tightly that her hand trembled. “You promised.”
“You did,” Calisto chimed in from where he sat on the chair next to Gillian, his bowls of fruits and yogurt stood forgotten on the dining table. “We heard everything, Daddy. We were sleeping, but we heard you, and you promised. We know you did.”
“Yes, yes,” I said placatingly. “But-”
“No. You promised,” Gillian insisted, sounding completely indignant. “Y-you… You promised.”
Then the first tear rolled down, followed by another and another. Until a loud wail erupted from her.
Calisto took this as a cue to start crying too, and pitiful sobs began to wrack his small frame.
I immediately stood up from where I sat across Gillian on the dining table and scooped her up in one arm. Then I did the same to Calisto, completely unbothered by their weights.
Their little arms clung tightly around my neck and shoulders, nearly choking me in the process.
“Ssssh…” I soothed frantically while rocking them back and forth without much rhythm. “It’s okay. Please listen to Daddy first. Hm? It’s okay. I’ll still come back and visit you as frequently as I can.”
But my assurances didn’t reach them anymore, and their cries just progressively grew louder and louder, piercing my ears and making my head ache.
Quick and panicky footsteps padded heavily on the floor, nearly melting me into a puddle in sheer relief.
Willa, who had stayed upstairs to fix and clean her bed after our long nesting, came into view and entered the kitchen with an accusatory glare etched on her face.
“Uhm… Help?”
I continued to sway to and fro on my spot, clinging to hope it would eventually soothe the twins into quieting down.
Willa stormed towards us, her hands akimbo. “What did you do, Gallahan?!”
I couldn’t even be offended at her annoyed and reproachful tone, because I was too flustered at the twins’ outburst, which I had no clue how to handle.
Perhaps the six months agreement was really for the best.
“Hey,” Willa murmured tenderly. “What’s the matter, love? Why are my cute little pups crying? Hm?”
She rubbed the twins’ backs, intending to mollify them. But it had an adverse effect instead.
The twins cried louder as they clung to me a whole lot tighter, nearly asphyxiating me in the process.
Oh, fucking hell.
Willa looked utterly stung at the rejection of her comfort. Then she turned her gaze at me, steely and absolutely accusatory.
“What in the world did you do, Gallahan?”
“Nothing,” I denied defensively.
But the way she crossed her arms and intensely stared at me with such an icily impassive expression on her face made me wither a bit.
“Fine, fine. I told them about our agreement,” I admitted sheepishly.
A scoff of disbelief, heavily pointing the fact that she thought I was an idiot, loudly left her mouth. “And you thought it was wise to talk about it without me in the room? Seriously, Han! How did you even broach the topic?”
But before I could answer and defend my honor, Willa suddenly dismissed the question, saying, “Nevermind. Let’s talk about that later.”
Something about her strict tone had me knowing for certain that I would be getting an earful of scolding later, which I kind of deserved.
“Come,” she beckoned with a sigh. “Let’s go to their room. I’ll play their favorite music.”
Obligingly, I followed.
The twins were still wailing into my ears, their quivering voices repeating ‘you promised’ in between hiccups, sobs, and sniffles. And each one was a punch to the heart.
So I couldn’t help but whisper, “I’m sorry, sweethearts.”
Then, as Willa worked on the turntable, I remained awkwardly standing in the middle of the room, hoping that the music would play soon.
It did after a few seconds had trickled by, the first few notes of the piano harshly clashing against the din of the twins’ cries.
But as if magic, both Calisto and Gillian were eventually lulled to silence, leaving them with just the occasional sniffles.
“Savior,” I mouthed at Willa, who remained standing by the turntable.
She dismissed me with an exaggerated roll of her eyes, before leaving me alone with the twins again, likely to finish her undone task in her room.
Luckily for me, that was the only hiccup that happened throughout the day, and Willa somehow managed to properly explain our situation to the twins without any more emotional outbursts.
“I’m pooped,” I declared as I plopped down heavily on the couch after a long won battle with the twins, who were so against bedtime. “I used to think I know quite a lot already, but having them bombard me with all these questions made me realize just how little I actually know.”
Willa snorted, handing me a glass of brandy on the rock. “Children just have the natural knack in humbling adults.”
“Looking forward to getting more humbled then,” I replied in jest. Then I shifted my tone, putting in a heap of candidness as I said, “It’s been a fun day. Minus that little hitch during breakfast, of course. It’s tiring, but it’s fun. I could do this forever, I think.”
Willa, who had claimed the armchair for herself, lifted a brow. “You think?”
“Yeah,” I affirmed, making sure to pour every ounce of sincerity I could into my voice.
“I hope you know fatherhood isn’t just about playing with them and answering their never-ending questions, right?”
“Do you take me for an idiot?”
She shrugged. But there was a teasing smile playing at the ends of her lips, which she tried to hide behind the rim of her own glass of brandy.
Comfortable quiet then descended upon us as we nursed our own drinks.
It wasn’t until I emptied my drink that she spoke again.
“Care for another glass?” she asked, lifting her own glass that no longer held a drop of brandy.
“I would love to,” I said earnestly. “But I need to go.”
“Ah,” she nodded in understanding. “Just leave the glass on the table then. I’ll take care of it when you leave.”
I looked down on my empty glass, twirling it here and there and making the ice clink and clank every now and then.
I didn’t want to leave yet. It just felt wrong.
Not even my first kill felt this wrong.
But there was an important matter I needed to personally tend to. One that had been in the back of my mind since Zuleika informed me about it through her spiritual familiar.
That fucking arrangement with the Drummonds.
I could feel my frustration with Dad flaring as I thought more about it. Worse, my inner wolf had also been agitated by the news.
It was so bad that if Willa and her inner wolf learned about it, the progress I had made in winning her over would all end up in vain.
But it was better to personally admit it to her now than have the news come from someone else later on.
So I said, “Do you remember when Zee’s swan visited?”
Willa blinked and slightly tilted her head to her right, seemingly bewildered by my sudden question. “Yeah? Why?”
“Do you remember how she mentioned an arrangement with the Drummonds?”
At this, Willa’s brows furrowed. “Yes. But again, why? Why are you asking me this?”
“I just thought you ought to know about this. With our bond being complete and with me taking my role as the father of the twins.”
Willa’s casual comportment disappeared and was quickly replaced by a demeanor that was more douce and dispassionate. “Okay. Go on then.”
“The arrangement with the Drummond is a betrothal arrangement.” I paused, taking in the subtle shift of her expression: how her eyes went blank, and how her lips pressed tightly. Carefully, I then added, “Willa, my father is pushing me to be sworn and bonded with Elodie Drummond.”