Briar didn't have a single clue to what was happening between the father and the kids. When she heard Tiana's words, she simply smiled as she continued to walk ahead, "I will sleep with you another day. Tonight, there is something which I need to do!"
Tiana, who was sulking at her father, beamed when she heard that.
She couldn't help but turn to look at her father and stuck her tongue playfully at him before dashing to Briar and holding her hand.
"Hehe, you promised!"
Briar turned her head slightly to look at the small girl and affectionately responded, "Um, I promise!'
Tiana grinned beautifully, her smile making Logan itch and feel like spanking the little girl for causing trouble.
Tiana and Briar both took the stairs upstairs, rather than the elevator.
It was their nightly exercising routine.
By the time they reached the third floor, Tiana was slightly panting. Despite walking these stairs for more than a year, they still tire her greatly.
Briar smiled victoriously at the tired little girl. Tiana was very active, and it was always hard to get her to sleep. So, after she turned six years old, Briar introduced the nightly staircase walk to her.
'Your bones will get stronger. And kids with great bones grow taller and beautiful!' that was what she told the little girl back then, and she believed it.
Although now, Tiana obviously didn't believe in such nonsense, even though it had become a habit, she couldn't stop.
Maybe when she wasn't at home, the little girl would stop climbing the stairs, but with her there. How could she avoid it?
Briar brought Tiana to her room and spent twenty minutes without going out. From watching her bathing, changing into pajamas, and reading a story when Tiana slept.
She was too tired to sleep that early.
With Tiana sleeping, Briar quietly left the room and headed for Cade's room.
The kids' rooms weren't locked. That was something that Briar emphasized. If anything happens to them and their doors are locked, how would that problem be solved?
So, the doors weren't locked and if anyone wanted to enter another person's room, knocking was the basic manner.
Briar checked on the young man and saw him dealing with his homework. Since she couldn't help with it, she didn't stay for long to embarrass herself.
"Make sure to sleep once you are done with your homework," she told him before she left.
Cade waved at her with a smile and called out, "Goodnight, second mother!" his words made her stop in her tracks.
A smile blossomed on her face when she heard that. She waved at him without looking back and closed the door.
Cade, seeing that, shook his head helplessly, a smile blossoming on his face as well.
'It's going to be interesting!' he amused inwardly.
Briar, after leaving Cade's room, went to check on Lyra.
Lyra, as the eldest, had a lot of duties.
When she entered the room, she was busy with her homework, video calling her friends, and doing it together.
When Briar saw that she was busy, she didn't speak a word but signed at Lyra, reminding her not to sleep late and to take care of her health.
Lyra signed at her, telling her that she understood before saying out loud, "Good night, second mother!" making Briar escape from the room, leaving Lyra bursting into a peal of laughter.
Briar outside patted her hot cheeks as she cooled herself down.
"These kids are going to be the death of me!" she complained, but the smile on her face betrayed her emotions.
She was simply too happy; she couldn't hide it.
Thinking about sleeping with Logan in the future, she even skipped merrily to her room, unaware of the person who was currently watching everything happening in the corridor from the screen.
Inside her room, Briar looked at the room she would be sleeping in for the last time, at least for now. She didn't know when she would be kicked out of Logan's room. But for now, this room was going to miss her a lot.
Instead of sleeping, Briar was feeling too energetic. She started packing her clothes, at least those which mattered. She didn't plan on packing everything. Every person needs their personal space at times, and having this room to return to when things don't go the way she wants would be safer for her.
Briar took her time to pick the clothes she thought suited being in the master bedroom, though none of them looked satisfying.
She had upgraded to a wife now; she needed a change of clothes.
'I will buy them tomorrow. Let's see if there is something that will catch my eye!' she decided.
Logan had given her a credit card to use at will. This was the right moment for her to use it. She couldn't let him lose face.
After cleaning and packing everything that she wanted, she finally went to take a night shower. Inside the bathroom, Briar took out a bag of medicine from her toiletry bag. She also pulled a sheet of rolling paper, pinched the medicine from the bag and sprinkled it along the crease of the paper.
She spread even the medicine on the paper and packed it to make it solid. If Logan was here, he would notice that Briar was in the process of making a cigarette, something that he would never even imagine her doing.
When that was done, Briar used a lighter to light the cigarette and drew a deep puff, drawing the smoke into her mouth, and letting the medicine flavor spread.
Briar smoked the whole cigarette until there was nothing left.
Her eyes were clear, without any redness that usually gets seen when someone smokes, nor was there any lingering smell in the bathroom.
It was as if nothing had happened in there before.
After smoking, Briar stood under the showerhead, letting the water flow from her head all the way to her feet, as she chanted an audible hymn with her hands clasped together.
She did that for five minutes before she turned off the water. She dried her body with a towel and threw the towel in the laundry basket before sauntering to the bedroom naked without bothering to drape on something.
She slipped into the sheets and let out a sigh of satisfaction. Sleeping in familiar sheets and the environment were truly the best.
Before going to bed, she called the caregiver, Anna, to check on her brother's condition and, hearing good news, she let out the last sigh of the night.
It's been a long day, and she truly needed a rest.
There was going to be much more from tomorrow going onward.
As soon as her head hit the pillow, Briar dosed off.
***
Tick-too-tick-too.
The next morning, the unique alarm tone, woke her up as always.
Briar rubbed her eyes as she yawned.
A new day has arrived. It was time to wake up.
Despite being drowsy, Briar rolled out of bed and trudged to the bedroom in her birthday suit. Briar took a shower in the morning and only then did she feel that she was alive.
Checking the time as she wore her clothes, she couldn't help but sigh.
05:30
Even when she had been upgraded to be a mother, she still had to wake up so early like this. The pain of earning thousands of dollars was surely terrifying. Fortunately, she loved what she was doing.
Every single morning, Briar always wakes up around 05:10 and takes twenty minutes to freshen up. When she gets done, she then goes downstairs to prepare for the kids and Logan.
When she arrived downstairs, she ran into Uncle Marcus, who greeted her with a smile.
"Good morning, second madam!"
Briar smiled at him as she responded, "Good morning, Uncle Marcus. How was your sleep?"
"It was okay, and yours?"
"Very refreshing!" she enthusiastically responded.
How could it not be when everything was moving so much better than she expected it to be?
Seeing the second madam in a good mood, as the butler, he too was relieved and happy.
Briar's duties in the morning were very simple. Monitor the chefs when they are preparing breakfast and lunch boxes for the three kids.
Lyra, Cade and Tiana, all of them bring breakfast with them to school. As for lunch, they eat at school, while Logan receives a lunchbox from home every day. At least when she is there, she always makes sure that he gets it. Unless he mentions otherwise.
When there is medicinal food, she would be the one to cook. For example, today, since she couldn't cook yesterday because of what happened, she decided to make a healthy breakfast.
By the time everyone came downstairs, the scent of medicine filled the house.
Smelling the familiar scent in the air, the four Meyer members looked at each other helplessly.
Medicine was good to eat, but it didn't mean that they loved eating it.
However, in front of Briar, who had been faithfully preparing these meals which had boosted their health for the good all these years, they couldn't say a thing.
When they sat at the table and found that the porridge was the only medicated meal, they nearly danced in celebration. Bringing the medicated meals to school just didn't sit well with them at all.
With all the food served at the table, Briar joined them. That was something that she was used to doing. Unlike the other servants of the house, she wasn't treated as one, actually. Eating with everyone had become a habit.
"Let's eat!"