Chapter 91 THREE DAYS LATER
GALLAHAN’S POV
It had been three days since my altercation with William, and I was back again in Willa’s home, hoping that enough time had passed for her anger to abate and for Gillian’s fear to disappear completely.
So here I was, standing in the middle of the living room where the damn fisticuff transpired, Willa and Gillian nowhere to be seen.
Perhaps I had come too early. After all, it was still the early hours of the morning. So they might still be sleeping upstairs.
I didn’t want to disrupt their slumber, though, not wanting to receive more of Willa’s ire.
Feeling resigned, I sighed. I found it a tad bit silly over how I, a big man whose reputation could scare anyone in this continent, had my tail tucked between my legs all because of my mate.
“Guess I’ll come back later,” I muttered to myself in defeat.
Then, out of nowhere, Calisto’s voice reverberated within the walls of the living room as he called out, “Daddy!”
His happiness and excitement were evident, and they did wonders in chasing away my worries about meeting Willa and Gillian again.
I turned towards the direction of his voice, a smile plastered on my face. “Hey, bud!”
He bounded towards me, his little legs working overtime to get to me quickly. And when he was near, he jumped into my awaiting arms, giggly and extremely high-spirited.
Behind him, Willa’s parents strolled inside in an unhurried pace, clearly not sharing Calisto's enthusiasm. And from the look on their faces, I already knew that William had prattled about what had happened between us.
Wendell was wearing a surly expression, as if he was sucking on something bitter but was trying to hide it, while Felicity had a smile on, but it looked too strained for it to be considered genuine.
“Daddy!” Calisto yelled out happily as he held my cheeks with his tiny hands. “What took you so long?”
“Daddy had something to take care of. But I’m through with it. So, I’m here now.”
“Indeed, you are,” Wendell piped in with a sneer on his face. “You sure have the thick skin to even show up after what happened, huh?”
Felicity, to her credit, tried to be cordial still.
“Wendell,” she warned softly.
She then turned her attention to me, gestured to the couch and said kindly, “Well, why don’t you take a seat while I make all of us a pot of tea to share?”
Or not.
Because why would she want to leave me with her mate who seemed inclined to break my neck?
I could fight Wendell off, sure. Kill him, even. It would be easy. But I couldn’t afford to be in another altercation and have Willa get mad at me. Again. For the hundredth time.
Fuck it all.
Thankfully, before Felicity could take a single step towards the kitchen, Willa went down the stairs with Gillian in tow.
“Mommy, look! It’s Daddy! Daddy’s here!”
Willa shot Calisto a small smile. “Yes, he’s finally here, Cal.”
Calisto beamed at her. It was so adorable that I unconsciously brought him closer to me, holding him just a tad bit tighter.
He then turned to Gillian, who slightly hid herself behind Willa’s legs, and I just pretended that her obvious fear towards me didn’t rip my soul to shreds.
But it did. It stung. Much more than the wounds William had inflicted on me.
While those gashes had healed, not even leaving a scar all thanks to Zuleika, the damage had been done.
How Gillian saw me was already ruined.
Still, I gave her the warmest smile I could, hoping it would ease her into trusting me again.
“Look, Gil!” Calisto gushed. “You were wrong about Daddy. See? You’re not so smart, after all!”
“Cal,” Willa said gently in warning at the same time I softly rebuked him, saying, “That’s not nice, Cal.”
“Well, she hadn’t been nice to me either!” Calisto defensively argued back.
“Still,” I insisted. “That’s not how you should talk to your sister.”
“Or anybody else,” Willa added.
Calisto pouted petulantly, while his eyebrows knitted together. Then his lips parted, ready to argue his case.
But before he could, Felicity stole his thunder. She suddenly spoke up, her tone tensed and laced with awkwardness. “Okay. I believe it’s best if Wendell and I return to the Manor now.”
Wendell immediately looked indignant. “No, I think-”
“Wendell,” Felicity interrupted sternly. It was clear how she intended to put her foot down on the matter. “We must leave them to address the issue with their children.”
“But-”
“There are no buts. This is something THEIR family must handle. So we will go. Now.”
Felicity then walked up to Willa and gave her a quick hug and a peck on her forehead.
“Parenthood can be quite a struggle,” she said softly to Willa with one hand caressing Willa’a cheek. “But you will be fine. You now have someone to share the weight with.”
“Okay,” Willa replied softly with a small smile. “Thanks for looking after Cal for the past several days.”
Wendell, who stood rigid with his arms crossed, was clearly miffed with the turn of events. But he softened ever so slightly as he chimed in, saying, “You’re family. Our presence in your lives is not conditional.”
Somehow, the softness of the moment made my hackles rise. It felt as if I shouldn’t be here, standing in the middle of it all.
“Hm. Your father is right,” Felicity added. “So there really is no need to thank us. We would happily have them around for as long as you or they need or desire. Anyway, we must depart. Solve this issue. It won’t do well if this problem festers.”
“We will,” Willa assured quickly.
In response, Felicity squeezed Willa’s arm in a gesture meant to comfort. Then she gave me a small nod before finally dragging an unwilling Wendell to the door.
And then it was just the four of us.
Swallowed in suffocating silence as we, sans Calisto, stood still.
I wanted to say something, but I wasn’t quite sure if I had any words that could make my family okay again. But even if I did have the right thing to say to make things right, I wasn’t exactly sure my mouth would cooperate. As it was, my mouth was dry as fuck, and my tongue oddly felt heavy, as if it refused to move at all.
Eventually, Willa took one for the team. She glanced at me with unreadable eyes before she forced a smile onto her face as she said with feigned chirpiness in her tone, “Breakfast?”