(Anj’s POV) When I was two, Sister Grace made me go and join Anya in school because she thought an environment with children around me would be healthy for me – mentally and physically. Anya was in kindergarten, and I remembered her teacher let me stay in the play area to make myself busy with colorful blocks as they learned to count numbers and read alphabet letters. “What did you learn today?” Sister Grace asked me as she picked us up after school. She put me in a toddler carrier and held Anya’s hand as we all returned to the nursing home. Aunt Rose had to work full time after her husband died in an accident on the job site, so Sister Grace, after taking care of the residents in the nursing home, picked us up. “Counting numbers and reading alphabet letters,” Anya jumped cheerfully as she answered. Sister Grace smiled. “That’s nice. How about my little angel? What did you learn today?” “Counting numbers and reading alphabet letters,” I repeated Anya’s answer. Anya wrinkled her
(Sky’s POV)“That girl really messed up with your brain, huh?” Dad smiled as I asked Frank to stop the car on Heaven Avenue for the last time. “What if she doesn’t exist?”It had been two months, and I was like a lunatic still looking for her, yet I could not find her. What is the justification of heaven for making such a big joke? I asked for a miracle, not an ugly duckling who hid her true beauty and left a curse in my life like I could not give my whole heart to the woman I had been chasing for a long time.Lalaine and I spent a great week in the Caribbean. Still, every time I kissed her, I would remember the mysterious young woman I was with that night at the party, the angel I married, and a teenager who admitted and slammed the truth into my face that our marriage was never binding.“I can’t forgive her, Dad. No one messes with the Mighty Sky,” I gritted my teeth in anger and great pain hidden in my heart.“Angels can,” Olivia giggled as she pressed her forehead on the window. “
(Anj’s POV)Dylan pushed the door of the convenience store to treat Anya and me, and as he promised me last night, he would buy me ice cream after his crazy joke of marrying him.“I want a chocolate ice cream,” I demanded him as we crowded around the refrigerator.“You can’t have chocolate,” Anya said. “You don’t want your baby to look like a cacao,” she chuckled at her joke, but Dylan ignored her and opened the refrigerator, getting expensive ice cream.“Hey,” I protested, taking the ice cream pint from him and returning it inside. Instead, I chose the less expensive brand and gave it to him. “You have to save money,” I said, making him raise his eyebrows. “I might need to borrow money from you for baby stuff.”His lips twitched as he shook his head and turned to Anya, waiting for what she liked. “I had ice cream yesterday already, and with those calories, nuh-uh!” She took a yogurt instead and gave it to Dylan.“Make it two,” he said and waited for Anya to give him another yogurt
(Anj’s POV)Before reaching the driveway, I could see Dylan pacing and Anya laughing as if she was making fun of him.How long has it been?I cut my ties with my only two friends for almost six years, communicating secretly only with Sister Grace and Aunt Rose so they would not worry about me after Father Jesse had to go to Italy. If only Sister Grace had not gotten confined in the hospital, I would not have come back yet.When I stopped the car, Dylan and Anya dashed to the driver’s side and waited for me to go out. I glanced at my company, which had finally fallen asleep after long hours of talking, complaining, fighting, and crying. I opened the door and smiled.“Oh, my God!” Anya’s eyes widened, and she screamed excitedly as she saw me.“Anya!” I cried as we hugged each other. She was still the same Anya, only she looked mature now, bolder and sexier. She moved away and looked at me from head to toe. “Where’s my cousin? What have you done to her?” She laughed, smacking my arm lig
(Anj’s POV)“Good morning, mommy!” Leyanne greeted, her eyes still closed as she walked toward the dining room.“Good morning! Just mommy?” I had to come to her to ensure her head would not bump the edge of the table. Smelling my scent, she raised her arms, wanting me to carry her. I took her and sat her at the table.She opened her eyes, blinked her round eyes, and still sleepy, she greeted the others. “Good morning, Aunt Anya. Good morning, Uncle Dylan.”“Good morning, Selene,” Anya greeted sweetly as she placed plates and cutleries on the table.“I’m not Selene,” Leyanne mumbled. “I’m Leyanne,” She corrected, adjusting the brim of her eyeglasses.“Hmm,” Dylan knitted his eyebrows as he placed the scrambled eggs he had just made. “I thought Selene wears the eyeglasses?” he asked amusingly.Before I could explain that the three of them had eyeglasses, Selene came out of the bedroom, wearing the same pajamas.“Good morning!” she greeted cheerily and sat on the chair on her own.“Mommy
(Sky’s POV)“You really don’t have to go to the office, Dad,” I told my father, glancing at him seated at the back.He scoffed. “Pfft! I’m getting bored at home. With Olivia becoming busy in school, I have no one to talk to at home. Elenita’s only making me anxious,” he smirked as he looked outside the window. “My treatment had helped me prolong my life, only to die in boredom.”Frank pursed his lips, suppressing a smile as he glanced at my father in the rearview mirror.I heaved a sigh, swiping the screen of my tablet to check the schedule Catherine sent in my email.“When are you marrying Lalaine? Good heavens, I wanted to see my grandchild before I die, Sky,” He grumbled.“Next year. I just proposed to her, right?” I reminded him. Leo and Jake teased me that for a man who was head over heels with Lalaine, it took me six years to propose after my crazy marriage with a teenager.Dad opened his mouth to say something, but we were startled when Frank suddenly hit the brake to stop the
(Sky’s POV)“I saw an ice cream shop in front of the school. Would you like to have ice cream?” My father asked the girls when their activity was over.“Dad,” I hissed, meeting his eyes, telling him to stop it. We might have solved their problem for the day, but we don’t want their mother to be hysterical just because an old stranger invited them for ice cream.“I love ice cream,” One of the girls exclaimed.I bit my lip, wondering if it was Leyanne, Selene, or Lyra Helene, and thought of how to stop my father from bringing them to the ice cream parlor. I heaved a deep sigh as I sat in their small chair. “We don’t want your mom to worry,” I said.“But if we ask permission, can we go?” Another girl asked.“Oh… kay!” I said, my eyes following her as she ran outside the classroom. “Where is she going?” No one from the girls answered me. Instead, they put their small backpack on their back and sat, waiting patiently for their sister.When she came back, she was pulling the hand of their s
(Anj’s POV)No one asked me why their father did not come today, and no one from my three girls dared to ask what happened to my call. I went home early today to pick them up from school, and when I asked them how their day was, they all answered the same thing.“It was okay.”No... For me, it was not okay. I knew something went wrong today even if they didn’t tell me, and I could feel the pain in their eyes as if I did really bad to them.Before leaving the bedroom, I gazed at my three little angels. Leyanne and Lyra Helene would always sleep sideways facing right, while Selene on the left. I have only seen Sky sleep twice, but like Selene, he would always sleep sideways, facing left.I padded to the living room, sitting on the couch as I stared blankly at the TV.“You requested tea?” Anya gave me the cup. “Tea-quila?” She chuckled softly when I glared at her. “Just kidding. How’s your day?”I raised my eyebrows at her. “That’s a first. Now, I’m really worried that something happened