Derek had named his child Kyle and had taken full responsibility for him, he was a doting father and spends most of his free time with him. Oftentimes, Kathleen felt neglected because all he sees is his son and Nicole made sure not to let the opportunity pass her, whenever Derek was with Kathleen, she would make Kyle cry and scream Daddy and Derek would always be there to play with him and each time Kathleen tried to go close to Kyle, Nicole would always object, Kathleen felt all alone so she spent most of her time beside Derek's father whenever Marcella was not around.
Kathleen was sitting beside Derek's father, as usual, sharing her grievances with his unconscious form when she heard Marcella's car drove in, she quickly rushed out of the room, she wasn't in the mood to go into any form of confrontation with Marcella, as she was rushing down the stairs, she didn't see Kyle who was playing with his toys downstairs by the foot of the stairs, she saw him just a second too late as she unavoidably stepped on his wrist. Kyle screamed in pain and Nicole who was sitting on the couch busy with her phone rushed towards him, her eyes quickly took in what was before her and her face flushed with fury, "I knew you've always been jealous of my child, so you decided to kill him right?" She screeched as her palm connected with Kathleen's cheek.
"It was an accident" Kathleen tried to explain more worried about little Kyle than Nicole's slap, "what was he doing all alone on the floor anyways?" She asked trying to pick up Kyle from the floor
"Don't you dare touch my son" Nicole gritted snatching away crying Kyle from Kathleen, "I told you to stay the hell away from him"
"I'm sorry Nicole, it was really an accident, I didn't mean to hurt him, please believe me"
Nicole snarled at Kathleen's words.
"What's going on here? What happened to my grandchild?" Marcella's voice resonated in the house as she entered taking in crying Kyle and the scene before her in one glance.
"This bitch finally decided to take out her anger on my poor baby"
Not wanting to hear any of Kathleen's explanations, Marcella grabbed her tightly by the arm, "you wicked witch, pray nothing happens to my grandchild or you'll regret the day you ever stepped your foot in this house" she pushed Kathleen forcefully away from her before turning to Nicole who was trying to soothe a screaming Kyle to no avail, her eyes scanned Kyle's body and her gaze narrowed on his wrist that was now so red and swollen, "look at his wrist Nicole, it's swollen"
"What happened to Kyle's wrist? Why is it swollen?" Derek's voice sounded from behind them and they all turned, they hadn't heard him come in, Nicole burst into tears as she intended to put on a great show for Derek to be more distant from Kathleen, "you see Derek, I told you your wife hate your son, look, see what she did to him" she wailed showing Kyle's wrist to him, "my son is in so much pain and I just can't bear it"
Derek's cheeks flushed as he observed the swollen wrist on his son, he gazed at Kathleen who was too choked to defend herself, she could only shake her head, he said nothing as he quietly carried the screaming Kyle from Nicole but his face said it all, he was damn angry.
"Let's get him to the hospital first" he walked out the door with Kyle, Kathleen made to follow him but his cold gaze stopped her on her track, Nicole noticed it and she smirked, feeling good inside, perhaps, this incident will draw Derek closer to her.
Kyle was admitted to the hospital as it was he had suffered a fracture on his wrist, he was now sleeping and Derek gazed at him. Nicole had been insisting that Kathleen did that on purpose but Derek couldn't bring himself to believe it, although, he was angry at her for being careless and he also blamed Nicole, she should have been more watchful, he had wanted to employ a nanny and she was the one who kicked against it for unknown reasons and now she got careless with his son, he paced the hospital room and Nicole suddenly stood from her position, walking up to him, she rested her head on his chest and sniffed, "I was so afraid Derek, I am sorry if you think it's also my fault but I didn't know someone would try to harm him right in the house"
Derek put a hand on her shoulders and put a space between them, "it was an accident Nicole, Kathleen would never hurt anyone on purpose"
"You keep defending her, she is just a pretender, why can't you see that?"
"I have decided to gift my son one of the Deloux houses, both of you will be staying there while I get the papers ready"
Nicole's heart skipped a beat, she couldn't believe her luck, he was giving her one of the Deloux properties, this incident was indeed a good one, with time, she would make sure all his properties would be in Kyle's name, she swallowed a smile as she pretended that she had no interest in the house, "oh no Derek, I and my son are perfectly fine, we can get a house somewhere and live well by ourselves"
Derek's gaze narrowed on her, "I want my son to be comfortable and I'm giving my son the house and not you"
"Oh! Alright then, but I hope I can still bring him to the mansion anytime he feels like seeing you"
"Sure you can" Derek quickly assured and Nicole smiled demurely, having to leave in one of Deloux houses is luxury itself and to think that he was gifting them the house was another, she decided to push her luck further, "can he get one of Deloux extension? He would be much more comfortable there" she held her breath, waiting for a reply and almost jumped up with glee when he responded "done"
"And a car, I can't be taking him around in my own car, it's so old already"
Derek humphed as he again agreed to her request, she hugged him in joy and he stiffened, "Nicole" his voice held a warning note and she moved away from him, "alright, I'm sorry, I was just carried away"
Derek glanced at sleeping Kyle and his heart grew tender, he would do anything for his flesh and blood, he couldn't imagine he would love his son this much and briefly wondered if that was how all parents love their child.
"Take care of him, I'll be back"
Nicole nodded eagerly as she watched him walk away, she made sure he was gone before bringing out her phone to call Stefan.