At the Door

FIVE YEARS FROM LEAVING HOME...

"Happy birthday darlings." She places a spongebob cake in front of them.

It's a Saturday so everyone is at home, there is no school nor work and she has the best surprise planned for her children.

Maya claps excitedly and blows the candles out.

Miles grumbles. "Come on, you don't get to blow it out on your own."

Maya stands up and stretches to her full height, looking down at him. "What did you say?"

Mika laughs. She has been terrorizing her brother ever since she became conscious enough to do so. And it happens every single one of their birthdays since they were two years old.

She cuts slices of the cake for them both and relights a candle on Miles's slice so he can also blow it out.

He closes his eyes deeply, clasping his hand together before blowing out the fire.

Mika tilts her head and watches him. "What did you just do?"

"My friend told me that before blowing out the light on a cake, you can make a wish."

Mika chuckles and sits down beside him. "What was your wish?"

He chuckles. "That you get a new husband and a daddy for us. Someone that will love us."

Mika smiles empathetically but not completely surprised, very aware that they have wanted that since as young as they have been. "Don't worry, your wish just might come to pass someday."

"Mummy, where is our Daddy?" Maya suddenly asks between a bite of cake.

"Your Dad is... very busy at New York. He has to work and send us money so he works very hard." She smiles while lying through her teeth. "I have a surprise for you both..." She suddenly goes, trying to change the topic. She suddenly whips out three tickets from behind her. "We have an exclusive trip to that amusement park you have always wanted to go."

Both of them laugh excitedly, kicking their cake aside. "Let's go... Let's go."

"After you get dressed, now come on."

Taking care of two very very outspoken kids is not easy work and it's not for the weak but neither is Mika weak.

In less than an hour, they arrive at the amusement park and go on as many rides as they possibly can, eating a lot of cotton candy and sweets. She gives them a cheat day but not too much so she won't suffer along with them when they have to visit the restroom every two minutes.

After riding for the Pirate ship for the fifth time in a row, she gets down dizzy. Miles breaks off from her hands and runs off.

Startled, she grabs Maya and holds her with her right hand while looking for Mile and calling his name. She suddenly sees him not far away, clutching a cotton candy in his hand and a smile on his face. She stops in front of him and shakes him slightly, still yet to calm down from the sudden adrenaline rush. "You just can't run off at the amusement park. What if I didn't find you? Where did you go and how did you get a cotton candy?" She takes it away from him and looks over it but it's only his eaten part that looks abnormal.

"I met a man and he bought it for me. I told him it was my birthday. He gave me as much gift."

Maya frowns beside Mika.

Mika ignores her, not knowing whether she was frowning in reproach of her brother or because she didn't get a free cotton candy. She doesn't even want to know. She tears a bit from it and eats it, satisfied, she hands it back to him. "Next time, don't take things from strangers and don't run off like that, okay?"

He nods, something about him glowing happily while Maya is still scowling at him.

They leave the park around three in the afternoon and go home, listening and singing along to children songs blasting on the stereo...

Well, it's precisely the Baby shark song.

She gets home and prepares lunch while they sleep.

It's a pretty fun day for everyone and later, they eat a late lunch.

While washing the dishes, the doorbell suddenly rings.

Miles dashes to the door running, and closely behind him is Maya who seems to also know about the visitor.

Mika wonders whether he has a visitor coming or something since he looks so happy and ecstatic about something. She walks calmly behind them.

Miles opens the door and bursts into a wide smile. "Welcome Daddy."

Mika pauses. What in hell did he just call whoever is at the door? She rounds the corner and what she sees almost causes her to fall on her backside.

"Mommy, we brought Daddy home, for real this time." Mile says as he holds the man's hands.

The resemblance between them is too uncanny and anyone who sees them won't need a DNA test to confirm if he really is his Dad or not.

The man, more light than she remembers and his facial hair a little more pronounced, his hair packed in a small bun behind his head and his firm cheekbones... Smiles. "When I ran into this cute little boy, rather, when this little boy ran to me at the amusement park hours ago, I thought it was just a coincidence. Then he told me it was his birthday and told me to come over and be his birthday gift to his Mum, I just laughed but I came anyway... And it's you."

Mika is completely speechless, her tongue is too swollen, brain too fried to produce a single coherent word.

"Five years... Five years ago ,I thought that was the end, I would never see you again but your children showed me the way back to you." He takes a powerful step forward and grabs the twins and they laugh easily like they have known him all their lives.

The reason why he was so familiar comes running back to her. He had been on the cover of Forbes under 30 Self made CEO and Billionaire five years ago and right now, he looks much stronger and overpowering than he did before.

Lucas Santinello.

She goes to him and takes her children away from him. "Go inside." She orders them sternly and then turns to him. "I'm sorry but I think this is all a misunderstanding. I am married and I have two children. This..."

His smile fades and his stern aura kicks in. He cocks his head to the side and looks past her and looks into the humble apartment. "It doesn't look like that to me. Moreover, today is their fifth year birthday... And I lost you after that night five years ago, is that a coincidence?" He takes a menacing step towards her and she steps back.

"Stay away or I'll call the police."

"Mummy, let Daddy come inside. Please..." Both of them burst into tears.

Lucas shrugs his shoulders. "At this point, I think the children should be a priority... Sorry, our children." He mutters and walks past her into her house to calm them down.

They immediately revert to the cute children from earlier.

She sighs.

She is royally fucked.