Afton Random Books

Main AU: Papa

[Past Timeline: TW! Sensitive topic!]

=o^o=

Oliver exhaled tiredly, he stared out the kitchen window to stare at the night sky. He could dimly see his reflection in the window; longer hair, thick eye bags, and obvious fatigue. He pinched the bridge of his nose, hoping that the dizziness that had hit him would subside, shortly after that he drank his cup of coffee which had cooled down. Oliver cast a glance to the other side of the table after that, a three-year-old boy sat quietly in his chair engrossed in watching the surface of the chocolate milk in the mug he held in his small hand.

His heart sank in pain, Oliver covered his face in exasperation remembering what they had done to his son. The sound of crying still resonates in his head, the screams of his son who refused to be injected with a liquid he didn't know the ingredients of. Oliver regretted bringing him to that place, he hated himself for not being able to go against his wife's words.

He sighed for the umpteenth time, then his blue eyes darted briefly and caught a glimpse of a woman's figure in the distance. He turned his head, Evelyne waved her hand as if telling him to meet her. Oliver frowned, he didn't say anything else but stood up and approached his wife.

"What do you want?" Oliver asked irritatedly, he glanced shortly at William—they were quite a distance from the boy.

Evelyne leaned her side against the wall while folding her arms in front of her chest, the woman immediately said. "Are you free?"

"Why?"

"Let's have sex."

Oliver widened his eyes in instant, looking at the woman in disbelief. "Are you crazy?!" He tried to keep his exclamation from being too loud and attract William's attention, then took a step back from Evelyne. "I just got home from work and I'm tired as fuck! I don't have time for that because you haven't fed William all day either!"

The woman in front of him just rolled her eyes in boredom. "Is that really a problem? At least that useless brat is still alive, don't be dramatic." Evelyne stepped closer to Oliver. "And we'd better hurry to have a daughter, therefore, let's do it now."

Evelyne tugged at Oliver's hand, but to her surprise Oliver jerked his hand away and looked furious. "Haven't you ever thought about what you've done to William?" Oliver snarled. "You've crossed your line. I will—"

"What? You're going to divorce me?" Evelyne cut Oliver off quickly, Oliver gasped. "You know we can't do that even if we wanted to, what will our families say then? They're watching us. After all, what are you going to feed your family if you divorce me? You're just a poor man, Oliver. Your life depends on me, so do what I want." Evelyne's gaze sharpened to the brown-haired man who seemed speechless. "Also, William shows absolutely no effect after Harrison injected him, why are you worried? He really is useless."

"He's still my son." Oliver pursed his lips together, he tried not to flinch after hearing what Evelyne said. "And you can't force me to have an intercourse with you, without my consent it's called harassment."

Right after saying that, Evelyne snorted and laughed. Oliver frowned deeply. "You're so funny, Oliver. Men cannot get raped."

The corner of Oliver's eyes twitched in annoyance, this woman really wasn't educated at all. Oliver gritted his teeth, he put a determined expression that he still stuck to his words. "I don't want to and I'm not going to change my answer," Oliver said firmly, making Evelyne huff. "If you really want to have a daughter, you can adopt one. I don't want to have sex with someone like you."

After he said that, he left Evelyne there alone, not noticing that Evelyne was holding some drugs in the pocket of her gown and smiled faintly.

Oliver stepped angrily toward the door of the house, intending to get some fresh air at night. He grabbed the coat that was hanging on the hanger near the door full of exasperation, then he grabbed the wooden doorknob and opened it roughly, he was slightly surprised to hear a small crash accompanied by a low groaning sound. Oliver looked down, somewhat panicked at the realization that he had accidentally knocked William into the open door—he had been completely oblivious to his son following him, that boy was too small for his age.

The man crouched down to match their heights, staring at William who was rubbing his red forehead worriedly. "Sorry, William," Oliver said, he took a small breath as he pulled William into his arms. William just laughed heartily and hugged him back, Oliver smiled guiltily.

"Pa-p-papa!"

Oliver froze, his eyes wide open, he fixed his gaze on his son who was smiling broadly at him. Once again felt his heart sank, this time a pleasant warm sensation. He really didn't expect it, didn't expect at all that William's first word after three years of no progress at all with speech was that word. William never spoke, and the first thing William said was to call him papa.

"Papa?"

William called out to him like that again, this time tilting his head in confusion, apparently not understanding why he just kept silent. Oliver felt his fingers tremble slightly, he held William's shoulder gently. "Go back to your room," he said quietly.

He watched William turn around and walk away, though he occasionally glanced at him doubtfully. Oliver then stepped out and closed the door.

---

Oliver had no idea how many hours he had spent here, sitting by the river late into the night. Crying. He cried over all the things that spilled over from his mind, all the burdens that had piled up, but most of all was how William called him like that. His tears didn't stop at all, his heart felt very warm, but he felt guilty at the same time. He couldn't be a good role model to William. The more he thought about it, the louder his sobs became.

When this will come to an end?

He desperately wanted to end it all, end his suffering and end his son's. However, he knew he had to be strong to stay afloat, at least for William. Oliver wiped the tears that rolled down, then tried to calm down. He looked up at the night sky without stars, only a crescent moon. It must have been past midnight, he couldn't leave William with Evelyne for too long.

So Oliver stood up. For a moment he made sure there were no more tears and pain left. He stared at the river in front of him with a look that couldn't be interpreted at all, he would have turned around and left that place if only he didn't find something suspicious coming from the direction of the river. Oliver squinted his eyes, then gaped as he realized what he was seeing. He ran into the river, without thinking he entered the river, not caring that his clothes were wet.

Oliver grabbed the small body in a frantic, then brought it quickly to the edge. He laid the child to the ground, his skin was so pale and blood pouring from his head, staining his black hair. He checked his breathing briefly, then placed both palms on his chest, after that Oliver pressed his chest several times while counting the seconds of time. For a while he did that, hoping he could still save the boy—his smile widened as the boy suddenly opened his eyes and spit water from his mouth.

While waiting for the boy to finish spitting up water and coughing, Oliver glanced at the wet bracelet on the boy's wrist. There was a name;

Vincent Morgan.