Her Return, His Regret

Ryan and Lora arrived at their mansion, excited to tell their children the news.

"Mommy, Daddy, you're back!" As usual, the twins rushed to their parents for a hug.

"We have some good news to share with you," Ryan said as he picked up Ella who wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Really? What's the good news?" Ella excitedly asked. "Are we going on a vacation?"

Ryan chuckled as he held Ethan's hand with his free hand and led him to the living room before settling on the couch with the twins flanking his sides.

Lora followed and sat on the other side of Ethan. She reached over and booped Ella's nose, saying, "No silly."

A thought occurred to Ryan and he looked down at the twins and asked, "Do you want to go on a vacation with Mommy and Daddy?"

"Yes! We want to... you went the two of you last time. So this time, we should go as a family," Ella replied and Ryan nodded.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

"No problem. We can go on a trip this weekend," he promised. He didn't know the future. But what he was sure of was the present and he was going to make sure every second counts.

"Yay! A family trip with Mommy and Daddy! Finally!" Ella said and got down from her seat, running somewhere quickly before returning with a piece of paper.

She showed it to her parents and said, "Look, I already drew us on a family trip."

Ryan took the paper and saw that Ella had drawn two tall figures, two short ones and one that looked like a round cat with a small head.

"Wow, nice, Ella. Is this a cat? Do you want a cat?" Ryan asked, pointing at the round image.

Ella laughed and answered, "No, Daddy. You're so silly. This is our baby sister."

"Oh..." Ryan replied, his eyes stinging with tears. Looking at the drawing, his heart clenched with pain. He wanted so much to live long and take care of his family.

He held back his tears and glanced at Ella before saying, "This is beautiful, princess, but you need to add another baby."

Lora smiled and chipped in, "That's right. You two are going to be a big brother and sister."

Ethan and Ella's mouths fell open at the same time.

Ella squeaked, "Are you giving us a baby sister soon?"

"I would love a baby brother. Girls are noisy," Ethan remarked and the parents chuckled.

"Who knows? You might have a baby sister and brother because we are having two babies!" Ryan said excitedly and the twins' eyes rounded at them.

"Are they twins?" Ethan asked after a moment of stunned silence.

Lora smiled sweetly and confirmed, "Yes, just like you two."

Ella's jaw dropped. She exclaimed, "There will be two babies? Where are they going to sleep? I only have space for one."

"This mansion has many rooms, dummy," Ethan replied to his sister.

Ryan and Lora shared a look before laughing lightly.

Ryan looked at Ella and said, "We have many rooms but it wouldn't be bad for you and your brother to share your bed with your siblings. After all, sharing is caring."

"I don't mind sharing my bed with them," Ella remarked. "Can I change their diapers?"

"We shall see about that," Lora remarked with a chuckle.

"I'm going to be a great big sister! Ethan will be a great big brother too! Like he is to me!" Ella declared.

The room felt warm, filled with love and laughter as Ryan and Lora listened to the kids discuss the arrival of their siblings.

...

Meanwhile, after leaving the hospital, Diane drove back to her apartment. Just as she parked her car, another car parked beside her and she saw that it was being driven by Aiden. They both got out of the car and looked at each other.

"I didn't know you were coming home from the hospital," Aiden remarked.

"Yeah, I also thought I would go and drown myself in drinks," Diane said. "But, I think I would rather be home tonight. Everything is depressing. I wanted to stay with my brother, but I think he's better off with his wife and kids." They had spent some time at the hospital and before they knew it, night had fallen. After bidding farewell to Lora and Ryan, everyone dispersed and went to their respective homes.

"I think it's not good for you to drink since you have a heart condition," Aiden advised.

Diane rolled her eyes and sighed, saying, "You don't know how much it hurts knowing I had the ability to help my brother but I can't because apparently I'm not healthy. I just wanted a drink to help me forget the pain."

Silence fell upon them and they walked towards the apartment building quietly. It was a somewhat chilly night and the dark sky was twinkling with a billion stars.

"I don't know how you feel but I'm sorry," Aiden suddenly said as they got into the elevator.

"Why are you sorry?" Diane asked in a low voice. "It's not your fault."

"I'm sorry that you're feeling sad... I wish I could do something to help. My contacts are trying their best to find a donor, I hope we hear good news soon. Ryan is strong, he can pull through this," Aiden replied, Comfortingly.

Diane sighed heavily, looking up at the changing numbers in the elevator as they went up several floors.

"I pray so... I don't know what I would do if I lost my brother," Diane said, blinking hard to avoid shedding tears.

The elevator came to a stop with a ding sound and they both walked out of it before walking towards their respective doors.

As they keyed in the passcodes to

their doors, Diane glanced at Aiden and offered, "Would you like to come in for a drink? I still feel like drinking and since you think I shouldn't drink, maybe you should monitor how much I drink."

Aiden let out a low chuckle. He closed the door to his apartment and shoved his hands into his pockets before approaching Diane, saying, "I would love to."

And just like that, Diane invited Aiden into her apartment.

From there, the two shared a bottle of wine while chatting about this and that.

At first, it was a little bit awkward since this was the first time Aiden went into Diane's house. Despite being neighbours, they had never been in each other's space that way.

A few glasses more and the atmosphere was more comfortable for the both of them.

Diane suddenly looked at Aiden and pointed a finger at him, saying, "You still haven't apologised for being a pervert that one time on the plane."

Aiden chuckled. He arched an eyebrow and proclaimed, "I was never a pervert."

"Yes, you were!" Diane exclaimed. "You touched my ass on the plane."

"No, I didn't. I told you, you were obstructing me and I was just trying to push you out of the way. I had no idea I had grabbed your... your, ahem Aiden cleared his throat the tips of his ears turning pink as he recalled the memory.