I Want A New Mom.

Lauren stirred the contents of the pot on fire, hoping her bad mood would not affect her cooking else she’ll be in deep trouble. She had always been the one preparing meals ever since she was fifteen and right now, she was preparing lunch. Yes, she did not go to work that day; not after losing her favourite employer that payed her more than any other employer. Her phone had been buzzing nonstop all day with calls from her different employers but she had all turned them down with some flimsy excuse of being sick. In truth, she was scared of stepping a foot outside. Mrs. Patricks had clearly warned her not to let her set eyes on her and being a woman of her words, she knew she might end up behind bars if she was really seen by Mrs. Patricks. She was scared she might run into her on the way.

She was also mourning the loss of her job.

Mrs. Patricks owned up to six of the places where she worked part-time and it was definitely a big loss for her.

The doorbell rang jolting her out of her train of thoughts. She quickly turned off the cooker and ran to open the door. It was her father with an angry look on his face.

  “Welcome father.” She greeted but got no reply.

Weird.

In as much as she didn’t share a close relationship with her father, he never ignored her greetings.

  “Lunch is almost ready.” She added.

Warren looked at the pretentious girl in front of him. How dared she act so innocent after everything? Did she really have no shame?

  “Why are you home?” He asked after so much reluctance. He really wished he could pounce on her and beat the hell out of her. After all, he could still afford to pay her hospital bills but on a second thought, he decided to investigate properly.

Maybe she would tell him the truth.

Lauren, who wasn’t expecting the question, was half-shocked, “I-I lost a major client yesterday due to some carelessness. I’m scared I might run into her on the road.”

Lauren hated lying, especially to people she considered family and he was one of them.

  “Oh.” He mouthed. She was glad his anger had dissipated.

  “You had a bad day?” it was rare for her father to start up a conversation with her and now that he did, why shouldn’t she take advantage of it?

  “I’ll take a shower and come downstairs for lunch.” He replied, carefully avoiding the question. He needed to do more investigations on this case.

Lauren watched her father trot upstairs with a worried expression. His temperament changed drastically after the fall of their family but she couldn’t blame him. It wasn’t easy to fall to the bottom after getting so used to being at the top.

The doorbell rang again. This time, it was Caleb Byrne, Michelle’s older brother and only son of the Byrne household.

  “Hello, Caleb. Welcome home.” She greeted.

Caleb was twenty-eight years old, five years older than her, and lived in another city. Why he was still single was unknown to Lauren. All she knew was that he was known for flirting a lot.

  “Long time, no see Lauren.” He replied as he stepped into the house. Caleb rarely came home. The last time she saw him was over two years ago.

She flashed a small smile.

  “Last time I remember, you were slimmer and you weren’t this—“ He ran his eyes over her body, “—curvy.”

Lauren rolled her eyes. Indeed, old habits die hard, “And last I remember, you’re are my brother.”

He gave her an I-don’t-give-a-damn grin that made Lauren wonder how comfortable he as hitting on his own sister. 

Malcolm pinched the space between his brows, quite tired. After Bryan was found, he had taken him from his parents back to their home and had asked Alex to send all the work he had at hand at home. He was going to stay indoors for the next one week with his son to make up for all the times he had poured out the hatred he had for his mother on him by neglecting him. The past five days had seen both of them getting closer and making up for the lost time. It had been the only thing that had been able to melt Malcolm’s stone cold heart in years. In truth, he loved his son despite the fact that he sometimes reminded him of his mother, Amber who absconded out of the blue with her secret lover. Among the things he hated, unfaithfulness was one of them. He might have never felt a tinge of love for Amber but he didn’t cheat on her either.

The door creaked open catching Malcolm’s attention. A small head popped out through it peeping.

  “You are supposed to be in bed. It’s past 11pm.” Malcolm scolded brusquely.

A downcast boy appeared, closing the door behind him, “I can’t sleep.”

Sighing, Malcolm stood up and led him to the big sofa in his study. “Judging by that look of yours, you have something to tell me.”

Bryan nodded, pouting.

Malcolm swallowed hard, “I’m all ears then.”

  “I want a new mom.”