Chapter 124 Explanation
Mia’s POV
“You kept it.” he said softly, his eyes lifting to mine with an expression I couldn’t interpret.
Despite everything that had happened, I never once thought of throwing it away. That memory belonged not just to Kyle, but also to me. Although Kyle and I are in a mess right now, we did go through all that when we were kids.
“Just because I didn’t throw it away doesn’t mean anything. Kyle.
His gaze wavered. It was strange. I thought it was my imagination. He overlapped with the little boy in my memory.
The truth was, I didn’t know myself. Just as I didn’t know why seeing him here, now, in the fading golden light of a Parisian evening, made my heart ache with a longing I thought I’d successfully buried.
His fingers closed around the pendant, the gesture almost reverential. “Do you remember when I gave this to you?”
I sighed. “In the warehouse, when we are about to part.”
“You do remember.” His voice held wonder. “Mia. I—”
“Stop.” I held up a hand to halt whatever he was about to say. “This doesn’t change anything. That experience was important to us. Both you and I. But it’s the past. The past is the past.”
“I didn’t know. I really didn’t know. If I had—”
“Kyle. If you want to apologize for not recognizing me. I want to tell you that I accept your apology. I didn’t recognize you either, did I?” I cut in.
“But I should have. And I’ll regret that failure every day for the rest of my life.” He said.
I took the pendant. “I’m tired of hearing all this, you know? Kyle, if you’re going to hold on to the past, go right ahead. But I really don’t want to hear any more of this.”
“I’m sorry.” He said.
“Stop saying you’re sorry. Kyle. Don’t you get it? You’re confusing childhood trauma with love. That’s not love. That’s an
illusion.”
He said nothing. We stood facing each other in the gathering twilight, the space between us gradually became unbearable. Kyle still held my fallen flowers in one hand.
“I should go, I am tired.” I said finally, unable to maintain the intensity of his gaze any longer.
“Let me take you back to the hotel,” he offered. “It’s getting dark, and you shouldn’t be walking alone.”
“I’m fine,” I insisted. My feet ached and my back was screaming in protest at the long day. But seeing Kyle’s almost insane desire to return to the past. I feel restless. “I’ve managed on my own this long.”
“You don’t have to, though,” he said, his voice gentle in a way I’d rarely heard from him. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you, Mia. You don’t have to do this alone. They are also my boys.”
“Yes,” I rolled my eyes. “You don’t need to emphasize that.”
The twins chose that moment to execute a particularly enthusiastic tumble. They look like they’re in Kyle’s team. T babies.
bad
“Are you alright?”
“Fine,” I assured him, taking a steadying breath.
He hesitated, then asked softly, “May I?”
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Chapter 124 Explanatory
The request was so unexpected, so unlike the Kyle I knew, that I could only stare at him in confusion.
“Feel them,” he clarified, gesturing toward my bump. “I’ve never I wasn’t there last time”
*25 BONUS
The raw vulnerability in his voice took me by surprise. This wasn’t the calculated Kyle I’d grown accustomed to This was someone else. Someone uncertain, hesitant, almost humble.
Against my better judgment, I nodded.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
With careful movements, as if approaching a skittish animal, Kyle reached out and placed his hand lightly against the side of my belly where the most recent movement had been. For a long moment, nothing happened. Then, as if on cue, one of the twins delivered a solid kick directly against his palm.
Kyle’s sharp intake of breath was audible in the quiet park. His eyes widened, a look of wonder transforming his normally controlled features.
“Was that…?”
“Twin B, I think,” I said, my voice strangely breathless. “He’s the more active one.”
“They’re really in there,” Kyle murmured, his hand still resting against my bump, warm through the fabric of my dre sons.”
I would feel more comfortable if he didn’t always emphasize this.
“Kyle,” I began, not sure what I wanted to say but knowing we couldn’t stay in this moment forever.
*Out
He seemed to sense my withdrawal and stepped back, letting his hand fall to his side. But his eyes remained fixed on my bump. as if he could somehow see through to the tiny lives growing within.
“They’re boys?” he asked quietly. “Both of them?”
I nodded.
“When did you find out?”
“A few weeks ago,” I admitted. “At my twenty–week scan.”
His expression flickered with something–hurt, perhaps, at being excluded from this milestone. “Are they healthy? Is everything developing properly?”
“Yes,” I assured him, touched despite myself by his genuine concern. “Dr. Matthews says they’re perfect. Growing exactly as they should.”
Relief visibly washed over him. “Good. That’s good.”
We stood in awkward silence. In the gathering twilight, with the scent of my scattered flowers rising from the ground and the distant sounds of Parisian evening life as our backdrop, it felt as if we existed in a bubble outside of normal time and space.
“Let me walk you back,” Kyle said finally, his tone making it less a request than a statement of intent. “Please. Mia. Do me a favour.”
I was too tired to argue, my emotional and physical reserves depleted by the long, strange day. “Alright.”
We walked in silence, Kyle matching his normally brisk pace to my slower, more careful steps. He kept a resp ul distance between us, close enough to offer assistance if needed but carefully not touching me. The tension between us did not ease or increased.
As we approached the hotel, Kyle cleared his throat, breaking the silence. “Mia, I know you don’t want to hear this, but I need to say it.”
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Chapter 124 Explanation
“You shouldn’t say it when you know I don’t want to hear it.” I braced myself.
“I know I don’t deserve a second chance,” he said carefully.
“Yeah, you really don’t deserve it.” I know this is harsh, but it’s the way I feel.
“I want to take care of our children. I want to be their father.” He pleaded.
+25 BONUS
I looked at Kyle. I hadn’t actually denied him the right to become the father. He was indeed the children’s father. Whatever had happened between us, the twins were innocent. They hadn’t asked to be born into this complicated situation.
“I’m not asking to come back into your life,” he continued when I didn’t respond, “Not in that way. But I’m asking you to consider allowing me to be a father to them.”
I stopped walking, needing to face him directly for this conversation. A thought occurred to me. I stared at Kyle. “Did Taylor pregnant with your child too?” This matter has actually been weighing on my mind. I don’t want to believe that there is even a one in ten thousand chance that Taylor miscarried because of me.
Kyle’s expression shifted to one of genuine confusion. “Taylor isn’t pregnant, Mia. At least it couldn’t be my child. Nothing happened between us at all.”
I stared at him, momentarily speechless. I want to know if he is telling the truth. “But at the hospital… she was bleeding. She said it was your baby.”
“She lied.” His voice was flat, matter–of–fact.
The revelation have not surprised me–Taylor had built her entire relationship with my father on lies, had lied about the pendant, had lied about me pushing her down the stairs. Of course she’d lie about a pregnancy. But I have to admit, I was relieved. I don’t want to hurt anyone’s child, including Taylor’s.
“Why would she…” I began, then shook my head. “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. And the father stuff, I need time,” I said finally. “To think about all of this.”
Chapter 125 Indecision
+25 BONUS
Chapter 125 Indecision
