SEKANI: Nothing could have prepared me for this morning. Nothing at all. Last night, I'd been lamenting and mad over the fact that I had to move into Sean's house with him and find a way to still keep Mya a secret, and this morning, I'd woken up to her in our bed. His bed. How did she even find her way into his room? "Missy Juliet," I called out as soon as I got back to the living room. Mya jumped off her and rushed towards me and I held her by the hand, tight enough so she didn't wander off in search of Sean. "I understand how hard things are for you and I profusely apologize for the inconvenience. I would be paying you double of what I usually do if you can either go overseas with my daughter or ask someone else who does the same thing as you to take over. What do you say?" "Mya is going nowhere," Sean spoke behind me with a tone of finality. I turned to see him standing a few steps away from us with both of his hands in his pocket. I'd never seen his jaw set that way
SEAN: Sekani had been moving from side to side the whole time on our ride. She had opted to sit at the back after Mya had taken the front seat, right beside me. I was the happiest man on earth even if I knew fully well that Sekani wasn't. Mya had accepted me immediately! She was a lovely little kid and the awkwardness wasn't even there. It was our first time meeting each other and she was all over me. Not everyone experienced that. I'd expected her to either hate me or just stare at me whilst avoiding me. I'd expected her to get used to me in a few weeks' time as that was what usually happened. But this case was entirely different. She was all over me. She had even asked me to show her a few things on my computer before we set out for this date. "Playground too, Dad?!" She asked in a chirpy voice, looking up at me with my cell phone clutched in her hand. My heart melted into puddles. She was really addressing me as her father. Damn. I wasn't sure I could s
SEKANI: I fiddled with my purse, looking from side to side and trying to remain comfortable. I don't know but all of these made me more uncomfortable. Having a good time with Sean wasn't what I signed up for. Hell, I didn't sign up for anything other than business. It was chilly outside tonight and I checked on Mya to see if she had her sweats on. Thankfully, I hadn't forgotten. I decided I needed the chilliness in my skin for a while before wearing my jacket. I leaned back into the stone chair, feeling the cold seep through the tiny holes of my top and into my skin. Shivering slightly, I laughed to myself before picking my jacket up and slipping into it. Today had been nothing much of a chaotic event. I mean, just for me alone. Mya and Sean seemed to be enjoying every bit of the fun. I wasn't. There was nothing fun in your baby daddy finding out he was a baby daddy to your oblivious five-year-old daughter on the first morning after your contract marriage.
SEKANI: "I told you I could take care of her," Sean spoke from where he stood behind me, close to the door. I'd just tucked Mya into her bed, sitting at the edge and watching her sleep peacefully. Yeah, she had no problem in this world so she had the right to sleep as much as she wanted. It was one thing I envied so much, to be like a child. To sleep without a care in the world, to sleep without my problems at the back of my mind. I softly brushed her hair back before kissing her on the cheek and pushing to my feet. Sean was at the door and he didn't look pleased at all. His scowl deepened and he leaned away from the door. "Can we talk outside for a moment?" "We're going in the same direction. We can talk on our way to the room," I replied in a chirpy tone. I knew very well that he was mad about what I did tonight but I didn't care the least. He couldn't hog Mya for the whole of today, having all her attention directed at him and welcomed into her heart so easily. Wa
SEKANI: I woke up to the sound of giggles and plates clanging in the kitchen. I leaned back, stretching my body like a feline cat while turning away from the saturated morning sunlight that poured into the window. In my anger last night, I'd forgotten that rooms had windows with drapes that were meant to be closed at night, jumping right into bed and now, I was bearing the brunt of it. I leaned back into the bed, waiting for my brain to boot in ten minutes like I usually did every morning, especially when Mya didn't have to wake me first. Memories from yesterday came rushing back. Mya and Sean had gotten along really easily. It made me really uncomfortable. Angry even. How could he be gone for several years, only to be back and snatching the attention of my daughter from me? I knew Mya was his daughter too but I couldn't help logicality right now. I didn't want to be logical. Not at all. Something crashed and I jumped, flying out of the bed and rushing out of the room I
SEAN: Sekani was nowhere to be found. Right after she'd changed Mya into her swimsuit, she disappeared into her room, leaving us both to ourselves. Mya was sad. She sulked the whole time we walked to the pool, looking back constantly to see if her mother was going to come for her. But there was no sign of Sekani and I wasn't just displeased by her attitude. I was mad. "Are you sure mummy is coming?" Mya asked right after she threw the towel off her and came to stand beside me in front of the pool. I shrugged. "I don't know if she would. Let's just hope she's getting changed into a bathing suit too." "She doesn't swim." I looked at her. "How do you know that?" "I've never seen her swim. We have a large pool at the house but she rarely goes out." "What's she always doing in her leisure time? Her weekends." "She's always busy. Well, she takes me to practice on Saturday but she still has calls to answer and as soon as it's over, she takes me back home and dri
SEAN: Mya fell asleep before the cartoon ended. I could have taken her back to her room but I was already enjoying the cartoon and didn't want to watch it halfway to the end. Mya had a very good way of making me invested in watching it with her. Her description was very detailed and she made it clear how and why she loved to watch it. A smart kid. That was who she was. I still had Sekani to thank for everything. She had done a lot and invested in our daughter, so much that she was starting to take after her smartness. Once the credits rolled, I lifted Mya in my arms and headed out of the TV room towards her room. I caught the light in the kitchen to see that it was one. Definitely, someone was in there and I knew it was Keila. She was probably watching a few videos on YouTube as I could hear someone speaking in the background. Once Mya was fully tucked in, I turned and made my way out of the room, thankful that I had the time to just do everything myself. I thought
SEKANI: "I'd love to drive her to school," Sean replied after I told him we would be taking different cars. "Because I don't get why you're just overcomplicating things." "Overcomplicating things?" She laughed. "What the hell are you even talking about?" "You're going to the office really early. At fucking seven. The school doesn't start until eight thirty. I leave for work by nine but I can get dressed early enough to drop her at school and somehow, you think it's me making her not punctual to school?" "We would not be talking about this, Sean," I shook my head at him and laughed. "I really don't want to have this conversation with you and if you're going to really understand why I don't want to, I would so appreciate it." "Yes," He laughed. "Avoid talking about things as usual. Yesterday, you made a show of us before Mya and now she thinks we hate each other. Do you even realize how much baggage we are putting on that little girl? She's so little and yet, she get