109 Family

After Lara and Ivan had put Jane to sleep, both of them retired to their respective rooms for the night. But Lara didn't go to bed just yet. Instead, she sat down and thought about her relationship with Ivan. Since she had met him for the first time, her thoughts of him had changed multiple times.

At first, she was filled with awe and thankfulness, after he had saved her group. But this had soon changed when he had raped her. She had only felt hate for him. That her family rules made him her legal husband had made it even worse. Just when she was at her lowest, the doctor told her that she was pregnant.

Her first reaction was to abort the child, her mother and father were strictly against it. Even her psychiatrist recommend, that she should keep the child. She argued that it would not only be a good way to get over her trauma but also that the child itself was innocent. Besides, that was she really willing to not have any children? Because of the family rules, she would only be able to have children with her husband and since nobody knew who he was, it was nearly impossible to get pregnant again.

Under the persuasion of all these people, she finally decided to keep the child, which would become the best decision she had ever made in her life. When she felt the little life growing in her, she was filled with happiness. She couldn't wait to finally meet her child, hold it, cuddle it and play with it. During this time her feelings towards Ivan once again changed. She still felt hate but there was also some thankfulness again. These two feelings fought with each other and while watching their daughter grow up the thankfulness started to overshadow her hate.

Such when they met once again she surprisingly didn't feel any hate for him anymore. Instead, she felt mostly indifferent. Together with the wish of her daughter to spend time with him, she didn't have a problem with him staying with them for a while. Even more, she surprisingly didn't feel the same discomfort, she felt with other males.

Seeing him love their daughter and the way he interacted with her, she slowly warmed up towards him, starting to see him as part of the family. Him being like a clean slate after his reset, only helped. This feeling slowly accumulated until she saw him in so much pain during his bloodline evolution. That was when she realized that she had started to care for him.

And today it had felt very natural to play with him and her daughter. She felt like she had completely accepted as part of the family. She wasn't sure if she loved him, but she certainly liked having him around her and her daughter.

Thinking this far, she remembered Mia's words. "You should try to make this marriage work."

Should she really? She had to admit that her words were right, she had avoided any contact with men ever since back then. *Maybe if I start slow.*, she couldn't help but think. The only marriages she had really experienced where his mother and father and uncle and aunts. Both of these marriages were filled with happiness, which had often made her envious. Of course there were some problems, especially with her mother and father, since his role necessitated a bigger harem than usual, but in the end, her mother was the one in control and somehow she managed to keep everything harmonious.

It was just that they sometimes let their affection flow out way too much, embarrassing everyone around them. There was no way she could make them her model. But her uncle and aunts weren't any better. Which was mostly Jennys fault. Her personality was just too active and outgoing.

"I definitely won't act like them.", she silently swore to herself. That would be way too embarrassing. But then how should she start. If she wanted to make this marriage real, she knew that she not only had to be able to live with him but also sleep with him. After all, having sex and children were a fundamental part of being married. Besides she found their interactions during the day were already like a married couple. So the only thing left was their interaction during the night.

"Whatever, let's just start with sleeping on the same bed.", she finally decided after contemplating for a while.

After having made her decision she resolutely got up and left her room to knock at Ivans door.

As usual, Ivan was sitting on his bed, reading a book on his phone. After having realized how lacking his common sense was, he not only read scientific literature but also some entertainment literature. He was clear on the fact that what was described wouldn't be the real thing, but by reading many different books, he was able to gather some information. Besides, it was fun to read them.

But today he was reading a research paper about a medical herb, he had found the last time he went to the 'Herb Garden'. Just when he had finished the paper, there was a knock at his door.

The knock surprised him since this was the first time that anyone had knocked at his door this late into the night. His first thought was that Jane had woken up again and was now looking for him. As such he hurriedly opened the door. When he had opened the door he was surprised to see Lara standing in front of it. She was wearing her pajamas and had her hair let down.

Seeing her like this he was stunned. Usually, she had her hair up in a ponytail and wore clothes that while comfortable, didn't show any skin. But now she was wearing a pajama that while conservative, still showed a bit of cleavage. Together with her straight ink black hair which went down to just below her shoulders, she had a completely different look. She looked much softer than usual.

Seeing him staring at her Lara blushed lightly, once again stunning him.

"Can I come in?", she then asked in a soft voice.

These words broke him out of his reverie and he hurriedly stepped back from the door, so she could enter the room. She slowly entered the room and closed the door, before she sat down on the couch.

Ivan didn't say anything but too sat down. He then patiently waited for her to say something because surely she wouldn't come to his room if she didn't have anything to say.

"Ivan, what do you think about our marriage?", Lara opened the conversation with a question, that had been on her mind for a while now. Just like her, he too had been forced into this marriage, so she really wanted to know his thoughts on it.

Ivan didn't instantly answer but first thought about it.

"I'm glad to have it.", he then answered, surprising her. She wasn't sure what her expectation was, but she thought that he wouldn't be satisfied with it.

"Why?", her voice had become slightly horse as she asked this question.

"Because it gave me a family.", he answered, before continuing, "After coming to, in that room, I knew nobody and nothing. There was only this quest, telling me to go to school and nothing else.", he then started telling the story of what happened after waking up. He hadn't really told this to anyone else, but now he somehow felt a desire to tell her this.

"I had nothing at this time. No family, no friends. If not for your uncle recruiting me, I wouldn't even know what to do for food and lodging. Of course, there were Greg and Serge, but at that time they were still strangers.

After that although I didn't have to fret about daily necessities and Greg and Serge had become my friends, I technically was still alone. This was something I felt especially when I heard others talking about their family.", he paused with a faraway look in his eyes. And the corners of his mouth curved upwards.

"All of this changed when Jane came running towards me while calling me daddy. Although I was shocked, there was so much happiness. Finally, I too had a family. Although I still didn't have parents, I had a wife and a child."

"But I was so cold towards you."

"Yes, you were.", when he said that she once again blushed, "But that didn't matter to me at all. Sure this marriage was only on paper and not even real, but it still meant that I had a family."

Hearing this, Lara couldn't help but smile. It seemed like the meeting between all of them, not only gave Jane a father who loved her, something she had always desired but also helped the two of them. For her, it was slowly getting rid of her trauma and for him, it was getting rid of his loneliness.