Contract Marriage starring Love and Revenge
Chapter 36. On a cold winter’s night.

Chapter 36: 36. On a cold winter’s night.

It turns out that the twins’ birthday gifts for me are their own personal toys. Irene gave me a Barbie doll, then Sherlock gave me a superman figurine, after which Irene gave me a Cinderella doll and Sherlock seeing this, went and brought his Spiderman figurine. The next thing I knew, it was a war of who could give me the most toys.

In the end, after giving me almost everything they had, they reminded me not to forget to return them in the morning.

Children, they are so innocent and simple minded.

Emily gave me the written script of her comic as a birthday gift, and as a fan this is something I really appreciate!!! Everyone in the fanbase has been asking if the comic didn’t have a novel they could go read because the suspense was killing all of us!

And I just got it as a birthday present! Ecstatic, that’s how I felt, ecstatic! Now I get to read it ahead of schedule! It’s so fun to know that amongst every other fan, I am the only one who will know the ending before it ends.

Fredrick got me a set of beautiful, blue butterfly hair clips. I must say, the more I interact with him, the more I see Jonah King from Queen Em’s Lovers at forty. He is just like the man described in the picture. Big and dependable... obviously.

And really kind. I still can’t believe he partook in the birthday party for a person he hadn’t even met yet. Now, at least I know Duke wasn’t lying when he said he wasn’t marrying me because he needed to be married to receive some kind of inheritance. I had just read too many novels, that’s all.

Alan claims driving me all the way here was his gift to me, not like I expected to receive anything from him. And Duke, well, he did put all this together for me, so when he didn’t have any gift for me, I didn’t feel bad at all. Besides, he already got me that nice pair of glasses.

His existence alone in my life has been a gift. One directly from God. One I really appreciate.

...

"Bring him here, I’ll go lay him next to Renny." Duke leans down to pick up Shelly who’s fast asleep on my body. Renny already hit the pillow about an hour earlier.

I nod as I unwrap my arms from his body and Duke picks him up.

"Well," Frederick slowly rises up from the couch, and reflexively, I rise to my feet too, "I think I should also call it a night." He says with a smile, Duke walks away with Shelly in his arms. "It was nice meeting you, Champagne."

"No, it_it was nicer for me." I stutter out the rubbish I can manage and he gives me that charming smile again.

"We didn’t have enough time to talk properly today because of the party. What do you say, we chat over a cup of hot chocolate and fried bread?" He asks and I nod vigorously.

"T_that will be_ I mean I will really like that." I say and he nods.

"It’s a date then. Good night, hon, and I’ll see you on Christmas." Are the last words he says before walking away.

I sink back down into the couch, rest my head on the head of the couch and just blankly stare at the ceiling.

I_ I like this family.

...

Emily already turned in early, Fredrick has followed. The twins are knocked out and Alan should be too.

That leaves me as the only person awake. Just me... And Duke. Just the two of us.

"Hey." He says as he returns from tucking in Shelly with a blanket in his hands

"Hey." For some reason, I’m suddenly feeling shy trying to hide a smile tugging at my lips as I stare up at him.

"Sleepy yet?"

"No_ not really."

"Thought so... Here, fold your legs up." He instructs and I lift my legs from the floor and wrap them underneath me as he places a blanket over the lower half of my body.

"Thank you." I arrange the blanket around my body while still trying to hold back that smile.

"Want a cup of something?" He asks.

"As long as it’s not alcohol, yeah." Bad things happen when I drink.

"Give me a minute." He clicks his fingers before walking away.

...

"You said a minute." I remind him as he returns almost six minutes later with a cup of something in one hand and a glass of whiskey on the other.

"Pagne, I am no Jesus. It takes more than one minute to make hot chocolate." He says as he hands me my cup and I mouth a thank you, instantly taking it to my lips only to pause and stare at him who is settling into the space beside me.

"You didn’t add any of that in here did you?" I ask with a scrutinizing gaze and he laughs.

"Almost did. But I didn’t." Good thing he confessed. I sniff the contents of my cup to make sure and it only causes him to laugh further.

"Right now, with your hair roughly tied up like that and your nose sniffing your cup you look like a puppy Poodle." He says with a chuckle and I just eye him wickedly. I stop sniffing the contents of my cup and take a small sip after blowing on it.

"Ah, it’s nice." I mutter to myself as I blow into the cup and sip some more.

For long minutes, silence loomed between us. Only the sound of fire crackling in the hearth in front of us, the cold air whistling outside, sometimes shaking the window slides and causing some parts of the roof to creak. The sound of the two of us sipping our separate drinks, and the sound of our breathing.

Then I suddenly remember a question I wanted to ask. I don’t know if it’s the right thing to ask. It might be a painful thing, so maybe I should just not ask. But I think I should at least know.

"Duke,"

"Hmm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Hmm." He nods.

I bite down on my lips for some seconds before opening my mouth again, "T_ the twins’ mother. I_ I mean their birth mother, what—"

"Ah, I didn’t tell you that part." He says as though he had truly forgotten about it. At least he doesn’t look pained about it.

"It was just a fling. A one night thing that then led to pregnancy. We both agreed that we were going to have the baby, but no marriage because what happened between us was nothing deep. Just a mistake on a drunk night at a friend’s party."

"Ah, I see."

"Yeah. But then..." He paused, "She didn’t survive childbirth."

"Oh, oh I’m so sorry." I didn’t expect that.

"Yeah. It’s okay. To be honest, we weren’t that close, we didn’t love each other. But then, maybe because she was carrying my children, we had built a kind of friendship, I had learnt to care for her. It was a shame she died."

"I’m sorry." I say again and he smiles at me.

Again, silence washes over the two of us.

Dear God tell me, what does one talk about on a cold winter’s night?