chapter 7

Chapter 7

Five years later…

Ella looked at her sleeping kids and smiled. Her eyes were filled with love and tenderness.

After she convinced Tony that she was innocent, and presented the audio recording between Kate and her sister, Ella left the city that very night. She did not want to linger there any longer, as she did not know what might become of her if Daniel did not believe that the recording was real.

She was more concerned about her safety that she did not get to bid Old Master Edmond goodbye.

She seemed to have lady luck by her side, because after she moved to the new city, with only a few dollar notes that Tony had given her, she found a job, but a month later, she realized that she was gaining weight even when she was not eating.

Stressed by the sudden changes in her body, Ella went to the hospital for a check-up, and to her horror, the doctor found out that she was around fourteen weeks pregnant.

Ella was so shocked that she immediately denied everything. She told the doctor that she has never slept with a man and she was still a virgin, startling the doctor to kingdom come.

“Are you sure Miss Smith? Because according to this report, you are already fourteen weeks pregnant, and your babies are very healthy.” The doctor said.

“Doc, are you sure about that?”

“One hundred percent. If you don’t believe me, we can do an ultrasound scan.”

“There is no need for that.” Ella slumped on the chair with a dreadful expression on her face. How comes she has been pregnant for that long and she has never known?

But remembering how she had been stressed after her wedding, she realized that maybe that is why she had not noticed, that she had missed her periods for the past few months.

And remembering how Daniel had slept with her on their wedding night, Ella realized that she was no longer a virgin. It was the only time she had sex with a man, and she never imagined that she will turn out to be pregnant.

Feeling embarrassed for having questioned the doctor, Ella apologized and left the hospital with a heavy heart. Her mind was in a daze and she did not even know how she reached home.

When she arrived at her small apartment, she quickly climbed on the bed without even removing her shoes and cried her heart out until she passed out.

Now, five years had gone by in a jiffy. Not only did Ella give birth to five beautiful babies, three boys, and two girls, but she also made a name for herself in the business world.

She had long left the small city when she was seven months pregnant. She was paranoid that Daniel might find her since they were in the same country, so she relocated overseas, after landing a job in a prestigious company.

She was now the senior financial analyst and the company had promoted her to manage another newly opened branch, which happened to be in Ella’s home country.

Everyone thought that it was only natural for her to take over the position since it was in a place she was most familiar with.

Ella also thought that it was time for her to go back. When she left five years ago, she was in too much pain that she never thought she will ever have the courage of going back.

But now that she had established herself, and she had her little five angels by her side, she was not afraid of the past anymore.

She did not know how Old Master Edmond would react upon seeing her. Will he be excited or will he be mad at her for leaving without telling him?

The following morning…

“Kids, time to wake up. We have a long journey ahead of us.” Ella shouted towards her kids' bedrooms.

She looked at the time and knew that her kids were just being naughty. They were always awake at this time but, they liked to play hide and seek with her every morning, and they would make her laugh so much and fill her heart with joy.

“Ten dollars each if you don’t get out of your rooms and I find you first.”

There was silence for two seconds before a childish voice came from the girls’ room, “ Mommy, that is not fair. Where will we get ten dollars when we don’t have work?”

It was Ella’s fifth quintuplet, Clarissa. She was as beautiful as a doll and she had long black hair, just like her mom. She was the family’s little princess and everyone spoiled her rotten.

After Clarissa’s complaint, came her other siblings scolding. First, it was her sister, the third among the five, Clare. “Rissa, can’t you just shut your damn mouth. Now, Mommy has already locked on your position. Let us see where you are going to hide now.”

“But… I was just negotiating with Mommy. Where will we get ten dollars? We already used up all our allowances to buy…”

Before Clarissa would finish her statement, a boyish voice was heard from the other room.

“Princess, we know that you are poor at keeping secrets, but can you shut your mouth and find another hiding place!” The one who spoke was Caleb, he was the eldest among them, and he had the highest IQ among the five, or so to say.

Although all the five were smart, and their intelligence quotients were over the top, Caleb was the smartest and his siblings have always looked up to him.

“Big bro, why are you scolding me?” Rissa was on the verge of tears after hearing Caleb.

“Princess, please don’t cry. Big bro had a plan and we would not have been caught. Just do as he says and mommy will not find us.” Castro, the second of the quintuplets said.

Hearing her second brother talk to her in such a soft voice, Rissa finally nodded and stopped crying. She was so spoiled that no one dared raise his or her voice at her. “Okay, second brother, I will hide in another place now.”

When she heard her children discuss all these as if she was not around, Ella was amused. “You little imps, I am still right here. Do you really think that you can hide from me forever?”

“Mommy, go and hide. We are the ones who will find you today.” Caleb spoke.

“How much will I have to pay?”

“Nothing. Just go and hide already.”

“Okay.”

Five minutes later, Ella was suddenly blindfolded and led to the sitting room.

“What are you guys doing?” she asked as she let her kids lead her down the stairs.

“Mommy, don’t be a killer joy. Just relax, okay.” Clare said. She was more of a tomboy and she even kept her hair short, just to look like her brothers. It was hard to tell if she was a girl or a boy when she was standing together with her brothers.

Ella was curious to see what her kids were up to. Although they usually play the game and she was always the one being found in the end, today seemed a little different.

When they reached the sitting room, Caleb removed the blindfold from his mom and urged her to open her eyes.

“Mommy, you can now open your eyes.”

Ella slowly opened her eyes. On the dining table was a huge cake with a bouquet of red roses. She was so surprised, and just as she wanted to ask her kids what was going on, she heard someone sing a happy birthday tune from the kitchen.

She looked over and realized that it was her best friends and her kids’ godparents, Paul and his wife Jane.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Ella happy birthday to you.” Jane sang.

She had a nice voice, and the moment she finished, all the others joined in. When Ella heard the birthday tune, her eyes turned wet. She could not remember the last time she celebrated her birthday.

“Mommy, we know that you rarely celebrate your birthday because you have been busy taking care of us. We just wanted to do something simple for you, since we also understand that you like to keep a low profile.”

“So, happy birthday Mommy. We cherish you and we wish you nothing but happiness.”

Ella could no longer control her tears. She let them surge forth as she hugged her kids tightly.

Although five years have passed, she still could not believe that she gave birth to such cute five children. They were her strong tower and whenever she felt like giving up, she would always think about her children, and that alone would give her the zeal and motivation to keep going.