(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
(Anj’s POV)My three girls may be five years old, turning six, as Selene would always correct, but they talk and think like adults. In Sta. Louisiana, where I gave birth to and raised them, we lived in a dormitory where they got to interact with university students and young adults.Always wanting to be practical, I did not think of needing to live in an apartment where I had to find a nanny, pay a rental cost, and worry about myself and my children. Mrs. Salvador, a retired schoolteacher, looked after my daughters while I worked and studied. Most of the time, my housemates volunteered to take care of them.Only when I came back that I realize their need to interact with kids their age when Sister Grace reminded me why she made me join in Anya’s classes before, but I guess I was too late. Looking at them, I didn’t want to think I had stolen their precious childhood.“Mommy’s free today. What do you want to do?” I asked them while having breakfast. Dylan glanced at me, probably wonderi
(Anj’s POV)I peeked at the Excelente Café after stopping my car at its parking area. Perhaps it is still early, that’s why I don’t see many cars in the parking lot. Whenever I go to the university, I always see this place packed, but today, it seems the café had fallen asleep despite the lustful scent of the brewing coffee.My daughters excitedly unfastened their seatbelts in the child seat, and when I opened the door, Leyanne jumped out first, Lyra Helene went out on the other side, while Selene, for the first time, did not complain about going out of the car last, raised her arms to me.“Argh!” I said, chuckling as I carried her. “My baby’s getting heavier every day. What’s Aunt Anya feeding you?”She giggled, wriggling her body to go down. She joined her sisters as soon as her feet touched the ground, and they all waited patiently at me as I took the paper bag with our samples and closed the car door.They held hands as they walked toward the café and chatted about what they wante
(Anj’s POV)“Sky found them really interesting.” He laughed, shaking his head as if finding humor in why Sky found my children interesting. “He may not say it, but he enjoyed yesterday’s activity in school. He even got to know some dads,” he said, glancing at the staff.The staff, whose name was printed on her name tag, came back with our order. Emily, the young woman, smiled at my triplets, and like others, when they saw how they all looked the same, they could not take their eyes away from them.“How about we sell the perfume to Emily?” The old Mr. Mars suggested. He looked at the staff as his eyes told her to cooperate in his little game.She smiled at him, nodding in agreement. “I’m sorry, but I’m kinda allergic to perfumes. I sneezed a lot, so…”He nodded and sighed, but not showing disappointment on his face. “We lost one customer already,” he propped his elbow on the table, cutting her right away, and looked at the worried eyes of my children.I could not understand myself beca