Chapter eighty-nine: "Pulp"

It took a long time but Juliet and Romeo managed to reach the manor. Juliet's eyes landed on me so she hurriedly reached me

Romeo carried most of the heavy stuff
They haven't announced the pregnancy yet

Lilia noticed how chirpy Juliet was and the look on Romeo's face was filled with concern and worry but there was no doubt that happiness filled in his eyes

She leaned back "Alright, spit it out loser"

Romeo turned his head to Lilia and pointed at himself. Lilia is his little sister so Romeo has the same striking blue eyes like she has

"So I have an announcement" Juliet squealed as the rest of the cousins and brothers leaned in to listen

"I'm pregnant," She said

It was hard not to laugh at their confused faces, especially Lilia who almost dropped her glass full of champagne "Excuse me, what?"

Romeo rolled his eyes at her "I'm gonna become a father you dumbass"

Lilia nodded her head "Yeah I get that but you? BECOMING A FATHER?!" she said in a state of shock
Out of everybody within our circle who heard the announcement, only Lilia was shocked that her jaw dropped

Her loud voice caught the attention of all of the adults in the room but mostly Romeo and Lilia's parents. Romeo's Dad ears perked up "What's this about becoming a father"

"Why don't you ask about becoming a grandfather?" Noah joked

Romeo's Mom knew instantly right after she checks her husband's confused expression "OH MY GOD, SHE'S PREGNANT, HONEY, SHE'S PREGNANT!!!" she shook her husband violently like she didn't know he heard it

Harper, who was Romeo's Mom twisted her head to Ava's direction where we saw her drinking something warm next to the fireplace

"Mama, I'm gonna have a grandbaby!" Harper cheered and everybody started to congratulate Juliet and Romeo

Ava sighed "I'm getting old"

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Some of the adults were now tired of having their long conversations with each other, so they decided to watch Benji's reaction to their gifts with curious eyes

The only gift left unopened was mine, compared to the gifts Benjamin's relatives gave to him, mine was small but not so small that it fits the palm of his hands

His hands reached for the gift and read what I wrote on the wish tag that I tie up near the ribbon, he grinned widely
I only wrote there my best wishes for him and please handle the gift with care

Since everybody's main topic was usually about me, all of them snickered and made comments about the gift. Juliet gave me a concerned look so I returned it with a reassuring smile

Lance raised a brow "A snowglobe? What can a little boy do with a snow globe?"

Cloud glared at his uncle while sitting beside me with one arm behind me laid on top of the backrest of the couch, like it was a way to project to his family that he wasn't in the mood to chat

I didn't care about their hushed mean comments because my main focus was if Benji liked my gift or not, his little green eyes shake the snow globe to make the snow inside move

In the process he found the key to play the music box that I built inside
Making that gift took me 3 weeks to make it perfect with the help of someone experienced thanks to Cloud's contacts, so it can play the music without sounding weird

Those little fingers touched the key and started twisting it clockwise. Everybody became silent when Sophia's lullaby started playing in the music box

Her meadow eyes glowed with amazement that she left Theo's side on the couch and walked over to Benjamin who was sitting on the rug listening to the music box

Ava knew immediately that it was the same lullaby that she taught Sophia so the music box also piqued her interest "What a lovely gift" she softly said as she sway a little when her eyelids close

Unlike Sophia's side of the family, Theo's side was more surprised

All of them knew the lullaby by heart.

Lilia closed her eyes and sigh "This brings back memories of when Cloud was still scrawny"

All of the cousins and brothers laughed and giggled at Cloud who shot her the look in the eye to shut up, he wasn't angry about it so it is just playful teasing

He wasn't embarrassed by his old self when he became scrawny but was immensely shy and embarrassed about his pictures as a chubby kid

The music box slowly slowed down until the song finally ended

What all of us didn't notice is that the birthday celebrant was fast asleep in his mother's arms, Sophia chuckled before asking Liam to help her bring Benji to his bedroom so he could sleep soundly

"Looks like he used up all of his energy," Dustin said before pouring himself some wine that he grabbed from one of their girl cousins then drank it

Oliver grinned and Mason snorted before saying "Benji must've woke up extra early"

With all the little kids being sent to their beds since they were all asleep, now the people that remained are the adult and teenagers in the room

Nobody can deny that there is this tension forming among the adults, Cloud, and I. Mostly that Theo was busy drinking

Romeo knew what was about to go down so he pulled his pregnant wife closer to him to lessen her stress

With no one wanting to start a conversation, Lance took the chance to be a little drunk and started to laugh a little. Everybody started to exchange glances as if they think Lance was going crazy
Sophia must be extremely concerned about this kind of behavior

Sophia noticed it so she tapped her brother's shoulder "Are you ok? I think you should turn in early" she suggested with her brows furrowed

Lance stopped laughing and looked up at his sister "Sophie, this family is a sitcom on its own" he chuckled darkly

His reply puts Sophia in a difficult position and Theo noticed his wife's distress so he stood up to confront Lance "I think that is enough" he grabbed the beer bottle in his hand and set it down on the table beside him

Something weird is going on that none of us can identify
Maybe it's Lance's interaction with Sophia and Theo

Lance shoved both of his hands in his pant pockets and stared at his sister "Sophia, why did you marry this guy for?" he pointed at Theo

Sophia's eyes showed her true emotion "It's obvious, no need to pretend like an idiot. I love Theo"

Lance scoffed and laughed maniacally "If you love Theo then obviously you love your children, every parent wants to protect their children but... why don't you tell that killer to just die!" he pointed at Cloud and my eyes widened

Only Juliet and I were surprised at what he said but nobody in the room even made a single shock or surprise emotion

Cloud's hands started to shake and he was breathing heavily
God no

Lance pushed Sophia out of the way and angrily stomped his way to Cloud "Don't act like the victim you fucker. You killed my kids"

Theo's hand clenched "Don't you dare blame this on them!" he grabbed Lance's shoulder

"If he and his sister weren't causing such a fuss at the back seat then maybe the accident wouldn't have happened!"

All of it clicked instantly for me, it was easy to connect the dots

The cause of the accident was the storm but also the fuss Cloud and his sister made at the back which made the driver lose focus on the road. Theo and Sophia were mourning but Lance blamed them for his kid's death on Cloud and Meghan

It looks like Theo wanted to form a good relationship with Lance but the accident made a strain that made Lance despise Theo and Cloud who survived the accident

Every word that Lance said to Theo made it get into his brain causing him to despise Cloud for the death of his daughter and the strain on his good relationship with Lance who was his brother in law

If Lance hated Cloud then...at the wedding reception, he wasn't aiming for me. He was aiming at Cloud

It was to embarrass him

Lance was pissed at Cloud who was not responding, so he grabbed his collar to make him stand up and look at him "I hate your existence in this family, not only did you kill my kids but even your sister"

Cloud's eyes started to dart everywhere "I-I didn't kill them"

"Bullshit" he punched Cloud in the face and everybody gasped

The brothers started to stop Lance from trying to attack Cloud who was only there staring at the distance like the situation is not processed in his brain and he refuses to acknowledge it

I hurriedly ran to check his face "Cloud, look at me"

He has a bruised cheek. Cloud's eyes darkened and stood up, I hugged him from behind to try and beg him to not continue the fight
Cloud would be the only person getting hurt in the end

"Cloud please" I begged of him before he took a deep sigh and then took off all of a sudden in frustration. I ran after him but he was too fast that he reached his car and drive off

Nothing is going planned and it only got worst

Without thinking I hurriedly ran back inside the manor and walked into the 2nd living room with narrow eyes set on Lance

He observed my slow movement as I approach him with nothing on my mind anymore

"You can insult me, everything about me" I spoke before my hand quickly pinched his ear and pull him down to my height "But don't ever blame this on Cloud"

Juliet caught on since she was the only family member who knew what I do when I can't think straight "SOMEONE STOP HER! HURRY!" she yelled to the brothers but it was too late

I felt like my mind went blank and my sight turned dark before I started to punch him in his chest. My back now facing him before I kicked my heel of my foot at his face so he dropped his back flat to the ground

Noah grabbed my arm but I pushed him away, Liam try to hug my waist to prevent me from taking another step in beating their uncle to a pulp