“What do you mean you're renting an apartment?”Sierra flinched when her friend— Astrid, bombarded her eardrums as soon as she answered the call. After her encounter with Mason, Sierra couldn’t calm down. That was when she decided to check on her friend and have a casual chat to divert her thoughts. And like always, Astrid’s greeting was loud and full of energy.Sierra took a deep breath while thinking of the safest reply she could ever come up with. Knowing Astrid, Sierra was afraid the former would drag them out of the apartment to stay with her instead. “Things happen and the kids love the place too,” she responded after a careful analysis.As Sierra's only and best friend, Astrid cared a lot for her. In fact, the latter was quite proud to be her friend. After all, Sierra was not the type to mingle with people. Astrid thought she was lucky to be friends with her after having several classes together back in college. In Astrid's eyes, Sierra was like a star that shines brightly at n
Sierra sighed as she watched Astrid drive. The latter was sweating cold while murmuring to herself. It was to be expected after she asked London what he wanted. The boy even said he wanted a Dad and Sierra could tell what Astrid had in her mind.“Don’t even think about dragging me on some blind dates you have scheduled beforehand,” Sierra said, shaking her head as she recalled the times Astrid tricked her just so she would go on a mixer.Astrid merely smiled in response, not saying a word as she kept driving. In the back of her mind, she was already developing a plan to make sure Sierra would date someone suitable for her.Half an hour later, they arrived at Astrid's place. She was living in a bungalow, with a large garden decorated with vibrant flowers and greenery. Bluebells lined the edges of the grass while lavender and marigold bloomed in different shades around them. At the center of it, all was a small fountain that gave off sparkling spray every few minutes, making for a tranq
The sun was setting down. Its golden light reflected through the car windows as Caleb drove Sierra and the kids home. In the backseat, little Gabby gurgled happily, clutching his favorite rattle. She was relieved that Astrid lent her to Caleb as she already installed a car seat for Gabby. While London and Paris remained quiet, immersed in their own world.Sierra sighed, exhaustion seeping into her bones. It had been a long day. Her plan to divert her mind from Mason actually led her to another problem—meeting her ex-boyfriend who dumped her, Caleb. She never thought they’d meet again and to think he thought she was married and had three kids over the years after their break up made Sierra more exhausted.“You okay?” Caleb asked, glancing at her with concern in his deep green eyes. “Just tired,” she replied.Caleb nodded, his grip tightening on the steering wheel. “Can I say something?” “I wonder what that is,” she replied coldly. Sierra studied his profile, noticing the tension in
‘What the heck?’ Mason thought as he recalled how Sierra shut the door in his face.“Did she really reject me?”He couldn’t believe ‘Stella’ would do that to him. When they were dating in secret, Stella used to cling to him which he loved about her. But things went awry when she announced her pregnancy the day before he planned to leave the town where they met.Stella was only 18 years old then, and he was yet to succeed in his father’s business. It was a crucial time for Mason and the news of having someone pregnant before marriage would greatly affect his position in the company, thus; he suggested aborting the babies, which ultimately caused a rift in his relationship with Stella. He couldn’t chase her when she ran away, which broke his heart. And years later, he received an email from Stella. It was more like a letter that contained the summary of her life after they got separated. In her email, Stella mentioned the twins and the names she gave them. Mason kept the email and treat
“Mom?”Paris’ tiny voice broke the tension in the air. The little girl was rubbing her eyes as she trudged to Sierra. “Gabby is hungry. I came to get him the milk,” she said and yawned.“Oh. Right, I’ll prepare his milk now—Ah!” Sierra screamed when she realized the baby bottle was destroyed. She looked up and glared at Mason. “Look what you’ve done,” she told him and opened the door. “I don’t have time to entertain any guest, especially an unwanted one so, leave.” She pushed him out of the door like last time. “Don’t ever come back here again.”Paris stared at the door after Sierra drove out Mason. She was curious who the man was but looking at how stressed Sierra seemed to be, the little girl didn’t ask.“Honey, you should go back to bed. I’ll find the extra bottle for Gabby so he would stop crying.” Sierra kissed Paris’ forehead. “Go ahead. Babies need to sleep more to grow up,” she said and gently ruffled her hair.“Mom! I’m not a baby.” Paris pouted. “Don’t you want me to help? I
“What is he talking about?” Sierra muttered to herself while crumpling the note. She stared at the flowers, contemplating whether to throw them away. Sighing, she went to the kitchen to get a glass where she could put them.“Mom, can I ask you something?” London watched as Sierra arranged the flowers in the glass. When Sierra hummed and nodded in response, he spilled his question she didn’t expect. “Since when do you have a boyfriend?”“London, honey—” Sierra halted when she saw Paris trying to carry Gabby out of his crib. “Oh my! Put him down!” Sierra sprinted from the kitchen to the living room to save Gabby. “Paris, what do you think you’re doing?”Paris fidgetted her hands while trying not to cry. The girl could tell Sierra was mad, and she knew why. “I… I’m sorry!” The little girl cried, joining Gabby. “I just want to play with Gabby outside his crib. Wah!”“Yes, honey. Shhh. Come here.” Sierra ushered Paris to come to her and rubbed her back. “It’s okay, honey. Gabby is still a
‘New boyfriend?’ Caleb frowned at London’s choice of word. “Little boy, did you say your mother has another before, except for me?”“It’s London, not 'little boy'.”Caleb nodded his head. “Yes, London. You have a unique name. I’m Caleb, by the way.” Caleb extended his hand for a shake as he introduced himself. “I’d love to introduce myself to you the other day, but something came up and I wasn’t able to. I hope this sudden visit doesn’t bother you, London.”London shrugged. “It doesn’t really bother me. But Mom doesn’t look happy with the flowers you sent,” he said and pointed at the kitchen table where Sierra left the glass with flowers in it. “If she does, she would have put them in the vase instead,” the boy continued.“Is that so?” Caleb turned to Sierra to ask. “You didn’t like the flowers?”Sierra’s eyes twitched. She would have thrown them away if she didn’t like them. “I don’t have a vase to put them in. Should I just throw them in the bin instead?”Caleb seemed unconvinced by
Caleb automatically clenched his jaws when he heard that some other guy was eyeing Sierra, which was unacceptable. He couldn’t wait to find out more about this man who dared to come after Sierra when he was not around. Just then, Caleb noticed London and Paris looking at each other knowingly with mischievous grins on their faces. He quickly asked them, “Alright. Tell me. What do you guys know about this Mason guy?” London was the first to answer. “Well,” he started slowly, as though savoring the moment of suspense. “Let me put it this way… Mason is totally smitten with Mom! He proposed to her in the most dramatic and romantic way you can think of! I mean, he took her out for a picnic under the blue sky, with a bottle of champagne and candles all around. Then he made her walk across flower petals just to get to him and presented her with a gorgeous diamond ring like out of a fairytale movie!” Paris couldn’t help but add in some details, too. “And not only that! He also wrote Mom a lo