Chapter 172 172
Cherry looked at me, gesturing for me to tell her the story later. I just rolled my eyes and nodded.
"Baby Vanna, you can go to your room now. You can take a shower by yourself, right? We'll go to you later, us adults just need to talk about something," Cherry said when Vanna finished eating.
"Yes, Tita. I love you," Vanna said and kissed her aunt's cheek.
Cherry seemed to playfully pinch Vanna's cheek. "I love you too, baby girl. You're such a cute little kid."
Vanna also approached Cashiel and Clyde. Cashiel kissed her cheek and hugged her. Clyde kissed his niece on the forehead and lightly pinched her cheek. After saying goodbye to all of us, Vanna went to her room.
"So... what's your plan, you two?" Cherry asked us after Vanna had left the table.
I was the first to answer. "Well, our plan is to both take on the role of parents to Vanna. We will support each other as Vanna's parents. Tomorrow, we will also have Vanna's birth certificate and other papers fixed, and we will put Luca's name on it as Vanna's father. We will be civil with each other as Vanna's parents; we will not deny each other their rights to Vanna," I explained.
"Is that what you talked about?" Cherry asked and looked at Luca.
Luca nodded. "Yes, we've already talked about it thoroughly."
Cherry nodded in agreement. "That's good, that you're on the same page. And brother Luca, I'm thankful that you didn't try to take Vanna away like others would. Considering how wealthy you are, you could have easily done it."
Luca shook his head. "I don't have any plans to do that. Vanna would be the one to suffer, and besides, I respect Crescent as the mother of my child. I don't have the right to just take our child from her."
I was silent at Luca's words. He respects me as Vanna's mother, but I didn't respect him as the father of our child... I hope it's not too late to do that.
"That's good then... By the way, Ate, what did brother Aiden say about this?" Cashiel asked.
I was taken aback as Aiden came to mind again. I just sighed before answering. "Aiden and I broke up."
They were all stunned by what I said, even Luca. "Y-you broke up?! Why?" Cherry asked in disbelief.
"I don't want to talk about it right now, Che. We just broke up," I said and drank some water.
I had no intention of telling them the real reason why I broke up with Aiden... It wasn't that I was defending or covering for Aiden; I just didn't want my siblings to worry about my situation.
"Are you coming here again tomorrow?" I asked Luca when we were on the veranda. He was about to go home, but we stopped by here on the veranda to talk.
Luca nodded. "If it's okay, I'd like to come again tomorrow."
"Of course, it's okay. It's better if you and Vanna are always together so she can get closer to you," I said with a smile, looking at the sky.
We both fell silent again after that. I was happy that there was no awkwardness between us. I was also comfortable talking to him even though our past wasn't that great; it seemed he felt the same way.
I truly no longer had feelings for him, and I could feel that he felt the same way about me. The only thing that matters to us now is to be good parents to Vanna.
"I'm not getting ahead of myself, Crescent, but I hope I'm not the reason why you and Aiden broke up," Luca suddenly said.
It seemed that Cad hadn't told him about Aiden.
I looked at him and smiled. "Don't worry, it was our problem why we broke up. You have nothing to do with it and are not at fault."
Luca just nodded. He slightly lifted the collar of his white T-shirt and covered his mouth with it. We fell silent again.
"Luca, about what I said before, I mean, back then... I really regretted it and I'm really sorry. You are not at fault for what happened. I was the one who forced myself on you back then, and you had no obligation to me... I hope you don't blame yourself anymore because you are a good person... and what I said back then about regretting that you were Vanna's father, I regret saying that. The truth is, I'm thankful that her father is like you. You deserve to be her father. You don't deserve all the torment and sufferings that you experienced. Sorry for hiding Vanna from you for a long time. Sorry for letting you suffer alone. You don't deserve any of that... I hope you'll let me make it up to you, even just by helping you get closer to Vanna," I said seriously, looking at him.
I had wanted to tell him all of this for a long time, but I only just had the courage. I wanted him to know what was really on my mind... that he was not at fault and that he was a good father to Vanna.
Luca removed the collar of his T-shirt from his lips and touched the back of his neck. He smiled at what I said and nodded. "Thank you, Crescent. What you said made me feel so much better... but still, I'm sorry for everything that I did to you before. You don't deserve to be treated like that. You're a wonderful mother and a woman, but I treated you like an option before... I'm at fault too. For the mixed signals that I gave you, for ruining your life and forcing you to be my comfort, for all the bad things that I did to you before... I'm truly sorry for all of that, for everything that I did to you."
I smiled at what he said. I felt another heavy weight lift from my chest. I didn't know why my vision was blurring and tears were about to fall... Perhaps because I had been waiting for this to happen for a long time, for us to talk about the past properly and apologize to each other.
"Let's become better parents for Havannah. Let's help and support each other as her parents. I am very much willing to cooperate with you, Luca. Let's do our best," I said and smiled at him.
Luca smiled at me too. I was taken aback when he brought his fist close to me. I looked at it in confusion. "What's that?" I asked.
Luca chuckled. "Fist bump?"
I just smiled and gave him a fist bump. "Is this the symbol of our partnership?" I asked, laughing.