Apollo clamped his lips shut quickly, regretting what he had said. Normally, he would be proud of himself. But now...Claire was pregnant with his child. He had to tread carefully.
"If I had known that it was you that night....." Claire started.
"Stop." Wilder cut in. "You two should go to separate corners and take a deep breath for a moment. This is not some playground fight over a toy. You have a baby on the way and both of you want to keep this child. There are no ifs."
"But there can be refunds." Claire said.
Mrs. Ashford gasped. "Refund? What do you mean by refund?"
Wilder cackled. "She means that your son is not worth the price of admission. Either that or she wants to sleep with him again and get him pregnant too. Perhaps she has a way of transferring the baby from her womb to his. In a way, that is also a refund."
"I don’t have a womb, and I definitely can’t get pregnant!" Apollo exclaimed loudly.
Wilder seemed to be coming to the same realization.
"Maybe we should call Lemon for a verification on that." Claire muttered.
Her words made her grandfather burst into a fit of laughter.
Mrs. Ashford scratched one of her eyebrows with a frown. This conversation was not going in the way she expected. "Can we come back to the real world. To this moment. I understand that we have all been thrown together rather abruptly. And not all of us like each other. But--"
"I like you just fine." Wilder cut in, with a welcoming smile.
Mrs. Ashford returned a stiff smile. "Well, thank you. As I was saying..."
"Aren’t you going to say it back?" Wilder cut in again, staring directly at Mrs. Ashford.
Claire covered her mouth and swallowed the laughter that wanted to break free. Apollo looked up at the ceiling, raising his hands halfway. He looked like he was praying silently.
Paisley Ashford took a deep breath and recited the phone number of her therapist. When she was calm enough, she looked at Wilder and said slowly, "I like you too. Now, on the subject of our children and the baby, I believe that our families must come to an understanding. We have to handle the situation and ourselves like learned adults."
"But some adults here still put ketchup in instant noodles," Claire muttered.
Apollo sent a look that warned her to shut up.
Paisley cleared her throat. "It’s this kind of muttering and threatening glares that we must do away with first. Claire and Apollo, if you are going to raise a child together, you need to find a way to do more than simply tolerate each other. Your words and actions will affect your child. Both of you must learn to cooperate."
Claire cut her off. "Cooperate? With him? I am afraid you don’t know how things ended whenever the two of us were assigned as partners or put in the same group for assignments. It always ended with one of us losing some hair or badly bruised. I would rather wrestle a crocodile than cooperate with him."
"She always lost to me." Apollo grinned.
Claire lunged again, but Wilder yanked her back, muttering, "Lord save me from hot-headed granddaughters. If you kill him now, who will pay child support?"
Mrs. Ashford pressed her lips together, clearly regretting ever leaving her mansion. She glanced at the childish yellow wallpaper, the family photos where Claire’s pictures had obviously been pasted in where someone else used to be. Her nostrils caught the faint smell of fried fish lingering in the air.
Wilder noticed. "Don’t worry dear, this house may be smaller than you are used to but it’s sturdy. Unlike your son’s ego which collapses faster than a cheap umbrella."
Apollo sputtered. "Wait...what?" How had his ego come into the conversation? This old woman just enjoyed picking on him whenever she got the chance. Like when she likened his eyes to rats, or something like that.
Claire decided to choose silence, and so did everyone else. The air became tense and awkward for a moment.
Finally, Wilder spoke first. "Does anyone need more iced tea?"
Nobody wanted more.
Mrs. Ashford leaned forward. "I have just one question right now. Is it possible for us to have a civil conversation today? No quirky comebacks, no name calling."
Claire rushed to reply. "I am civil." She longed very much to accuse Apollo of being a barbarian, but she also wanted to prove that she was not the problem, so she swallowed those words. But there was nothing more uncomfortable for Claire in the world than letting Apollo Ashford off the hook. The discomfort showed on her face.
Wilder looked between Apollo and Claire and decided to put Claire first. In the end, they needed Apollo’s connections to keep Claire and the baby safe. It would not do them well to antagonize the Ashfords. "Then, let’s just discuss one thing today. One small thing. Claire, Apollo, I am sure one or both of you will want a DNA test in the future that proves that Apollo is the baby’s father.’
"Yes." Claire said firmly.
His mother nodded. "Naturally." All Ashford children were tested at birth to prevent future complications.
Apollo also nodded.
It was something so simple, but it made Mrs. Ashford feel at ease. If this family had refused the DNA test, she would have been suspicious.
"The next question is on how deeply you both want to be involved in the life of the baby." Wilder said in a rare, serious voice.
Claire raised her hand, even though she did not need to. "It’s my child. I will be involved in his or her life forever. If you are thinking of suing for custodial rights, I will fight you. I...am raising my child."
Apollo closed his eyes for a few seconds and calmed himself. When he opened them, he looked at Claire. This time, he decided to choose his words more carefully. "I will be a good father. I also plan to raise my child; there is no question about it. I won’t fight you for custody, but I want to be involved in every step of our child’s life. I don’t plan to start showing up after the baby is born, I plan to start now.
Every kick, every doctor’s appointment. If Claire has morning sickness, I will hold her hair back. If she has cravings for a pickle slice inside an Oreo, dipped in milk, in the middle of the night, I want to be the one who handles it. Pregnancy and child raising classes, I will be there."
Claire looked at him in shock and horror. Apollo Ashford holding her hair back while she puked! Was he being nice or looking for blackmail material?