Yes, I Have a Child with the Villain

"Did you and Mommy fight again? Why has Mommy been coming home so late these past few days?" Ryan Grant asked, sitting on the sofa and dangling his short little legs with a whine.

"No," Adrian Grant denied, thinking of their conversation that night. "Mommy’s just been busy with work lately."

"Oh."

Adrian Grant patted his back. "Go take a bath. It’s time for bed."

"No, I want to wait for Mommy to come back and sleep with her tonight," Ryan Grant pleaded, hugging his arm and shaking it.

Just then, with a CLICK, the door opened.

Caroline Whitman was home early tonight, arriving at nine.

"Mommy, you’re home! I missed you so much! I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever."

Ryan Grant dashed over to greet Caroline Whitman.

"Why aren’t you asleep yet?" She’d heard from Miss King and Adrian Grant that the little guy had been going to bed early recently, so why was he still in the living room when she got home today?

Adrian Grant said, "You’ve been working late these past few days. Ryan felt like he hadn’t seen you in a long time, so he’s been waiting for you to come back tonight."

"Alright, Mommy’s home now. Go take your bath," Adrian Grant urged again, getting up and walking over.

But Ryan Grant tilted his little head up, his eyes darting back and forth between the two of them. "Daddy, whenever Mommy used to come home, you’d always give her a kiss. Why didn’t you today?"

"..."

"..."

Ryan Grant had said this before, but they had both just pretended not to hear and brushed it off. Besides, Adrian Grant had only just reappeared in the child’s life at that time, so Ryan hadn’t brought it up again.

This time, however, the little guy stared at them with wide, innocent eyes, looking as if he was determined to see them show some affection.

The two exchanged a glance. Caroline Whitman didn’t move. She remembered the terms of their agreement.

’Unless it was a special situation, there was no need to put on a show for their son.’

’This probably didn’t count as a special situation.’

’Kids were easy to placate; he’d get over it.’

Caroline Whitman lowered her gaze to Tiny, her lips parting as she was about to say something.

Suddenly, a cool shadow loomed over her.

With her eyes still lowered, she first glimpsed the long legs beneath his perfectly creased trousers, then the sharply tailored shirt above them. For some reason, her breath caught in her throat.

She felt a sudden tightness around her waist as a large, warm hand wrapped around it. Caroline Whitman froze instantly.

Adrian Grant looked down, his dark eyes behind the clear lenses as deep as the night. The moment their gazes met, Caroline Whitman’s heart skipped a beat. For a split second, she almost saw a phantom of the scene from that night in the room.

Caroline Whitman pressed her lips together, her gaze falling uncontrollably to his lips.

Then, she saw those beautifully shaped lips slowly draw near, but they didn’t land where she expected.

Instead, they landed gently, tenderly, on her forehead.

The touch was fleeting.

Though she was mentally prepared, Caroline Whitman was still taken aback, and a sudden heat rushed to her ears.

She subconsciously lifted a hand to rub her earlobe.

Ryan Grant clapped his hands with a giggle. "Mommy’s turn to kiss!"

Caroline Whitman: ’Huh? I have a part to play too?’

Having no other choice, Caroline Whitman went along with it, placing her hands on his arms, rising slightly onto her tiptoes, and planting a quick kiss on his cheek.

It was also a fleeting peck, over in a flash.

But even so, the soft feel of Adrian Grant’s cheek still lingered on Caroline Whitman’s lips.

Adrian Grant released the hand on her waist, turned to look down at the little guy, and ruffled his hair. "Time to go take your bath."

His wish granted, Ryan Grant raised his hands and shouted happily, "I want a kiss from Daddy and Mommy too before I’ll go take my bath!"

Caroline Whitman helplessly poked his forehead. "You little rascal."

The two of them crouched down and kissed the little guy’s cheek. Only then was Ryan Grant satisfied, letting Adrian Grant lead him away to his bath.

It was time for bed.

After working late for so long, tonight was the night Caroline Whitman would once again share a bed with Adrian Grant.

This time, Ryan Grant didn’t ask them to tell him a story.

The small night-light was switched off, and the room plunged into darkness.

Perhaps because of her early mornings and late nights, Caroline Whitman was exhausted. Just as her eyelids were about to close, she lifted the covers to get up, only to hear the little guy’s soft, sweet voice. "Mommy, where are you going?"

"..."

"Why aren’t you asleep yet?" came Adrian Grant’s deep voice.

"Should we tell you a story?" Caroline Whitman offered.

Ryan Grant’s voice piped up in the darkness. "No, I have to learn to sleep without a story, otherwise it’ll become a bad habit. If Mommy and Daddy aren’t with me one day, then I won’t be able to sleep."

’Heh, he’s quite the smooth-talker.’

’She had a reasonable suspicion that Ryan Grant had figured something out.’

And indeed, Ryan Grant had sensed something was off. He had seen what a truly loving couple looked like, and it wasn’t like his mommy and daddy now, who barely exchanged ten sentences after coming home.

’Hmph, they must have had a fight.’

’Thinking of sneaking off to the spare bedroom once I’m asleep? Not a chance!’

When it came to a battle of wills to stay awake, an adult’s energy was no match for a child’s.

After an unknown amount of time, Ryan Grant heard the two steady breathing patterns beside him. He whispered, "Daddy, Mommy," and when there was no response, he climbed out of bed and ran barefoot back to his own little room.

In truth, he didn’t like sleeping with adults anyway. The two of them would sleep back-to-back, and when they pulled on the blanket, he’d be lying in the middle with a draft blowing in.

’Sigh, the woes of being a child.’

「The next morning.」

Caroline Whitman’s alarm was the first to go off.

Eyes still half-closed, she subconsciously reached to her left to turn off the alarm on her phone, only to find that what she touched didn’t feel right.

’Why is it a person?’

’A grown-up, at that!’

Caroline Whitman’s eyes flew open in horror, and in the dim light, she saw a familiar silhouette.

It wasn’t Ryan Grant.

It was Adrian Grant.

The last vestiges of sleepiness vanished from Caroline Whitman in an instant.

Only then did she realize she was pillowed on Adrian Grant’s bent arm, half her body cradled in his embrace.

Their intimate posture, pressed closely together, was undeniably amorous.

Her movement startled Adrian Grant awake as well.

Just like Caroline Whitman, he first froze for a moment, then immediately realized what had happened.

The curtains were very effective at blocking the light.

Outside, the sky was already brightening, but the room was still as dark as night.

With a CLICK, Adrian Grant calmly reached out and turned on the light.

The warm yellow light clearly illuminated their current positions.

The alarm was still ringing.

It was as if it were reminding them of their current posture.

Caroline Whitman was the first to react, scrambling out of his embrace to grab her phone and turn off the alarm.

Finally, she scanned the king-size bed. The little guy was gone.

’That kid. Don’t tell me he snuck out in the middle of the night to sleep by himself again.’

Adrian Grant also sat up, leaning against the headboard. He had likely guessed what happened and sounded a bit resigned.

"The boy probably went back to his room to sleep in the middle of the night, after we fell asleep."

’No wonder he didn’t want them to tell him a story last night.’

’That way, they would all lie in bed and drift off to sleep without realizing it.’

’It was just that...’

’They were both normally well-behaved sleepers; they were perfectly fine when they slept alone.’

’Even when they slept separately with their son, this sort of thing never happened.’

’So how did they end up rolling into each other when they slept together?’

Caroline Whitman shot him a look, launching a preemptive strike. "Do you normally like to cuddle with people when you sleep?"