Filed to story: The Regretful Billionaire: An Unpredicted Reunion
“You decide.” It almost cost Marigold her life to give birth to this child. Hence, Gilbert thought it would be the most fitting for her to decide on the name.
His succinct words didn’t divulge his train of thought to Marigold, causing her to misunderstand. When she heard his reply, her eyes dimmed. “He… he’s your child too.”
Right after she said that, Gilbert put down his fork and looked straight at her. Marigold instantly became flustered, and her grip on her fork unconsciously tightened. “I didn’t mean anything else. I was just-‘
“You don’t have to explain yourself. If you want my input, I can think about it.’ He didn’t refuse outrightly. In fact, he had a soft spot for the child despite not showing it much.
Marigold’s eyes lit up with hope, and she couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Really? You’ll come up with a name for him?”
“Yeah. If you need it—“
“Yes, I need it! Of course, I need it!” Almost without hesitation, Marigold responded instantaneously.
Gilbert nodded. “I’ll come up with something in the next few days.”
“Okay.” Marigold nodded, feeling exuberant.
Something suddenly crossed her mind, and she looked at Gilbert. “The baby will be a month old soon. If you want to do a paternity test, we can—“
‘I don’t think there’s a need,’ Gilbert interrupted, looking at Marigold. ‘I believe he’s related to me by blood.”
It was an indescribable feeling. From the moment he saw that child, he had a strong feeling-as if he knew by intuition-that the child was his.
Tears started swimming in Marigold’s eyes. For some reason, she felt like crying. She could hardly hold her tears back. Perhaps it was because she’d been waiting for this day for a long time. So, she was in overwhelming euphoria that Gilbert finally acknowledged the child was his.
Gilbert and Marigold (5)
After finishing their pasta, they each went back to their rooms. Marigold stopped by the next room next to hers to check on her baby.
She sat by the bed, looking at the child, who was sleeping peacefully. That little face was incredibly adorable, making her unable to resist the urge to give him a kiss. But she held herself back from giving in to that temptation, as she was afraid of waking the child.
Although the child was currently taken care of by a nanny, she knew how much of a ruckus he would make if he started crying at night. Hence, she couldn’t wake him up at any cost.
‘My baby, your daddy acknowledges that you’re his child.” Even though she’d initially made up her mind that she would raise the child alone, with or without Gilbert, she still hoped that Gilbert would acknowledge the child as his. Perhaps deep down, she wished for the child to be able to grow up with a father figure.
Growing up in the Wagner family, her father never gave her anything much besides holding the title of being her father. So, she’d always lacked paternal love throughout her life. That could be the reason she hoped her child could grow up in an environment filled with paternal love.
After whispering a few more words to her child. Marigold left and returned to her own room to rest.
Meanwhile, in Gilbert’s room, he’d just taken a shower. He was just about to get under the covers and call it a day, but he suddenly thought of what Marigold had said at the dining table.
A name…
He had no idea what name to bestow upon the child. Therefore, he dialed Danika’s number right away.
Danika had just gotten into bed with Eustace when his call came in. “Hold on a moment!” Danika quickly took the phone. “It’s a call from Gilbert.”
“Just hang up the call!” Eustace was quite annoyed.
“There must be something important for him to call at this hour.” Danika pushed Eustace aside, sat up straight, and answered Gilbert’s call.
Eustace sat next to her with a grumpy expression full of resentment. Danika smiled at him, reaching out to pinch his cheek in an attempt to ease his annoyance.
“Gilbert,” she greeted, “what’s the matter? Why are you still up so late?”
“I have something to ask you,” Gilbert replied, cutting to the chase.” Marigold asked me to come up with a name for the child. Do you have any good suggestions?”
Danika inhaled in surprise; she didn’t expect he would ask her for name suggestions. There was a moment of silence as Danika thought about it. Guessing Gilbert’s train of thought, Danika replied, ‘Since it’s up to you to decide, then you should be the one to choose the name. I believe you can come up with something suitable.’
She didn’t dare to decide for him and Marigold when it came to such an important matter as naming the child. Furthermore, Marigold had made it clear that she wanted Gilbert to decide, so that was all the more reason she shouldn’t butt in.
“Danika-‘
“I’m hanging up now. Good night and good luck!” Danika immediately ended the call. It wasn’t because she was in a hurry, but Eustace was genuinely not allowing her to answer the phone properly. He’d already started nibbling and raining kisses on her neck when she was still on the call.
Gilbert sighed helplessly as he looked at the disconnected call. He would have to take his time and come up with a name himself. “What’s a good name?” he wondered.
After a while, he got up and took several books from his bookshelf. Upon closer inspection, they were several volumes of poem collections.
Marigold probably hadn’t expected Gilbert would try to come up with a name so seriously because she asked him to. He stayed up all night poring over several books before finally writing down one name.
The next day, when Marigold looked at the note that Gilbert handed her and took in the obvious dark circles under his eyes, her heart skipped a beat.
“Thank you.” She didn’t say anything else and just expressed her gratitude in a soft tone.
Gilbert shrugged indifferently, pretending that it was no big deal. “It’s just a small favor. I thought of it randomly. Take a look and see if it’s to your liking. If it’s not, then just forget about it. Don’t mind me.”
Marigold smiled and opened the note.
Gilbert and Marigold (6)
Caleb.
Marigold knew that the name meant loyal, faithful, and whole. It was indeed a good name. She couldn’t help but smile at the name Gilbert picked for their child. He’d probably chosen it hoping that his son would be a pure and noble person in the future.
‘Caleb… Caleb…” Marigold looked at the baby in the cot and unknowingly beamed from ear to ear. “From today onwards, you have a name. Your name is Caleb, and your nickname will be…” Marigold repeated the name again and again in her head and finally came up with the nickname Cal.’ Your nickname will be Cal,” Marigold announced.
The baby smiled.It was unclear whether it was because Marigold was making him laugh or because he genuinely liked his name. Nonetheless, he seemed to be quite pleased.
On the same day, Danika and the rest learned of the child’s name too.
Danika called Marigold and asked her, “Did Gilbert choose the name himself?”
‘I guess he probably came up with the name himself. Judging from the obvious dark circles under his eyes, he must have spent the whole night thinking about it.” A smile formed on Marigold’s lips as she told Danika her speculation.
Danika couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter over the phone. “It seems like he’s not as unbothered as he makes himself to be.”
If he didn’t care, why the hell would he go through so much trouble to come up with a name?
‘By the way, will the child carry your surname or Gilbert’s?” Danika casually asked. She thought that since Marigold asked Gilbert to choose the name, she’d probably already considered this as well.
However, contrary to her expectations, Marigold hadn’t made a decision yet. “I haven’t decided on it.”
Danika fell silent. This was something she couldn’t advise on.
“What do you honestly think?” Danika asked bluntly without beating around the bush.
“Of course, I hope my child can have Gilbert’s surname.” After all, he was Gilbert’s child. On top of that, Marigold also felt that if the child had Gilbert’s surname, he would be closer to him. In case something happened to her or if she could no longer be around…
Danika, on the other hand, didn’t have a strong opinion on this. “Just follow your heart, then. The child is yours, so let him have whoever’s surname you want. No one else has the right to interfere.”
Even if Marigold wanted the child to go by the surname Wagner, Danika had no problem with it. It was her choice, after all.
However, it was clear to Danika that Marigold was reluctant to have the child bear her surname. She might have grown up as a Wagner, but she wasn’t exactly fond of her birth family. Also, she had her concerns-if her child had her surname, he would be taken back to the Wagner family.
‘Okay, I understand.” Danika’s words reassured her.
Indeed, Caleb was her child. So, there was no need for her to worry so much. Having made up her mind, Marigold decided to go and register her child’s name and take care of the Social Security registration on that day itself.
Hearing that she intended to get so many things done in one go, Danika felt a little worried. “Don’t you have an appointment at the hospital today?
Come to the hospital first, get yourself examined, and then we can go together.”
‘No, won’t I be troubling you that way? I can manage this myself-“
‘It’s no trouble at all,” Danika quickly responded, cutting her off. She really didn’t think it was troublesome in any way.
While it was true that she had some unpleasantries with Marigold in the past, that was all in the past. Even when it was back then, they hadn’t reached the stage of becoming sworn enemies yet.
Now, with Marigold and Gilbert making progress in their relationship, Danika genuinely hoped they could both secure their happiness. That way, Gilbert’s future family life would be stabilized, and she need not worry about him going off to Mount Wallington again.
As Danika persisted, Marigold had no choice but to agree.
After hanging up, Marigold got up and went to the hospital. She was very happy with the current state of affairs, so she’d let go of the past animosity she felt toward Danika long ago.
Thinking about it now, Danika wasn’t to blame for Gilbert liking her. It was not as if she’d wanted it. Marigold thought it was foolish of her back then to cause trouble for Danika. Fortunately, Danika didn’t hold her accountable for her past actions. Otherwise, she wouldn’t know how to face her.
Gilbert and Marigold (7)
When Marigold arrived at the hospital, Danika was there to greet her and personally accompany her for her health examination. After reviewing the results and confirming that there were no major issues at the moment, Danika was visibly relieved.
Marigold saw everything Danika did for her, n.ov毛lx.o and a complicated emotion arose in her heart.
‘Thank you.” The two of them stood at the entrance of the hospital.
Marigold didn’t know what else to say to Danika besides her gratitude. If Danika hadn’t persuaded Gilbert to take care of the child and convinced him to let her stay at his villa, Marigold couldn’t imagine how she would have ended up.
She would be raising the child alone, n.ov毛lx.o carrying her child with her while going to the hospital for her treatments. Although she would have the money that Gilbert gave her and wouldn’t live a life that was too miserable or pathetic, it definitely wouldn’t compare to her current life.
She felt nothing but gratitude toward Danika.
‘I’m sorry!’ Before Danika could say anything, Marigold apologized to her in earnest.
Danika was surprised. ‘What are you apologizing for all of a sudden?”
‘I just want to say sorry for what happened in the past.” Marigold felt ashamed to look into Danika’s eyes. In fact, she’d owed Danika this apology for far too long. She didn’t even know whether it was too late for her to ask for forgiveness.
Danika smiled at her sincere words. With that, their past grievances were resolved and gone with the wind. “I forgive you.”