Chapter 2 His name

"Is that supposed to be a threat? Do you know who I am?" Sylvester raged from where he stood ready to exude hades and inferno on them.

"We are not threatening you, Mr Stone, we are just stating the fact. The child we have here is yours and the documents we have here is proof that you are his father. But if you are still not convinced, I advise that you take the matter to Court. Who you are has nothing to do with the law. The law will only do what is right. I am very sure that you know that this child belongs to you and anything you do against this child will only cause controversies. Even if you want to give him up for adoption, have you thought of what people would say? Are you willing to give up all that you have built all these years just because you don't want the child? Think about it, Mr Stone." The female doctor said to him. This time, it felt as though she had recovered her once lost confidence. Initially when she and the other doctors stepped into the house, it felt as though the ground would open up anytime soon and swallow them but now none of them cared about what he wanted to do to them, someone obviously had to tell him the painful truth.

Speaking of truth, Sylvester knew that what they were saying was the truth and he wasn't ready for all the brouhaha that came with the Legal World. Giving his son away or abandoning him would only cause more fracas and as such, would destroy his reputation and bring his businesses to the mud. His life built fortune, all going down the drain; even his late wife, Emily wouldn't be happy wherever she was because she was part of his success story.

He sighed in defeat and said nothing else but that didn't stop him from gritting his teeth and staring at all of them in anger, especially the one they called his son.

...

A day later...

The corpse of Emily Stone was brought to Sylvester's house as per his request -- he wanted to spend some time mourning her one last time in his home before finally letting her off to be cremated. It was brought to his sitting room and every living soul present at that time excused themselves to let him mourn his wife privately.

After they had all absented from there, he broke down like a child and began to weep. He loved his wife so dearly and as he bent over her casket, he recalled some of the good times they had together. What was worse was that she had already planned a "mother and baby welcome home" party on the day that she was to return from the hospital. Who could have imagined that she would be returning to him lifeless? Tears fell down his cheeks as he wept continuously for her hoping and wishing that she would wake up. It was a reality that he still wouldn't accept even though it was right before him.

Sylvester walked into his son's room and saw him fondling his shawl. Tiny baby coos soon turned into a loud cry and it angered him bitterly but what could he possibly do to a baby? He only stood there and watched as the boy's mouth widened and his face turned red. He wasn't in any way moved by his tears; as a matter of fact, he wished that he would die after crying or while crying. But then he wondered how a baby that had wolf's bane flowing in his veins had the energy to cry like that. In fact, how possible was it that his son had such a rare occurrence whereas there was no record of anyone from his family with that condition? Could it be that the Moon Goddess was trying to punish him? But for what exactly?

His train of thoughts was soon interrupted by the barging in of someone from the door side. It was the nanny he had employed to look after his baby a few days before his wife put up bed. She first greeted him and rushed to carry the crying baby. Sylvester could see the disappointment written on her face as she placed the baby on her chest to calm him down. He didn't have the temerity to continue standing there and so he left while the nanny pacified the baby.

"I can't believe him at all." She said in soliloquy after Sylvester left. Then she turned her attention towards the baby and asked him. "Are you hungry sweetie? You must be hungry. Yeah I see you. I see you licking those tiny lips of yours. So cute." She said as she tapped the baby gently on the back. "Fortunately, your food has already been prepared. I'll just feed it to you."

Meanwhile, Sylvester was at the door listening to the Nanny's whining. He scoffed in disgust as he couldn't believe her drama baby talks. He just turned away from the door and continued to wherever it was he was going.

He was about heading upstairs when he heard the telephone ring in the sitting room. He turned back and went to pick it up.

"Hello is Doctor Penelope on the phone." Of course he knew who she was -- she was the same doctor that held his son the day before in association with two other doctors.

"Yes, Sylvester Stone on the line." He reluctantly answered.

"Okay sir, we have been waiting to hear from you. It's concerning your son's name. We were supposed to prepare his birth certificate but we don't have his name yet. Do you have a name yet? What would you like for us to insert as his name?"

"Armaros." He answered without thinking twice.

"Excuse me?" Asked the woman over the phone.

"It means the accursed one. But don't worry you don't have to register that as his name. Let's call him Mario for short. I wouldn't want the World throwing a loathsome peek at me for naming my son Armaros, so let's go with the name Mario."

"Alright then. Mario it is." The lady answered and soon the call dropped.

"Mario indeed. If only he grows up to act according to the meaning of his name." He said to himself as he dropped the telephone.