Chapter 31
"How do we know each other?" She asked sternly and looked at Damon. If this was one of his sly plans, she was not going to let him off.
"We met during one of my errands." Mabella explained how she and Angel first met. "I gave him a hug and then I saw you…"
"So that's how Damon knew about Angel." Avery interrupted and looked at both of them skeptically. "Did you also tell him about Damon? Is that how he recognized him when I thought they were meeting for the first time?"
"I'm sorry." Mabella whispered. "I couldn't keep it to myself after finding out that my brother had a son."
"Just get lost." Avery waved her off.
"Well, Angel doesn't look like he wants me to get lost." She looked down at the boy who had fallen asleep in her arms.
Avery glared at her and huffed but remained silent. She was not going to be ungrateful when Mabella had helped her calm him down. The boy stirred when she tried to take him into her arms so she let him be.
"What do we do now?" Damon asked. He was referring to their initial plans of going to the zoo. Angel would probably be in no mood to go after the meltdown that just happened. They would have to do something else.
"I'll make breakfast for my baby. You crawl back to whatever snake hole you slithered out of." She pushed her hand against Damon's chest dismissively.
He chuckled even though he was being discarded. "I don't understand. Am I a snake or a rodent here? Because snakes don't crawl."
"Are you asking for a beating?" Her eyes narrowed threateningly.
"Actually, make that a hug or a kiss." He leaned over to present his lips for her to kiss.
"Knee in your balls coming right up." She threatened.
He shuffled back to the couch beside Mabella. "On second thought, I'll just sit here and watch my son sleep. And probably wait for your unreliable pediatrician to drop by so I can give him a piece of my mind.
Her hands flew to her hips. "You have no right to say a word about him!"
As if on cue, Chris arrived, gasping after having run all the way.
"Avery! Is everything alright?"
"It is now." Damon stood to face Chris with a furrow of his brows.
Chris glanced at Angel who was asleep then at Mabella and Avery. "Is he alright?"
"You don't have to worry about him anymore." Her tone was cold with displeasure.
Chris looked at Damon and assessed him. "Are you Angel's father?"
"Dr. Chris, I don't think that's any of your business." Avery frowned in disapproval.
Damon shot a sharp glare at Chris. What right did he have to question him regarding Avery and Angel?
_____
Six years ago.
"Hey angel." Damon jovially chirped when he finally found Avery. He had been unable to see her all week and it had a lot to do with the fact that she was preparing for her task.
She turned when she saw him, slinging her bag around her shoulder as she faced him. "I should start charging a fee for every time you call me that."
"Is it okay to pay up in bulk in advance? Because I know I'll do that often." He scratched the back of his head.
He had thought that she was using the project as an excuse to avoid him but seeing as she wasn't trying to avoid the conversation or leave, he was relieved.
He flashed a grin as he announced. "Guess what? You are my partner for the assigned tasks! I still can't believe it."
"You better believe it. You arranged it after all." She mercilessly revealed what she knew, about him using underhanded means to make her his partner.
For the project this time, they were paired up so they would work in teams, and she was yet to know who her teammate would be until a few minutes ago.
"How is this going to work, exactly? Because I'm not going to use my imaginary celestial powers to get things done." She crossed her arms as she eyed him pointedly.
He sported a brilliant smile.
"It will work perfectly. We can have a whole day of work with no play and then a day of all play with no work. I'll definitely enjoy the latter a lot more but first, we can have our day full of work and get the task done with." He winked.