The Tyrant's Wife

Chapter 367: Welcome party (1)

Although Holden’s christening wasn’t for another three weeks, Devonte’s excuse wasn’t entirely fake. Zaria and Desmond were throwing a party to celebrate his arrival, which was why Ximena and Liam were staying in Imperium a little longer.

"Uncle Liam, pleeease." Rosaly batted her eyelashes at Liam, who looked down at her helplessly.

This was the scene Zaria and Desmond came back to after putting Holden to sleep.

"The little..." Desmond started speaking, and cleared his throat when he caught Zaria’s glare. He stopped himself from saying ’devil’ and replaced it with, "the little bundle of joy, our beloved son and the most important little guy in the world, finally fell asleep."

Zaria rolled her eyes while Ximena chuckled. "Nice save, Desmond."

"I wish someone would save me." Liam complained, making them all look over.

"I’ve been meaning to ask, what’s going on?" Zaria raised a brow in Liam’s direction. He looked like he wanted to bolt out the door if only he had such a chance.

"She wants me to sleep over." He explained.

That was Rosaly’s cue to switch targets and latch onto Desmond’s leg instead. "Can he stay, daddy? Please..." she drawled.

"I don’t see why not." Desmond said, still inwardly cursing whoever taught Rosaly how to beg while batting those long lashes of hers. She was way too cute for anyone to say no to her to begin with. When she added that little trick, she made hearts melt even faster. No wonder Liam looked like he was caught in between giving her the entire world and going along with his initial plans.

When he caught his friend’s uncertain gaze, he knew what the latter must be thinking. He and Ximena didn’t want to impose.

"You can sleep in the guest bedroom on the third floor. It’s sound proof." Zaria suggested with a wink. "It doesn’t make sense for you two to rent a hotel room when there’s lots of space in here, anyway."

"If you really don’t mind." Ximena sat back down and so did Liam.

Seeing that they were staying, Rosaly leapt into Liam’s arms and smothered him with kisses before doing the same to Ximena.

"At this rate, I’m afraid I’ll spend so much time here you will want to kick me out." Ximena joked.

"I kind of want to kick you out for feeding my daughter too much chocolate cake." Zaria teased. She knew how persuasive Rosaly could be—she literally had all their friends and family wrapped around her little pinky. Especially her father, who would give her the whole fucking solar system if she asked for it.

Lucy had come up with a way to ensure Rosaly still ate healthy despite her preference—sneak a ton of vegetables into cakes. The one Ximena fed her had a bunch of spinach which the girl would never detect.

Ximena tried not to laugh when she remembered seeing Lucy bake the cake.

"I have something to ask you." Zaria said before she forgot and disappeared into the master bedroom.

When she returned, she sat on the couch and held two envelopes in her hands. She glanced in Desmond’s direction and winked.

He patted his pockets and looked panicked, making her widen her eyes at him. He grinned mischievously.

"Is someone going to translate this nonverbal language?" Ximena asked, waiting for her question.

"We have a surprise for you in the movie theater." Desmond stood up. Zaria raised a confused brow at him but went along with it. He must have switched it up a little.

He was right. When they got to the theater, he let them sit and turned on the huge screen. Then he picked up the remote control and Zaria finally let out a sigh of relief. He had made it even better.

So, with Liam, Ximena, and Rosaly watching, Desmond played a photo slideshow. He paused at the first picture. It was a picture of two girls in their school uniform, with their arms around each other’s shoulder. It wasn’t hard to tell them apart.

Zaria’s hair was a royal mess while Ximena’s looked like she’d just brushed it a second ago, but their clothes had taken the brunt of whatever game they’d been playing right before the picture was taken.

Ximena burst into laughter. "I can’t believe you have that picture."

"Ximena, do you remember when we first met? I was being bullied by a bunch of older kids. You kicked their..." she cleared her throat, remembering Rosaly was in the room. "You beat them up and me for not fighting back. That day, I knew we were going to be friends for a long time." She glanced at Desmond and he played the next one.

In this one, the two of them looked like they were in the middle of laughing their hearts out. They were pre-teens now.

"You were there for me each step of the way. I knew I could always count on you to wade off any pesky admirers." She smiled and glanced at Desmond.

He pulled up a picture of the two of them in their late teens.

"Wow, you’ve always looked like a little devil." Liam chuckled softly, earning a jab from Ximena.

"I want to know where you got all these pictures of us." She squinted in amusement. She didn’t like pictures much, and the few times she remembered taking them, it was usually because she’d been roped into it by Zaria.

"Magic." Zaria winked and asked Desmond to play the rest, then he stopped on the last one.

It was taken at the wedding, at the exact moment when the women hugged.

"You’ve been by my side at all times, happy and sad, and I love you." She blinked her tears away. "Damn these hormones. Aren’t they gone yet?" She grumbled, making the trio laugh at her. She cleared her throat and concluded, "so, Ximena Morel, would you do me the greatest honor of my life and be Holden’s godmother?"

"Of course!" Ximena jumped to her feet and crossed the room to hug her. "You’re lucky you asked. If you dared to ask anyone else..."

"I wouldn’t dare." Zaria laughed and wrapped her arms around her best friend.

"I don’t have any pictures for you." Desmond told Liam, who threw his head back laughing.

"I would do anything for that little guy. So yes, I’ll be his godfather." He put Rosaly down for a moment and gave Desmond a one-shoulder bump and a clap on his shoulder.

"I can’t wait to see Evan’s reaction when I tell him the good news." He took out his phone, and Zaria shook her head at the guys’ childish competitiveness. As if that reminded her, Ximena grinned at what Natalie’s reaction would be.

While Rosaly already had godparents from when Angela had sole custody of her, Lucy and Theodore had silently slipped into that role.

Actually, they would all do everything for Rosaly and Holden. Naming godparents was just for the christening and for the purpose of having someone in place who would be contacted if anything were to happen to her and Desmond. Even in such a case, she knew the kids wouldn’t be lacking in adults to love and protect them. Of course, she hoped she would get to see both of them grow up.

The thought of it was stifling . Was it strange that she wanted them to be kids forever? Rosaly had already grown a few inches taller since the first time she met her and it was a reminder how fast time flew.