Chapter 53

#Chapter 53 – Evesdroppers I jump as Victor enters my house the next morning. Again, no notice, no knock – just walking straight in. I narrow my eyes at him. “Sure, Victor, of course you can come in! You’re always welcome here.”

“I know,” he says, walking over to me. I shake my head at him and he gives me a charming smile. I will my face to resist a response. “What,” he says, laughing now. “I’m not a vampire. I don’t need an invitation.”

I roll my eyes and turn back to the dishes. “Everyone knows vampires don’t need invitations, not really.”

The boys come flying down the stairs. “Daddy!” Ian yells, his hands in the air. Alvin follows quickly on his heels, a big smile on his face. “Hi, dad!”

Victor kneels to the ground and wraps them both in big hugs. I’m still mad at him, but – I can’t help it –

part of me warms at seeing how much he loves them, how much they return it. “It’s so good to see you, boys,” he says. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy the past few days.”

“It’s okay, dad, we’ve been busy too.” Ian says, beaming at him. “We’ve been learning about dinosaurs in school, we’ve been very busy trying to memorize them all.”

Victor looks up at me. “Memorizing all the dinosaurs? Aren’t they in…kindergarten?”

I snort and return my focus to dish water. “Yeah, in school they’re spending the week on ‘D is for Dinosaur.’ Its these two nuts who have taken it on themselves to figure out every species ever identified and memorize them.”

“It’s fun, mama!” Alvin says.

“Fun for you,” I say, smiling at him as I finish up the last dish. “Torture, for the rest of us. If I have to spell Micropachycephalosaurus one more time, I’m gonna…” I shake my head, not finishing my sentence.

“Gonna what, mama?” Ian says, calling my bluff.

“Gonna BITE YOU” I say, curling my fingers like claws and jumping at him, pretending to grab his arms.

Ian squeals and runs out of my grip, Alvin and Victor laughing along too.

“Okay boys,” Victor says, rising to his feet. “Go on and play for a little bit, mama and I are going to have a chat.”

“Okay,” the two smile at us and dash off willingly. I pause for a minute and think. A little too willingly.

Victor starts to talk but I hold up a finger to shush him and peak up the stairs. As I suspected, four beady little eyes are peaking down from the landing, ready to eavesdrop on every word.

“Go!” I say, pointing a stern finger up the stairs. “All the way! No listening!”

The boys skitter away to their room. I wait to hear their door close and the television turn on and then nod to Victor. “Probably as safe as we’re ever going to get. Who knows though, they’ve probably got the kitchen bugged.”

He laughs, his gaze following them up the stairs. “It’s not a big deal, they’re going to hear soon enough.

But I wanted to tell you first.”

With that, Victor proceeds to tell me everything. It takes awhile – enough time for me to prepare two cups of tea and for us to sit at the table, for us to finish them, for the dregs to turn cold. As far as I can tell, Victor doesn’t hold anything back. He tells me of Amelia’s betrayal, of his poor reaction to it.

He tells me, hesitatingly, of his meeting with my father and apologizes for his rash decision to visit him without telling me. “I’m sorry, Evelyn. I did what was best for the children and, ultimately, for you. I know you’ll be mad about it, but I had to make the call.”

Wow, Delia was right – almost word for word. I admit, it isn’t easy to hear him recount the meeting with my father and hear of my father’s intentions to claim the boys, to take them from me.

“You know if he claims them, if they become the official heirs and property of John Walsh,” I say, twirling my teaspoon between my fingers, “that I’ll never see them again. Never ever.”

Victor nods. “I know. I’m not going to let that happen, Evelyn.” And then, he reaches over, placing his hand over mine. “I’m going to claim them a week from today. Then your father will have no power over them, over you.”

“You need to be careful, Victor,” I say, looking down at his hand over mine. It’s warm and steady, feeling strong over my own hand, which right now feels so frail.

“My father is not a simple man,” I continue. “If he truly wanted the boys, he would have just claimed them. You said he ceded the right to you because you’re their father but…in reality, his own pride and heritage mean so much more to him than all of that. If he told you to take the boys and gave you a deadline, there’s a reason why he wants you to do it.”

Victor frowns. “What do you think it could be?”

I shake my head, looking up into his steady green eyes. “I have no idea. But you should take care. He’s up to something.”

Victor nods, staring out the back window, his mind clearly working to figure it out. “Victor?” I say, hesitating. He turns his attention back to me, looking at me steadily. “If he wanted my boys as his heirs…does this mean…is my sister?…”

My eyes dampen at the thought of her, though I sniff, working hard to hold back my emotions. I haven’t heard of or from Emma in the six years that I’ve been gone from my house. She betrayed me, it’s true, but considering the world in which we grew up, considering the obligations we had to obey the men around us…I have long forgiven her. She was always my best friend.

“She’s alive, Evelyn,” Victor says gently, and I feel tears slip down my face. “She’s married to Joyce,”

he continues, “but they never had any children.”

I grit my teeth at this. To Joyce, of all people. I see my father written all over this.

I nod and move to pull my hand away, but Victor holds it tight. I raise my other hand to wipe the tears from my cheeks, ready to move on.

“And what of Amelia?” I say, sniffing and straightening in my chair. I look him directly in the eyes, letting him know I’m serious. At this, Victor slowly releases his grip and folds his hands together on the table.

“She betrayed us both, Evelyn,” he says, shaking his head. “It’s something I’m taking very seriously.

But I can’t ignore her claim that she did it for her children. That is…something I very much understand.”

“Victor,” I hiss, leaning forward on the table. “She doesn’t even have kids. How can you let her treat you like this, treat me, treat Alvin and Ian like this?” I shake my head at him, appalled.

His lips tighten into a thin line. “It’s not an easy situation, Evelyn. I’m on a tightrope here. What she has done is egregious but…she is my mate. We have to find a way to make peace.”

I fold my arms across my chest, unconvinced. “You have to make peace, Victor. She’s your mate. I don’t have to do any such thing.”

“Please, Evelyn,” he says, spreading his hands palm-up on the table in supplication. “We’ve got to be a team on this. I can’t be at war with you both.”

I narrow my eyes at him, realizing, suddenly, that of course he will always pick her over me. She’s his mate – they have a bond that goes deeper than ours, that always will. I do my best to keep this realization off my face and tuck it down deep inside me, pretending the knowledge doesn’t hurt me as much as it truly does.

“Fine,” I say, slowly, softly. “Fine. I trust you, Victor. Please don’t make me regret it.”

“I won’t,” he says, and his face is so earnest, so honest, that I can’t help but smile. Seeing my reaction, his mouth slowly begins to twist upward. “So,” he says. “Shall we tell the boys?”

“Tell us what!?” Ian says, his head appearing suddenly where the ceiling meets the stairs.

“Ian,” I say, my voice low with warning. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“Just like, thirty seconds, honest!”

“Yeah!” Alvin comes down a few stairs as well, crouching just within sight. “We heard you say don’t make me regret it to daddy, and daddy said he won’t, and –“

“That’s enough,” Victor says, his voice stern as he beckons them down with a wave of his hand. The boys come tumbling down the stairs, tripping over themselves in their eagerness to hear the news.

They stand silently before us, smiling at us, the perfect image of two angels who hadn’t been eavesdropping just moments before. I can’t help but laugh, resting my temple against my hand. What am I going to do with them?

“Boys,” Victor says, leaning forward so that he’s on eye-level with them. “In precisely one week’s time, we’re going to have a very special ceremony at my house. Lots of important people are going to come, and your mother and Amelia are going to be there, and I’m going to tell the whole world – officially –

that you are my boys, my sons and heirs. And then we’re going to sign a bunch of papers and have a lot of cake.”

I had been expecting a cheer but am shocked to see that my boys remain silent. I watch them carefully.

My heart breaks, just a little, when I see them start to sniff, their eyes fill with tears.

“Boys,” I say, kneeling on the floor in front of them, taking one of each of their hands in mine. “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, mama,” Alvin says, rubbing his eyes.

“We’re just so happy,” Ian says, throwing back his head and howling as he starts to truly cry.

I can’t help myself and start to laugh at them, these poor, ridiculous little boys. Victor joins in and crouches on the floor next to me, giving each of them a hug. They’ve had so much to deal with these past few months – so many changes.

Sometimes I have to remind myself that they’re just six – just little boys, no matter how smart they are and how many dinosaurs they can name.

“I’m happy too,” Victor says, his own voice emotional. I spin to look at him. Am I actually going to see Victor Kensington cry!? “It’s going to be a very special day and, I think, will make me happier than I ever have been in my life. But now,” he stands up and smacks his thighs with his hands. The sound seems to snap the boys out of it and they look at him, rubbing their eyes.

“Come on,” he says, turning towards the back door and gesturing for them to follow. “Let’s go try all the different kinds of cake Chef is trying out for the big party after the ceremony. You two can pick the flavor you want to have next week.”

Tears forgotten, the boys scramble after him.

“Victor,” I say, arms crossed and voice heavy with warning. He pauses and turns back to me. “Don’t even forget, for one minute,” I say, quite stern, “to save me a slice of chocolate.”

His lips quirk up at the corners at this and he nods, heading out the door with my boys.

From the window above my kitchen sink, I watch them cross the yard and disappear in the trees between our houses. The three most significant men in my life, all together at once. And what will become of me, when Victor claims them, and they have each other, and I am all alone?