Chapter Eight-REX
1704 Words
I still couldn’t explain it.
Even as I stood inside the courthouse that afternoon, watching Mian stand beside me, I couldn’t understand how a man could make a decision like this.
How could someone love a child that much after knowing him for only a few days?
Was it love?
Was it pity?
Was it simply the kind of person Mian was?
I didn’t know.
And perhaps I never would.
Mian had made one thing very clear from the beginning.
He didn’t want a big wedding.
No cameras.
No newspapers.
No business associates.
No grand ballroom filled with hundreds of people.
Nothing.
He wanted a courthouse.
Something small.
Something quiet.
Something that belonged only to us.
At first, I’d assumed he was trying to avoid attention.
But deep down, I knew the truth.
He didn’t want the world thinking he had married me for my money.
Because he hadn’t.
He was marrying me for Kai.
Only Kai.
And somehow, that realization hurt more than I expected.
I stood beside him in my black suit, my hands clasped loosely in front of me.
Mian stood beside me in white.
A clean, perfectly fitted white suit.
He looked…
Radiant.
There was something almost unfair about how beautiful he looked.
His dark hair was neatly styled, his face calm, and his eyes soft.
White.
That was what he looked like.
Pure.
Warm.
Like something untouched by the darkness I’d spent years carrying.
And then there was me.
Black.
Dark.
Grief.
Five years of it.
Standing beside him.
It almost felt symbolic.
Mian looked like salvation.
I looked like the man who desperately needed saving.
The judge began speaking.
I barely heard the words.
I was too busy watching Mian.
Then it was time for the vows.
I went first.
My vows were simple.
“I promise to stand beside you as your husband. I promise to support you, respect you, and protect you. I promise to do my best to build a life with you.”
The words felt strange in my mouth.
Because I wasn’t sure I knew how to build a life with someone anymore.
Then the judge turned to Mian.
He looked at me.
For a moment, I thought he would say something romantic.
Something about love.
Something about our future.
Instead, he smiled softly.
“I promise to be there for you as your husband. I promise to support you, to respect you, and to stand beside you.”
He paused.
Then his eyes moved toward Kai.
My son was sitting beside Daniel.
Watching us.
Mian’s expression softened.
“And I promise to love your child.”
My heart stopped.
He continued.
“I promise to be patient with him. To care for him. To support him. To be someone he can depend on.”
The judge smiled.
But I couldn’t.
Because suddenly I understood.
Mian wasn’t really making vows to me.
Not entirely.
He was making promises to Kai.
He was standing in front of a judge, wearing white, promising a five-year-old boy that he wasn’t going anywhere.
And somehow, that hurt.
Because I knew exactly why he was doing it.
He was marrying me because of my son.
Not because of me.
The judge pronounced us married.
People clapped quietly.
Daniel smiled.
My father-in-law shook my hand.
Kai jumped up immediately.
“Daddy!”
I looked at him.
He ran toward Mian.
Not me.
Mian opened his arms and caught him.
And there it was again.
That strange, effortless connection.
As if they had known each other for years.
⸻
We went to the hotel afterward.
I’d reserved a private room for lunch.
It was supposed to be a celebration.
Nothing extravagant.
Just family.
My father-in-law.
Daniel.
Kai.
Mian.
And me.
We sat around the table, eating and talking.
But I wasn’t really listening.
I was watching them.
Mian sat beside Kai.
He helped him with his food.
Cut his chicken.
Made sure he drank water.
Then Kai pushed the vegetables around his plate.
Mian noticed immediately.
“Finish your vegetables.”
Kai looked at him.
“But—”
“No.”
Mian gave him that look.
The one parents gave children.
“Finish them.”
Kai sighed.
“Okay.”
And he did.
Without an argument.
Without complaining.
He simply ate them.
Daniel looked amused.
My father-in-law looked surprised.
I just stared.
How had Mian done that?
Kai barely listened to anyone.
But Mian said one sentence, and my son immediately obeyed.
Then Kai looked up.
“Doctor Mian.”
Mian turned.
“Yes, baby?”
Everyone at the table went quiet.
Kai looked between us.
“Since you married my papa…”
He paused.
“Does that make you my daddy?”
Silence.
I stopped breathing.
Mian looked at him.
There was no hesitation.
No uncertainty.
He smiled.
“Yes, sweetheart.”
Kai’s eyes widened.
“I am your daddy now.”
My chest tightened.
Kai smiled.
“Can I call you Daddy?”
Mian reached across the table and gently touched his cheek.
“Of course, baby.”
Kai immediately beamed.
“Daddy.”
Mian smiled.
“Yes?”
“I have two daddies!”
Everyone laughed.
Except me.
I couldn’t.
I was too busy trying to understand what I was witnessing.
My son had accepted Mian without hesitation.
And Mian had accepted the title without fear.
Daddy.
That was what he had become in Kai’s eyes.
In less than a week.
I looked down at my plate.
For five years, I’d struggled to become enough for my son.
Mian had done it without even trying.
And suddenly I wondered whether I’d been looking at fatherhood the wrong way all along.
⸻
The afternoon passed peacefully.
There was laughter.
Conversation.
Food.
Kai spent most of the time beside Mian.
At some point, I caught my father-in-law watching them.
His eyes were complicated.
Perhaps he didn’t understand his son’s decision either.
But he accepted it.
Before we left, he approached Mian.
“I know this wasn’t the wedding you dreamed of.”
Mian smiled.
“I’m happy.”
His father nodded.
Then he reached into his jacket.
“I want you to have this.”
He handed Mian an envelope.
Mian looked surprised.
“Dad…”
“Take it.”
Mian opened it.
Inside was a letter and a check.
He stared at them.
“I don’t need this.”
“I know.”
His father smiled faintly.
“That’s precisely why I want you to have it.”
Mian’s eyes softened.
“Thank you.”
His father hugged him.
I looked away.
There was something intimate about watching a father hug his son.
Something I’d never known.
Something I couldn’t quite understand.
Maybe that was why I suddenly felt like an outsider at my own wedding.
⸻
By the time we left the hotel, it was already evening.
Kai was exhausted.
He fell asleep almost immediately in the back seat.
Mian sat beside him.
I drove.
For several minutes, none of us spoke.
The city lights passed outside the windows.
I glanced at the rearview mirror.
Mian was watching Kai sleep.
He reached over and gently pulled the blanket higher over him.
Then he looked toward the window.
His wedding ring caught the light.
My husband.
The thought still felt strange.
Mian was my husband.
And yet, somehow, the only person he seemed completely committed to was my son.
I tightened my hands around the steering wheel.
“Mian.”
He looked at me.
“Yes?”
“Are you sure?”
He knew what I meant.
He looked at me for a few seconds.
Then he glanced at Kai.
“I’m sure.”
“You barely know me.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“I know that too.”
I frowned.
“Then why?”
He smiled faintly.
“Because Kai needs someone.”
I didn’t respond.
His answer hurt.
Not because it was cruel.
Because it was honest.
He wasn’t pretending.
He hadn’t fallen in love with me.
He hadn’t married me because he wanted me.
He had chosen my son.
And perhaps that was the most selfless thing anyone had ever done for me.
I looked at the road.
After a few minutes, I asked quietly,
“Do you regret it?”
Mian looked at me.
“No.”
His answer came immediately.
“Not even a little?”
He shook his head.
“No.”
I didn’t know what to say.
So I kept driving.
The gates to my estate eventually appeared in the distance.
They opened as soon as the security team recognized my car.
I drove through.
Mian sat quietly beside me.
His eyes moved across the property.
This was the first time he had ever been here.
His new home.
Our home.
Kai’s home.
I parked beneath the entrance.
The engine went silent.
For a moment, none of us moved.
Then Kai stirred in the back seat.
“Daddy?”
Mian turned immediately.
“I’m here, sweetheart.”
Kai smiled sleepily.
“We’re home?”
“Yes.”
Mian unbuckled his seat belt.
“We’re home.”
I looked at him.
He said we.
Not you.
Not Kai.
We.
And somehow, that one word affected me more than all the vows we’d exchanged that afternoon.
Because maybe Mian didn’t see this as a sacrifice anymore.
Maybe, somehow, he was beginning to see us as his family.
I got out of the car.
Mian opened the back door and carefully lifted Kai into his arms.
Kai immediately wrapped his little arms around his neck.
“Daddy…”
“I’m here.”
I watched them walk toward the house.
My husband carrying my son.
And for the first time in five years, I didn’t see the day Kai was born.
I didn’t see the hospital.
I didn’t see my wife dying.
I didn’t see the grief.
I saw something else.
A future.
And it terrified me.
Because I didn’t know if I deserved it.
But I knew one thing.
Mian had walked into our lives willingly.
He had chosen Kai.
And now, somehow, I had to learn how to choose them both.
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