Athena's POV
My revenge on Joanna. That's a start. Well, I didn't really do much to her; only a few damaging here and there like her career and her reputation as Published director. I have managed to reveal her deepest secret which is by letting everyone know that everything she says in the papers, online or even in those magazines are fake. Yup, fake. So, I technically brought her down just by revealing that little secret.
She lost her job as a director, like I said; since she's the cause of it. Published also has been taken down by the authorities—not really but yeah, you get it.
That's the end of it, let's not talk about her; such a waste of time.
''Mom!'' I hear my seven-year-old son shout from his room. I immediately stop cutting the vegetables and look up at the stairs; seeing him running down, ''Where's my soccer shoes?'' He asks, frowning.
Sighing, ''It's in your closet.'' I answer and he runs back up in his room again—letting me continue my cooking.
Within seconds, he come running back, ''Mom! I can't find it. Where did you put it?'' He asks, this time, he shows a bored expression before laying down on the couch in the living room. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself.
I walk up the stairs, finding his soccer shoes in the closet. Rolling my eyes, I walk back down toward him before throwing his shoes near the couch. He looks up at me, ''Oh yeah, won't you look at that? It was hidden in the closet.'' I say, sarcastically.
He smiles, ''Thanks mom. Did you tell dad that?'' And he stands up, putting on his shoes.
Before I could answer, Charlie—Caleb's twin sister, walks down and throws a tennis ball at Caleb, hitting his arm. He groans in pain.
They're my two bundles of joy or should I say, two bundles of—okay, never mind. Caleb and Charlie has more of Alex than they have more of me. For instance, the eyes; let's talk about the eyes. They both have blue eyes—which disappoints me a little, why didn't they have light brown like me? But never mind, moving on.
When I was expecting, I never thought on having twins. Alex actually knew about it all along but he managed to make a deal with the doctor—he said he wanted to surprise me. I don't even know how he knew but he said he has his ways. Shocking, no? It's quite a twist to be honest, usually the mother would be keeping the news but you know, we're not a regular couple.
Mom and dad were happy. They were thrilled. Just because they've always wanted a grandchild. Fortunately, it wasn't just a grandchild. Two at once! They've never been as happy as they were that day. They said that it was the second best moment of their life. The first one would be when mom was giving birth to me.
Caleb stands up, throwing the ball to the other side of the room, ''Don't ever do that, Charlie. It hurts.'' He says, rubbing his arm.
Charlie chuckles, hugging me by the waist before running toward her brother, ''Yeah, well, you pulled my blanket yesterday when I was sleeping. We're even.'' She sticks her tongue out, teasing.
His eyes widen in surprise, ''W-what did you say? Did you just accuse me? I did not do such a thing. It could've been dad or mom, it doesn't have to be me.'' He crosses his arm, looking the other way.
I smile as I watch the two of them fooling around. Charlie did complain earlier this morning that she was freezing when she woke up and she suspected that Caleb might've stolen her blanket and turned on the air-conditioner before setting the temperature to the lowest. I mean, I forgot about it this morning and I only remember it now.
''Who else could it be? Mom and dad wouldn't have done that to me!'' She pushes Caleb by the shoulder but not hard enough to make him stumble. He slaps her hand away, making her push him harder, ''How dare you.'' She says in surprise.
''I'm telling dad.'' Caleb says, defending himself as he walk straight toward the front door. I roll my eyes, he always uses Alex as an excuse to his wrong doings. It's because he thinks that Alex loves him more than Charlie. To be honest, Alex loves both of them the same way—never less.
''Stop that! Dad might not believe you this time. You always do that, you always want to tell dad just because he agrees with everything you say and just because he spends more time playing soccer with you.'' Charlie looks at me, giving me one of her puppy-dog eyes.
''Caleb, apologise to your sister.'' I say.
''What? What did I do?'' He raises an eyebrow at me—not wanting to apologise to her sister.
''What's wrong with you two? Don't you guys ever stop fighting? You're twins for a reason—so stop fighting and try to get along. And Caleb, don't keep on stealing your sister's blanket, it's unfair. It's unfair of you to keep on bullying your sister. What if she does the same to you? What would you feel?'' I look at Caleb. I see guilt passes through his eyes in a second before looking back at Charlie.
''Fine. I did steal your blanket but it's only because we share things, don't we? We share everything and I only turned the air-conditioner on because I thought you were hot and I didn't know you were cold, Charlie.'' I see a fading smirk at the tip of his lips as he fist-bump her, ''Sorry.''
''Whatever.'' Charlie replies, walking pass him.
''Let's go.'' Caleb picks up his bag before running toward the car. As for Charlie, she likes to take things slow and chill out for some reason. She would say 'why rush?'
Charlie takes her water bottle before heading toward the car. I immediately take the keys and join them. As soon as we're all seated in the car, I drive straight ahead to the stadium, where Alex will be training today with his teammates.
Talking about training, he did lost the World Cup. Spain lost and he didn't really care to be honest, he said that he'll have another chance on the next one but to be honest, he didn't even join the second one either just because he didn't want to leave us alone. He said he would go on the third one which is this year; so we'll see.
''Stop.'' Charlie says, slightly annoyed as she pushes him away.
Caleb laughs, ''Whatever.'' Then they both stay silent at the back, not bothered to pick up another fight. I would once in a while keep an eye on them by the rear-view mirror.
I park the car right next to Alex's as I see the empty spot. The three of us walk straight ahead to the entrance of the stadium; looking around as some of Alex's teammates walk toward the restroom.
Caleb sees a glimpse of Alex's hair and he immediately run toward the door, calling out for his father. I smile down at Charlie and see how she's annoyed, ''He's always like that.'' She says, ''What's his problem?''
''You have me.'' I wink at her and she snuggles closer toward me.
My lips curve into a wider smile as I see Alex pulling Caleb into a bone-crushing hug. He pats onto Caleb's back while messing with his hair. Caleb chuckles, fist-bumping Alex. Alex looks up and smile down at Charlie before winking at me.
Eight years and no difference. He's always like that, acting the same. He has never changed, not a single bit.
Caleb runs with Alex in his jersey. I sit on the bleachers with Charlie as she takes out her water bottle and starts drinking before watching Caleb and Alex running toward the middle. Liam high five Caleb and they talk about a few things.
Simon appears out of nowhere. I smile up at him, ''Simon.'' I say and he looks down at me, smiling back.
''Athena.'' He replies, walking toward the other side. I guess we're in good terms, just after I knew the real reason behind everything.
''Goal!'' I hear Caleb shouts from afar. My eyes widen at the sudden noise before glancing toward his direction. He jumps up and down from scoring the goal—and I see Alex picking him up around the waist and smiling widely at his son.
I let out a soft chuckle as I see Charlie shaking her head and rolling her eyes at Caleb's success. I guess this is what it feels like to have a brother or a sister, especially a twin—you pretty much get annoyed by them almost all of the time. She sighs, ''Ha ha, lucky him.'' She mutters, crossing her arms as she pouts.
''It's his first goal. Aren't you happy for him?'' I ask, snuggling closer.
''Nah, he could've done better.'' She shrugs, receiving a smile from me. She drinks more of her water as I watch Alex and Caleb talking about a few things. Liam comes running out of nowhere and give Caleb a bone-crushing hug. They've been close since Caleb was born; Liam said he really wanted to see how little Alex might look like and I guess he got attached. As for Jon, Charlie's his favourite.
Speaking of Jon, I raise my hand up and wave as he come running toward me and Charlie. His smile widens as soon as he sees Charlie waving at him. Charlie wraps her arm around Jon's neck as he picks her up by the waist before tucking her long strand of hair behind her ears, ''How are you, beautiful?'' He smiles.
''Doing great, how about you, uncle Jon?'' She teases him with the word uncle and I just sit there, watching the two of them bond. It's adorable how Jon and Liam spends most of their time with Charlie and Caleb. It's also because they said that they're their godfather. How, hilarious.
Jon rolls his eyes, putting Charlie down and letting out a chuckle, ''I told you not to let her call me uncle.'' He says, pointing at her.
''So what? You're old enough to become an uncle, anyway. Besides, you're becoming a father in less than two months. What's the difference?'' I reply, stating the obvious.
When I found out that Sarah was indeed pregnant, I was thrilled, to be honest. They've gotten married three years after Alex and I have gotten the twins. They were excited when they saw our babies so they decided that they wanted to speed things up a little bit. Besides, they've known each other long enough—longer than I've known Alex.
''Okay, okay. You win.'' Jon laughs, sitting beside Charlie, ''Everything okay with you and your brother? What's with the face, beautiful?'' He pokes at her cheek and she let out a chuckle—sighing afterwards.
''He's not being too friendly.'' She answers, ''He stole my blanket yesterday, well, almost every other night but last night, he didn't give it back.''
Jon sighs, ''Don't you guys ever stop fighting? It's been years and I still hear about you two fighting. Mostly about small things, like, food or even toys but now that you two are older than you were two years ago, I guess things have changed to teasing.''
I look up and see Alex and Caleb walking back toward us. As soon as they arrive, Caleb proudly stands in front of Charlie—showing off a wide smile, ''I've scored a goal.'' He says.
Charlie looks at him with a raised eyebrow, ''Yeah, yeah whatever.'' She shrugs it off by waving him goodbye.
Caleb frowns, ''Aren't you happy for me?''
''I don't know.'' She shrugs.
Alex crouches in front of her before lightly running his thumb on her soft cheek. She smiles, ''Be happy for your brother.'' He says which causes Charlie to frown and drop her smile—not understanding why Alex is actually defending Caleb.
''You know what, don't be happy for him. Be happy for yourself.'' Jon interrupts.
''Okay, so what did I miss?'' Liam says out of nowhere as he appears.
Jon, Alex and I stare blankly at him. He's always like that. Appears out of nowhere and just ask for things. The three of us ignores his present as we continue to look at Caleb and Charlie, ''Forget it. Who wants frozen yoghurt?'' Jon changes the subject.
Before they could answer, Jon pulls their hand and start to walk straight toward his car. Alex stands up slowly, looking at me with a smile. I roll my eyes at him, ''Okay, what did I do this time?'' He asks, trying to hold me by the waist but I elbow him in the stomach—making him breathe out, rubbing the side of his stomach.
''What did you do this time? What did you say that to Charlie?'' I ask before glancing toward Liam who's still there. He clears his throat before slowly following Jon.
''Say what?'' He shakes his head in confusion.
''Be happy for your brother.'' I mimic his voice, ''Yeah, like that's going to make her feel better. You keep on spending your time with Caleb, what about Charlie? She's your daughter, Alex. She needs your attention too.'' I sigh, walking away toward the lobby.
Alex follows behind me before pulling me by the arm, stopping, ''It's not like that.'' He leans closer, ''Okay, maybe I was paying more attention to Caleb than Charlie but I didn't realise that. I'm sorry, I'll fix it.'' His blue eyes show hope, trust and mostly love. He cares for them, for our children. ''I didn't think that Charlie would've felt that way.'' He breathes out, ''It's not easy having twins. I've never had this experience before and they're both growing up, it's getting different...''
''I know.'' I mutter. He pulls me into a hug and I wrap my arms around his waist, ''Fix it now, Alex.'' I say and he sighs, leaning back.
We both walk toward Jon's car and I can see that Caleb and Charlie are seated at the back while Liam sits at the passenger seat. Alex opens the door near Charlie's side before whispering something into her ear—making her smile and nod her head multiple times. Alex chuckles, kissing her on the forehead, long.
I smile to myself, how I've always imagined myself to have my own kids. Now that I have them, it's truly is magical. Through those hard times, there are those times where everything is just perfect. Like now. I love how it's easy for Charlie to bond with Alex.
''Promise?'' Charlie asks, showing off her little finger.
''Promise.'' Alex nods, doing their little thing called 'pinky promise.'
Alex leans back, ''Send them home before ten, Jon or else.'' He warns.
Jon smiles and Liam just nod his head. Before Jon could drive away, ''Wait, Liam. Aren't you supposed to bring Colton out today?'' I remind him and his eyes widens immediately.
''Shit.'' He mutters, stepping out of the car as he runs toward his.
''Language.'' Alex shouts toward him but he shrugs it off by entering his car.
Clara and Liam met on the day I gave birth to Caleb and Charlie. He said that he immediately fell head over heels for her—he also said that she's different. Good different. The kind of different that he wants to take risks of. The funny part is that Clara never really liked Liam. She would say that Liam is weird for continuously trying to start a conversation with her. But sooner or later, she starts falling for the his ways; on how he treats Colton, on how he treats her. At first, it was awkward for both Colton and Liam because they both felt like brothers but that's what made them close.
The romantic part? Liam proposed and they're getting married in August which is three months away.
Clara once told me that she has never been this happy. That's a good thing, right?
Alex waves in front of me, taking me back to reality, ''You okay?'' He asks and I look around to see that Jon had left with the twins. Guess they're going to have a great time with frozen yoghurts.
I nod, ''Yeah, come on.'' I say before pulling his hand as we walk toward the other way.
Things are definitely getting better with Alex and I. We thought that stating our honest opinions and feelings would've increased our relationship and it really did. We tell everything to each other; including the little things. I managed to get to know him better—way better to be honest, for the past eight years. It's a wonder how we can never get bored of each other.
Every single day, there's something new to explore. Even though we're living the same old life, but at least there's an adventure worth living. For example, Caleb and Charlie has become our first priority. We love them as much as we love each other; which is fascinating. In my opinion.
Alex entwine our fingers together as we walk side by side. All of a sudden, he smiles down at me, making me look at him in confusion, ''Why are you smiling?'' I ask.
He smiles wider, ''Nothing. I'm just happy. That's all.'' He replies, ''For all of this. I never thought that I would get this far, especially with you. Eight years, huh? That's a lot and I can't wait for more.'' He pecks onto my cheek—making me blush immediately.
I clear my throat, ''Of course there will be more since I'm pregnant.'' I quickly walk away, leaving him behind, leaving him in confusion. I try my best to hide my smile as he run after me.
''Wait, what did you say?'' He raises an eyebrow, holding onto my forearm.
''What did I say?'' I frown.
''Y—you said something.'' He looks deeper into my eyes, trying to find the answer.
''I said something?''
''Athena, cut it off. You're pregnant?'' He leans in, almost hitting our foreheads. I try my best with the poker face before curving my lips into a small smile, making his eyes widen. ''Wow.'' He mutters under his breath, leaning back and running his fingers through his hair, ''W—when?'' He asks.
''I don't know, let me count.'' I pretend to think.
He gets impatient as he grabs onto my shoulders, ''Princess, please, stop playing around.'' His eyes shows how he wants this to happen, ''Never mind. Are you sure? Like really really sure?''
I smirk, ''Why are you surprised? It's not our first time, anyway.''
''I know.'' He swallows, ''It's our second time and I'm excited to have a baby again.'' I look closer at his face and I see how his eyes are almost teary, which makes me want to pull him closer and just wrap my arms around him. Where can I find someone like him? Easy. I can't. He's the only one. He cups my face, kissing me on the lips before slowly placing his hand on my flat tummy.
''Three weeks.'' I mutter, slowly.
He chuckles, kissing me endlessly on my cheeks, ''I love you.'' He whispers into my ear—making me pull him closer by the neck, inhaling his cologne.
''Ew, mom, get a room!'' We both pull away as we hear Caleb shouts from afar. He runs toward us with Charlie trailing behind him. Jon waves at us—giving a sign that he's leaving. Charlie eats her frozen yoghurt while eyeing Caleb, ''What's with the hugging and kissing? Ew.'' He continues.
''Well, it shows how much I love your mother.'' Alex answer.
''Loving mom doesn't show by kissing and hugging her. It's more than that.'' He adds.
Alex and I frown, ''Where did you know about that?''
''Jon told us.'' Charlie interrupts.
I laugh, ''Alright, let's go home.'' I look up and Alex and I see him smiling down at me but not before pecking me on the lips once more. He holds onto Charlie's hand while I hold onto Caleb. We both walk ahead—heading home. Where the four of us create more memories. Or should I say five?
I lean closer beside Alex, near his ear as I stand on my tiptoes, ''I love you too.''
Charlie and Caleb looks up at us, ''What about us?''
''We love you more.'' Alex and I say at the same time. Then he looks back at me, smiling, ''And I love you.'' He says, looking down at my stomach.
Everyone has a story. A story to share, to keep or even to treasure. This is mine and I'm glad that I've found my prince charming—even though it was hard at first, but at least, we're together at last.
This is my happy ending.
This is my happy ending