“…so, after she got through berating me, she told me about the marigolds,” Aefre says and he realizes he has missed half of her explanation due to his errant thoughts.
“Oh, well. I am not sure we should take anything that woman has to say at face value. What if it is the opposite and it hurts you further?” he says.
“Why would she want to do that?” she asks, puzzled, and he mentally shakes his head at her. Far, far too trusting for her own good. She always has been. He, personally, wouldn’t trust Other Liv an inch, especially with regard to Aefre’s life. And he hates it when she is called “Other Liv.” As far as he is concerned, she is just “Liv.” His charge is Aefre. He will never think of her any other way, ever again.
“Because she is an evil, distasteful creature that would probably find entertainment in your further destruction,” he says and she looks upset by his words, but she has to know.
“Well, we have no other options, so I want to try it. If it fails, then I can’t actually feel any worse than I already do. Please, my love. Arrange it.” She touches his cheek and looks at him with that look that melts his heart and heats up other parts of him. He would do anything for her when she looks at him like this. Against his better judgment, he nods at her and says, “I will get Jess to sort it.”
“Thank you,” she says and kisses him, and then has to ruin the moment by asking, “Where is Cole?”
He shrugs, but it does remind him of that conversation they are going to have. “I will go and find him while you rest,” he says.
She smiles at him and she is fast asleep before he has left the room. Good, he thinks as he closes the door quietly. He doesn’t want any interference or possible interruptions.
Constantine finds Cole downstairs, about to head up to see Aefre. “She’s sleeping,” he says. “Leave her for a minute. There is something I wish to discuss with you.”
Cole looks back at him, perplexed and a bit wary. Constantine is quite looking forward to this. A nice bomb to drop out of the blue. You always get a nice, true reaction when no one is expecting the accusation.
He leads Cole into the library and closes the door. He indicates that Cole should sit, and he does, while Constantine remains standing.
“What is this about?” Cole asks with more than a hint of suspicion.
“You tell me,” Constantine replies glibly. “Got any secrets to share?”
Cole shakes his head. “Err, no,” he says.
“Wrong answer,” Constantine retorts. “I happen to know of a certain ex of yours that has a rather large secret that you are fully aware of.”
Cole pales and starts to sweat. Ha! Constantine thinks. Gotcha.
Cole stands and says, “How do you know about that?”
Constantine debates that point for a few moments. Reveal his source or not? Seems like it won’t make much difference in the grand scheme of things. “Nico,” he says and Cole, to his credit, doesn’t look surprised. “Certain members of his team oversee the mountains of fan mail that get sent to you. I cannot allow anything harmful near Aefre, so it gets sifted and discarded. This one letter, that I believe got passed on to you a few hours ago, is a very interesting read.”
“Have you told her?” Cole asks him quietly.
He isn’t at all offended that is the first question that gets asked.
“No, not yet. I thought it prudent under the circumstances to find out if it is, in fact, the truth before I hurt her with something so profound,” Constantine says, and Cole looks relieved. It gets replaced with an almost shocked expression and he sits again.
“I haven’t even had time to process this. Carolyn has been trying to contact me for months. I’ve been ignoring her as I had nothing to say to her,” he blurts out.
“Mm, perhaps you should have acknowledged this sooner,” Constantine says. “Does she speak the truth? Is it yours?”
Cole shrugs. “I have no idea. I mean if what she says about the dates is true, then it is a strong possibility. I was with her right up until the day I first went out with Liv,” he admits and has the grace to look sheepish about it. Constantine has a flare of rage go up in him that this man had dared to treat Aefre so badly, keeping this other woman around in case things didn’t work out. It is infuriating.
“Nico has checked the dates and they are what she says they are. Now all we need to know is if the baby is yours,” Constantine says.
“Fuck,” Cole says, dropping his head into his hands. “How can this be happening?”
Constantine shrugs. He has no experience in this area.
“How do we find out?” Cole asks desperately.
“Do you have anything from your former life that you could use as a DNA sample?” Constantine asks. It’s a long shot, but it’s the only way outside of casting a spell, which will most definitely involve too many people and Aefre will find out.
Cole thinks for a minute and then looks up. “Maybe,” he says slowly.