Chapter 15 I am your father
With clenched jaws, Arthur made his way into the house, automatically causing Jimmy to take a few steps backward.
“What the hll are you doing here this late?” Jimmy asked, holding Aurora’s hand and moving her close to him.
Aurora on the other hand, still couldn’t believe her eyes. She remained speechless in terror, staring at Arthur as tears filled up her eyes.
Her heart raced in her chest as she perceived that her doom was close.
Ignoring Jimmy, he looked at Aurora and asked; “Where are my children? Give them to me and this doesn’t have to get dirty.” He replied, shooting Aurora the sternest look ever.
“Mr. Arthur… how…” She stammered, unsure what to say.
“Hey, listen. You can't just barge into someone’s house in the middle of the night and start making absurd requests. Leave right now or I’ll call the cops.” Jimmy threatened, and Arthur scoffed, letting out a smirk.
“The cops? I think it’s best to call. Let’s see who is going to be spending the rest of their lives in jail!” He answered, making Aurora flinch.
She shook her head and looked at Jimmy. “We were not calling the police, okay?” She mumbled as tears welled up her eyes and rolled out uncontrollably.
“Hey… why are you crying?? You don’t have to be scared of him. I am here with you, and I’ll protect you. I promised you that.” Jimmy answered boldly, causing Arthur to furrow his brows.
“Who is he again?” He asked, folding his arms.
“I am her boyfriend, and I’m telling you I won’t let you see her children! You can’t just come in here and start asking for them like you care! When she needed you the most, you weren’t there! You were busy chasing other women…”
“Jimmy, please.” Aurora mumbled, pulling his hand as she tried to tell him to stop.
“No, Aurora. I’m not going to let him ruin our night! I won’t let him hurt you again.” Jimmy answered, moving away from her side and approaching Arthur boldly.
“What the hell is he talking about?” Arthur answered, looking past Jimmy at Aurora. He didn’t care if they were together or not, but he needed to understand why Jimmy was saying these awful things to me.
“Of course you know what I’m talking about. Please leave.” Jimmy added, standing boldly in front of him as he pointed to the door.
At this point, Arthur began to regret he signed a contract with the anonymous sender that he wasn’t going to pursue this legally. Also, he couldn’t pursue it legally because surrogacy was illegal in Louisiana.
He had to take care of it his own way.
“Is that what you told him, woman? That I ran away when you needed me the most? Are you insane?! You were the one that run off with my kids and bridged the contract we fking had!” Arthur smacked angrily, pulling out the contract copy from his suit pocket and slamming it against Jimmy’s face.
“You should have gotten used to the fact that women are liars, young man! Next time, you should find out the trust before supporting them blindly or you’ll get yourself into trouble.”
Jimmy’s eyes widened as he read through the contract in his hand. At the bottom right was Aurora’s signature, sitting boldly.
“What is this, Aurora?? He is bluffing, right? This isn’t true!” Jimmy smacked, slamming the paper back in Arthur’s face.
“It’s true, Jimmy. I’m sorry.” Aurora mumbled as she fell to her knees, weeping profusely.
Gulping hard, Jimmy slowly turned back to look at Aurora. “What?” He asked in a calm, surprised voice.
“I ran off because I couldn’t afford to stay away from the boys. I wasn’t supposed to develop any emotional feelings towards them, but I couldn’t obey that.
“Holding them in my hand, I knew I’d forever regret it if I left them with him. I also knew I’d never get a chance to be their mother because Mr. Arthur never liked or wanted me around, so I ran.” She narrated, her head bowed to the earth as she cried.
All her body shook vigorously as she couldn’t control her tears. She knew a day like this would come, when Arthur would find her, but she never thought it would be now.
“But… why didn’t you tell me this?” Jimmy asked, still staring at her in disappointment.
“Why would she? You are just a joke in her little game and you fell for it.” Arthur answered, enjoying how he began to wreck her relationship.
‘This is just the beginning. You’re going to pay, Aurora.’
“No… that’s not true. I truly loved you. I just couldn’t bring myself to tell you.” She shook her head, raising her teary head to look at Jimmy’s disappointed face.
“Oh please… enough of these shenanigans. Love makes me sick. Where are my boys?” Arthur asked in a cold voice.
Just then, Ryan shuffled out of the room, rubbing his hands on his sleepy eyes as he moved to the living room.
The noises they made woke him up, and he wanted to know what was going on.
Getting to the living room, his little hands fell to his sides as he saw what was going on.
“Mummy?” He called, staring at his mother who knelt on the floor, weeping.
“Ryan! Why are you up?” Aurora sprang to her feet instantly, cleaning her eyes as she hurried to where he was and embraced him tightly.
Arthur's eyes widened, and his heart leaped for joy when he saw Ryan.
‘He looks just like me.’ He thought, as he couldn’t take his eyes off him.
“Mummy, why are you crying?” Ryan asked, cleaning Aurora’s teary cheeks with his little hands.
“Mummy, is not crying, okay? Go back to bed. Mummy will be with you in a minute.” She answered, forcing on a smile, even though her tears couldn’t help but keep rolling down her cheeks.
‘I cannot lose them. They are my life.’
Ryan looked up and locked gazes with Arthur, who couldn’t stop staring at him.
Arthur didn’t want to cause another drama in front of his child, so he remained silent.
“Is he a bad man, mummy? Did he make you cry?” Ryan asked, his forehead wrinkling as he let out a frown, glaring at Arthur.
Seeing his facial expression, Arthur smiled unconsciously. ‘He has it in him. Just like me.’ He thought.
“Hello, Ryan! I’m not a bad man.” Arthur replied, lowering himself to the ground so he could level with Ryan.
“You made Mummy cry!” Ryan smacked angrily, and Arthur chuckled, admiring how fierce he was.
“Please, Mr. Arthur. He isn’t ready for this.” Aurora whispered, shaking her head. She feared Arthur was going to do or say something that would cause more damage.
“I am your father.” Arthur uttered, ignoring Aurora’s pleas. He stretched his hand forward to Ryan, but Ryan moved away.
“Uncle Jimmy is our dad!” He defensively answered.
Arthur raised his brows in anger and turned to look at Jimmy, who just watched in silence.
“You introduced a stranger to them as their father?” He asked, clenching his jaws and fist in visible rage.
“I am no stranger.” Jimmy answered boldly.
“No! No! I didn’t do that. He just has the idea that Jimmy is his father because he’s been coming to the house often.”
“Aurora!” Jimmy called.
“Please, Jimmy. Don’t!” She answered in frustration, trying to remind herself how to breathe.
“Ryan, please go back to bed, okay? Keep an eye on your brothers. I’ll be right behind you.” Aurora uttered, planting a kiss on Ryan’s forehead as he turned to leave.
He stared blankly at Arthur until he was finally out of sight.
Arthur heaved a sigh and stood to his feet. “I’m spending the night here.” He asserted, removing his suit.
“What?” Jimmy asked in awe and instant disapproval.
Arthur scoffed and settled on the sofa, lying on it and folding his arms under his head like a pillow.
“I don’t care if you want to have sex. You can go and do it somewhere else, but I am going nowhere tonight. My boys leave with me tomorrow.”