Valeria couldn't believe her eyes. James said that to their little kid? For what! Turning her back to her kids?
Who does that!
Anger was coiling through her veins now. She blamed everything and everyone. She blamed Desiree for being too loud, she blamed the air for the sensational tingling it sent on her skin, she blamed herself for ever listening to Mylene to meet Jose. Goddammit! She blamed Jose!
"Oh no, my baby. Momma will always love you. I do love you all, and never for once have I ever thought of leaving you!"
"Yet you were on TV with another man, prophecising your love to him." James said.
"No. Of course not. Stop saying that to the kids!" Valeria snapped. She hasn't realized that her daughter, Dali had been standing with them now.
"You don't want us to know about your manfriend?" Dali said and Valeria was startled.
"Dali. Oh no, don't tell me you too actually believe that?"
"Why would daddy lie to us then? Why!" Dali yelled out. "We saw it on the news! So don't try to lie to us."
"He's not my manfriend. We are not in anyway romantically involved with each other!" Valeria tried to explain but little Jose started to cry, and Dali just wouldn't listen to her.
She was running insane. Where the fuck was Mylene when she needed her!
"Your mother already said she wanted to divorce me." James said, sounding as honest as he could, though he had only been acting to the kids. Valeria wished she could slap him so hard that his jaw would shift, but she dare not while her kids were around.
"He's lying. He's lying!"
"She already said she was tired of me. Of all of us. She betrayed her family." James continued with his lies.
Apparently, Mylene had been around. She rushed forward now to their midst. "James, why would you think like that?" She snapped.
Valeria had began to cry now. She didn't like the position James had put her in!
"You know what kids? There's been some sort of misunderstanding. Why don't you come over to my place, and let's leave them to talk, huh?" Mylene proposed.
"No way. My sister is here to take them." James said.
Valeria didn't hear him well. "Take them? Why the fuck would she take my kids!"
"Language, sister." Mylene warned.
"You can't just take them!" Valeria ignored her sister. "Jose, Dali come with me. Let's go upstairs--"
"No! My sister is going to take them. And you and me, we're going to talk. Please send your sister out of my house now." James ordered.
"But--But," Valeria searched for words but couldn't find anything to say. How could her whole world just crumble in one day? How!
"Go now, Mylene." James barked at Mylene.
She didn't have any other choice so she just walked out quietly and left. Now it was just Valeria against them all.
"I have already packed their uniform and some other things. My sister will pick them up now." James said. Then called his sister to take the kids over go her place. Desiree had already started to leave with the kids when Valeria snapped.
"What do you think you're doing?" First it started as a soft whisper. One that left everyone surprised for a minute that she still knew how to talk. Then in just a split second, Valeria's voice was like that of a demoness. "Get out, get out, get out!!! All of you! Get out of my house and leave my kids alone!"
Like a mad bull, she charged at everyone of them, James included, and chased them out, pushing them away with all her strength.
Finally, it was just her and her kids who were very much scared of that version of their mother they'd just witnessed. Valeria's eyes were already soaked with painful tears. She ran forward and pulled them both in a warm embrace.
"I'm so sorry you had to see that. I love you both and I can never let them take you away from me! No way! Please listen to me. I love you both!" She was crying and repeating those same lines over and over again till they would believe her.
****
For three days now, James took it as a smart move not to come home. He tried once, but Valeria had pounced on him like an angry lion who had not had a decent meal in months.
She stopped her kids from going to school and told them to enjoy TV and play games all they liked. She was loosing it and she knew that much.
A text message popped up on her phone and she feared it was her secret texter, Blackrose again, but it was from a strange number. The person had introduced herself as Mrs Belinda, the kids teacher and was sending a reminder for 'Bring your parents to school' day.
"Oh, it's today!" Exclaimed Valeria. Immediately, she dressed her kids up and took them to school. Dali complained why her mother would be the one to show up instead of her aunt Desiree but Valeria ignored her instead. How dare she choose another woman over her? She was their mother!
Once they got to school, some other parents were already around and so were their kids. They asked the parents what they do and told them to brag to their kids about how cool their job was.
"Oh no mother. Why did you come with us now. You don't even have a job!" Dali frowned.
As Valeria was about to reply, the woman named Mrs Belinda walked forward to meet them. "Hello there. I see you've brought the kids. Their mother is waiting for them already."
"Their mother? I'm their mother!" Valeria said to the woman.
The woman frowned. "You? But there's a woman here claiming to be their mother."
Valeria brought out her phone and showed it to Mrs Belinda. "See, I received the message. I'm their mother."
"Well... There's a woman here now who's already waiting for the kids. She claimed maybe the maid would bring them any minute now..."
"Maid? Ha!" Valeria scoffed. Who could that lunatic be? And how dare they call her a housemaid! "This is insane. Should I be worried? So does this mean that any psychopath can walk in here and claim to be the mother of my kids, and you would agree to it??"
"What? No of course not ma'am. But we got a call from their father! Mr James."
"What the..."
"Hello there," said a voice Valeria was too familiar with.
She turned to meet the initiator of the greeting. "You!"
Standing before her was a slender tall lady on some fancy designer wear and heels taller than Valeria had ever owned before. She was on makeups but they weren't too much so she looked pretty enough.
"Why don't we begin this parental day, Mrs Belinda?" Andrea said with a smile planted on her lips.