The Royal Contract

Alex woke up in the middle of the night, hearing a shrilling sound from somewhere in the room. He forced his eyes to work through the dark room, squinting hard to clear his vision.

Eventually, he found the source of the commotion. Quickly, he stood up, realizing that it might wake Dani up. He grabbed the baby monitor and toned it down.

"Ouch!" But somehow, he caught his toe on the bedstand, making him bend in pain. But he managed to control himself before he could shout and wake up his wife.

He knew she was exhausted, working hard in the office and immediately caring for their son once she arrived home.

Quickly, he moved toward the door, gently opening it to prevent making a squeaking sound. Then, he strode toward his son's room, right next door.

"Hey, buddy!" He called to his son, using a mild tone, creating a soothing sound.

But as expected, it was not that easy to calm him down. He seemed to have large lungs for a small child as he gathered the strength by crying his heart out.

"There, there." He tapped his son in his arms as he bent down on his crib. But that did not work. He tried to help out, but more than usual, it was Dani who took care of him.

"Ok, Ares. Let me see." Alex tried to search his brain for what he should check first. He remembered watching Dani do it. He tried to help more, but things got complicated.

He scrunched his nose as he leaned forward. Then, his fingers worked on gripping his son firmly around his body as he lifted him toward his face.

Once his son's lower body was near his nose, he sniffed the air around him. "Holy crap!" He quickly pulled his son away.

Why did he inhale so much? He almost wanted to vomit. "I can taste it on my tongue." He mumbled as he quickly placed his child on the changing table.

"Now, what should I do?" He asked Ares, who looked frustrated as he was. "Of course, you are with all that crap." He could sympathize.

He looked around the room, trying to remember the steps. He had seen Dani do it before. He knew he could also do it without needing to wake her up.

"Don't worry, Ares. It will be a piece of cake." He strapped Ares on the table, remembering that safety first. He did not want his son to roll over while he dealt with other things.

Then, he moved to the adjoining cabinet where Dani kept the toiletries and diapers. He grabbed what he could remember he would use and placed them on the counter.

"Ok. Are we ready?" He asked his son, who alternated between sobbing and crying hard. "I guess that is my go signal."

He slowly lifted his feet according to the steps he remembered. "Damn!" He could not help but curse silently, seeing how much crap this little person had produced.

"That's it." He shouted when he finally threw the dirty diaper in the trash bin. "Now, for the fun part." He could see that Ares had finally stopped crying.

"You see. I told you we can do this, even without Mom." He placed a toy in his son's hands, so he could get entertained while he finished the last stretch of his tedious task.

He grabbed the powder, squeezing a good amount of it on his son's skin. Then, he took the diaper and placed it under his ass.

"Ok. How to do this?" He stared at the diaper, trying to determine how it worked. "I know this." He assured his son as he examined the disposable cloth.

"You see." He announced successfully, quite proud of himself after accomplishing one ordeal. "It was not so bad." He finally lifted his son, cradling him in his arms.

"Now, what do you want to do?" He asked, seeing that his son seemed not ready to return to sleep.

When he started acting cranky again, he guessed he might have an idea. He placed the side of his index finger into the side of his son's lips, and when his lips tried to grab it, he knew the little rascal was hungry.

"You have to wait while I fix you a bottle." He told his son, but that was something he knew what to do.

He went to the small cooler and grabbed a bottle of fresh breastmilk that Dani had prepared for tonight. He took the bottle and placed it in a warmer. He did not want to serve it cold to his son.

"Here you go." He grabbed his son and held him in his arms before sitting on the rocking chair near his crib.

He watched his son consume the milk with the power of a suction pump. He had no doubt he would grow up fast. He could not feel but be prouder.

Finally, with a clean diaper and a full belly, Ares was ready to return to Lala land. He gently placed him back in his crib. "Sleep tight, my Prince."

He dimmed the lights and left the door ajar as he returned to their bedroom and bed. He was just glad that Dani did not notice that he was missing. He gently lay down on the bed, avoiding waking her up.

Finally, he shut his eyes with the thought of his wife and Dani floating in his mind. He had such a wonderful family.

Damn! What now? He cursed silently, knowing he was still awake and not in dreamland. But something was ringing in his ears again.

With blurry vision, he grabbed the offending sound, discovering it was his phone. Who was it this time? He grumpily answered as he moved toward the balcony, avoiding waking Dani from the noise.

"Oh! Crap," He thought as he realized it was not his phone but his wife. But that was not the worse. He hated hearing the voice on the other line.

Still, he believed it was a blessing in disguise that he was the one who answered the phone. The last thing he wanted was to see his wife dealing with his half-brother and his shitty life.

It was not a secret that he hated his brother-in-law. Could anyone blame him for all the trouble Gerald had brought to his family?

"Dani?" The man spoke on the line, thinking it was his wife on the line.

If not for Ethan and Dani, he would have used all his powers to put him in jail where he belonged. Gerald was lucky that he loved his wife and would do anything for her, including sparing his life.

"No, it is Alex." He answered. Gerald had to go through him first if he had something to say to Dani.

His brother-in-law was already in a lot of mess. He would not let him drag Dani with him. He promised to protect his wife, which included protecting him from this man.

Gerald might share the same blood as his wife, but it did not necessarily mean he was family. Not unless he could prove otherwise.

He believed in the family tied by love, not blood.