They sat down fully dressed, watching a TV show.
"You're having an affair with Mason?" Andrew asked.
"What??!! No!! What gave you that impression?"
"Because instead of him to be mourning his late wife, he went to a beach with you, and you guys were all lovey dovey. Mum what the hell has gotten into you?" Andrew asked.
"Watch how you talk to me, Andrew!!! I am still your mother" I said, and sat down, pulling off my shoes. I can't believe I wore boots for more than 24 hours. My legs hurt as hell. I looked at Alex, wondering why she hadn't said anything yet.
"You're one to talk, Alexandra. Why haven't you said anything yet?" I knew I was treading on dangerous zone, but I just wanted to get all these arguments over and done with so I could focus on being a better mother to my kids.
"I have nothing to say, Mother"
I stilled. She had never, in her life, called me 'Mother' and it sounded so odd, and so weird.
"Okay let me start by explaining things to you both. I'm actually tired, but I'm going to explain everything now to get this over and done with. Your dad has always been unfaithful to me - always. He cut me off from having friends. His younger brother, your uncle Alfred, used to be one of my friends then but your dad framed him up and got him deported back to his country. The only person he couldn't cut me away from was Mason..."
"Because you're in love with him?" Alex asked, making me surprised.
"No!! Why would you think that? Mason and I were friends, long before your dad and I got married. Now, if you would let me continue my explanation..."
Alex stood up.
"Save it"
"What?!!"
"You're a strong woman and an FBI agent and everyone adores you for your heroic acts and you've struggled hard to build a wonderful reputation for outsiders, but what about your family, huh??!! You let dad go and put him in danger, so what?? you can focus on other men. That's perfectly alright. I'm leaving this dysfunctional house and you can't stop me"
I looked on as my 17- year old daughter stood up to me. I couldn't do anything; I couldn't even say anything.
"Where are you going to?" I asked her.
"My classmate, Carl's family is having a vacation and they invited us. They have a large Villa in Great Falls, Montana. So that's where we'll be spending the rest of our holiday" Andrew replied, much more calmly.
"And what if I said no?" I regretted asking that immediately.
"We'd still go anyways. And we were not even asking for your permission" Alex said, and walked back to her room. Andrew followed her, as usual.
"Mummy?"
I looked up to see Amanda walking up to me. She was already dressed in her favorite blue pyjamas.
"Yes baby? Come here" She scooted over to me and I carried her to sit on my laps.
"I've missed you Mandy bear"
She smiled and looked up at me.
"How much did you miss me?"
I spread my hands and curved it to show just how much.
"Oh wow. I missed you too mummy. They're angry with you" She said softly, and I rubbed her brown hair.
"I know baby, and I hope to make it up to them"
"They're planning to go to Montana. Mummy stop them from going. I heard Zoey saying that they're going alone. There'll be no adults there with them, and you know what that means" Amanda explained looking at me. I smiled gratefully at the information and kissed her on her cheeks.
"Okay baby. I have an idea.... Let's go on a vacation together"
"Yayyy" She clapped her hands together in excitement, and came down and rushed towards their room.
"Hold on baby. Let's wait till tomorrow. We'll tell them the good news tomorrow" I said holding her hand.
"Okay mummy. But I hope you're not going to start rushing back to work" My little girl said sadly and I frowned, bending down to her height.
"No baby. I'll be with you kids for as long as you'd like, until you start pushing me to go back to work"
"Promise??!!" She brought up her left pinky finger and I brought mine too, and entwined it in hers, and she smiled, revealing her dimples that I hadn't noticed before.
"Promise baby" I kissed her on her cheeks and carried her to my bedroom.
**********************************************
"Have I ever told you I love you, Laura?" He asked, giving me a soft bite on my neck. I pulled his head closer to me, not wanting to break the connection at all.
"You do tell me that every day" I replied, huskily, as my trousers were pulled down in one swift movement.
"No, not as best friends, Laura. When is it going to become crystal clear to you?"
"What are you talking about, Mason?" I asked him.
"I'm in love with you. I always have been and I might have married you if only there weren't any hindering factors?"
"What are the hindering factors?" I asked. Before I could reply, a loud shriek woke me up and made me realize that I was only dreaming. I made to get up from my bed, but I felt trapped. I opened my eyes to see that I was not the only one on my bed. There were three people with me. I smiled as I beheld the beautiful appearance of my three children. Amanda was fast asleep, while the twins were awake but still lying on their backs.
"Good morning my babies"
"We aren't babies" Andrew retorted, and I smiled.
"Look, I know the past few days haven't been pleasant due to the nature of my job, but I promise you all that this time around, things have changed and..."
"Does it mean you're not going back to the FBI?"
I pulled a face.
"Come on baby. If I leave the FBI, how would we survive?..." I turned to Andrew. "How would you get money to buy gifts for Paige?"
Andrew's face turned red immediately.
"Mum, how do you know about Paige?"
I shrugged, because he was asking a stupid question. How on Earth does he expect me not to know who's he's dating. I turned to Alex.
"And you. If I leave the FBI, how would you get money to go shopping every Saturday and eat Italian dishes?"
"Mum, how do you know all these things?" Alex asked in surprise.
"How on Earth would I not know? Anyways you kids should get up and get dressed. We are going to Chihuahua" I didnt even know when that cake to my head, not to talk of out of my mouth. I'm taking my children to my home country - to where I was born. I planned to tell them everything - my horrible childhood, how my parents died and even everything that's currently going on. I planned to tell them everything.
"I thought you said we were going to Paris" Amanda said, jumping out of bed.
"I didn't say we were going to Paris, Mandy bear. I said we were going on a vacation"
"Vacation is Paris and Paris is vacation"
"It isn't bad to make a change. I heard that there's a very tall waterfall there" Alex said.
"Yes. The Basaseachi waterfall. We'd go there if you want" I said, remembering my memories of that waterfall. I closed my eyes as I pictured him. I still didn't even know his name, but I'd remember the scar he got while trying to save me.
My kids were very excited about the trip and I was excited too. It was long overdue. I also needed to find out what really happened, with my parents, after I left Chihuahua.
Mason, on the other hand, wasn't too excited about it.
"Why would you take them on a trip to Chihuahua? Of all places? What happened to Spain? Or Italy? Or Venice?"
"Mason, I'm telling you about our trip because you're my best friend. Or else I wouldn't have told you about it. The kids seem pretty excited about it, and me too. Besides, why are you against my going back to my country? You've always wanted me to go there. Why are you objecting to it now?" I asked, as I zipped up the last bag. The twins were already outside. They were trying to wait for the bolt I'd ordered. I didn't want to go with my car.
"That's because you were married then, but now you're not and..."
"Mummy!!!! The bolt is here" Amanda shouted.
"I'll call you later, Mason" I ended the call and went outside. As we got into the bolt, Mandy brought out her tab immediately. The twins were arguing about which music rocks better, while I was just on my phone, playing games.
I sent message to Charles about my taking a one month leave, and then I removed my work SIM without waiting for his reply, which was a very big risk. And after 6 hours, the plane touched down at Ciudad Juarez international airport. I'd booked a reservation at the Hotel Conquistador.
The excitement on Andrew's face when he realized there was free WiFi there, was one that I'll never forget. Alex was excited about the pool, because she loved swimming, while Amanda was excited about the fact that she'd get to taste new dishes.
I was only excited because I loved the feeling of being back home. I wondered if people would recognize me if I went to my Father's house.
My kids and I slept, large smiles plastered on our face that night.