The characters from the game belong to Capcom.
A/N:I'm not english native speaker, so you might find some typos or grammar mistakes, I do apologize for that.
2018 - 2019
New Years Eve. Again. In less than two hours, they would be ringing in 2019. Another year older. Another brick in the wall.
Matthew was feeling an uneasiness he couldn't pinpoint. He hadn't seen that brunette woman for a while. How long had it been? Four years and something almost five years? It didn't matter. He hadn't forgotten her. Their nightstand.
He had seen her seven months ago when she was in one job interview in one of the companies he owned. But for whatever reason, he just hadn't run into her. Schedules? Fear of rejection?
She was different and he knew that. He had called her a few times after their unique encounter. She answered him twice only to tell him no. he tried to insist more, but she stopped answering the phone and even changed her number.
Well, here she was now. She seemed different. A lot different.
What was with the clothes? The new hairstyle? Her make-up as well was something new. Something else. She looked like she was on her way to make her acceptance speech at the Academy Awards.
She had just come in and was doing the rising starlet greeting thing with those who knew her – which seemed to be everyone – big surprises and hugs like they hadn't seen each other for years, even if it was only yesterday, or at most last week.
Now she was talking to that mysterious blond guy, another one who seemed to know everyone and treated everyone like they were his own private fiefdom.
Matthew worked his way over. Finally, the brunette noticed him.
"Hello stranger!" He tilted his head and gave her a sexy grin
She turned to see him and felt a little surprised when she recognized the man, "Hi..." she replied disconcerted
"Long time no see." He learned forward to give her one of those long cheek kisses
"Yeah, you're right. It's been ages…" she replied clearing her throat
"You look great! Different! Amazing!" he said in a teasing voice
She laughed at her own conceit, "That is your favorite word, isn't it? I didn't know it was that obvious, but I agree… I do look amazing."
"Seriously, it's great to see you… again."
She giggled, "So, what are you doing here in town?"
"I could ask you the same thing. Actually, what I should really ask is where the hell have you've been?"
He inhaled deeply and exhaled, "I've been in the world… working a lot… by the way, you look great too" she smiled
"Thank you and to answer your question from before, I'm in town because I'll be responsible for my father's matters at the companies."
"Oh, I see."
He tilted his head, "Is that blond guy your boyfriend or something?" he asked pointing with his head at a particular direction
She looked at his direction noticing Gianni looking at them, "Oh no! he's just a guy that 'works' in my work… I mean, he's not a coworker, but goes often to see the president of the company."
"I see… so, are you single? Taken?"
She smiled in distress. She remembered her mother's persistent advices for her to stop living like a widow and a mother. She still was a young woman who could find the happiness and maybe have a family. Family – something she had been thinking often lately. Mostly because of Nathan's insistency on knowing his father. He missed having a fatherly figure.
"I'm single, but I'm not available to random men who just want nightstands and only play."
"I'm not a random man!"
"How can you be so sure? How can I be sure? As far as I know you're a womanizer."
"I've changed!"
She laughed in disbelief, "They all say that!"
He shrugged making a face, "As far as I remember, Laura… I did try having a commitment with you."
"And you didn't take the no as answer, yet."
"I don't understand why not when you say you're a commitment person, but you were the one who just gave me a nightstand after all the good thing we were building until we got 'intimate'. Was 'it' that bad?"
She laughed shaking her head, "'It' wasn't bad! And if I didn't know you I'd think you're a freak for insisting so much, but since I know you're not... I'll tell you that back then I had other priorities."
He smiled, exposing his perfect white teeth, "What about nowadays? Is there space for us to get to know each other?"
She looked to the side thinking of an answer, "Let's see."
We ended up exchanging numbers. I realized I was really outdated in the relationship field. I had to take baby steps to acquire courage to slowly open myself up to that new "adventure".
Mrs. Campbell was at the kitchen preparing her breakfast. She put the plate and cup of coffee on the table when she heard footsteps in the hallway. She looked at the door and saw her daughter coming in.
"Good morning"
"Morning" the younger woman replied yawning
"Do you want breakfast?"
She shook her head in denial, "I want to sleep more, but I was too thirsty."
"Sleepy and thirsty… you did have one hell of a night huh?" the older brunette spoke with a tease
Laura rolled her eyes, "Don't even start it!"
"You know I'm just kidding. You shouldn't take things so personal"
"I do take it personal because you know I don't like such teases!"
"Geez, what's gotten with you?! Did you fight with your boyfriend or something?"
"Don't want to talk about it. I'm just not in the mood today."
"Okay…" the older brunette replied and focused her attention at her breakfast
There was a long silence in the room. Laura took a seat on the table. She looked thoughtful and distant.
"Do you think it's time to tell Matt about Nathan?" she broke the silence
"He still doesn't know about him?"
Laura shook her head
"How long are you dating, two, three months?" the older brunette woman spoke in surprise
"Intimacy shouldn't be measured with numbers. For me we were just getting to know each other until last night when he insisted in knowing you."
"Oh, so he's taking you for real!" the woman spoke with a large smile
"Apparently he is… but I don't know. This is so weird for me. For now, he is living in the United States because of his family work and now after a few weeks apart, he returned decided to unite families. According to him, his family knows about me, but I don't know… I don't know if I'm ready to take this step with him."
"He seems to be a good man even though you don't tell me anything about him besides you know each other for a few years."
"I don't tell you things because I know you too well to know the stupid things you'll tell me after learning things" she replied with a shrug rolling her eyes
"Darling, you offend me this way!"
"It's the truth…"
The older woman took a long breathe. It was pointless to argue back, "I don't know much about Matt and from the things you are telling me about him, he seems to be a good man and you will know how serious he's willing to take you when he learns about Nathan. This meeting can end up being a good way to test his real intentions, don't you think?"
Laura gave a shrug thinking about her opinion
"I just hope you are careful every time you sleep with him…"
"I don't sleep with him!" Laura spoke in a single tone
"You don't?" the mother spoke in surprise
She shook her head in confirmation, "If he really wants me for real, he'll have to accept Nathan and the sex will only happen after the marriage!"
"You are absolutely correct my darling! Oh God if you had done that before…"
Laura let a heavy sigh rolling her eyes in annoyance, "There it comes the shit" she spoke standing up abruptly from her seat leaving the elder brunette woman alone.
She was anxious. She was apprehensive. She wished she could know with anticipation how Matt was going to react when he learns about Nathan. Will he jump out of the boat? Will he question her after making some math? She couldn't know until the time she would face him.
The bell rang. Her heart almost jumped out of her chest. She let out a heavy sigh and opened the door after checking the house's cleanness.
The first thing she saw was a big bouquet of flowers and then she looked at his smiling face. They kissed in greet.
"The flowers are not for you, but your mother. You said those are her favorite, right?"
"Yes, they are." She smiled back and then she invited him in, "Don't mind the simplicity of my house"
"Nah, you know I don't care about it!" he replied stepping in
She smiled disguising her distress. Her hands were sweating cold. Her body tense and it wasn't because of the simplicity of her home.
"Is your mother home?" he asked in curiosity
"Yeah, she's just getting ready. I'll check on her later"
"Okay, so I'll keep the flowers. I want to deliver them to her myself."
She gave a shrug and then offered him a drink; she took two.
"Are you alright?" Matt noticed her behavior
"Yeah, why do you ask?" she replied seating next to him on the couch
"I can tell something is different about you."
Oh fuck, she forgot he's a people's person. It's part of his routine to read people. A trait that is part of his charm, a part of his success, but also a part that didn't suit her current distress.
"You think I won't like your mother or she won't like me?"
She bit her lips, "Not exactly."
"So tell me" he spoke with a warm tone taking her grip
She looked down at his hand, thinking if that was the right moment. she didn't really expect that anxiety to increase, but she was one step ahead of the truth time. she didn't deny she had was attracted to Matt and his loving way towards her was growing more every day and that was increasing the conflict of her secret. Would he like Nathan? Would he question her about the child's genes since he was a numbers person too?
She knew Nathan missed having a "normal" family like his classmates, like in the stories. And Matthew Lamonte? He loved children. He was a family person. He was more mature now and didn't seem to be the womanizer she met years ago. Was life giving her another opportunity to have her dream family through him?
Will he understand her silence all those months they were seeing each other? She wished she could know with anticipation.
"I don't want you to think badly of me…"
"Why would I do that?" he frowned puzzled
"Because there's something you need to know about me"
He kept staring her, studying her lines, "What do I have to know about you?"
She took a long sigh and swallowed, "You know it's been a quite a while since I don't allow anyone to enter my life and I made vows to God…"
"Yes, I recall that. Including the no intercourse until marriage and that you were taking a time after divorcing."
She giggled in distress as she recalled his reaction the day she told him that rule. It was funny and weird to tell Matt that we wouldn't have intercourse until marriage when they had already had sex once. However, once or another time she gave him other special treatments so he wouldn't be completely empty handed on the matter or in their relationship.
He took her chin gently and turned her face to him, "So what's the secret you're not telling me?" he asked calmly
She stared his green eyes and pacific face expression. She looked down and took her cellphone, "Because of him" she spoke reluctantly as she showed him a picture of Nathan. Now it was her time to read his facial lines.
"Who is he?" he asked curious
"My son"
He lifted his brows in surprise. He didn't frown. He looked better at the screen and then smiled, "I have to be honest… the way you were doing the suspense I was about to think it was a dangerous or fatal thing. I almost thought you were going to say you had reconciled with your ex-husband!" he laughed
She smirked, "No way! No reconciliation with that bastard!"
"I'm glad to hear that, but I still don't understand why you hid you have a son from me. you know I love kids."
"Because I didn't know if you were really taking me for real. The divorce let deep scars in me and I was decided to be a single mother forever because I had also seen some friends who met men who didn't like women with children."
"Oh no, Laura. I'm not like that! Actually, I have dated mothers before. The relationships ended but it wasn't because they had children. I also dated many single women without children and the relationships ended as well!"
She gave a shrug. She knew he had plenty of experience in that field.
"I don't know what happened between you and you ex bastard husband, but I can tell you I'm not like him! I really like you Laura and I want you with all you got and I hope to bring the trust back to you… at least that you know that you can rely on me and I look forward to meeting your son" he took her grip once again and spoke with sincerity
She couldn't help but smile – and also feel emotional. He took her into an embrace
"Thank you Matty, you are a noble man and I hope to make justice to you"
"You already do" he lifted her chin up and gave her a loving kiss
"So do you really want to know my son?" she asked as she stood up from the couch
"Absolutely! I just wished you had told me before so I'd brought him a gift as well."
She smiled softly, "He doesn't need that" then told him to wait and walked over her mother's bedroom. She didn't take long to return to the living room followed by her little family.
Matt stood up from the couch, took the flowers and waited patiently with a friendly behavior.
Laura introduced them. Her mother loved the flowers. The young brunette woman held her son's little hand while her mother and her boyfriend greeted each other. Then the tall man looked at her and then down to the little boy at her side. He knelt down at his level with a large friendly smile.
"His name is Nathan"
"Hello Nathan, nice to meet you!" he greeted the boy
"Nate, say nice to meet you too" she told the kid
"Nice to meet you too, Sir. Are you my father?" the child couldn't help his naïve curiosity
Laura's heart almost jumped out of her chest and subconsciously she looked at her mother who shared the same expression as her.
"Nathan!" she scolded him, "I'm sorry Matt, I'll explain things later to you"
In the other hand, Matthew didn't bother with the question as a matter of fact he laughed a bit, "It's okay Laura. He's a lovely boy and to answer his question… I won't mind being like a father to him" he smiled
Laura smiled back and briefly looked at her mother. She knew what had passed in her mother's head after listening to that statement.
Maybe one day in the future as her relationship with Matthew Lamonte progressed, she would get the courage to make the DNA test. So far, she still didn't really want to know that. Things were in safe ground. Matt didn't think of the possibility of his blood in the child's veins.
"Sometimes, two people have to fall apart to realize how much they need to fall back together;
Someone who really loves you sees what a mess you can be, how moody you can get, how hard you are to handle, but still wants you"
United States, Jill's Apartment, 2020
Chris Redfield scratched his head thoughtful while he took notes in a paper over the dining table.
"One, two, three… four…" he made a brief pause and sighed, "Five…" he bit his lips as he frowned and scratched his head, "Four in total if that boy will be confirmed because Noah doesn't count..." He shook his head letting out a heavy sigh as he rested his back on the chair
The blue-eyed brunette looked attentively at him, "She gave you the divorce in 2014 or did you get laid with her at the asylum or something?"
"No, of course not! There's no actual intercourse since I went to Edonia!" he let out a distressed sigh, "As far as I remember…"
"So why are you so concerned about her son? Is there any real chance he could be yours?" Jill asked making a face
Chris sighed heavily crossing his arms on his abdomen and waited a few seconds.
Flashback
A few weeks passed since the incident at the Mikro Company. No matter how hard he tried to forget the image of that little boy, the feeling he felt that day always would come to his mind occasionally.
"Nathan…"
His wondering got him distracted sometimes, and usually, they were triggered when he looked at his children, more specifically his eldest daughter Charlotte, who shared more resemblances with him.
One night he was leaving her bedroom after putting her to sleep when his wife Evana met him in the hallway reminding him of the checkup appointment at the clinic the next day. That question triggered an old memory.
That night he didn't get any sleep and only waited for the next day and a gap before going to work.
Ginecus Fertility and Reproductive Medicine Clinic
"May I help you, Sir?" the receptionist asked him politely
"Is Doctor Roger Smith still working here?"
"Yes, he is. Would you like to set an appointment with him?"
"Not exactly. I'd like to talk to him about a doubt I have about a procedure I made with him. Is he working today?"
"Yes, right now he's with a patient. I'll inform him about you. Please wait in front of Room 4."
"Alright, thank you" he nodded in agreement
It was a fifteen minutes long wait. The time didn't seem to pass. The movie rolled in his mind. The movie of a temporary truce he and Laureen had between Noah's death and the turbulent phase prior his mission to Edonia that led to their divorce.
That truce phase... it had gone completely blank as if had never existed until now. He let out a long sigh, "I had completely forgotten that Laureen and I tried to have another child, to have a family and fill the empty hole after our loss, but because of my constant missions… I agreed to do this in case I didn't return…"
The door opened. As soon the patient left, Chris was invited in. The doctor didn't recognize him right away, but didn't take long to recollect their case.
"According to the history your wife came here three times to use your stored sperm between 2013 and 2014."
"Did it finally work?"
Chris frowned making a face in distress, "Hum, I don't know…" he made a pause, "actually she's my ex-wife now. We divorced in 2014."
"Oh…"
"That's why I'm here. Can you tell me when the last time she came was?"
"November 22nd of 2014" the man looked at the computer screen
Chris bit his lips shaking his head in denial and doing a quick calculation in the boy's age.
"May I ask… but were you divorced at that time?"
Chris swallowed thinking of the answer, "Yes…" he replied seemly reluctant
"So she lied about your mission and faked your signature to do the procedure. That's a crime!"
Chris noticed the man's discomfort and in an impulse he immediately replied, "She's dead now" he spoke fearing the man's posterior delation
"Oh… I didn't know that. That explains why she never returned to inform if the procedure worked."
Chris nodded in agreement
"She wanted a child more than anything…"
"Yeah she did…"
There was a moment of awkward silence
"Doctor, is there any material of mine left?"
"Actually there's still a sample."
"Can you please get rid of it?"
"Sure!"
End of Flashback
Jill remained in silence after listening to the story. Laureen was really a woman of extremes or desperate measures. If she wanted something, she would do everything or anything to obtain it. Ambition, determination, obstinacy or greed? Maybe there was a very thin line separating them, but the result always seemed to be extreme.
"That's so weird. She gave you the divorce when she used to be so obsessed with you… How could it be? How could it explain her 'death'? And if she did get your child, why she didn't tell you?"
"She always wanted to have my child and she was clear about that. Maybe the child was the price for the divorce… I can't explain why she forged death, maybe she got in some witness protection program or something just like Piers… that's all I can think for now."
Jill made a face. That was a reasonable explanation, but in her mind, all she could think was that from Laureen anything could be expected.
"I thought that going to the clinic would give me an answer, but I don't have it." he murmured
"Maybe you're caring too much and she took advantage of that to play with your face." she spoke with a single tone, nearly dry
He looked at her with a not so pleased face, "Is that what you think? That I just keep seeing things where there aren't?"
"Do you really want to know what I think?"
He remained looking at her
"I'm sorry for saying that, but from what I see here is that you still care about her and you haven't let go of her. This unsolved feeling or whatever is inside you has turned you into her accomplice in everything she has done. You don't seem to punish her at all and your focus is only in what may still connect you. I don't know if you have the need to save her or…" she paused and sighed
"Or what?"
She licked her lips gaining the courage to let it out, "Or if you still love her"
"I don't love her!" he contested
"Are you sure? Or is that what you keep telling yourself?"
"I love Eva!"
"So why do you care about whatever Laureen or whatever she calls now does of her life?"
"A child is involved!" he snapped
She gasped, "Stop it Chris! You have to stop!"
"Stop what?"
"This!" she raised her voice a little bit
"This what?"
"Noah!"
He looked abruptly to the side and stood up from the chair
"Let Noah go! Let Laureen go!"
"You don't know what you're saying! You don't know my pain! You don't know how it feels like to have this empty hole of losing a child!"
"Yes I do!" she yelled
He remained in silence with his back to her as he looked at the window to nowhere in specific.
"I do know the pain and the deception of trying to conceive a seed of the person you love! I do know the pain of losing the seed of love! I felt the killing pain, I saw and felt the blood coring down my legs, and I saw his dead body coming out of me! I dealt with it alone, at night. More than you, I know how painful it is because I was the one carrying my lost child! But different of you I don't keep dragging it on, remembering the lost bond or thinking of what I could've had done differently. I know the emptiness left… But life goes on and now I have two beautiful and healthy children."
He shook his head looking down and turned around to look at her, "Noah died in my arms Jill." He voice almost failed, "I watched his little body turn into ashes. My blood… my seed turned into ashes. I watched Laureen's despair and I was the one who dealt with her screams at night, at daylight. Her sobs, her depression… I dealt with her all by myself when everyone gave her their backs, including you. I dealt alone and in silence when everyone just called her Crazy Laureen. I always knew people's judgements about her and there were even some people that were mean enough by saying she got what she deserved… no one else did try to understand her, to help her, but I did! I lived hell with her, but I was all she got because her own family had given up on her! I was all she had left and I screwed up! I killed her somehow. So I know I have been an accomplice to all the shit that happened. and I feel better knowing she's alive even after lying to me and I'm sure she had good reasons to do that and she seems better now… so don't tell me to forget, you don't have that right. And please, don't judge my feelings for her, you don't have that right either. She never did any harm to anyone else but me and Eva, I don't ignore that fact and I did let her be punished for that, so the justice was made!" he spoke with a calmer tone
Jill exhaled slowly remaining in silence, "I'm sorry…"
He walked back and sit again on the chair looking at her
"I never judged her pain for her loss. That was the only thing that I could be emphatic about her. I didn't give my back to her because of that, but you know I wouldn't force a proximity she never allowed me to have because she constantly thought I was your lover."
"Yeah, I remember that… telling her about our nightstand was one of my biggest regrets."
"You couldn't know she would drag it on"
He nodded slowly in agreement
"Look, I won't tell you what you should do and I myself don't have that answer either but let's be practical here… What are you going to do if you learn that the boy is your son? And what about Eva? She has reasons to not want Laureen around your lives."
Chris let out a heavy sigh, "I'm divided!"
"Maybe you should leave things as that for now. If Laureen…"
"Laura"
"If Laura didn't come after you, so I guess she has showed you her wish."
He sighed again and thanked her support, her raw words. There we no hard feelings after the spoken truths. They knew each other for a long time, they've had their differences in the past just like everyone does. In the end, they would just get over it and continue being friends, partners.
After some time, he left her apartment and drove home where he was welcomed by his lovely wife.
"Do you think is possible loving two people in different ways at the same time?"
Thank you Xaori and HerpDerp for your words :D
This time I finally wrote most of the chapter listening to the song that inspired the story's name - Te Amo by Rihanna.
But the chapter's name is inspired in Lara Fabian's song Adagio just because I like it xD (part of the story has been written under this song as well) I also searched Adagio's meaning and the closest meanings to the story/chapter I found were these ones:
1- a duet by a man and a woman or mixed trio emphasizing difficult technical feats.
2- (especially in ballet) a love-duet sequence in a pas de deux.
I have to tell you that I knew I was about to get into a change in my life the next weeks, but I didn't expect it to be so soon, so I ended up publishing this final arc. I had already a long spine of ideas, but as the usual I always think "things can get better", so I started working on it as well and so today (Sept 27th, 2017) I got the news. It's still an indefinition, but it was already enough to get my head's batteries working nonstop and I got into the mode workaholic for this story and workaholic to my serious studies as I prepare myself for the change in my life routine.
I don't want to be tired enough to not write or delay too much the updates, but knowing my physical limitations I can't help fearing that and so I'm thinking that the story will be shorter then my second thought had anticipated. But let's see...
Real life comes first... I know... :(
I still have a huge doubt about this plot and this detail is getting me insane too! Ugh! Sometimes I hate my brain so much! xD
Now what do I have to say about this chapter besides it was longer like I haven't written in a while? xD hummm, well... the real plot is starting to settle now. I wanted my new readers and old readers to get familiar with Matt because of the end of Secrets Within when I firstly introduced him in the storyline.
I got worried I haven't given Chris enough screen time again (It's his name there, so...) and I'm still worried about that, honestly! And now with this turn in my life my concern just got increased.. sigh :(
Anyways, enough murmur!
I'd like to thank everyone's support. I wouldn't be here without your support, your friendship, your partnership :D
Like I said, this is the first time I'm ending a saga and I want to make justice to the one that started it all. I hope to accomplish that. I suck at ending things even in real life xD - so I tell you, your support will be more important than ever! I'm like a virgin here xD xD
And I have to say this... Stay Tuned!