15 He wanted the milk

At 7 in the morning, Carson City.

Valerie hurriedly packed a lunchbox into the Barbie-themed pink bag, handing it to Leonne, who looked adorable in black pants, a gray sweater, and white shoes.

"Come on, wait in front. The school bus might be coming soon," she said.

"Are you going to the hospital later?" Leonne asked.

"I'll go when you're back. We'll go together," replied Valerie, looking motherly in her loose gray shirt and white pants. She quickly kissed Leonne's forehead and escorted her to the front.

On the porch, Valerie met Hannah, who was sunbathing with Daniel. The school bus arrived shortly, so she escorted Leonne onto the bus and left her in the care of the driver and her friends.

Valerie approached Hannah again. "After this, you should take breakfast to my mom and others at the hospital," she said.

"Oh, I forgot the name of the hospital... What if I get lost?" Hannah looked uneasy.

"The hospital's name is Carmelo Ezpeleta Hospital, and they're in ward number 155," explained Valerie, entering her monochrome and simple-themed home.

Hannah sighed, then glanced at Daniel, dressed warmly in red, playing in the snow with a small truck and a shovel.

(Horn)

The honk from a red sports car entering the yard caught Hannah and Daniel's attention. The girl immediately carried Daniel, her eyes fixed on the car until she slowly saw Damian step out, smiling at them.

"Who's that handsome man?" Hannah mumbled.

"Dada..." Daniel pointed to Damian.

"What?" Hannah stared at Daniel. "So, he's your dad? His name is Damian?" she wondered, looking at Damian walking towards them with a transparent box containing a red toy car.

"Dada!"

Daniel excitedly struggled to get out of Hannah's arms. She quickly put him down, and he rushed to his father.

Damian crouched, welcoming Daniel and hugging him.

"Oh, good boy!" He smiled warmly, then released the hug and looked at his slightly reddened face. "You shouldn't play outside... It's too cold."

"Snow... I like it..." Daniel pointed to the snowy expanse, holding a shovel.

Damian chuckled. "Oh, so you're going to load snow with your shovel and little truck?"

Daniel nodded.

"You're so smart!" Damian kissed his cheek and then showed a transparent box containing a remote-controlled sports car. "Look... Dada has a sports car for you... We'll run it with a remote control."

Daniel gazed at the mini sports car, then held the box.

"Do you want to play with it?"

"Yes... I want..."

"Alright... Let's play inside." Damian immediately carried Daniel with his right hand while holding the box with his left.

Hannah awkwardly smiled at Damian, but Damian remained silent with his poker face, proceeding to the living room and meeting Valerie, who came out with a blue lunch bag.

"You came too early," Valerie said with a disapproving look.

"Is that a problem?" Damian asked.

Valerie remained silent, then glanced at Hannah.

"Is he Damian?" Hannah whispered.

Valerie nodded slightly.

"Ughh..." Hannah looked at Damian sitting on the sofa with Daniel, opening the box. "He's so cool, and he looks rich!" She exclaimed in a hushed voice, as if admiring Damian.

"If you like, you can approach him..."

"What?"

Hannah widened her eyes.

Valerie just gave a thin smile and then handed the food bag to Hannah. "You better go to the hospital now; I don't want Mom and others to be late for breakfast. Hospital food is surely not delicious."

"Hmm... I'm lazy!" Hannah took the food bag with a pout.

"You have no choice."

"I'll grab my jacket and bag..."

Hannah went to the guest room, while Valerie sat on another sofa, watching Daniel intensely focused on the mini sports car on the floor, and Damian handling the black remote control with his little hand.

"Look... The car is moving!" Damian exclaimed with joy.

Daniel smiled, watching the car stop near Valerie's feet.

"Upss... it stopped at mama's beautiful feet!" Damian whispered near Daniel's ear.

Valerie tried to suppress her smile after hearing that indirect compliment, but she tried to stay cool.

"Mama... I'm so sorry..." Daniel looked at Valerie with a regretful expression.

"It's okay, baby... It's just a little car." Valerie smiled.

Damian continued to maneuver the sports car with the remote control, passing under tables until Valerie felt bored and stood up.

"You should make coffee for your guest," Damian muttered without looking at Valerie.

"Sorry, I forgot..."

"I thought you wouldn't forget, but you wanted to stay close to us..." Damian glanced at Valerie with a teasing smile.

Valerie smirked. "I regret that you came early this morning!"

"You always hide your feelings... You'll regret it later."

"Never!" Valerie immediately left the living room, stopping in her monochrome, simple-designed kitchen, not very spacious and slightly messy.

"I better tidy up this kitchen..." She sighed, starting to organize it.

In the living room, Daniel often yawned, seeming very sleepy. He turned his face from the small sports car, looking towards the door leading to the dining room.

"Mama... I want mama!" He whined.

"Oh... You must be bored..." Damian put the remote control on the table and stood up, carrying Daniel. "Let's go see Mama in the kitchen... She should be back with coffee for dada!" he said with a bit of annoyance.

Daniel remained silent with a sad face until they reached the kitchen.

"He's crying, maybe he's hungry," Damian said, looking at Valerie wiping a white pantry table.

Valerie quickly washed her hands and took a tissue to dry them.

"He already had breakfast at home; maybe he just wants milk," she said, reaching out to Daniel, but suddenly hesitating to pick him up. "Um... I'll get his bottle."

"I thought you were going to breastfeed him directly," Damian said with an innocent look.

Valerie remained silent, taking the breast milk from the fridge and transferring it to the bottle until it was half full. Then she placed it in the bottle warmer.

"Take him to the front," she said.

"Um... Okay. But... Please make coffee for me," Damian replied.

"Yes... I'll make it..."

Damian returned to the living room with Daniel still drinking milk. He sat with him on the sofa, letting him lean on his chest while continuing to drink.

"You're enjoying it so much... Is it delicious?" he asked, smiling and patting Daniel's hair.

Daniel remained silent, and in a blink, his eyes began to close, his mouth still sucking on the pacifier.

"Oh, are you going to sleep?" Damian continued to stroke Daniel's hair, and he eventually fell asleep, dropping the bottle with a little milk left.

Damian picked up the bottle and looked at it. "Is this Valerie's milk? It's not very thick... Is it of good quality for my son?"

Curious, he slowly recalled the moment he spent at the hotel with Valerie. Without hesitation, he started putting the bottle pacifier in his mouth and began to suck it.

"Oh my, you're crazy!"

Valerie's voice startled him,

"Why are you so greedy?" Valeri asked irritably, placing two coffee cups on the table.

She frowned at Damian, then grabbed the baby bottle.

Damian remained silent with his innocent gaze.

"You're weird, crazy, a bad father!" Valerie scolded.

"What's wrong?" Damian shrugged. "I was just trying to have some because Daniel is already asleep. I just wanted to make sure the milk is of good quality both in nutrition and taste... And it does taste too bad..."

"You idiot!" Valerie hissed with a horrified look. "Nothing is better than breast milk. Even if it might not taste delicious, it's much better than human-made milk... from cows... or goats!"

"Well, then it should be good for me too... I took a little sip..."

"Ew..." Valerie sneered, staring at Damian with mixed feelings. "How could you do that? You drank my breast milk..."

"I'm like your baby..." Damian chuckled.

"Big baby, you jerk!"

"Hahaha...!" Damian couldn't contain his laughter, seeing Valerie's annoyed face.

Valerie pouted, exhaling heavily. "You don't know... I struggled to pump this breast milk all night... You shouldn't have drunk it!"

"It's not my fault..." Damian lowered Daniel from his arms, gently placing him on the sofa with a pillow for comfort. "You should have just breastfed him directly. It's easier than using a bottle... Maybe it would taste fresher..."

"I wouldn't do that in front of you!" Valerie exclaimed.

"Why?"

"Your eyes would be wild!" Valerie continued to grumble as if she couldn't let go of her anger.

Damian chuckled amused, quickly grabbing the coffee from the table.

"You don't need to worry... besides, I've seen it all... more than just... your boobs," he said, then sipped his coffee bit by bit.

Valerie chose to remain silent, feeling like she wanted to kick Damian out but didn't dare, fearing it would only lead to an argument.

"My mother is going to the hospital this morning to visit Adriana and Eduardo," Damian muttered.

"Oh, thank you for caring," Valerie replied.

"Just remember, all this time, before we got married... when we were still dating, my family and I always cared about your family... Even after you embarrassed me on our wedding day, we never stopped caring about your family... We highly respect them."

Valerie fell silent with an awkward feeling, guilty and suddenly picturing how Damian faced that situation.

"How did the wedding guests respond?" she asked.

"I don't know, I don't care about them," Damian answered casually, crossing his legs. "I left... tried to find you... So my family and yours dealt with the guests. But, for sure, it was kept a secret, no cameras... And afterward, no rumors on the internet about what happened that day. Maybe my dad asked them to pretend they didn't know what happened."

"I apologize..."

"It's okay..."