Chapter 206: A DISASTROUS DINNER
Hazel shoved the food down her throat. It was the worst dinner ever; you could cut the tension with a butter knife. Even Ashlyn could feel it and started to cry.
"Give the baby to her mother. What are you doing, carrying her all the time? It’s the mother’s duty to calm her down," Denzel reprimanded Ranon.
He had been very irritated with the sight of Ranon holding the baby ever since he stepped inside the room. It was a mother’s responsibility to care for their child.
The thing was, Hazel had tried to calm Ashlyn down, but the baby was still crying. She went to the other room and breastfed her, yet she only calmed down for a while, and when she took her back to the dining room, she started crying again.
Therefore, Ranon took care of her, but still, it was unacceptable in Denzel’s eyes.
"Ranon is the father; it’s his responsibility too to take care of their child," Greyson said sternly, standing up for his daughter.
"What? Ashlyn is not his child too?" Logan chimed in, but Dylan kicked his feet under the table to shut him up. This was not his place to speak.
He seemed like he wanted to be somewhere else, Hazel assumed. Greyson must be the one who had dragged him to come. After all, Dylan was still bitter because he couldn’t get the deal with Ranon, even though that man and his sister were together now.
"It’s okay; give the baby to me. Hazel is a young mother; she must still be confused about what to do."
Ema stood up, but Hazel beat her to it. She got her baby from Ranon’s arms quickly, and this sudden movement amused him.
There was no way in hell Hazel would let Ema touch her baby. She could handle this vicious woman and any tricks she might have up her sleeve. However, if she even had the slightest idea to do something to her daughter, Hazel promised Ema would be on the list of people that she would get rid of.
"I will take her to the next room," Hazel said to Ranon, but Ema was not discouraged; she walked towards them, trying to offer her help.
"Let me try," Ema insisted. She was being too eager to get her hands on the baby, and Ranon could feel the change in Hazel.
Her brown eyes were a shade darker as she pressed her lips. He noticed this was a sign whenever something irked her.
However, before Hazel could say something that would make the situation worse, Laurel stood up and came to Hazel. She glared at Ema disdainfully.
"She said she doesn’t need your help. Why don’t you understand that?" Laurel’s words were sharp, and she ushered Hazel to the next room, where she breastfed Ashlyn before.
On the other hand, Ema was stunned. She didn’t know that Laurel and Hazel were close. Since when had they gotten closer to each other? Because, as far as she knew, Laurel was very against the marriage.
"I am going to take a phone call," Ranon said, as he also left the room, leaving Ema standing there awkwardly.
Denzel glared at his young wife because she had embarrassed him, and Ema didn’t have another choice but to return to her seat. The dinner was ruined; it was very tense. No matter how delicious the food was, none of them enjoyed it.
Inside the room next to it, Hazel glanced at Laurel, who fiddled with Ashlyn’s bag while she changed Ashlyn’s diaper.
"Why do you bring breast milk, too? She can get the milk straight from the source, right?" Laurel pulled out the package.
"Put it down," Hazel said. Ashlyn was slightly calm now. "I have a hard time pumping, just in case I don’t have enough."
Hazel noticed that the amount of her breast milk had reduced significantly because of the stress. Therefore, sometimes it was not enough, and she needed to get the stock from the freezer to make it up.
"I read somewhere it must be because of the stress."
"Yeah, you stress me out," Hazel replied without even looking at Laurel, but then she heard a sharp breath, and she immediately knew Laurel had done something wrong.
And when she turned around to look at her, she almost cried. "What have you done?!"
"Sorry, sorry, sorry." Laurel was quick to apologize, but the damage had been done; one of the packages was opened, and the liquid inside was spilled. "It’s a mistake! I didn’t mean it, seriously! I didn’t mean it!" She was only curious about it and accidentally opened it.
"You are not a child!"
"I am sorry; I am sorry!" Laurel didn’t even care about her ruined dress as she tried to appease Hazel because she looked very scary right now.
"I am going to kill you!" Hazel was frustrated. "Do you know how hard I got that?!" Her heart ached so badly to see the spilled milk. All of her effort went down the drain!
"It’s okay, you still have another..." Laurel meant to say that to reassure Hazel, but it was interpreted the wrong way, and this pissed Hazel off even more.
"Come here! I will milk you out!" Hazel stood up, and she was furious when she crossed the room towards Laurel. She had finished with Ashlyn’s diaper, and the baby was blissfully happy, lying down on the table, sucking on her fingers.
"What? Are you crazy?" Laurel moved away from Hazel. "It’s an accident! I didn’t mean it!"
"How dare you spill the milk!" Hazel growled at her, and her voice could be heard in the next room, which made Ema come to check the situation.
"What happened here?" She asked with her sweet voice, but she got two women glaring at her angrily.
"Get out!" Hazel and Laurel yelled at her at the same time, which startled Ema. She visibly flinched to see the hateful gaze from both of them. Didn’t they argue with each other? But why did they get angry with her instead?
And with such commotion, the other men were in bewilderment, but they didn’t dare to check, just in case they witnessed something inappropriate, since the room next door was booked for Hazel and the baby.
Denzel got a headache because of it. His temper flared because this dinner was a disaster. "What’s going on there?!" Denzel slammed his fist against the table. "I know she doesn’t even know how to take care of her own daughter!"
"What did you say?!" Greyson stood up; he smirked because the other man couldn’t even do that, as he took this advantage and towered above him. "Say that again!"
"Dad," Dylan warned his father and tried to pull him back to his seat, but his younger brother only made things worse. He must be bored out of his mind, so the opportunity of a conflict excited him.
"I dare you to say that again!" Logan roared angrily.
Daniel, who was also in his wheelchair, tried to calm both parties down, but there was not much he could do from his position.
Due to the chaos unfolding, Ranon returned to witness what was intended to be a family gathering turn into a battleground. He watched in amusement as Greyson attempted to intimidate Denzel, who seemed ready to run him over with his wheelchair.
Yet, he didn’t try to be a peacemaker for the men as he stepped into the other room. He walked past Ema and approached baby Ashlyn, who was cheekily laughing. She was crying heartily earlier, but now she seemed very happy.
"You little trouble," Ranon said indulgently, as he carried the baby in his arms and approached his wife. "What happened?"
"She spilled the milk!" Hazel pointed her finger at the milk on Laurel’s dress and on the floor. "Do you know how hard I have it!?"
Ranon frowned at Laurel, and this made her hastily explain herself. "I didn’t know! I am sorry! I was just curious!"
Seeing this, Ema tried to intervene with her sweet voice. "So, it will be..."
However, she couldn’t express her opinion, as Hazel and Laurel shut her down for the second time.
"Shut up!" Both of them yelled at her.
***
Hazel was still sulky on their way home; she didn’t know why, but this little thing irritated her so much. She was well aware that she was overreacting over the spilled milk, but she couldn’t help it. It annoyed her so badly.
"Still angry?" Ranon played the mellow song that Hazel liked the most.
"I am so angry," Hazel huffed. She glanced at Ashlyn, who was sleeping in her car seat in the backseat.
This baby was the cause of trouble, but she needed to thank her. Because of her, they could leave early.
And now, she was sleeping peacefully after her little stomach was full.
Ranon stretched out his arm and tousled her hair. "I will prepare a warm bath for you and wash your hair." It would help her to relax.
"I don’t want that." Hazel was very sullen.
But her anger soon died down when Ranon treated her to a relaxing massage while she soaked in warm water.
"Hm? What are you doing?" Hazel asked when she watched Ranon take off his clothes as well.
"I am going to wash your hair," he said lightly, as he tossed his shirt aside.
"You don’t need to be naked to wash my hair, right?" Hazel was alerted by how her body reacted to his nudity. Damn it.