Chapter 4: chapter 4

AMELIA’S POVIn all but five minutes, I dusted Mimi like an old shelf and she enjoyed the brushing as she kept pushing her booty my way. After completing that I left the mess on the floor because I didn’t want to sweep now and get late for Gia’s school. I took Theo’s plate and went to the living room and kept it on the coffee table.“Eat here, while I bathe your sister. Don’t go anywhere.” I warned him and deposited all his toys on the table. “Okay, mommy.” He paused and looked up from his toy. “I am sorry, mommy.”I softened my stance and bent down to give that sweet boy a big hug. “I know, baby.  It’s okay. You just eat before we have to go. Alright?”He nodded and looked at me as he bit an apple piece, I gave him a grin and went back to the kitchen. Riya was watching Mimi with sleepy eyes as she was walking around the rocking chair Riya was in. “Look after her, Mi.” I patted her clean fur and she wagged her tail and watched me go with Gia upstairs. I made the shower the right temperature and undressed her. She jumped and washed in the shower. I did soap her so she would not have any of the residues of breakfast on her face. After drying her I got her in her underwear. “Mommy, I want to wear another outfit.” “Not today, Gia. It’s already late.” I grabbed the t-shirt but she slapped it away and it fell on the wet tiles. “Gia!!” “I want to wear a dress.”I stood up from my crouch position and pinched my nose. God, I am already forming a headache. “Come.” I grabbed her hand and walked her to her room. She literally took ten minutes to decide on a multi-colored stripe dress. But in that time, I took a cute onesie for Riya and went downstairs and cleaned Theo up and checked on the baby while gathering the car keys and house keys on the hallway table. I collected Gia’s hair in a ponytail as she came down and we were out of the house with Gia’s school lunch pack with some pb&j and orange added to her already packed snacks.I checked the time and it was nearly eight forty-five and I was totally speeding but didn’t get pulled over so it was a plus. My eyes strayed to the mirror again and checked if Riya was still sleeping and she was. Good thing she was not overly fuzzy after she was fed. Theo was dozing on and off in his car seat. While Gia was in the van’s back seat looking at the traffic.Zach decided that it was time for us to get a van and we did and it was the best decision we ever took and it was easy when I have to take all the kids out at the same time. Finally, the traffic cleared up some, and I went to the school parking lot and I was closing it because I had like two minutes to spare for nine. I put the van in the lot and got out.I first made Gia get out and next got the baby. “Gia, don’t run. Mommy is coming.” Now she was hyper, jumping at the same place. Kids.I took Riya in my arms and went around the other side to take Theo in my other arm and I closed the car door with my knees. Mom life. I hefted Theo up my arm so he was not falling off. Both of them slept on my shoulders while I herded Gia not to run and walk beside me. I saw her teachers with a couple of students standing outside and when she saw Gia she started waving.I gave her a smile in gratitude when she started walking towards us to collect Gia. “Baby. Be good, alright? I will come to pick you up in a few hours.”She nodded and hugged my knees and was off with her teacher. I stood there watching her while she mingled with the other students. She was so social that I loved watching her interact with shy kids and bringing them to trust her and talk to her.“Hello.” The sudden voice made me startle and I almost lost my balance if the guy greeted me hadn’t pulled me to him.“Ouch, sorry.” I was embarrassed that I was this jumpy. Not very good for my heart. “It’s okay. I was the one at err here, I came from behind you and didn’t realize that you hadn’t heard me.”“It’s okay.” I pulled away from him finally so that I could see the guy’s face rather than his chest. He gave me a charming smile as I hefted Theo up, he was constantly slipping away. “Daddy?” Theo mumbled without even waking up. “Not your daddy, buddy. Just some stranger.” I said and I knew the guy before me heard me because he countered immediately. “Don’t call me some stranger. You should have known me by now.”  Creepy much?!“Umm, it doesn’t ring any bells.”“I am sorry, you are with your kids and I am playing games with you. I’m Gerald, James’s father. A single father.”“Oh.” I was still stuck by the way he said single father that I didn’t even realize that he said his kid’s name. Is he hitting on me? “Ooh, hi. I am sorry, you do look like him but I just couldn’t tell.”“Well, he looks like me, but yeah.” We both laughed. Awkward. At least for me.“Oh, sorry, where are my manners. I’m Amelia. I would totally shake your hand but I have kids in arms, so…” I shrugged.“It’s okay. Do you want me to take one of them?”I immediately bristled because even the mere thought of giving my kids to a stranger bring all my mother’s instincts to my forefront. It’s not like I don’t believe him when he said he was James’s father or that he would not hurt one of my kids, it's just ingrained in my brain to never trust strangers.That’s why it has been five years since I started popping out babies but I never once had them in the care of a nanny. Because I hate the thought of strangers in my house and being with my kids. But if it is one of our family members it is totally another game, because Zach and I would often have date night those times when our parents or his siblings come and take care of the kids in the evenings. “It’s okay, I have my car parked just around the corner,” I answered before I came across as rude. “Sure. I will walk you to your car.”I forced a smile and turned back to see that Gianna and the kids have gone inside, so I started walking back to the car. Theo kept on mumbling about getting his favorite chips. “Okay, buddy. We will stop at a grocery shop and buy your chips.”He hugged my neck with his small hands while I took the keys with my right hand, jamming both my kids in one of my hands. Gerald said that he would help me again and I just let him open the door but I kept both the babies close and strapped them on separately. I locked the car for precaution before going back to Gerald who was standing near the driver’s door. “Thank you. I have to get going now. Nice to meet you, tho.”“Same here. We should catch up sometimes, here.” He extended his card and I took it with a polite smile. God, why was he making this so awkward?“Um, bye.” I waved stupidly and got up in the van and locked it immediately after me. Paranoid much. I stashed the card he gave me in the glove box and started the car.I took a deep breath of relief when I was out of the lot and saw in the rear-view mirror of Gerald walking away. I couldn’t figure why I was on the edge the whole time. It’s just that I watched many documentaries recently about kids being abused and kidnapped and the whole time I would picture my precious babies and I would immediately feel guilty that I thought that, thank God it was not mine. Even though I was selfish I have to be always vigilant. And because my flirt game has been non-existent since when I married the love of my life and started being goofy with him, I wouldn’t even know if a guy was asking me out on a date.My life just about sums it up.……I made a quick grocery stop and ticked the items in my phone, simultaneously as I went putting them in the cart. But the little devil by my side started putting random shit in there that I spent another fifteen minutes to return what he picked. After that, I put him next to Riya in the trolley and started getting the main items. After bagging and paying, the tough job came, carrying the bags to the car. I made sure I had an eye on Theo as I started walking towards the lot with Riya in one of my hands and both the heavy grocery bags in one hand.My hand started hurting, so I leaned down and kept the bags on the ground. “Theo, wait,” I yelled and he came back running with a big smile like I was playing tag with him. “Wait for a second, bud. There are heavy and mommy needs break.”“I can carry,” Theo said enthusiastically and before I could object, he was picking up a carry bag which was the size of him. “Theo, no.” I started but he already started walking with his leg open wide so that he could lean from one leg to another to move forward. I took the rest of the bags and went after him, thankfully the car was parked near so I was able to make him drop near the trunk of the car.“Thank you, baby.” I crouched before him placing Riya on my thighs so I could easily take Theo’s hand and examine. I was relieved to see that apart from the lines in his palms nothing happened. My boy was all grown up and he was not even two yet. “Mama, did you see? I’m strong just like Papa.” He emphasized by bulging his non-existent biceps. “Oh, yeah. Look at that.” I gruffed my voice and pretended to eat his hand, he just giggled and danced away from me. He just wants to be like his Papa and it was endearing to watch, and him growing up into a young man scares the shit out of me. Apart from my dad in my family it has always been girls and I often clamped up about being wrong in some things when it comes to Theo and it was a relief to know he got a Rockstar role model. If Zach just heard me say this line about me being wrong, he would start an honest to god lecture about how good of a mom I am…blah..blah..blah…. Sometimes insecurities don’t just go away. I put all the bags in the trunk with a big boy’s help and drove home. After putting both of them to sleep, I organized my kitchen from the mess I created that morning and vacuumed the main floor. After taking a shower myself, I finally sat in my office and switched on the computer. It was already eleven and I was behind my schedule in my work. The only time I get to work without interruption is when the kids are asleep like now and I have to go pick up Gia from school in mere three hours. Where does all the time go?I stopped dwelling in my drama and powered up my mind for continuous work. It was a good thing that I like what I do. I worked as a legal adviser for a real estate company and for an upcoming gaming franchise. It was honestly my jam to search for the loopholes in the contracts and plucking some unwanted thorns at their side, stopping them from doing their work. I often draw up deeds and make contracts and also give advice for some of the high-profile clients who continue to visit me in my office but I was picky. Because I often got enough works on my own already or otherwise it was not up to my specialty. So, I would always recommend them to my brother-in-law, Nick. Weird to say it like that even after all this time. But, yeah, he has many juniors to do the grunt work and he helps them learn pretty much everything and the job gets done, so it is a win-win situation. My dream about speaking and being the voice of people, yeah it was half-assed. Because my bestie Jordan is already doing a good job of it. I hope his father beats himself up to have disowned his now-famous son. I would have given a million bucks to see his father’s face when he discovered that Jordan is now a very reputed lawyer in all of Pittsburgh just for his pro bono’s and free legal consult and having a very high position in a popular firm was also not a joke. I honestly have the best people around me and I would never change that for anything. I also did not give up my dream altogether because I was giving lectures and some speeches in some of the universities around here and also in some High schools and to know that I would help young people realize that they can reshape the society and it is in their hands for creating a better future and environment, always thrills me. Like I am fucking making a difference. I typed up a rough draft for terms and conditions for this new game they are creating and I have to send them this for their perusal and if they had any changes, they would email me the same. I look at the time and see that I have fifteen minutes to go pick up Gia. So, I complete my finishing touches and mailed the draft I prepared, and powered off the system. In the baby monitor I could see Riya awake but just chilling in her crib. I pulled on a cardigan that was hanging in the entryway and pocketed my phone, wallet, and keys and went upstairs to get both Theo and Riya, and loaded them in the van. I tried to maintain the speed limit and when I reached the school lot, I was just ten minutes late. Not bad, I thought.I quickly grabbed Riya and made Theo walk after I got them out from the van. I could see Gia’s teacher standing with a bunch of kids and when I neared her, I searched for Gia. Is she hiding? When the teacher saw me, she gave me a weird look. “What is it?” I asked. “Gia already left.” She replied. “Left?!” I asked incredulously. “Yeah, with a man. She seemed to recognize him?” She said the last part doubtfully. What the hell? A man?My head swirled and I could feel my panic attack raising and I knew in a few seconds I would faint and drop to the ground. …….- VV🖤💫Don’t forget to comment and to give your ratings and do follow me! Check out my Instagram for upcoming chapter’s sneak peek.