Chapter 24

He breathed a sigh of relief, which must have looked odd because she had not let him off. Seeing her confused expression, he explained. "I'm not planning anything against our son. This means you will not have anything to punish me for. On the other hand, you do not need to get your hands dirty. You can have me deal with the villains you want out of your way."

She didn't say a word but her expression called him out for spouting too much nonsense.

He didn't blame her for not trusting him even though he meant everything he had just said. They were his family but that did not mean he was going to let them off for what they did to her and Angel in the past.

"Papa!" An excited voice rang out before the boy slotted himself between them and hugged Damon. He then turned to Avery and hugged her legs while mumbling "Mommy."

She looked down at him with a smile and picked him up. "Why are you not sleeping yet?"

He didn't say a word and rested his head on her chest. Apparently, he had forgotten that he had just played with her and Damon for most of the morning and was treating this as his first meeting with them since morning. It was bittersweet.

Tousling his hair, she guessed that it was because she had not taken him out to play like she did on all the other weekends. It must have messed up with his mind that seemed scheduled to look forward to certain things on specific days.

"Angel, do you want to go out with papa tomorrow? I can take you to the zoo." Damon suggested.

Avery gave him a glare that said, "I know what you are doing."

That did nothing to dampen his enthusiasm as he vehemently promised the boy that he would be able to see all sorts of interesting animals. He even leaned over to half-whisper, "I will show you what your mommy is scared of. She's a scaredy cat."

"I'm still here, you know." She harrumphed and he laughed.

"She's scared of deer." He sounded like his words were meant for Angel but he was indirectly jabbing her.

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"I'm not."

"Are too."

The banter continued for so long that Angel started to sway his head to the rhythm.

___

Six years ago.

"Hey, angel." Damon greeted excitedly when he managed to find Avery before she left class. He was just in time. She was putting her belongings together and she would have left if he was half a second late.

She turned around to face him and chuckled when she saw that it was him, even though she had already guessed it from the form of address. "Why do you keep calling me that?" She asked with an amused smile.

He planted himself on the empty seat next to her, resting his head in his palm to get a clear view of her beautiful face. "That's because good things started happening in my life since you appeared in it. Isn't that the most obvious characteristic of an angel? Not to mention, you are so beautiful. You must be an angel."

She shook her head and laughed as she closed her bag after dropping her phone and notepad in. "How cheesy. Is that the line to try and charm all the girls on campus?"

"No. I only want to charm you." He flirted. It was surprising how he managed to do it without having the urge to bolt away like he did in the past.

She slung her bag on one shoulder and looked at him. "Well, I'm not charmed. You will have to try harder than that."

"Does that mean I have permission to sweep you off your feet?" He stood to follow her when she started making her way through the row of seats.

"You can try." As soon as her words were out, he bent slightly and picked her into his arms. She yelped in shock. "What the hell?!"

She comprehended his actions as soon as he laughed. She rolled her eyes. "Put me down."

"I will if you agree to let me drop you off."

She was embarrassed so she nodded without thinking through it. "Okay, put me down!"

He smiled after getting a chance he had not even dared to think about. He led her to his car and opened the door for her, closing it when she settled in the shotgun seat.

The ride was silent at first, with her shrinking in her seat and making him wonder what was going through her mind. When he saw a sliver of her flushed cheeks, he finally understood it. She was shy! Was it because he had literally swept her off her feet?

A thud jolted him out of his thoughts, followed by her panicked scream when they jerked forward from the sudden impact.

"You hit someone!" Her face was pale with fright.

He cursed under his breath and got out to take a look. She followed him in panic and he held her shoulders to calm her down. "It's a deer."

"You hit a deer?!" She looked even more scared than she did when she thought it was a person.

"It's alive, luckily. It doesn't look injured. We can take it to a vet nearby."

She didn't hear a word he said because she had broken down in tears of horror.