Sorry for the delayed updates guys.
"I'm nervous. Are you nervous?" I asked squeezing his hand a little tightly as Ma Rosa brought the cake forward. "Is the camera set?" I wanted to get up and go check it. "It's recording already. Babe, relax." Damien said as he held me down. "I'm calm, I'm calm." I said more to myself than him. Holding our wineglasses up, we stood waiting for the boys to finish their count to three. We dug into the cake and I screamed when I pulled out a portion of cake and saw blue food coloring, "It's a boy!" "Okay you win." Damien chuckled. "I can't believe we're having another boy." I said, hopping excitedly. "I'm just as surprised as you are. Ava is about to be overprotected." Ma Rosa said even as Ava clapped her hands in glee, almost like she understood what was being said about her. "So what are we going to name him?" I turned to Damien. "I honestly haven't thought about it." He said, taking a seat as he dug into the piece of cake in his wineglass with a dessert spoon. "We still have so
"Stay with me. Babe stay with me!" I was in between yelling and begging her to stay awake for me. I held on to her hand, struggling between holding on tightly or tenderly. "Don't close your eyes. Please babe, please." I said. The nurses were trying to keep her awake too. Her breaths were slowing down and there was still a quick flow of blood that soaked the fabric on the stretcher. "God I need a miracle. We can't lose this baby. It'll break her." I cried out. This child was our hope of a new beginning. Something to look forward to. If we lost him, Ariana would be so broken. "She'll be fine." I heard Him say. I took that as a positive sign that she and the baby were going to be alright. I just had to remain calm and wait for the doctor to come out. I called Ma Rosa and managed to tell her what had happened without breaking down. She promised to reach Pastor Anderson and his wife so they could pray for us. "Thank you," I said to her just before I hung up. "Doctor?" I looked up as t
"You're off?" She asked me as I stepped into the kitchen. Apparently, she was getting ready to make dinner. "Yeah." I answered, gulping a bottle of water. "How long are you going to be gone for?" She asked. "I think the prayer meeting is about an hour or two," I said with an exaggerated sigh that made her laugh. "You'll get used to praying for that long if you do it consistently." She said after her burst of laughter had come to a halt. I nodded, "Yes ma'am. I have to speak to Pastor Anderson afterwards though." "You two decided on today?" "Yeah." I shrugged. "Okay, have fun." She waved me off but I went over and stole a kiss instead. "Take care babe." I said. "You too." She said back but I stayed there for a little longer, her forehead joined to mine. Attending the prayer meeting for the first time few weeks back was a tiring a experience for someone who had never prayed for so long. I sat down to catch my breath at some point. I had run out of words and was starting to sp
I dabbed the blending foam over my cheeks one more time, staring at the finished look in the mirror with as satisfied smile on my face. I was still good at this makeup thing despite doing without it after so long. Damien went out of his way to stock up on my makeup products. I was so shocked that he got the shades right. It was such a pleasant surprise. Things were coming together. With the help of someone in church, through Pastor Anderson, he was able to secure a remote job in a tech startup that paid quite a sum. We had carved out a home office for him in what used to be our guest room and whenever he was in there, he was not to be disturbed. I shut my eyes as I sprayed the setting spray over my face, completing the look and waiting for it to marinate as I set up the tripod and camera I was going to use for my video. "Oh my goodness Mama Mia," Damien came in just then and I blushed as he showered me with compliments. "You are delectably gorgeous. The most beautiful woman to wa
"You had one job, both of you! And all you can say is that they were good to you?!" She sighed in exasperation. "Dad, they were good to us. Why would we want to do that to them?" "You let Gerald win!" "At least now you're not caught up in their mess. It's now a family issue." "You made me lose out on a lot of money." "Aren't you wealthy enough? You framed my husband and put him in jail just for me to destroy someone who has never done any wrong to you!" She screamed in annoyance. "Shut up!" He said and coughed loudly. Cheryl wished he would just die already. "I regret having you as my daughter," he said to spite her. "Trust me, I wish I had died as a baby." She said and hung up. "That was so brave of you." Leon said, hugging her from behind. "I wish I had done this earlier." She sighed. For too long, she had hidden in the fear of losing her father's support but now she had learnt to be content with her husband's earnings. "We need to do something to help Damien and Ariana." S
"You got a cake?" I asked, swabbing a piece of icing with my index finger as he set the white colored buttercream cake with cherry toppings on the kitchen island."Oooh yummy." I moaned, savoring the taste. "What's the occasion?" I asked, going into his arms as he pulled me close. "Kiss me first," he placed me on the island and placed his lips on mine before I could respond. "It's a peace offering." He finally answered my question when he let me go. "Peace offering? What did you do?" I asked, squinting my eyes in suspicion as he looked away in guilt, muttering something under his breath. "Babe, speak up." I said, tapping on his strong arms that held me in place in case I wanted to walk out. He definitely had done something that would really upset me. "I invited Claire over," He managed to say after a while of probing.I was shocked. "You did what? I thought you were just going to speak to her and that's it?""I want to see her when she works.""So she's going to stay here?" Now I
She looked different. Very different from the last time I saw her over seven years ago. "Damien," she walked over and hugged me, I limply returned it. "It's so nice to see you. Thank you for gracing my invitation, I thought you wouldn't even respond to me." She said, more excited to see me than I was to see her. I nodded slowly, "Well, here I am.""You're not going to ask how I'm doing. You're still mad at me?" She gasped."I'm not mad at you, just suspicious that you would reach out to me for the first time in years and now of all times." I said honestly."I heard everything that happened and I'm so sorry." "How did you hear?" I asked."Your mother.""You're still in contact with her." That was a statement."I saw her at an event a couple of weeks ago when I came back to LA.""Hmmm."Aleena sighed sadly and her face stiff with lots of plastic surgery hardly moved. "She's very unhappy Damien," "Serves her right." I muttered."Gerald treats her like trash.""She deserves it." I said
"She's what?!!!" I dropped my phone in reflex when I heard him yell from the balcony. Quickly, I got on my feet and rushed to meet him over the phone looking like he had seen a ghost. "What happened?" I asked as he limply dropped the phone. It took him a while to respond to me. "My mom is dead." "What?!" I screamed, clasping my palms over my mouth. "What happened to her?" I managed to ask as the tears started to stream down my face. "Aleena says she was found dead in her room. I smell foul play." He frowned deeply. In the next instant, he rushed out of the room and I followed him closely. "Carina?" She looked up from the boys who seemed to have fallen in love with her personality ever since she began living with us. "I need you to check the CCTV footage thoroughly. I think Gerald killed my mom." "Jeez!" She exclaimed, getting up to head to the room where the computers were while I ushered the children upstairs so they would not have to hear any of this. I came back down a