SHIMMER'S POV
My eyes shifted from one face to another, and I saw my happy, healthy family. When my eyes landed on Anisha, they remained there longer than on the others. The young lady had grown much more beautiful, and in her crystal eyes, I saw fear. Fear of me. She feared me. She dreaded having me at her house. She could not understand why I chose to be there, after all those years. Instinctively, her hands clutched to her husband, and my son held her close.
"Come, my child, come to me," I opened my arms.
Anisha hesitated. She was unsure who I was referring to as "my child", and she looked behind her, thinking that there was someone standing there. I was angry with myself for what I had done to the poor child.
"Did you invite mum?" I heard her whispering to her husband.
"No," Dylan whispered back.
Immediately I realised the amount of damage I had done to the poor girl. I knew that I had ruined a part of her, but I did not know that it was to that extent. She literally shook and used her husband as a shield, hiding behind him and looking as terrified as a mouse cornered by a cat.
That made me feel terrible.
"Anisha, my child. Please come. The woman you are seeing here is not the old Simmer that you knew. I am a changed woman, and I am willing to correct all the errors that I made; the ones that can be corrected. Anisha, I wronged you too much, and I am here to make peace. I am sorry, Anisha. If I could spend the rest of my life apologizing, I would. I wronged my entire family. Please, Anisha, come to me and accept my first step in making things right."
Anisha looked at her husband with a questioning look, and he looked back at her with a blank stare.
"Anisha, I mean it. Did you invite Ms Meyerton to this event? Did you invite your sister and your mum? No; you did not, but I did it. I got in touch with Valentina and Arianna. When I knew that you had an event coming, the two assisted me to get these people here, because I know that they are special people to you. I am doing my best to be a different person; please believe me, Anisha."
I looked at her sitting next to her husband, and realised that they really looked good together. Why had I missed it from the first time? Why was I blind to the beauty before my eyes? Why had I not seen it? Why had I failed to support my child during the time that he need my support the most?
"Anisha…" I stretched out my arms again, but she did not move.
"Give her some time, mamma." Arianna said.
Dylan was the one who finally stood up and came to me.
"Do you mean this, mother?" he asked me.
"With every fiber of my being. I am back to be with my family, if you will accept me. I made too many errors. It is enough. It is time for us to live as a happy family, and I will do anything and everything right in order to correct the things that I did wrong."
Roderick came forward, and I was able to see doubt in his eyes.
"Shimmer," he stretched his hand and shook mine.
"Roderick, I want to be a part of this family again. I don't mean you and I should get back together; for I do not deserve that. I did too many bad things, I don't deserve to be a life partner to you anymore. But for the sake of peace, peace in my heart, so that even when I die, I will die with a happy heart, Roderick, can we at least be friends? Can you accept me back into your life as a friend?. And may I also be invited to the family functions such as these, so that I too can get to know my grandchildren?"
The moment I said those words, I instantly remembered that I had not seen Liam since the time he was adopted.
"Liam, where is Liam?" I asked. A cue little boy with bright eyes stood up from his chair and looked at me.
"Come to me, Liam," I said.
'No," he shook his head. "Mamma and daddy said not to go to strangers."
When he said the word 'strangers', that was when I broke down.
That was who I was. I was a stranger. I had chosen to walk out; and I had failed to act as mother. A good mother unites her family, not to destroy them and create rifts among the members of the family. What did I do? I cursed myself over and over again for all my past misdeeds.
With all eyes on me, I had no idea how to convince the people in front of me.
"Congratulations on the hard work you did at K JNR PRODUCTIONS. You are hardworking, and you deserve all the accolades that are coming your way, my child." I said to Anisha.
"Thank you," she said in a low voice.
Roderick took my hand and led me to a chair. He then stood up and said everyone needed to try and give me a chance. He said while I needed a second chance, I also needed to know that the family needed time to get used to the new Shimmer. I was therefore not to expect people to change overnight and start to love and accept me.
Anisha, especially, looked seriously uncomfortable. The event of the evening proceeded, abut I was able to see that people were no longer as happy as they were previously.
Valentina and Arianna were OK, but the others were a bit tense.
When Dylan stood up, he said him and Anisha had an announcement to make. He pointed up in the sky and we all looked up to see drones shining brightly. Dylan said we were to use clues to guess what the good news was all about.
The lights quickly shaped up into the shape of a milk bottle.
"Wooooow!" people responded happily, clapping their hands.
The drones changed shape into a pacifier. And then a diaper, and a pair of cute little shoes.
When the drones were over, everyone had managed to pick that the young de Milos were expecting a new baby.
The announcement was great news to me. My own son was going to have a child! Wow, that was great news.
"Congratulations," everyone was saying to the new parents.
"We need to take pictures," a hired photographer announced.
He had taken a lot of pictures when he said,
"Now let's have Madam Anisha de Milo and her mother."
Anisha was already standing in the spot, and the three of us, Amelia, Ms Meyerton and myself walked to her at the same time.
"She's blessed to have three mothers," the photographer teased.
It felt really awkward. I guess I must have been too desperate to be accepted that I needed to become her mother as soon as could be. I needed her to accept me, and I guess without knowing, I was pushing it a bit too far.
OK, we'll take one with all the three mothers," the photographer suggested.
Ms Meyerton hugged Anisha, while Amelia and myself stood there too, seemingly not a part of the picture.
Then he said he was going to take two pictures of each of us with her. Amelia went first, and she stood next to her child. She did not make an effort to hug her, but instead stood, leaving a small gap between them two. Two pictures were taken, and she moved away.
I went next, and although in my heart I really wanted to hug and tell her how sorry I was, I failed to do so. The gap between me and her was wider than the one between her and Amelia.
When Ms Meyerton joined Anisha for the photo, I could swear that the saying "save the best for the last" came to life. I had never seen two people naturally bonded in such a way.
Anisha and the lady simultaneously inched closer to each other.
"Hallo grandchild," Ms Meyerton rubbed Anisha's tummy.
"Say hi grandma," Anisha smiled brightly at the woman.
The photographer took two pictures and said, "now, can we have the Rockridges."
"Wait," Anisha said. "Please take four or five more pictures of us," she requested.
My heart was pierced. I had failed to do what Ms Meyerton had done. I thought I was richer, yet when I looked at the woman standing in front of me, hugging Anisha with pure love, I realised that no; she was way richer than me. She had love. Ms Meyerton had nothing, if a comparison was to be made between the two of us. Yet in that state, she managed to win the heart of a poor girl, becoming a lifetime sweetheart, very much loved by Anisha. I had the chance; but I messed it up. With tears threatening to fall, I promised myself that I was going to mend what I had messed up. I was going to die first before I gave up.