Chapter 12 :
Five Years Later:
He watched as Victoria entered the store with two toddlers holding on to both her hands with a tight grip. On her left was a small little boy. He had a chubby looking face which hosted a pout, his hair was black and shiny he had an olive skin tone.
The little girl was smiling at Victoria, showing off her missing front teeth. They decorated her pigtails with pink ribbons and a white-colored clip. Her skin tone was the same as the little boy.
Victoria had on a black halter cropped top, blue baggy ripped jeans, a low clot rose gold silk air force, and to complete the look she had a silver and black Prada cahier cross bag on her right shoulder.
He noticed the children had the same button nose as Victoria as if they were her kids, no it could not be those kids looked around four to five years old. And she aborted their child at the hospital; he was there himself; that's unless she had got involved with another guy after she had.
"No" he whispered.
'She was not the type of woman, she'd surely have some class, won't she?' he thought.
Axel watched from the coffee shop as the toddlers ran screaming, "Uncle" towards a man in a muscle T-shirt and ripped jeans leaning against the car and hugged his leg while jumping up and down giggling.
He watched as Victoria walked towards them slowly while smiling. Axel wanted to hide, but it was too late. Victoria had turned her head looking at an old couple that walked by and smiled while turning her head towards the diner he was in.
Their eyes connected for a moment before she severed the connection by turning her head towards the little girl who was pulling at her bag for attention.
He clenched his jaw and turned his head away from the scene.
"That could've been us with our child Tori", he whispered and the anguish was strong in his voice, signaling for a waiter.
He placed five dollars on the table while asking for his lunch to be placed in a to-go bag. Collecting his lunch and Axel got up from his seated position and began walking towards the exit.
He felt the sensation of someone colliding into him, his legs looking down he saw the little boy he'd seen with Victoria about a minute ago.
The boy had tears running down his face and had the same pout on his face as earlier. He threw his head back in an exaggerating motion as he released a loud cry that caused the customers at the dinner to look at Axel.
Some wore an irritated expression, while the others wore a curious expression and an expression of aww.
Someone in the kitchen called out and said, "Give the lass the food, don't be the bad dad."
A feeling of shock and embarrassment ran throughout his entire body as the people in the dinner chanted, 'Give him the food, hand it over' repeatedly and louder each time.
The little boy was no longer holding on to his legs or crying, but had somehow moved from the ground to the top of one of the diner's table with his small hands into a fist.
The little guy's hand was in the air in a pumping motion while giving Axel a cute little smirk as if he was saying 'I win, you lose.'
He was in full belief and instantly knew that he was going to be a troublemaker when he grew up.
Walking towards the table, Axel held out the bag of food as a peace offering. The little guy grabbed the bag from Axel's hand, gripping it in his left hand. With the bags in his hand he held his arms in the air mumbling, "Pick up".
Sighing, Axel reached over and held the little boy in his arms and unconsciously did something he never did in a while.
He swung the boy in a back-and-forth motion in two complete oscillations before throwing him high in the air, causing the little boy to release a high-pitched giggle, and caught him when he came back down.
The little boy looked into Axel's eyes, and immediately Axel wished he had a son like this.
The boy's eyes were shining with excitement and squealed," Again."
And so they continued to play, and none of the boys realized how quickly the time flew by.
Axel and the little boy noticed two hours later that they both had spent a lot of time playing the little boy, whose name Axel came to know as Ciro.
Ciro explained the meaning of his name and how he got it, and Axel wanted to adopt the kid right then and there.
Ciro said that his name was Italian, and it meant sun. He also explained that when his mother gave birth to him. She saw him shining so brightly with innocence she said the first word that came to her mind, "Ciro."
"Hey, Uncle A", called Ciro.
"Little man", Addressed Axel.
Ciro yawned tiredly and turned his little body towards Axel and queried, "Do you have any kids?"
Axel suddenly froze he did not know how to answer Ciro's question.
Axel had developed a somewhat convincing excuse in this head before he could tell Ciro his excuse the sound of someone's phone ringing interrupted him.
Axel searched for his phone but stopped and stared in shock as Ciro answered his phone in a frustrated sigh, "Mom, can't really talk right now I'm busy."
He had the latest version of the iPhone, and he felt embarrassed because even though he came from a very fortunate family.
His parents did not give him the go-ahead to use a phone until he was sixteen; because they wanted him to understand the beauty of nature before he indulged in the world of technology, yet this five-year-old boy has in his possession the latest version of the iPhone.
'Wow, the world has really evolved', thought Axel while shaking his head.