Chereads / Destine to be / Chapter 3 - Chapter Three

Chapter 3 - Chapter Three

"Mama!!" My little daughter ran out as soon as I came down from my car. I picked her up and kissed her before putting her back down on the ground. We walked in together.

"Seems like someone missed me" I said.

"No I didn't. I was only looking forward to my strawberry icedcream that you promised me" She said, with a pout.

"Hi mum" Alex greeted still sitting on the chair.

"Really??!! Just that??!! Not even a hug or a kiss" She laughed and stood up to hug me.

Andrew emerged from the bathroom just then, with only a towel on his lower body. He looked so big and handsome and I took my time marvelling at my son.

"Mum, are you checking me out?" He asked in disbelief.

"Yes son. I'm guilty as charged. If you weren't my son, I'd have wooed you till you agreed to be my boyfriend" I replied, eliciting a laugh from all three children.

"Amanda the iced cream is in the car. Go get it before it melts" I said to her and went to the kitchen. The papers in the window caught my attention. I went through them and found out that they were divorce papers, waiting for my signature. There was a letter that was legibly written in Jared's handwriting. Well, the highlight of it all was that he's not coming back and he's leaving the house for us, which was senseless considering the fact that I paid the house and every document was written in my name. The only thing he bought with his money was the 'Family car'. I had my own car though.

I squeezed the letter and threw it into the waste bin, just as Andrew walked in.

"When were you going to tell us that dad isn't coming back?" Before I could reply, Alex walked in.

"You've been unhappy for so long and you never bothered to tell me. I thought we were best friends mum"

"Yes we are, but this was between me and your dad and we didn't want to disturb you guys. We could resolve it ourselves" I replied

"Oh really. Like you're doing now. Well it's obvious you haven't loved him for long and he hasn't been there for us" Andrew said.

"So what's going to happen to us now? I mean, how are we going to survive?" Alex asked in a frightened voice. Oh jeez!! I didn't want my kids to start thinking this way. I held her by the shoulders.

"We'll be perfectly fine Alexandra, I promise. There's not going to be any change. Everything's going to be the same, except that he won't come here anymore"

"Even to see us?" Alexandra asked.

I knew firsthand what it meant to be deprived of the love of your father. My own father never loved me. In fact, he married my mum because his parents convinced him to do that after he knocked her up. I planned to run my life very differently from the way my parents ran theirs.

"Alex, You know I'd never lie to you both about anything. The truth is your dad's with someone else. He doesn't want anything tied down to him; and I'd rather much be with you guys alone"

There!!

I looked away to avoid seeing their reactions. Tears flowed freely from my eyes, and then I felt strong hands on my back and the tears increased. I turned to see the twins hugging me and crying too.

"We'd rather be with you too mum" Andrew said, and I hugged them tightly.

The rest of the week went on as usual, except that the kids actually missed their father. Asides that, our daily routine continued. I'll get up as early as 5am and make food for them for the day. After storing it in the refrigerator, I'd go wake them up to prepare for school and then drive them to school and go to work. I'll come back to meet Amanda practicing her dances, Alex playing the piano and Andrew either making a call or playing video games. And soon it was weekend again. Andrew had gone for football practice and Amanda was in a friend's place. Alex was studying her geography with me, while I was reviewing some work-related cases.

"How do volcanoes occur mum?" Alex asked me, as she looked up from her laptop. She knew what she was doing; She was looking for a way to demonstrate what she'd learnt, by asking me questions and then moving on to explain it. I pretended like I didn't know.

"I have no idea, Alex. Do you?"

"Of course I do" She said with a smile.

"Volcanoes occur as a result of the eruption of molten magma. I'm sure you don't know what a magma is" She winked at me and continued. "A magma is a very hot and semi liquid rock found underneath the Earth's surface. So once there's a little hole or crack in the Earth's surface, which may be caused by human activities, this molten magma begins to spew out in a mountain-like form. It could take up to 10 years to fully solidify"

I smiled and clapped for her.

"Wow impressive"

Before she could talk, the door opened and Olivia, Mason's daughter who was a year older than Alex, walked in. They were best friends

"Hi Livie" Alex stood and hugged her friend. Then she went to her room to do something.

"Hello Aunty Laura"

"Hi Olivia. How're you doing? How're your parents?"

"They're good. Mum's travelled for work again and dad's meeting a patient today"

"That's typically Mason" I scoffed and she laughed in understanding. Not too long after, Alex emerged wearing a white transparent short gown on a bikini. I pulled off my glasses to look at her and she stared up at me with puppy dog eyes.

"And where do you think you're going dressed like that, young lady?"

"Mummy pleassseee. We're going skinny dipping with friends"

Oh jeez!!!

"Definitely not, Alexandra Mia Colton. If you think I'd let you go naked in a pool, you're definitely joking!!" I said and went back to my work.

"Aunty Laura please. I told my dad and he agreed to let me go" Olivia begged. I looked up at her and wondered why on earth Mason would let his daughter go skinny dipping. If Mason would let her go, probably it isn't as bad as I thought, and I trusted Alex with Olivia, so I let her go.

"It's fine, since Mason said you can go. But make sure you're careful" I said to Alex and she hugged me in excitement and ran out.

As they went out, I decided to call Mason to confirm and know why he let his daughter go skinny dipping.

"Laura, I was about to call you. Have you seen Olivia?" He asked. I stopped what I was doing.

"She just left with Alex now. She said you granted her permission to go skinny dipping. Did you not??!!!" I asked, feeling alarmed.

"No!!!!!" He screamed. "Why would I?? Oh my God!!!"

I laughed at the situation. "You know what??!! I think we should both calm down. They're teens. Let them enjoy their teenage, while they're still in it. So what's up with you? Why are you working on a Sunday?"

"What else would I be doing? Allison travelled for work and I'm all alone, nothing to do. What about you? I haven't even heard from you since on Monday. How did the lunch date with Jared go?"

"Oh fuck!! I haven't even signed the divorce papers! You just reminded me now" I said, quickly rushing to the kitchen to get the documents.

"Wait!! That asshole served you divorce papers? After all he put you through?" Mason asked in anger.

"Well. Yes he did. I'm glad thigh that he didn't threaten to take me to court for custody of the children. He bluntly rejected them. He said he didn't want them. Well, I'm more than glad to take care of my kids, even though it gets overwhelming most times and I fell like I'm all alone in a boat in the middle of nowhere...." I put down the phone and let out a sob. I felt so weak.

"Jeez Laura. I'm coming over right now. Stay right where you are. I'm coming now!!" Mason shouted over the phone. I just sat on the phone.

I was scared for my children mostly. I wasn't sure I could handle Parenthood all alone, most especially with the fact that I'm a law enforcement agent. I arrest people and put them in prison. I was scared of someone coming after my children because of my actions, and I was scared for the fact that if something bad happened to me while I was in the field, the kids have no other parent to take care of them. Mason came over about 10 minutes later and sat down on the ground with me. Later he brought out a big box of pizza I didn't know he brought along with him, with Apple sundae icedcream. I hugged him instantly as I wiped my tears.

"I love you Mason" I said to my best friend.

"I love you too. Now quickly wipe those tears off your eyes and start eating and make sure you're listening to me as I'm talking to you, okay?" He said, and I nodded with a smile.

"You're brave, you're strong, And you're the most smartest woman I've ever met. At the young age of 16, you learnt how to fend for yourself; You struggled so hard that the FBI couldn't reject you, even with your past. In fact, they stood by you.

So, do not let any man, definitely not asshole Jared, okay? You survived on your own without him and let me tell you the truth. Your kids success and achievements and personality is as a result of your hard work. You're a great mother, and you're a wonderful woman, Laura Anderson"

I hugged him tightly, that he had to start begging me to disentangle from him. After we cried again together, he promised me that if anything happened to me, he'd take very good care of my kids and I believed him. We ate the pizza and iced cream together before he finally left and went back home.