LaylaI hollered at them and hastened across the front yard.“What are you doing, Aunt Layla?” Sofia's eyes widened in surprise.“Hey, Charlene!” I slightly waved at the girl.“Hey. Did Sofia forget something?” She asked, her eyes prying at me.“No, I just want to talk to you before I leave. Are you rushing to do something?”Charlene's boyfriend was staring vaguely at me. Now that I took a closer look at him, I could see his sunken pale blue eyes, prominent cheekbones, sharp jawline, and dropping mouth. His build was quite okay for a teenager.“Yeah…" She responded, glancing at the boy.“Give me five minutes of your time.”“Okay. Go on, Adrian.” She gestured at him. He gave a firm nod.“Sofia, will you excuse us?” Sofia made a face and walked inside the house.“Thank you.” Charlene crossed her arms, leaning against a wall.“I know about you and Sofia,” I began. “The state in which your relationship currently stands. I'm aware you have decided to be with Adrian, but I must inform you
So Leo Cooper had met my son. It was funny how he wouldn't have ever thought Nathan was the son of his ex-girlfriend.“I hope Nathan didn't disturb you with ice cream.”“Yeah, he did, but that was before Mr. Cooper took him to the playground. I didn't let him have it, though, it was cold.” He answered.“Thanks a lot. I don't think Mr. Cooper bought one for him either, he told me he ate a sundae or so…"“Yeah, he did.” Henry agreed.“I'm afraid his sweet tooth is increasing every day.” I sighed.“You don't have a sweet tooth, do you?” He asked.“Nah…”“Then it might be his father…”“Yeah.” I breathed.Nathan's father, yeah, he might have a sweet tooth. I hoped to receive some favorable news from the bartender soon.“I'll be going to see my parents this weekend,” Henry informed me, his eyes taking in every movement I make with my hands.“Oh, that's great,” I muttered.“
LaylaThere were two secrets I could use against Ethan. One; his businesses, and two; his love affairs. He wasn't a saint, after all, going to the extremes to get what he wanted without caring about the other party. Just like he did to me. He had once gone into business with William Gould but suddenly, out of nowhere, the business fell through and William Gould had to suffer the loss. The conclusion I could come to with the information I had in my hands was that the failure of the business had all been orchestrated from the outset and Ethan was behind it. I thought I could use my influence and William Gould's cooperation to gain leverage over him. I knew I had to see William Gould one of these days. About his love affairs, the investigative officer could not gather as much as I would have wanted, but he gave me an inkling of one of Ethan's illicit relationships. There were pictures, but they only revealed the back and side views. He was going to have to press on and capture the w
As I switched off the lights, my door creaked open. A small silhouette stood at the entrance, it was Nathan. I switched on the lights.“What is wrong? Can't you sleep, my love?” I wondered what was the matter with him. He was rubbing his eyes as he came over to my bed.“Mummy, I want to sleep here.” He crawled on the bed.“All right dear.” I cuddled him close to me.“Are you feeling scared?” I asked with concern as I stared at my lovely boy.“I want to stay here with you.” He said, nuzzling against my chest.“All right. Since I've read you a bedtime story earlier, I will sing you a lullaby.”“Okay…"‘Rockabye baby on the tree topWhen the wind blows, the cradle will rock.If the bough breaks, the cradle will fall.Then down tumbles baby, cradle and all…’After a while, I could only hear the soft pattering of hail on the roof. Everything else was quiet. Nathan's steady breath warmed my chest, I thought he had already fallen asleep until his baby voice startled me out of my doze.“Mummy
LaylaI enrolled Nathan in school on the following Monday. I had thought he wouldn't want me to leave him, but I was proven wrong when he excitedly bid me goodbye after I revisited him in his class upon leaving the Principal's office. Afterward, I drove down to Beverly Hills to see Georgina.Her home was not the way I remembered it, in fact. She was no longer the way I remembered her; when she opened the door, her hair was unkempt, her clothes were soiled, and she looked like a complete disaster. I didn't know it had gotten that far, from being sophisticated and presentable to being frozen in time and miserable. Thank God, Sofia wasn't living with her. In the lobby, I could see the paw of Elsa molded in clay. I guessed it was a reminder of the furry creature. Sofia told me she passed away due to cancer about two years ago. The entire living room was disrupted and everything was not in place, even up to the painting on the wall, which was dangling crookedly.“A minute.” She said drow
Pulling over, I saw Henry waving at us through the windshield. He was holding brown bags. Nathan hastily hopped out to meet him.“Are you not freezing out here? How long have you been here?” I walked towards him. He was smiling so broadly as snow covered his entire trench coat.“I thought we could have lunch together to celebrate Nathan's first day at school.” He smiled.“Yayyyyy!” Nathan cheered, trying to collect one of the brown bags.“It's quite heavy,” Henry informed him.“I can hold it.” He insisted, and Henry gave one to him. He clutched his to his chest, his eyes beaming with joy.“Let's go in. Come on,” I urged.With chicken burrito and rice and beans, Chicken Caesar pasta salad for appetizer, and S'mores for dessert, it was a feast. Nathan was so happy we prepared so much food just for him and yeah, he wouldn't sit still at the dining table.“You love it?” I asked him.“Yes!” He chirped and munched on his chicken to his heart's content.“It's all thanks to Uncle Henry, all r
“I'm so full,” I chuckled. “I guess I won't be having dinner,” I said.“Yeah, me too.”“You treated us to a feast.”He laughed.“Thank you.” I sipped from my cup.“Can I have a reward then?” His eyes beamed. What reward was he talking about?“Can I sleep over tonight?” He asked coolly. It took me a while to respond, but I did.“Sure.”Out of indebtedness, I felt it wasn't much of a reward, it was more of a compensation for stretching him to do things for us. He was pleased, nevertheless. We watched TV for a while, and I didn't know when I dozed off on the sofa. However, the next morning, I found myself in my bed. Instincts told me Henry had carried me in his arms and laid me on my bed. It felt absurd, but thankfully, I couldn't remember any of it. I switched off the alarm and ambled out of the room, to the nursery. But my dear son was not in his bed at six a.m.“I will have one too.” His mirthful voice was coming from the kitchen.“Oh, mummy has caught us.” Henry was smiling at me.
Layla“I bumped into Chloe…" Hannah was saying when Sofia returned from seeing Eugene off. She slumped on the sofa close to me.“Where?” Though the mention of both Ethan and Chloe irked me, I never stopped being so curious about them. I was still awaiting news from Mr. Varny but during the weekend I planned to fly to NY to meet both Amanda and William Gould, whom I had booked an appointment with a few days back, using Laynat.“At a mall. I think she's pregnant.” Hannah didn't hesitate to say, and it came as a surprise to me. I thought it should, that was precisely how you should feel when you heard that your ex-best friend was carrying the child of your ex-husband. I felt a mixed tinge of bitterness and jealousy within me.“There was a feeling,” she added.“Good for her,” I muttered.“But I doubt Ethan's the father…" This statement came as some sort of shock and succor to me. I didn't like the fact that Chloe might be carrying the baby I didn't have with Ethan during my years of endur
8–9 months laterAriandeI was already having contractions, and it was obvious I was going to go into labor soon. It was great I was with Layla though, and I tried to call for her. A yelp escaped my mouth as the contraction hit me harder."Oh my God, Ariande, are you okay?" Layla entered into the living room where I was, dropping the glass of water she had gone to bring, and she took out her phone to call Tony.He arrived sooner than we both expected, and he helped me into his car with Layla, who was pretty heavy too. She was to be due in a few days or a week from mine, and we'd both be free of mood swings and erratic hormones. Then she followed us to the hospital where I went into proper labor and gave birth to my girls a few hours later.I could tell from the minute that Tony walked in after my labor that he had gone through a lot of anxiety and I collected the baby when the nurse placed her in my arms, "Oh my God, Ariande, I'm so grateful for this, thank you for bringing her into t
AriandeIt was so great seeing these two get married, and I think I had seen Tony staring at me intently during the vow saying, I wouldn't be sure what that meant though.I loved the wedding reception even more, and it started off to a great start with some good music which me and the girls had gone through, including Layla and some good champagne. Other alcohols of different types were being passed around too, and soda for those who wouldn't want alcohol. There was great food and the couple when they finally entered.The song we had chosen for them to dance to upon entering started, and I have to say Leo gave his best more than Layla. It seemed like she was rather shy about dancing in public.Games were played and a lot of activities were thrown out. When the most awaited moment arrived, the throwing of the bouquet, I was in the front row because I wanted to get the bouquet and I got it.I squealed happily, "wow, I got it."Everyone smiled happily, and we waved the couple off to have
LaylaWedding preparations went on in full swing by the time we came back and as Nana, Leo's grandmother, liked hosting parties, she was the one that took control of the entire thing. She did seek my permission on some things and I answered as best as I could.Hannah was so happy for me, so also Mr and Mrs Cooper, and they very much petted me like I was their new doberman.Ariande drew me to a fitting shop days before the wedding, and I was surprised to see the other ladies "were just here to give our opinions."I was happy that they were all rallying around me, but it was just making me more nervous. I looked through the variety of gowns they had and picked one, "Go try it on."I walked into the dressing room with Ariande to help, and I had to admit we had become pretty much closer.I came out to the sight of the other ladies, and they were like hmm, hmm, I felt like that too, it wasn't really giving. It was nice though, like an off-shoulder gown with a full train and veil too. I fel
LaylaBy our fourth day there, the grill was out with the game night preparations being underway, and I helped as much as I could with the preparations. For one, I was feeling quite dizzy and nauseous and I did have an idea of what it might be, but I wasn't sure though, so I didn't want to make a big deal out of it.Tony and Leo helped set the lights on the beach and the chairs were set out around a fireplace in the middle. The beers were placed by the side and someone was to be manning the grill while everyone ate; Tony and Leo, of course. Kai offered, but the boys turned it down, and we all faced Kim."So what are the games we are going to be playing?""Okay, so I prepared quite a number of games, but the two most interesting ones would be never have I ever and two truths and a lie.""Oh, Kim" Ariande commented, making all of us laugh."So here are the rules for 'never have I ever'. Actually, it has just one rule. Everyone gets a turn to say 'never have I ever' and if you've done it
Ariande"Something fun, what would you consider something fun". The girls and I were sitting on the kitchen island pondering on what was fun, as the guys had gone off to God knows where."Well, we could go clubbing," Kim suggested, to which I agreed, though I wasn't sure I could drink with my pregnancy. Actually, I couldn't."We could also have a game night, just sit out on the beach and have some drinks too while we play some games,""I agree too," Layla said in agreement to Kai's suggestion."Well, we could go shopping. That would be for the girls, but the guys could also tag along if they want to."We all nodded in agreement, planning the whole thing and I and Layla offered to go buy the groceries for the day we would be there.It would be nice to just bake and cook for everyone. I learned there was a grill too."So have you decided on anything?" Layla asked as we drove to the mall."Yes, I decided to tell him first before I made any decision. I'll tell him probably a day or two fr
AriandeI was feeling quite funny and that was not good. I couldn't fall sick during production and at a crucial moment like this. I smiled happy when I saw my daily dose of bouquet delivered to my dressing room on set."He's just being so open now, isn't he?"Jeremy smiled, unsure of what to say."So how is your relationship with my brother?""Uhm... Actually I was going to say something about that. You're going on your break soon, right? I was wondering if I could take some days off then?"I cocked my head, "are both of you going on a vacation or trip?"He nodded slightly, "I could be back quickly if you want me to or cancel but...""It's okay, you can go. I'll manage on my own.""Really?"I nodded. As it was going to be my break soon, I wouldn't be having any shoots or production during that time because I would want some peace and quiet and, since I wouldn't be doing much then, it wouldn't be fair of me to rip his vacation from him.I called Tony when I was done with the scenes fo
LaylaThe designs were created within weeks and the collections were out together for another week. I looked through the portfolios of models that had been placed on my table and decided on the ones that we were going to use for the fashion show and campaign too.Amanda and Henry came in from New York to help with the process and a date was given for the fashion show. As for the campaign, I supervised the photo shoot and video shoot of the collections, and it was posted on both the models and CARTER'S official website as well as social media handles.I was going through one of the documents when my secretary came in, "this young lady...""Aunt Layla!" I looked up from the document to see Sofia rush in, and she was looking all bubbly and happy. I signaled the secretary that it was okay, and I gave her a big hug."Hey girlie, how have you been?"She smiled, "good""I heard you were in trouble" she smiled again, but this time more mischievous."It wasn't my fault that somebody wanted to
KaiI wasn't sure what to expect as I walked into the family house with Leo and Layla, and I was definitely surprised at the number of people that were there.Isn't that the famous actress, Ariande? And Leo's friend Tony, who were the couple that were looking about the same age as Leo's parents in a corner there too? There was also a grandma and grandpa too. Guess I had a lot of family."Leo honey" The Grandma greeted him, pecking him on the cheek, and he greeted her back. The woman also greeted Layla and a younger woman came to greet both of them too. Grandma stared at me, "and you're...""Oh you must be Kai, right?" The younger woman said, making me guess that she was Mrs Cooper, and I nodded."It's nice to meet you""Nice to meet you too", I shook her outstretched hand."This is Park Woojin, also Kai, Steve's daughter". Grandma looked confused."Steve didn't tell me about having a daughter.""Kai, meet Nana, your step grandmother and your step grandfather over there too."I greeted
Ariande"You still haven't figured out who is sending you the flowers yet?" Tony asked as I sat on the island in his kitchen. He had a bowl in his hand as he mixed chicken with mashed potatoes and I shook my head."No. I plan to use a private investigator though, because it could be a stalker and..."He nodded and smiled, "I understand.""Why did you invite me for dinner though?" I asked, surprised, since I hadn't been to his house since the last time I was drunk.He has only ever come to my house since our altercation and had sex with me. Nothing else, no dinner, no nothing, not even a drink, so what had changed that?"I just needed company to eat with today.""Oh" I felt honored even though I shouldn't, and I watched him intently as he started frying the mixture together on a bone stick.It was crazy just how much he had invaded my head. It was like I couldn't think of anything else but him and I deserved it because it had been the other way around. I had manipulated him at first, p