It’s almost past twelve in the evening when Edward finally finished everything he had to do for today.

The arrival of their private chopper earlier had hauled yet another pile of things to do, causing him to retire this late. It just happened that Charles and the other men he sent to search for his brother and sister-in-law had brought back more than a bad news. 

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They revealed the burnt condition of the car that was supposed to take the couple to the party, which explained why they arrived in a motorcycle instead.

“What in the world was that all about? Those two acted like nothing went down at all, and if it wasn’t for Charles, I wouldn’t know that something this bad had actually occurred,” Edward pondered heavily as he walked down the hallway leading to his sons’ bedrooms. 

He knew that Adrian was only looking out for his nephew when he decided to stay silent about this until the end of the event. His brother didn’t want to disrupt the celebration or alarm the guests by reporting the situation. Even when he already did, though, he said that he would just look deeper into the matter tomorrow morning. 

Despite the gravity of this incident, Adrian chose to save it on the next day since he didn’t want to leave Cassidy on her own for too long. He didn’t really say this out loud to Edward, but he could already tell when he went ahead and hasten out of the mansion as soon as the party was over. 

Even their mother and sisters weren’t able to change his mind to stay with his wife this time around. 

“Cassidy, huh… At what extent did she really change for him to say those words earlier?” he wondered silently, recalling his brother’s confession before his sister-in-law left the scene. 

In any case, he felt he had done enough for today. He was already exhausted from handling his son’s birthday party and that thing with the burnt vehicle. Guessing the current state of the couple’s relationship might end up eating away his remaining strength and energy.

With those thoughts in mind, Edward picked up his pace and soon arrived in front of Damien’s bedroom.

He immediately heard a round of ecstatic chatters from inside the room as soon as he stood by the door. It seems like his sons are still up and about at this hour. 

“Oh, man… I’ll never get tired of looking at it,” chimed his second son with an effervescent tone.

“Yeah, it looks really cool,” seconded his elder brother.

“Hey, can I borrow it-“

“You don’t even know how to use it.”

“I promise I’ll learn!”

“But big brother…” called the youngest who sounded concerned.

“Daddy might get mad at you. Isn’t that toy not allowed in the house?”

Then, silence.

Edward can picture Damien slumping at this. He also doesn’t need to look just to know what they are talking about. Despite his hesitation to barge in their stealthy conversation, he still went and opened the door before finally entering the room. 

“Boys, why are you still awake?” Edward started, earning their surprised gasps almost instantly.

“O-Oh, Dad! You’re finished?” Damien hastily replied as he practically threw his skateboard aside, putting it back with the other presents at the side of his room. 

“You know I saw that.”

“W-We were just… t-talking about A-Aunt Cassidy.”

“Right, I see… ‘Cause she’s the one who gave you that?”

“I know what you’re thinking, Dad. It’s not like she knew that I wasn’t allowed to play with something like that. I can’t just throw it away even if you order me to.”

“Of course, I’m not going to do that. It’s her gift for you, after all.”

The teen visibly perks up at that in pleasant surprise. His face also brightens up at the thought that he’s finally going to be allowed to skate again. Yet before he can confirm it, his father already drops the subject and tells them to go to bed. 

“Sleep now, you three. It’s way past your bedtime, and you all look tired…” Edward ordered before walking closer and kneeling in front of them.

“Especially you, Damien. You kept entertaining the adults and had little time to play with your friends.”

“It’s alright. I’m used to it…” Damien trailed off with a shrug, pretending to be mature and understanding time and again. 

“Besides, not all of them are that bad. For one, I had fun talking with Aunt Cassidy.”

“Oh, yeah… I saw that. So then, how was the new her? I never saw you talk like that with her before.”

“Aunt was really cool, Dad! She told me that I got a good eye for things…!” Joshua chimed in with a cheerful grin. 

“I wanna ride her bike someday too!”

“Aunty smells and feels very nice, Daddy…!” Hugo chirped blithely while gripping his father’s sleeves.

“I felt really comfy in her arms. She’s so warm, and she’s so pretty!”

While his brothers only chuckle at his ebullient comment, Edward simply smiles and takes him in his arms. He then stands up and lifts him, a soft expression gracing his features all the while. 

“And you know what, Daddy? I kinda thought that… If I had a Mommy, I wished she’d be as warm as Aunty,” Hugo added all of the sudden with an innocent tone and look on his face, taking everyone aback.

For a moment, silence prevails in the room.

Damien and Joshua didn’t bother to hide their reactions to their brother’s uncalled-for remark. Both of them drop their smiles and avert their gazes, looking as if they just recalled a bad memory.

Edward only stays quiet as he continues to exchange looks with Hugo. He doesn’t find it surprising that he’ll bring up his mother without sharing the same heavy feeling as his elder brothers. After all, he doesn’t have any memory of her to begin with. 

The truth was that his wife had died giving birth to their third son – a fact that he told Hugo before while struggling not to make it sound like it was his fault.

Nobody really blames anyone for that. It was just that his wife had always been someone with a weak constitution. She easily fell sick back then. Fortunately, it was a trait that hadn’t been passed down to their children. 

“Warm, huh… Is that when your aunt hugged you? I was actually surprised that you agreed to be held even though you’re cowering in fear the entire time,” Edward eventually started again, deciding to play along in an attempt to avoid making his son realize the underlying heaviness of the topic. 

“She looked scary ’cause she’s wearing black. But after hugging her, I stopped thinking so. Now, she looked really warm in my eyes…” Hugo gushed on and on without pausing for even a second.

Thinking that it’s rare for his youngest to talk so much, he just chose to let him babble all he wanted. With that, he simply glanced at his two other sons and gestured for them to go to their beds, which they silently obeyed.

Hugo continues to talk about Cassidy on their way to his bedroom. Edward listens quietly the entire time – not really realizing that he himself has been smiling for a while now. 

The way his son speaks highly and fondly of her makes her appear like a cuddly sunshine with an angelic presence. Her new version seems to have left quite a lasting impression on his sons. 

“Also, Daddy, she told us that we could see her again! Can we visit her?” Hugo asked as he got tucked into his bed.

“Yes, you can,” Edward replied before reaching out for his hair and stroking him to sleep.

“But she told us we had to tell bossman. Who’s bossman, Daddy?”

“Boss… man?”

“He sounds like a bad guy to me.”

At that point, Hugo is already dozing off, and with one last yawn, he eventually shut his eyes closed. Edward, on the other hand, just kept staring down at his son with a puzzled expression on his face.

“Who’s bossman?”

—

“Bossman, are you awake?”

In the middle of the night, Cassidy found herself waking up. A stabbing pain suddenly pierced through her head while a nauseating feeling twisted her stomach, making her groan a little. The sound ended up waking his husband.

“Cassidy?” Adrian called out from the sofa at the side of the room where he was laying on.

Knowing that she wouldn’t like it if he invited himself to her bed, he decided to spend the night on that spot. He didn’t really want to sleep in another room since he was kind of expecting that this would happen.

“I feel funny. My stomach’s rolling,” she said weakly.

“Or probably rejecting what you ate and drank. Here, sit up for now…” he muttered as he walked to her bed and helped her sit up.

“Wait here. I’ll go get a bowl-“

Yet before Adrian could do just that, Cassidy suddenly groaned in pain again before throwing up and making a nasty mess out of his shirt – proving his action to be much too late.