Chapter 126: One big messy family.
Chalice.
"Chalice, we’ll need you to stop sending out invitations to family and friends for now because the wedding has to be put on hold... again." Zevran said to me coldly, his eyes devoid of any emotion.
Goddess, I knew that he doesn’t like me as much as his other two brothers. I always knew that he had some sort of... I don’t even know if it is dislike... for me; But seeing him now, talking to me like he had not just ruined my day, made me extremely angry.
And sad. And irritated.
For the first few seconds, after hearing those words, I felt nothing but rage. Red intense rage.
My eyes burned with tears that I refused to let fall as I glared between the three men who I’ve put on a pedestal for too long, and spat;
"Why?"
"Can you not see that Kael isn’t fully recovered yet? Moreover, there are a few things we’ll need to put in place before the wedding can be held." This time, it was Caelum who spoke.
My head reeled. My heart began to race and cold sweat, despite the weather, gathered just underneath my brows.
A few things...
More like a particular person.
A particular person whom I knew had their hearts even though they’d agreed to wed me.
Gosh, I knew that the reason for their sudden decision had something to do with Leilani. I knew that they wanted her... that the mate bond between them still made them think they were probably in love with her.
And I hated that they felt that way. Hated that she didn’t even need to do much to have them wrapped around her pinky finger like a puppet.
My heart felt heavy as I tried to choke out the words I really wanted to say, but one look at their faces had me swallowing back my words. I dropped my head in feigned meekness and whispered; "I’ll send out the word... but you need to let me know exactly why you’re calling off the wedding again."
"I just told you," Caelum answered, and then, as if ’suddenly remembering’ that I was his supposed love, he dropped his voice and added; "Kael doesn’t feel too good. He isn’t fully recovered. Why do you sound so selfish right now?"
"And when do you plan to reject Leilani?" I asked, ignoring the bite from his last words.
At my utterance, they all turned to look at me, but I didn’t miss the way they froze for a second. Or the way they turned to look at me like I’d just sprouted a second head.
Kael was the first to recover. He flashed me a smile— one that I used to love, but hated right now— and muttered; "You know the reason we haven’t rejected her, baby. You know we left the mate bond intact in order to punish her."
There was a time I used to believe them when they would say that to me, but not anymore. So instead of feeling ecstatic like I would when I heard that in the past, I simply felt nothing.
I felt betrayed. Wronged.
And there was only one person who would pay for this.
Leilani herself.
—
Two days later, I waltzed out of the hospital with the brightest smile on my face because for some reason, the moon goddess had decided to shine her light upon me.
She had decided that I’ve had enough and needed a break.
And for this reason, she’s blessed me with a child! A child that was not the triplets’ but would be theirs in due time.
With a bounce in my steps, I walked out into the street to hail a cab and was so excited that I even tipped the cab driver about a hundred dollars at the end of the trip.
When I arrived at the house, I was surprised but delighted to find out that the triplets’ mother was around too. They had all been in a discussion earlier but upon my entry, they stopped to turn to me. I ignored their piercing eyes and bowed at their mom. "Good day Luna,"
Oh, I could already start to imagine being called Luna myself... I could already feel the respect being accorded to me... the love. The—
"Chalice, why are you smiling so much? Did something happen?" Caelum asked me and I blinked in surprise before beaming a smile at him, my heart racing in both excitement and anticipation.
"Yes, something did." I answered softly, batting my eyelashes at him in the way I knew he loved.
I could feel the burning sensation of all four pairs of eyes drilling into my skin, but instead of feeling uncomfortable, I revelled in it.
I squealed; "I’m pregnant!"
"WHAT?!" They growled, and goddess, I could swear that the looks on their faces wasn’t just surprise. It wasn’t just shock. They looked nervous too— but not in a good way.
Tears pooled in my eyes as the realization that this was not what I expected from them dawned on me, and my heart shattered when I was met with the slightly cold glare from Zevran. He asked; "Are you sure of what you’re saying?"
I nodded meekly, my lips trembling. "Yes."
"But... but we’ve not touched you in a very long time!" Kael chirped in and I had to literally force myself not to roll my eyes.
At that, I turned to Caelum to find him red in the face. His face was as red as beetroot, and for some reason, he could no longer meet my eyes right now.
My heart plummeted. No. No. No!
"I did touch her. I slept with her... it’s been almost two weeks, and from the report, I know I am responsible for her pregnancy." He finally said slowly, causing his brothers to turn to him.
However, for some reason, I didn’t look at them then, I turned to their mother; and Jesus, her eyes were cold. They were so cold it could literally freeze over a river.
She didn’t seem excited at the news and didn’t seem to care that the ’child’ being talked about right now would turn out to be her grandchild. I watched in horror as she slowly rose to her feet, smiled coldly at me and then walked over to pat my shoulder gently.
She drawled; "Now, they’ll marry you."
That was not a congratulatory message. It was nothing.
Dropping her voice, she added; "I can already picture you all as one big happy messy family!"
Messy...
Messy?
My heart began to race. I suddenly became weak in the knees. However, before I could ask her what she meant by that, she breezed past me and walked up the stairs, not sparing another glance back at me.
—And successfully turning my mood from happy to mortified in a couple of seconds.