YOKED TO A BILLIONAIRE BY VENNEH LISAH

𝐘𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐀 𝐁𝐈𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐄

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐇𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘-𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓:

The dishes served by Mrs. Blake were all favorites of the children and Violla. They were complemented by a few French flavors prepared by the head maid.

Everyone within the household was buzzing when they took their respective places at the table.

Mrs. Blake spoke self-consciously to Davon. "I understood from the head maid that you enjoy French fare so I've asked her to prepare some. I don't know how to make them, but I'll be learning from her starting tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll be able to make some for you next time."

"It's fine, Mrs. Blake. I'd like to try some of your own specialty too." Davon pulled out a chair for Violla before he took his own place by her side.

"Alright then. Let me know if you like them." Mrs. Blake placed a piece of beef on Davon's plate.

"Thank you." Davon nodded in appreciation as he savored it. "It's really good."

"Really? I'm so glad to hear that." Mrs. Blake beamed. "I was a little worried that you might not be used to my cooking."

"I like it." After Davon got Violla a piece as well, he turned back to find Mrs. Blake and the children looking at him. "Well don't just sit there watching, go on ahead and help yourself to the food too."

"We're digging in now, Uncle Davon, Mommy, Mrs. Blake!" The children then tucked in and marveled at Mrs. Blake's fantastic culinary skills.

Mrs. Blake was extremely pleased, and reiterated her desire to avoid the hospital so that she may stay at home in order to continue cooking for the family.

Violla filled up a bowl with soup and beseeched the older woman to take care of her own health so that she may be better able to watch the children grow.The housekeeper smiled with a tear in her eye as she nodded.

Although Davon ate quietly, his demeanor was unusually affable.

Enjoying a meal together with a large family like that was something that he had never experienced for as long as he could remember.

In all his twenty years, he had more or less grown accustomed to a solitary existence.

The atmosphere was dreary even during the occasions he was with his grandfather.

His upbringing under D'barl was strict, with countless rules set out for him to adhere to. Amongst them, were the forbidding of conversation and laughter during mealtimes.

For him, this conversely joyous and harmonious vibe better characterized how family life ought to be.

After dinner, Davon took the kids out to the children's play area.

Violla had not stepped outside the house over the past couple of days. She was aware that a clinic was built on the rear of the house, but did not know about the play area that had been added to the garden.

The sight of it almost had the three children jumping for joy.

Ryan and Eliana were first in as they scampered ahead, leaving Jason to shout after them, "Wait. I want to play too."

"Hey Jason, shall we go over to the swing?" one of their nurses coaxed.

"I wanna go on the slide," the boy replied as he pointed to the lofty spiraling structure.

Ryan and Eliana were already up top. Their arms were spread wide as they screamed in exhilaration all the way down.

The nurse had her reservations. "You could aggravate your leg on that as it hasn't fully recovered yet."

"It's fine. Let him try," Davon said. "A boy doesn't need to be coddled."

"Understood." The nurse wheeled Jason over and mindfully helped him up.

"You can let go. I can do this myself." The boy kept his hands to the sides of the steps for support as he lugged himself up with some difficulty.

"I'm up, I'm up!" Jason's arms shot up in triumphant fashion, cleanly forgotten about his own injury. That made him lose his balance and caused him to topple over the side of the stairs.

"Ah..." Violla and Mrs. Blake let out a blood-curdling shriek. As Jason tumbled toward the ground, a shadowy figure blazed across and caught him securely.

The boy was ashen-faced and breathed heavily as he reclined inside Davon's arms. He began to choke up from the ordeal. "Ugh, Uncle Davon."

"That was nothing. Big boys like you shouldn't cry," Davon said authoritatively.

"Yes, sir." Jason pursed his lips as he forced back his tears. "Thanks Uncle Davon!"

"Call me pops," Davon said.

"Pops !" The boy's mouth was left agape when those words were uttered.

"Good lad!" Davon patted his head while he set him back on his feet. "Now run along. Boys must be brave."

"Understood." Jason seemed to have grown in confidence spontaneously, as though his leg no longer hurt and his fear had dissipated. He got right back at attempting another ascent on his gimpy leg.

The peak seemed so distant that it felt a little intimidating. His leg noticeably quivered.

"Go for it. I got your back," Davon called out in encouragement.

"Alright." Jason gritted his teeth as he turned back to the steps with renewed determination. He continued to climb.

This time, the boy was not afraid anymore, as he knew someone would be there to catch him should he fall.

Violla was profoundly moved by the scene. As competent a mother as she was about caring for and educating her children, she understood that there was no replacement for a father figure in their lives.

In spite of his inexperience with children, Davon had the ability to instill patience and confidence in them, as well as have them rub off the fortitude of his masculinity.

Violla cussed at herself for having doubted his capability to be a good father. It would seem that her worries were for naught, as his attentiveness to her children had exceeded every expectation.

"I want to ride on the swing, Uncle Davon. Would you push me?" Eliana acted coquettishly as she wanted some of the man's attention for herself too.

"Sure," Davon replied as he extended his arms. "Jump down. I'll catch you."

"It's so high. I'm scared." Her stumpy legs retreated from the edge as her little hands continued to grip tightly onto the guardrail.

"I'll go first!" Ryan seized the initiative to launch himself over with aplomb.

Davon corralled him right away and rubbed his head. "You nearly caught me off guard there. What do you think could have happened if I wasn't ready for you?"

"I had faith that you'll definitely come get me." Ryan had begun to gravitate toward Davon, as he felt the man could teach him to become more courageous.

"Good lad!" Davon pinched that pretty face of his as his own lips curled into a smile.

"Here I come, Uncle Davon." Eliana covered her eyes as she leaped off with a shout.

The man stretched out and caught the girl in his off-hand.

"Ah...." She almost burst his eardrums as she continued to scream into his ear when she landed.

"I'm sure you've a great singing voice," Davon said with a frown.

"Stop it, Eliana. You're safe now," Ryan said as he patted on her arm.

She uncovered her eyes and surveyed her surroundings. "Wow, you did it. That was kind of fun!"

"Here goes nothing, Uncle Davon." Jason's voice rang out from the side.

Davon turned to see that Jason had successfully clambered to the highest point. With arms extended, he yelled the whole way down the slide.

"Well done, Jason!" The nurses cheered and clapped for him.

They were elated to see him back in action, as he had been positively bored out of his mind after sitting out for almost two months since sustaining that fracture.

It was with Davon's encouragement that he took the first step towards returning to normalcy.

To prevent that injured foot from making contact with the ground, the man rushed forward to slow the boy's descent with his foot while he still had Ryan and Eliana in either arm.

Jason took care to lift his own foot high to protect it as well, and came away unscathed.

"You alright?" Davon hooked his foot under the boy and flicked him into the air.

Jason yelped as he landed upon Davon's shoulders. He hurriedly clung onto the man's head for dear life.

"Oh wow. You're so awesome, Uncle Davon," Eliana enthused as she clapped in delight. "You caught all three of us at one go."

"You're my hero, Uncle Davon!" Ryan appeared quite in awe.

"No more Uncle Davon from now on." Davon corrected them. "You've to call me pops!"

"Pops!" Jason uttered.

Ryan and Eliana's eyes widened as if to question how quickly their brother had been co-opted.

"I just did it," Jason replied sheepishly. "It's not like Mommy disapproves or anything like that."

The three children then turned in concert to regard Violla.

Their mother appeared quite abashed and did not know how to respond.

Jason asked softly, "You wouldn't be against us treating Uncle Davon like our pops, would you, Mommy?"

"Whatever do you mean by treating me like your pops?" Davon frowned. "I am your pops, to begin with."

"Huh?" The children were dumbfounded as they glanced at Davon and Violla.

"Let's go inside. I'll explain this to y'all." Violla concurred. A matter of such importance should be discussed when everyone had settled in.

"Okay!" The children nodded obediently. However, their mood was somber, as they sensed their mother had something important to announce.

The entire family bundled into the study when they came back in.

Mrs. Blake and the three kids were seated side by side, while Davon and Violla occupied the couch across from them.

The housekeeper was a little uptight. "Perhaps I should step outside while your family talked, Miss."

"You are family too, Mrs. Blake." Violla then gestured for her to sit.

Mrs. Blake could only stay put on the one side with the half-asleep Finny nodding off in her lap.

"What do you want to tell us, Mommy?"

Ryan was as self-assured and collected as the eldest amongst the children ought to be. He mustered the courage to speak up even though he was quite a nervous wreck himself.

"Mommy had never broached this subject with you before." Violla stuttered as she had no clue as to how to even begin. "The truth of the matter is…"

"Allow me," Davon interjected. "I'm actually your father. Your real father."

"Huh?" The children's eyes were forced wide as they glared at him, dumbstruck and in absolute disbelief.

"I met your Mommy four years ago and left a seed in her body, which grew to become the three of you…" Davon appropriated the descriptions used in some illustrated books which he had consulted previously on the subject.

"We didn't know each other that time, and I wasn't aware that she was pregnant until we met again four years later under a different identity. We didn't get along at first because we had a number of misunderstandings between us, but that's out of the way now. Since then, I've also learned that you're my children, so…" Davon was interrupted.

"Hold on a second," Ryan interrupted, as there was much he did not understand. "Why did you leave a seed inside Mommy when you didn't even know each other? That doesn't seem very logical."

"Yeah, yeah." Jason and Eliana quickly concurred as the trio shared the same stance.

"That…" Davon's brows furrowed as he considered how to best explain in a comprehensible way for children the stimulating yet bizarre manner in which they were conceived that fateful night.

"It's because it was dark. We couldn't see each other." Violla's attempt was brusque and tactless.

Davon rolled his eyes at it. The children were bound to end up learning the wrong things with that approach.

"How did you know that we're your children then?" Ryan's rational mind continued to whirl.

"Yeah, yeah. How did you find out?"

Jason and Eliana merely echoed what was said. They did not know as much, but they knew Ryan was bright. It was safe for them to assume, therefore, that Ryan's questions had to be on point.

"It's because you and I both share the same allergy towards the peaches fruit. That was what prompted me to do a DNA test for both of us. The result established that you're my son. As Jason, Eliana, and yourself are triplets, it naturally follows that they must also be my children." Davon then passed the DNA test results along to Ryan.

He did not speak to the children like they were three year old, but treated them as though they were his equals.That made them feel respected and therefore took his words seriously.

Ryan received the lab report which he went on to examine carefully.Jason and Eliana gathered close and scrutinized it with their big bright eyes.

The younger boy waited for some time before he asked, "Do you know what's on it, Ryan?"

"I can recognize this," Eliana said as she placed the tip of her plump index finger against the one-hundred percent figure on the report. "Can't understand much of anything else though."

"These two I know." Jason pointed to the text that came before that. "Paternity… is!"

Davon was speechless. He had been speaking to them so earnestly, but all the rambunctious trio seemed interested in discussing was which words they could read.

"Quit messing around, you two," Violla said. "It's okay if you can't understand it, Ryan . Let Mommy."

Ryan raised his head to regard Davon. "It states that the probability of paternity is one-hundred percent. I know what that means."

"That's good." Davon nodded in relief. "So from now on…"

"Can I have a couple more questions answered?" Ryan asked. "Could I?"

"Of course you could. Please ask away." Davon was quite impressed with the boy's assertiveness at his age.

"You didn't know we're yours before the discovery of my allergy, did you?" Ryan asked.

"I didn't before then." Davon nodded.

"Would you have treated our Mommy and us equally well if you did not have this set of tests done?" It was a crucial question that Ryan had just tabled, and one which elevated the tension in the room in an instant.

The two other tots did not get the underlying implications and knew only to echo his words. "That's right, would you?"

Mrs. Blake looked at Davon intently, as she too was interested to know.

Violla was surprised at Ryan incisiveness. It was a question that she herself had not considered before.

Davon deliberated before he offered up a response. "I was aware that she had kids right from the beginning, and was quite upset with her because I thought they were conceived with someone else. I must admit that I overreacted and did some things that I'm not proud of. However…"

Davon raised his head to regard the three children, and continued with sincerity, "I've never once had the intention to harm any of you, nor have I hated your existence, and never have I considered giving up on your Mommy because of it. Therefore, my answer would be that I would have loved your mother and accepted all of you just the same, even if you were not of my own."

His words touched Violla profoundly. When she revisited the countless occasions in which she had doubted him previously, he had not tried to harm the children once even while he was under the impression that they were Martin's.

When she assumed that he was the one who had abducted her children when they went missing, he did not try to defend himself. Instead, he quietly went out to find them and return them to her. Even though he did threaten her then out of spite, he did not bring harm unto them, just like he said.

Out of consideration for the safety of the children when she got into some trouble, he had Douglas get the children and put them up with D'barl. It may be a credit to his kindheartedness that he incidentally found out about Ryan's allergy to the peaches fruit, which in turn led him to the truth about their parentage.He really was a tough talking softie.

"That's good to know." Mrs. Blake was almost tearing up at that point. "It's beyond question that the children are yours. I know Miss all too well. She had kept herself chaste all those years and had never been with any other."

"I know." Davon curled his lips.

"Thank you!" Ryan took a deep drawl before he continued, "The next question is, does grandpa Roman know that we are your kids? If he doesn't, would he be able to accept us?"

"He doesn't know yet. Or let me say he might be knowing but waiting for me to know and confirm it. Nothing really passes you great grandpa's eyes. Whether he knows or not I am not sure." Davon thought Ryan was one with a rigorous mind, being able to adopt a multifaceted approach to considering issues. "He has always been fond of all of you, so I expect that he should be very happy when he does."