“Mama, I wanna use the restroom,” Natalie moaned as she walked closer to her mother and then tapped her gently.“Me too!” Nathan hurried to her and then grabbed his shorts.“The both of you?” Elena raised her brows.“Yes, hurry, mama!”“Okay, sorry babies,” she smiled and then prepared to stand when Ariana raised her hand and then stood up instead.“I will follow them. I’ve been here before so I know the way to the restroom,” she said.“Okay, thank you.”“Let’s go guys,” Ariana caressed Natalie’s hair and then took their hands in hers.After they were out of sight, Elena raised her head to look at the car that was parked there earlier but soon squinted her brows when she realized that it was no longer there.‘Someone got tired, I guess.’She thought and then picked up her phone.____Since they were both kids, Ariana entered the female restroom with the two of them and then escorted them to a different toilet.It was quite a large restroom, so it had different rooms enough for a few p
Ryan glanced out through the window to check if his friend was coming but there was no sight of him and he let out a long sigh again.A while ago, when Zeke had sighted the kids standing from their seats with their aunt, he had told him to drive the car to the back of the ice cream shop which he did after he asked why.Zeke didn’t answer him till he got there and then said that he assumed that they were going to get more orders or to the restroom and he hoped it was the latter.Ryan sighed again and rested his head on the headrest before he sank into his seat comfortably.He knew that his friend wanted nothing more than to reunite with Elena and just like he knew, he also knew that it would take him literally everything in the world to make the woman take him back.It’s been three months since she returned, and all through the three months, he had been pleading with her but there was no sign that she was going to forgive him yet.She still stared at him with hatred in her eyes. She wa
Zeke got down from the car and then walked towards the butler who waited outside like he was anticipating his arrival.“Mr. Russo,” James greeted him formally as he covered the space between them.“Is everything alright? Mum is acting hysterical,” he said as they turned to the door.Early this morning, his mother’s calls had bombarded him.If he was asleep, he could have said that her call woke him up as it was barely four in the morning.She told him he needed to come around today and even though he told her he was going to be busy, she yelled at him frantically and said to him again that he must be present.James shrugged his shoulders off as they both entered the room, and there, he met his brother and then sister who sat on the chair while their mother paced to and fro the room.“Mother,” he called out and the woman stopped walking.“Oh, finally!” She snapped and rested her hands on her waist.“I told you to come in very early!”“Ma, it’s barely eight in the morning. It’s hard to
Jeremy and Zeke stood at the edge of the bed while they watched Chloe tuck their mother back in the bed.They waited until she was asleep and they were sure of that before they all turned to leave the room.As soon as they reached the living room, Jeremy said to Chloe instantly.“Stay home today.”“What, why?!”“An insane man is roaming around and we don’t know what he looks like. It’s safer if you are at home.”“Are you staying home too?” She frowned.“We’re men and we know how to protect ourselves from people like him, so you don’t have to worry.”“Bullshit! Why should I stay home and you can’t? Is it because I am a woman?”“Come on, Chloe. Just stay home.”“I won’t! Why should I do that because of that person? Why don’t you both just stop me from going out at all? Besides, he is a man, so I don’t have any business with him. It’s you who should be worried given how you work with literally only men! I only sew ladies’ clothes,” she said, breathing heavily.Zeke pressed his lips at hi
“Guess what I made for youuuu,” Elena sang as she entered her room with a tray in her hand.“Pasta!” Chloe clasped her hands together.“How did you know?!” Elena laughed and dropped the tray on the table and then turned to look at Chloe who sat in her bed.“You know that is my best food, so I assume that is what you would be making since you chose to cook for me,” Chloe laughed back.“Nice try,” Elena chuckled and then moved the try to her.“Do you love surprises so much? You didn’t tell me you were coming.”“Today is Sunday, so I guessed you would be at home. And see, I guessed right.”“I could have gone on a date with whoever,” Elena rolled her eyes and Chloe went mute.“Please, don’t.”“What?!” Elena burst into laughter.“Don’t go on a date with anybody,” she said, her eyes fluttering like she meant what she just said.Oh, she actually meant it.“Whatever. How about you? Are you not seeing someone, Chloe?”Chloe exhaled at the change of topic, picked up the fork, and then dipped it
“Dad, it’s Nathan and Natalie!” Nathan said.Zeke cleared his throat and then nodded his head.“I know, bab—” he was still saying when a FaceTime request came in from them and he picked it up after adjusting his hair.Seeing their wide grin plastered across the screen, Zeke smiled unconsciously and waved his hands at them.“Hiii!” They drawled.It seemed as if they dropped the phone on the table so it could capture both of them equally and then sat in front of the phone.“Whose phone are you using to call?” Zeke asked.Nathan looked around as if he was being watched and then whispered, “It is for Mama.”“She would be so pissed when she finds out.”“We just have to make sure she does not,” Nathan shrugged and Natalie nodded her head in agreement to him.Zeke smacked his tongue at their naughtiness and then nodded his head.“How are you both doing?”“You are our daddy, right?” Natalie asked instead.“Of course, he is!” Nathan exclaimed.“How did you know? He had not even said that he is
“Will you guys open the door right now?”Nathan, who stood by the door with the phone in his hand, exhaled one last time at his mother's words and then turned the knob gently.He pulled the door open and Elena entered the room gently, and then dropped her hands on her waist.“What is going on?”“With?” Nathan grinned.Her brows drew together and she collected the phone from him.“What were you doing with my phone and why did you lie that it was not here?” She asked as she browsed through her phone with the hope of finding out what they were up to.“Uhm…” Nathan scratched his forehead.“The thing is…!” Natalie jumped up and rushed to her.“I remember you saying that you downloaded a game on your phone so I wanted to show Nathan.”Elena pressed her lips together and stared at her kids unsurely. “I don’t trust you two,” she shook her head and then turned to leave the room.As soon as she walked out of the room, she turned to look at the door that her kids slammed shut instantly.Those t
Ryan shook his legs vigorously as he kept his eyes plastered on the screen of his phone. He had been on her INSTA page since forever and had been looking at her pictures all day.Every day, she crossed his mind, and every time, he refrained from reaching out to her because of Zeke.When Ryan remembered the incident that happened some years back, he knew it was his cue to not trespass.He knew a person who married his friend’s sister and right there, Zeke had shown his disgust at it.“How could my friend fall for my sister? That is messy!”He had laughed it off, even though at that time he was developing feelings for Chloe already.But since he had thought it was just something casual and would leave in a short time, he agreed with his friend to his face.But, many years had passed, and his feelings for Chloe had only grown more.The woman established her business about three to four years ago, and she has been topping the chart in the fashion industry.He loved that for her and he wis
“Help me, Mateo.”Ramon breathed heavily and waited for his brother to respond to him from the other end but he did not.“I am fucking tired… and I am losing my patience.”“I feel like… I… I could kill him.”“Who do you wanna kill?” Mateo finally asked, chuckling.“Zeke, of course, Zeke!”“You wanna kill your cousin?” Mateo burst into laughter.Ramon needed not to be told that the man was being sarcastic at the moment. “Spare me that shit. He ain’t my brother.”“Why are you suddenly losing your patience? I thought it was going well.”“Elena has wavered totally and at this point, I can never get her!”“And you want to kill Zeke because of that? Wait, you don’t believe she would come to you if you did that, do you?”“She has found solace in me before, she can again. Or better still, if I can’t have her, he can’t have her too. I can’t stand them together!” He hollered.“Chill, Tiger, chill.”“Let me in on your plans. You and your father are not telling me anything. Besides, when do you
“Sis,” Ariana entered the room, glancing around.“Did something happen? Ramon didn’t look… good,” she said, pointing her hand to her face to make a gesture.“Did he leave?”“He didn’t even talk to anyone. He said his goodbye in a very quick way. What happened?”“Nothing,” Elena rolled her eyes and then settled on her bed.Pulling the duvet over her body, she let out a hiss again.Convinced that something was going on, Ariana rushed over to the bed, pulled the cover away from her sister, and then settled on the bed, purposely inconveniencing her.“Tell me.”“Ariana, leave. I’m so pissed right now.”“Tell me, come on!”Elena sat up, blew the strands of hair that fell over her face away, and hissed. “That man had the audacity to tell me that no one will tolerate my kids.”“Wait… really?”“He said, I am quoting, “no one will be so willing to take in kids that do not belong to them.”“No, no way!” Ariana widened her eyes.“He fucking did.”“Wait, why? I can’t believe that!”“Apparently, he
“I said I do not…!”“It is me, Elena. Ramon.”He said hurriedly and waited as a short silence ensued before he heard the creaking sound of the door.The door pushed open and Elena held the door for him to enter which he did instantly.“I didn’t know it was you,” she pressed her lips together after she locked the door and then returned to the bed.She settled on it while he sat on the couch away from her.“What’s wrong? You seem to be mad at everyone in the house.”“I am not,” she shook her head.“They think you are, though. See, locking yourself away is proof on its own.”“They know what happened, Ramon.”He nodded his head and clasped his hands together hoping she would venture into the topic fully but she didn’t, rather she looked away in silence too.“Are you still mad at me?” She shook her head in response and he breathed out.Things had gotten pretty awkward between the two of them and he hated that.“You are, Elena, I know you.”“I am not, really. I just do not see the need to
“Would you accept if she agrees to return to him? If you would ask me, I would say that she looked like she could,” Ariana her parents.Ramon stood still in a corner as he listened to the conversation between the family.“I have said before and I will repeat, I will support whatever decision she makes,” Karina said.Oh, how much he disliked this woman!She was a huge preacher of ‘going with the flow.’One time in Australia, she wanted him for her because of how he was good to her and how Elena seemed to find comfort in him too. She had said to him on two or more occasions that she would wish for Elena to consider him too… but, she can’t force her daughter to do a thing.At first, it didn’t seem like a problem to him. He didn’t give it any meaning at all.But, now when she still says the same thing? Even when it was certain that Elena could return to Zeke…Could she not be different for once?“I don’t want that,” Ray shook his head.Finally, the only person in the family who wanted h
Entering the living room fully, there was only Nathan and Natalie watching an animated show on the television, and Ramon entered fully, walking over to them.“Hi, guys!” He drawled and clasped his hands together.They both turned to look at him and then smiled gently before they returned to drop their eyes on the TV again.If he was asked, he would say that smile was nothing closer to being genuine.Regardless, he wore a larger smile and then dropped his hand on Nathan’s shoulder.“Where is your mommy? She is not picking up her calls. Is she upstairs… or out?”“In her room,” Nathan groaned as if he was forced to answer.Ramon nodded his head, moved his hand, and then turned away.“Uncle!”Nathan’s voice stopped him and he turned to look at the boy and raised his brows.“I have been trying to understand something since,” he started.Ramon’s eyes darted to Natalie who was pulling the tip of Nathan’s clothing like he was warning him to not talk.Then, he knew he had to brace himself for
While Zeke sat in silence at the back of the car, his head out of the window, Chloe and Ryan sang through to the music while Ryan drove. “But I, I think I like this little lifeeee!” Chloe sang the chorus of the song so loudly that Ryan laughed. “This little life!” Ryan sang back. “Can you two just shut the fuck up for a second?” Zeke finally hissed and asked. “What exactly is fun about this life?” He asked, angered. The couple went mute for a while and then Chloe turned to look at her brother with a sneer, “Why are bittered, brother? There are a lot of things to love in this life.” Ryan nudged her gently to not say anything as the man was apparently not in a good mood, but she didn’t listen, instead, she asked again. “Or, do you not like your life?” “Shut up, Chloe, and end that song too. Enough of the noise.” Ryan stopped the music instantly and Chloe turned to look at him, “Why? I was listening to it.” “We will listen to it after we drop him at his place,” he whispered to
When Ryan and Chloe entered and saw the atmosphere of the room as it was, they turned to look at each other and almost retreated from the room.When they had arrived at the living room downstairs and didn’t meet anyone, they rushed to ascend the stairs with the fear that Zeke was yet to regain consciousness but with the noise coming from the other end of the hall, they rushed over there, only to see everyone in the room.“That is not happening, Natalie, and I have…”“Mommy!” The twins cut her short.“You and Daddy will live together with us and we will live like a happy family, that is our opinion!”“Your opinion…” she swallowed.If she told them that it did not matter, they would probably never forgive her.“If you do not agree, Natalie and I will run away from home,” Nathan blurted.Natalie moved over to him, held his hand in support, and then whispered in his ear gently. “We will?”“Play along,” he whispered back.“We will run away and you will never find us again.”“Are you two… m
MAYBE…Zeke entered the room fully after Ariana had left and then bent down slowly beside the three of them.After Elena had said a piece of her mind to him and had left him there, he had stayed there all through to think and rethink what else he could do and say to make the woman forgive him.After he was done thinking, he decided to look for her in her room before he heard the cries coming from the children’s room also.“What are you all doing?” He asked.Natalie laid on the floor, crying, her feet in the air. Nathan wrapped his arms around his crying mother while he cried too and Elena sat on the floor, crying without a break.Not to lie, this scene right now was literally so funny to him because he could only wonder what had happened before they all burst into tears, Elena included.“Why are you crying?” He asked again.When none of them answered him, and not even knowing who he should start consoling and where he should start from, he rested his chin on his palms and
“So, is Daddy going to live with us now?”Natalie’s eyes shone in hope as their mother entered and then asked her.“Or would we need to move to his house? His house is very big, mama. Bigger than here. We can move there and start living together. Aunt Ariana can join if she wants. Including grandma and grandpa,” Nathan said.Elena exchanged glances with Ariana who stood across her, her arms folded across her chest, and then shook her head.Elena settled on the chair and the twins rushed to her in excitement, as if they were confident of her response to their questions.“Now, you both need to calm down and listen to me,” she said as she caressed the back of Nathan’s head.“Yes, go on, mama. Is it about our luggage? Natalie and I can handle our luggage. You can deal with yours.”“Or daddy can help us with packing,” Natalie suggested and Nathan giggled in agreement.“It would be so fun. You have a lot of dress. It will take a long time to pack up your things.”“Or we could hire those mov