You should have listened to me

"Thank you Grandfather, for your kind, kind words." said Dom in an unamused tone, Ernest didn't have to go too personal with his example of what he would have done if he was in Natasha's situation.

He didn't need Ernest giving Natasha some ideas that he would rather not ever want her think about. After all Ernest was on Natasha's side and he would advice her in his own wisdom and that was something Dom was scared of.

Before his grandfather wanted he and Natasha to remain married regardless of whatever happened due to the fact that there had never been a divorce in their lineage; but now, after the truth was revealed, making Dom look more stupid than a monkey, he was sure that Ernest would prioritize Natasha's feelings more than anything else.

Dom was already scared with his mind racing on about if Natasha just decided that she had had enough and she took Joy and left the house and he would never get to see them again? Okay... that was a bit of a stretch, Natasha was not the type of woman to never let him see his child, but he was just scared of the possibility right now.

"You are welcome my boy, you know that Natasha has done nothing but tolerate you for the past six years." said Ernest with an idle shake of his head, even he was uncertain if his dear Mary (may her soul rest in peace) would be able to tolerate him if he had behaved towards her the way his grandson had behaved towards his wife.

"I know Grandfather, I know. *sigh*, Natasha must think that I am the biggest idiot in the world." said Dom with a sigh all this time that she had insisted she was innocent and he insisted that she was lying, he was so stupid not to dig deeper himself or ask her questions about what happened the day before.

"Oh you are Dominic, very much so, you are the biggest idiot I know." said Ernest honestly as Dom looked at him with a deep frown plastered all over his face.

"You should have listened to me." said Ernest as he unexpectedly used his cane to hit Dom on the head and it was then Dom knew that his beloved grandfather that he knew well had finally returned.

"What I can see while sitting down you can't see even if you climb the tallest tree and use binoculars." said Ernest.

"You should have believed her when she said she was innocent, and believed all those who told you that she was." said Ernest with a shake of his head.

"I know Grandfather, I know, but tell me how do I fix this? I keep on apologizing, but it's clear that an issue as serious as this is already past any kind of apology." said Dom with an hopeless sigh that made Ernest frown, he did not raise a boy who gave up easily.

"Look Dominic, although I will admit that I am partly to blame for what happened, I should have let you both make your own decisions instead of demanding that you and Natasha get married." said Ernest.

"I thought I was making a good decision, because you two were very compatible back then, but I forgot to consider the fact that if my own father had chosen a wife for me and I had chosen a wife for your father, I doubt that both marriages would have been happy as they were and are." said Ernest.

"There is a feeling of wholeheartedness when you are the one to choose your own spouse because you love them and not because you were forced to. Love is very important." said Ernest.

"Now even though I was sure the two of you would fall in love sooner or later, It was better that you were in love before you took such a decision." said Ernest.

"If it had been your own decision to marry Natasha, you would not have been so quick to believe that she would be capable of such a thing." said Ernest as Dom sighed, he knew that Ernest was completely right, apart from the fact that he felt betrayed he was sure that a little part of him was certain that this would not have happened if Ernest hadn't forced him to get married to Natasha.

"You are looking for solutions my boy, but the truth is that all I can do is give you advice, the only one that can fix this is you." said Ernest as he pointed at Dom.

"You know Natasha best, you are the only one that can fix this the way it's supposed to be fixed." said Ernest.

"Now as for my advice—my advice to you is go back to the place where you and Natasha were in good terms." said Ernest.

"To be honest my boy, you and Natasha were better as friends than as husband and wife." said Ernest.

"You should try to revive that friendship that had been buried underneath all the betrayal, and turmoil and interference of third parties." said Ernest.

"That is easier said than done Grandfather... but you are right... I should try." said Dom.

"Believe me when I say my son that Natasha still loves you deep, deep, deep down, if she did not have any sort of affection or respect for the friendship you once had, she would have turned into a bitter woman and hated you, but instead she continued living with you, continued to put up with your nonsense and continued to raise your daughter together with you." said Ernest.

"Now if that does not spell some sort of affection is still present there, then I don't know what will." said Ernest.

"I have heard stories of women who have not even been hurt to this degree and yet they hate the man with passion and even go as far as poisoning the minds of the innocent children." said Ernest.

"Natasha would never do that." said Dom.

"Exactly, because she has a soft heart, and that's why she fell in love with you." said Ernest as he smiled.

"It was clear that she was the one who fell for you first, and then you fell for her later, but you did not fall hard enough to the extent of erasing all doubts." said Ernest.

"Who told you that being married was easy? Every marriage has their problems but yours just had to be in the form of betrayal, what proves the seriousness of all the vows you took that day is what you do in the face of trouble." said Ernest.

"I know this sounds 'cheesy' like you young people will say; but love does really make the difference in any relationship, especially marriage." said Ernest.

"Now, I know that I have said a lot of things that you need to think about, but remember two things, friendship and love." said Ernest.

"I am sure you will be fine my boy, after all we White men may make some mistakes sometimes, but we also come to that realization sooner or later and we work hard to fix it and admit our mistakes." said Ernest as he placed a comforting hand on Dom's shoulder.

"Now is the time to fix your mistakes instead of dwelling on them and getting depressed." said Ernest.

"I have faith in you that you will do the right thing and fix the mistakes you've made." said Ernest as he smiled and Dom looked at him.

"Thank you Grandfather, you don't know how much your advice and words mean to me, and thank you for not blaming me." said Dom as he smiled softly and Ernest smiled softly at him.

"Oh I won't boy, I know that you have already been blamed more than enough, especially by Natasha, you do need a little break." said Ernest as Dom suddenly remembered something.

"Grandfather...do you think that I engaged Lia in anyway?" asked Dom as he sincerely need an answer, he had asked himself this and came to the conclusion that he didn't, but maybe it was his bias towards himself talking, he needed someone who was blunt to tell him the truth.

Ernest was silent for a while, he seemed to be thinking, but in reality he was finding the best way to organize his words.

"You did not Dominic, Cecilia always clung herself to you, and you never engaged her, only took care of her like you would your sister, which was something she misinterpreted as love." said Ernest as Dom sighed in relief at the reply.

"Thank you Grandfather... for a moment I thought that I did in some way." said Dom.

"Does Natasha think you did?" asked Ernest as Dom nodded.

"Well she doesn't really think that, she's just upset in the moment, even she knows that there was never a distinction between her and Cecilia when it came to the way they related with you." said Ernest in an unbiased tone.

"Just rest at ease my boy and have some lunch with me before you return." said Ernest with a smile as Dom nodded.