The Tyrant's Wife

Chapter 368: Welcome party (2)

On Saturday.

Zaria was nursing Holden when Desmond entered the nursery and kissed her lips then her cheeks.

"I’m way too sweaty right now." She looked up at him.

He didn’t seem bothered. "So?"

She gave up trying to reason with him. He had seen way worse than her being a sweaty mess. For a moment, she’d been worried he would no longer be attracted to her once Holden arrived and her body was nothing like it used to be, but if the constant boners he had around her and the cold showers he’d been taking were any indication, the only thing keeping him from burying himself into her was the doctor’s insistence to wait a few weeks.

"He refused to have his bottle again." She told him as he settled down on the extra chair in the nursery. She knew he wanted to feed their son so she could catch some sleep before it was time to get ready for the guests.

Desmond frowned. "He had his bottle yesterday."

"That’s because Devonte was giving it to him." She chuckled. Holden had decided he absolutely did not want to be bottle-fed, and only accepted it if it was Devonte feeding him. He didn’t accept it from anyone else, not even his parents. Zaria chuckled. "Devonte is a magician with kids."

"He certainly is." Desmond agreed, considering how Devonte didn’t get much of Rosaly’s pleading eyes either. The two of them seemed to always be in agreement. He watched his son feed and smiled. "He certainly is my son. He’s as obsessed with your boobs as I am."

She shot him a look but laughed. Her husband’s mind somehow always found its way into the gutter.

He inched closer and cupped her face, kissing her softly. "I can’t believe I’m a father of two. Thank you, my love."

"It was a team effort and you thanked me a gazillion times already." She reminded him.

He responded with another kiss. "And I’ll spend the rest of my life thanking you. Because this family is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me."

_____

As soon as Holden fell asleep, Zaria freshened up and got herself ready. She was just in time for the guests to arrive.

They had decided to have the party at home so she wouldn’t have to move around so much yet. The house looked different than it did when she went to bed last night. The furniture was still in its exact place but Ximena and Natalie had given the living area a makeover with blue flowers, balloons and ribbons.

The same had been done to the backyard where the party would be centered and she couldn’t stop herself from gasping in awe. The duo had insisted on taking up the job themselves so she didn’t have to hire a party planner and the outcome was unbelievable.

"You two sure know how to throw a party," she remarked when she finally found the two women responsible for the magic. They were in the garden, making final touches. She winked and added to Ximena, "when you’re not trying to kill each other."

"We found common ground in the fact that we would kill anyone who hurt you." Ximena responded with a wink.

Natalie added, "Desmond included."

"It’s a good thing he doesn’t plan on hurting me. I’d hate to be a widow." She joked.

Natalie spun her around. "Don’t you look lovely?"

"Do I? I’m still the size of a house." She glanced down at herself. While she had to agree the blue dress looked good on her, she was still a little insecure.

"Of course you do. And you just had a baby, for heavens’ sake. Stop worrying about trivial matters." Natalie complimented and scolded her in the same breath.

"You two look beautiful too," she said. They were both wearing dresses of the same shade of green, Ximena’s being floor-length in contrast to Natalie’s knee-length one.

They had more in common than they expected, she thought. They both looked lovely in emerald. And as she eyed them, she remembered one more thing they had in common and it made her cheeks flush. How could she ask Ximena to be her son’s godmother?

As if reading her mind, Ximena was beside her in .1 seconds. "If you start thinking about how unfair it is to make me a godmother, I swear..." she exaggeratedly threatened.

"But it’s unfair. At least a little bit..." she sighed. Ximena hated to talk about the fact that she would never have kids, so much that it was easy to forget.

"This is the best thing that could ever happen to me." Ximena smiled. "So shut off those intrusive thoughts and introduce the loveliest Fort in town."

"Did you invite her?" Natalie suddenly asked.

Zaria and Ximena both looked in the direction of the door where Alyssa had just walked in.

Ximena was ready to send her away but Zaria held her arm to stop her. "It’s okay."

"What if she causes trouble?" Ximena eyed the woman cautiously.

"She would not." Zaria said.

Alyssa was way too desperate to make amends with her son. Becoming a mother had made her understand some of Alyssa’s decisions, choosing one child over another. Not that she would ever want to choose between her children but sometimes life gave a sure-lose hand and no matter what decision one made, it would result in a different kind of hurt.

She still didn’t excuse any of Alyssa’s actions, most of which had stemmed out of selfishness. However, she would rather have her enemy right under her nose and monitor them closely than accidentally set herself up for an ambush. Desmond thought so too, which is why Alyssa had been invited and why she’d been searched thoroughly before she came in.

"I’ll go say hi." She told her friends and walked over to Alyssa.

"You made it." She tried to smile and failed. Alyssa was no best friend of hers.

"I wouldn’t miss it for the world." Alyssa looked around. "This is all so beautiful. Thank you for inviting me."

"You’re his paternal grandmother, after all." She looked around. "Des should be around here somewhere."

Alyssa must have sensed her discomfort because she didn’t make any effort to find her seat. "I really appreciate you and Des inviting me, Zaria. But I have an appointment I forgot about."

"Oh..." Zaria noticed how the latter played with her earring.

"I brought a gift, though. Will you tell Desmond I said hi, please?" She asked.

Zaria nodded. There was no appointment. She may not know much about Alyssa but after negotiating with many people, she could spot some telltale signs of a lie and people finding things to do with their hands was one of them. Alyssa was leaving because she could feel the tension here and it made her uncomfortable too.

"Don’t you want to hold your grandson first?" She asked.

Alyssa’s eyes went wide. "You would let me hold him?"

"Only if you want to."

"Of course I want to." She perked right up. Zaria led her into the house and had her wait in the living room while she walked toward the nursery. Desmond left the room with Holden in his arms.

"There you are. I was coming to get him so he meets his grandmother."

Desmond frowned slightly but didn’t feel uneasy about letting Alyssa holding the baby either. She wouldn’t pull anything under such scrutiny.

So, trying his best not to bring up something that would ruin the mood, he returned downstairs with Zaria and put the boy into Alyssa’s arms.