Chapter Ten

PRISCILLA’S POV

I kissed Avery as her eyes closed and she settled into sleep and turned to her twin brother who was staring at me in expectation.

I rubbed my nose against his and snuggled him closer to me. This wasn't their first rodeo on an airplane as I'd had to travel for so many work meetings and the only person I could trust to take care of my babies also had problems of her own and wasn't in the situation to take care of mine in addition.

“Are you ready?” I asked Aiden whose eyes were already lit up in excitement and he nodded.

I smiled and picked up the book we'd started reading earlier that week. Aiden could read perfectly by himself but he preferred it when I read to him and I consider it an honor as well as a time to destress and spend time with my baby. Avery was a little different in her likes and dislikes and while she didn't mind reading books, she much preferred drawing and painting. Another thing that the two didn't have in common was the fact that Avery fell asleep immediately on a plane while Aiden always found it difficult to sleep a wink, no matter how long the commute was. Something he had, unfortunately, taken from his father.

“Do you remember where we stopped?” I asked, and he looked at me like he's got it as he showed me where exactly we'd left off.

“The little boy stood at the foot of the hill and stared at the long distance to the top, unsure whether he could even attempt it. As he stared, other people, some looking even more prepared than he was, started their ascent and he sighed to himself…..” I narrated.

BRENT'S POV

I closed my door and walked into the airport, tension making my body stiff. After finding out how stupid I’d been six years ago, my thoughts hadn’t let me rest. Now I was here to officially welcome Priscilla and my kids back to New York even though I knew she wouldn’t be grateful for my presence.

PRISCILLA’S POV

I sighed as I saw Brent walking towards us in his most likely ridiculously expensive suit. I remember telling him I didn’t need him to be at the airport but of course, he still didn’t listen to me. He came to us, collected my bags from me and squatted in front of the twins, making my jaws drop in shock. The great Brenton almost putting himself on ground level in an AIRPORT?

“Hey. How was the journey?” He asked the twins and I hid a smile as Aiden gave him a nonchalant shrug and Avery just gave him a small smile.

He glanced at me in confusion and I simply shrugged. It wasn’t really his fault, the twins just became quiet when they needed to sleep and even though Avery had slept almost through the flight, she still took hints from her brother when he was tired.

“The twins are tired so we would like to go to our hotel.” I whispered to Brent who nodded and led us out of the airport to a SUV??”

“Get in. I’ll take you to your destination.” He said as he opened the car doors.

I opened my mouth to protest but he glanced at the twins and I took the hit. I had told them we will be meeting a friend of mine, Brent, and as far as they were aware, it was not normal to argue with your friends. I turned to the kids and settled them at the back and made to get in with them but Brent pulled on my arm gently. I huffed in annoyance and joined him at the front.

Ten minutes into the ride, I glanced back and saw that Aiden had slept and Avery was occupied with sketching something on her ipad. I turned to Brent. “Why are you here?”

He shrugged. “You were arriving today, and since you are here because of me, it seemed rude to let you navigate your way back into the city by yourself.”

I caught the hint of something unsaid in his words and I turned to him but he still had his perfect mask on. “Have you forgotten? I used to live here and six years is not a long time ago to forget how things are done.”

Brent glanced at me, “I thought we agreed that I was going to be back in their lives. How else would I get to know them if you don’t want me around you.” He ended in a whisper and I turned back in a panic to Avery but I saw her hearing aid on her lap and sighed in relief.

“We’ll discuss this later.” When I’ve had enough rest I don’t feel like biting your head off. I didn’t add. I looked at the GPS and realized we were going another way. “Where are you taking me to?” I asked, spitting the words out in anger. I could recognize where we were now.

“Where were you planning to stay before? The house is yours so you can stay there.” He replied nonchalantly.

I clenched my fists trying to get back under control. “I had a plan. Didn’t you think it would have been better if you had told me about this.”

Brent glanced at me and seeing how furious I was, put the car on neutral. “You are here because of me. I don’t expect you to stay in a hotel when I can provide you with better accommodations.”

I hissed. “How nice. How grateful would I be if I had to go back to the house where I lost so many things. Especially with my kids, doesn’t it sound like a wonderful idea?” I replied sarcastically.

He gripped the steering tighter. “I’m so sorry. I know I should have started there but I wanted you to rest before bothering you with my apology. You can take another place. I’ll put that house in your name as well. I just thought a house would be more comfortable than a hotel suite.”

I didn’t even bother asking how he knew where I wanted to stay even though I had done appropriate research to make sure the hotel wasn’t his.

I sighed and rested my head on the headrest not wanting to fight, especially not in front of the kids. There were definitely going to be times we would butt heads and opinions but I didn’t expect it to be over something a logical person would have figured out, easily.

A tap on my shoulder from the tap had my eyes going wide and I paled when Avery sighed. “What’s going on? Are you okay?”