Page 18 of The Desire

“Don’t you laugh at me. This is not funny.” Pointing my finger at her, my annoyance comes out in my voice when I see Blaise wince. Shit, now I’ve scared him.

“Oh, but if you could see yourself, Rem, the master of control and a man who loves to drop a few swear words, then you would know how funny this is and will continue to be. Should I start the swear jar now?” I want to tell her to fuck off, but I can’t as she continues to laugh but out loud now. Adeline looks between us, so confused.

“Enough!” I growl but in a whisper so as not to put any more tension in the room. Finally stopping her, I turn my attention back to Adeline.

I lower my voice and try to lose the annoyance that is biting at me below the surface. This is my damn house, and I will be the one in control of what happens here. Not be dictated to by a woman that is currently driving me crazy.

“I know English is hard for you, Adeline, but please try. I would like to be able to talk to you and be part of the conversation too,” I say, glaring at Elouise so she understands how pissed I am with her and the whole situation.

“Yes, Monsieur Remington, I try.” She’s still looking at me with that gravity of fear in her eyes. She is so far out of her depth that I’m pretty sure she will say yes to anything I ask. But that’s not the point.

“Thank you. I appreciate it, and please call me just Remington, no need for monsieur, okay?” I feel the tension in my shoulders finally start to ease, being able to speak and join the conversation.

“Okay.” She nods her head.

“Would you like a coffee, Adeline?” I ask, knowing how much she is probably in the desperate need of some morning caffeine. It’s been an intense few days, I’m sure.

“Merci.” Finally, she takes one of the pastries too.

Moving back to the coffee machine, my back to them all, I take a few deep breaths so I can settle them both in, especially Blaise. I’m not ready to be a father, but I also don’t want his first impression and memory of me to be of someone he fears. I love my father and can’t ever imagine being afraid of him.

Oh shit, Mum and Dad. That’s a conversation I’m not looking forward to. They will be so excited and want to be involved, which will just make things worse at the moment. I know it’s wrong, but I’m going to keep this from them until I have a handle on it all or can at least communicate a little with Blaise.

I place the coffee down in front of Adeline with the sugar if she needs it and start with the first question I have.

“How long are you staying here in London, with Blaise?” I would never ask her to leave, but I need to know so I can plan.

“Leave, um… tomorrow, yes, Sunday.” She just freely replies like it’s no problem.

“Wait, what? You can’t leave that quickly.” I look at Elouise in desperation. “Tell her, Elouise. That’s ridiculous to just dump Blaise here and leave him alone with a complete stranger.”

“Oh, look, already he is giving in. I thought you didn’t need me to translate anymore.” The sarcasm in her voice makes me want to push this point about how I told her this morning about how I needed her, but she didn’t want to hear it.

“Not stranger… you Papa. I need to go home to my kids.” At this point I’m not even sure she is talking about her own children or the goats.

For fuck’s sake, this is a complete shit show, and it hasn’t even been a day yet. How the hell am I supposed to look after a boy who is scared out of his brains and deal with little miss pain in the ass Elouise next to me, looking so pleased with herself as she watches me struggling.

“You will stay a week,” I tell her before I even have a chance to stop the words from coming out my mouth.

“Rem, stop. You can’t tell her what to do. Don’t be so rude.” Elouise is up, with her hands on her hips. What the hell was I thinking that having this woman in my house would make my life easier?

“The poor kid will be so scared if she just dumps him and runs. What sort of person does that?” I know if we were on our own, Elouise and I would be yelling at each other by now, but both of us are trying to keep the tone of our voice on an even level.

“I am sorry, I cannot stay. Camille say you look after him. Not my son,” Adeline interjects with a little more force into the conversation.

“That would be great if I even knew I had a son, or time to prepare to look after him.” My mind is racing at how I’m going to do this.

Remember – face your fear and then run straight through it.

“Welcome to parenthood, idiot, you have to learn on the run, adapt and change. So, get ready to start sprinting, and for God’s sake, show both Adeline some respect and Blaise some kindness. I mean, she has been through a lot to bring him to you. She could have just dumped him in an orphanage in France or even raised him as her own.” Elouise is trying to appeal to my heart. She hasn’t realized yet I don’t have one.

I know I shouldn’t have even let the thought enter my head, but Adeline raising Blaise would have been a perfect solution for everyone.

“Don’t you dare even contemplate that, I can see it written all over your face. Man up!” Looking into Elouise’s eyes is like waving the red flag in front of a bull.

How dare she question me like that.

“Fine. Do the test. Once we get the results Adeline can leave, but not until then. What if he’s not mine?” I say, standing my ground with both of them.

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