“How could you do this to me!? To us!?” Lynette hisses the moment Lord Luvien steps into her room. She clutches Livia close to her body, idly bouncing her crying daughter on her hip as she backs away from him like he was infested with the plague.

“Calm down,” Lord Luvien orders instantly. His cold gaze sweeps over the state of the room. The broken vase, the flowers scattered over the floor, the bed which had all of its pillow thrown off, and the upended chair, almost a foot away from where it usually rests.

“I will calm down the moment you through that pregnant wench out of our house and back on the streets!” Lynette screams, “We had a deal. You were not to go back to her now that I am pregnant with your son.”

Lord Luvien face frosts over, “Who told you.”

Lynette growls and whips away from him, her arms tightening around her daughter as she begins to pace with a mean smile on her face. Her long, swaying dress hugs her figure, displaying the round mound of her stomach. She had just barely passed the halfway marker. Five months, her midwife had said.

“’Who told me’. Is that all you dare to ask!? Aren’t you even going to try to deny it?” She snarls.

“...There would be no point,” Lord Luvien states.

“No point,” Lynette says mockingly before laughing coldly, “You are on the brink of throwing this household into chaos and you don’t even have the gall to make up any excuses? I cannot begin to understand what you are thinking. You are willing to shatter all our hard work, and for what? That witless girl? Do you even know just how much damage you would cause if word got out about your little affair with that wench?” She shakes her head.

Lord Luvien steps forward, his face breaking into something thunderous.

“She needs help, Lynette. Lily’s pregnancy isn’t progressing well and it is making her gravely ill,” He snaps, “I had no choice but to bring her here. It’s the only way I could have given her the care she needed. Once that it is over-”

“No!” Lynette shouts, “No,” she says again, calmer. Her face was still flushed red with anger, “I do not care what she needs. Her problems are not ours.” Then she stalks forward and stops in front of her husband with a cold gaze that matches his own.

“And why do you care so much about this pregnancy,” She asks dangerously, eyes narrowing, “Since the harlot had gone on and got herself pregnant like a common pig with no husband, why should it matter to you? If anything, you should cut all ties and finally rid yourself of her, like you were supposed to do.”

Then Lynette gets a prosperous thought.

“Unless...” She starts to say, but can’t even finish.

Lord Luvien glares at her, his eyes like broken ice, “The child is not mine.”

Lynette just sneers back, “And I’m sure you are terribly heartbroken at the thought.”

Lord Luvien lips curl and he opens his mouth to resort, but Livia chooses that moment let out another loud sob, bringing his attention to her.

“How long do you intend to let her cry?” He snaps.

Lynette nearly spits at his shoes. Instead, she tries to calm herself down. Livia still sobs in her arms, her little fist clutched into her mother's dress. She rubs her daughter's small back, trying to soothe her.

“Hush, sweet girl. Hush. Everything is alright. Mummy is here,” Lynette coos. She ignores the fact that her own outburst and violent destruction of her room caused Livia to become so frightened in the first place. It wasn’t her fault. It wasn’t any of their faults.

Livia's sobbing drops off to soft little sniffles as she buries her tear-ridden face into her mother's dress. Tentatively, she peeks out, casting a very curious, but still watery gaze towards her father. So consumed with letting her distress known by crying, she hadn’t even noticed his arrival. Livia rubs at her eyes, trying to wipe away the tears.

“Daddy?” She calls out, reaching out one of her arms.

Lady Lynette and Lord Luvien both flinch at the soft words as if they had been slapped.

Livia raises her head further, “Daddy?” She calls out again, wiggling her finger in the air. As if to beckon him closer.

Why wasn’t he moving? Didn’t he come here to comfort her mummy? Livia didn’t know why her mummy suddenly became upset and or why she started throwing things, but at least now it was over. And look, her daddy was here as well! Livia never sees him much, so when he does appear she always tries to gain his attention.

“Livia, what have I told you about that word? You do not call your father ‘daddy’,” Lynette scolds, frowning.

Livia pouts. That didn’t make sense. Mummy was mummy, so of course, daddy would be daddy. What was her mummy even talking about?

Ignoring her mother's words, she lurches forward and reaches out both her arms.

“Daddy!”

Lynette lets out a tiny gasp as Livia all but flings herself out of her arms, losing her hold.

“Livia, stop. It’s dangerous,” she says, but it was too late. Her arms loosen and Livia falls.

Luckily, her daughter does not fall to the floor that was still covered in glass. Instead, Livia makes a small ‘oomph’ as she lands awkwardly in her daddy’s arms. Once she realizes who is holding her, she grins wide and all but clamber up his chest to get a better grip.

The moment her eyes are level with her father, she places a kiss on his cheek in greeting, “Hi daddy,” She says, and promptly snuggles under his chest, drained from all the crying.

Lynette does not drop her hands. She keeps them hovered as she takes in the scene before her with round eyes and a gaping mouth. The duchess could count on one hand the number of times Lord Luvien ever interacted with his daughter, much less actually touched her. And now her Livia was snuggling into her father’s chest as if it was a common occurrence.

It was an image Lynette was sure to burn into her memory.

Because for a moment, Lord Luvien had pulled his daughter close, almost on instinct as he stared down at her with the same bafflement on his own face. As if he could not understand how the toddler had gotten into his arms in the first place.

Husband and wife stare at each other in silent wonder.

When Livia’s weight grows heavier as she slumps into a slumber, Lord Luvien adjusts his hold so she is more comfortable, before stiffening as his own actions finally catch up to his brain.

“Can you take her?”

“Do you want me to take her?”

Husband and wife stare at each other again.

Lynette is the first to look away, her face coloring slightly as she looks at the state of her room. She clears her throat.

“I guess I should have this room cleaned first,” she says to no one in particular.

Lord Luvien hikes Livia further up his slim hip and looks away as well.

“Yes. You should.”

He does not ask Lynette to take Liva again. He simply turns on his heel and walks out the room with his firstborn perched on his hip. He studiously ignores the wide-eyed looks he gets as he stalks down the hallway to Livia’s room.