Present day. New York city. Belle drives her car, then stops at the red light. She closes her eyes a bit, rubs her crooked nose. As the light turns to green, she drives to the nearby cafe where she can get her coffee.
She went to usual daily cafe after she dropped off her kids at school.
Andriana Belle Decker, a twenty six years old beautiful widow and mother of two. Vincent and Poppy.
After graduating with a law and psychology degree. She now works as a psychology doctor and has her own office. After Gibson died, she decided to change her life. What she wants to be, and now here she is _ proudly. Her family is so proud of her, of course Gibson too.
He'd wanted her happy and she did. He gave her a beautiful baby before he could see them born right in front of his eyes. What passed, she must move on with her own life without a husband on her side, now she is living with her two grown up kids in New york.
At first it's tough, high school graduates and having a baby at the same time. She is lucky to have Molly and Richards who looked after her baby while she continued her studies. Without her parents _ she completely lost. Enough she lost Gibson, never ever lose your family.
As for Craig Allen, of course they are still in contact. He looked after her as promised, he's now engaged with a woman he loved.
She gave a signal, turned to her left where the cafe stood. She parked the car without turning off the engine, she out _ burst inside the cafe. She look up at them for a moment until _
"Yo, Doc? Your coffee".
She heard customers grunted as she walked past them. They're feeling unfair, that she just got here right on time and suddenly the cashier just gave her a quick coffee while they waited for so long to line up.
She quickly grabbed her coffee, paid the cashier then stormed out. They cursed her. Slammed the door shut, drove her car back to the office.
"It was a Monday, and I couldn't sleep. I went downstairs to the kitchen to get a snack. And that's the first night I saw her. Lady in white. Coming out from where she lives".
"And what did you do?"
"I stayed as quiet as I could, thinking maybe she'd just stay down there but then she showed up".
Belle nodded her head. "What does a lady in white look like?"
"A lady in white. Her skin is so pale and ice cold. I can feel her as she walks through me. That's really scary".
"You said something about _ where she lives? Where does the lady in white live, Kiara?"
"Under the house. In the basement".
Belle smiled. "You know _ you're a lot like me, Kiara".
"Yeah?"
"Oh, yeah. See, when I was little, I was afraid of a lot of things. I didn't have to be, though. They were all in my head. I just didn't know that yet".
She smiles, "How old are you, Kiara?" She asked.
"Five".
"Five? I have two nine years old kids, twins. They're strong, brave, tougher than other kids. The twins are great builders, they need each other, the twins made such a great team. And I am proud because I raised them to be one".
She smiled again.
Later that moment. Belle left the room. She met Kiara's parents outside, their two way mirror where Kiara's parents could see her inside the room.
Belle meets the parents. "We just want the same for her".
"She was telling me about the lady in white".
"Yeah, yeah, we've heard about her too. We're more concerned about her behavioral problems at school. She started acting weird, like a lady in white following her wherever she went. You can see her grades started out fine. At least, considering".
"Hmm".
Belle rubs under her chin.
"Well, I'm not some kind of psychic medium or paranormal investigator. I'm just a doctor. But what I can tell is that I do believe in paranormal things. Percent, children like Kiara will see what an adult couldn't. Lady in white is part of her, she wasn't Kiara's imaginary friend. If the lady in white is just her imagination, children usually understand that their imaginary friends are not real".
"Was that normal?". Ask the wife.
"Is considered a normal and even healthy part of childhood play". Smile Belle. "I'll see you three more next week, same time, same day".
Noon later, Belle falls asleep inside her office. On the sofa. She realizes how loud she is snoring while she sleeps. Hours later, her cellphones ring. Eyes shut, her hand stretches reaching her cellphones on the coffee table then slides to green.
She put on a speaker. "Hello?"
"Ms Decker?"
"Yeah".
Silent. "Can you come to school, something wrong and it's about your twins".
"What?! It's noon and I'm asleep. I pick them up in the evening".
"I know. But you must. I'll see you in my office like _ right now. You better hurried".
Fuck it!
She jumped off the sofa, grabbed her handbag, her cellphones, car keys then bolted out.
"Whoa! Chill, where are you going?" ask her assistant as she runs in the hall.
"School. Twins".
Continue running downstairs, unlock the door, start the engine. She hit the gas, speeding up. She doesn't care what will happen to her, all she needs is _ get to school as fast she can. She started to curse, honking around.
"Make a window! Move your ass, your motherfucker!"
She knows her kids, she gives birth to them, she raises them without a husband on her side. She's the wonder woman of her kids. The twins weren't the troublemakers. She knows they are not. Something is missing here she needs to find out.
Honking sound from Belle car again. "MOVE!"
Later that moment, she arrived at school. She slammed the door and lock. Burst inside, she runs to the hall and arrives at the principal's office at. Without knocking, she kicks the door, panting as her eyes drop at both her twins.
She grunted, patting her chest, taking a seat and breathing out loud.
"What?!" asked Belle to the principal. "I'm here don't I?" She looked down at her twins. "You both are messed up, what did you two do?" she asked.
Principal Collins, a late age woman, glasses at her crooked nose, she pulled it down then laid her glasses on the desk. She studied Belle's face for a moment then she smiled.
"You're beautiful, Ms Decker. No wonder I ask myself where Vincent and Poppy got their faces from".
Smile, she continued. "Actually? Ms Decker. After you drop your kids at school, the teachers saw five kids grab Vincent and Poppy then push them on the ground. Bullies as a matter of fact. So, the problem is _ these five kids didn't not expected from your twins as they started to kick their ass protecting themselves. Five of them are in our unit care, one of them had a broken nose, bit bone fracture. Bleeding and their parents it's on their way in here".
Belle leaned forward the principal and smirked. "So, you blamed my twins who caused all this".
"No. Ms Decker I didn't mean to _"
"Oh, yes. You mean it principal Collins. You better say the truth is that, is their childs! Not mine. My twins go to school for education, studies not a fighter or punch someone face for no reason, and you know it. If you can't tell their parents the truth _ I will!"
Principal Collins leans her back. "You better not for the sake of your kids".
"Ever I care. I want you to fix it". She push the chair. "I study laws, Principal Collins. Don't underestimate me, I respect you and I respect you to tell that brats parent what actually really happen in your school. If you don't? And they start pointing at my twins, I'm not hesitate to drag them to court and file the case".
Belle breath. "Just _ DON'T!"
"My apologies, Ms Decker. Your twins are very sweet and kind that I'd never seen in my life, they like helping teachers include me. I'm not letting the parents hurt your twins. As a principal I protect my students. Especially for the twins".
Exactly like 2.00pm. Along the way back to Belle's office, the twins hadn't spoken a word because of the incident. She parked the car. Her assistant rushed toward the family.
"What happened?" She looks at the back and passengers seat where the twins sit. "Are they okay?"
Belle shrugged. "Twins kicked the bully asses. I can't believe those brats trying to hurt my baby".
"What happened then?"
"Broken nose, small accident bone fracture. I don't know anything!"
"You meet the parents?"
Snorts. "Fuck no". She knocked on the mirror. "Let's go kids. Come on. Get inside". The twins bolt out from the car as she watches the twins running inside the building without a word. "Order me two pizzas and soft drinks".
Later that night in Belle's apartment. She is standing at the balcony drinking a glass of water. Views in New York at night are the most beautiful that she likes to see, the twins are studying in their room. Spending her life without even dating anyone after Gibson's death.
Don't know why. Or because she still loves Gibson even after his death?
"Mom?" She looked over her shoulder. Vincent behind her. "Are you okay? We're sorry. We didn't mean to _ you know. To hurt someone".
She scoffs then smiles. Asked her son to sit with her on the balcony.
"I know that. Wasn't your two faults anyway. I met the parent".
Her eyes widened as suddenly her mind thinking of flashbacks she had done to the parents she met. She kicked their asses too.
"Bullying wasn't a healthy environment".
"Kids these days think bullies are a good environment for them".
Vincent muttered, she stared at him in a smile.
"Like I'd said. Me and Poppy had too, they can't just drag us and push us on the ground like we are some kind of an animal without brains. Who do they think they are?"
"A nine years old twins broke their bones. What kind of parent isn't proud of their kids huh? I'm proud that I am sending you two learning how to protect yourself. Black belt".
Belle wink at Vincent. "Those brats deserve that". She looked around the room. "Is Poppy asleep?"
"She said she was tired after studying and doing homework".
Vincent looks down on his laps, then looks up at his mother. "Since we're born we never heard you talk about dad around us".
Belle's eyes shot up at him, he continued.
"Nor even show us his picture. Is dad a bad person, Mom? I feel jealous when I see someone's dad with their kids. Spending their time together, father and son, daughter".
"Why so sudden to ask?"
Vincent shrugged. "I feel weird. All my friends had their dad. Why don't us".
"He's a great dad, that's all I can say to you".
"Not kind like that, I want to hear from your lips about him. How did you two meet? How old are you both? Anything. Not owh your dad is a great man, he loves his baby twins not like that".
Belle sighing. "Well, what you want me to do, that's all I could remember".
"You lied, Mom. I know you are. Why do you keep it a secret from us? What did dad do to you before we were born? Did you hate him?"
She leaned her back. Vincent was right, she can't keep it a secret. Gibson's still their father no matter what. He died to protect her from Veronica Bilson. If it wasn't him _ she wouldn't be here.
"It's late, Vincent. I can't promise anything to you but _ When you are ready to hear about your dad I will tell you. You'll be shocked when you found out the whole truth about me and your dad when we were young. And you will not forgive him or you will feel sorry for him".
She smiled.