Christian She seems to be at a loss for words. "I don't want to force— even explain anything to him. At least, at this point when he's trusting me with everything. He feels safe with me. And I just can't disrespect his decision just because he's a kid. He needs to know that we're the people who care about him and value him"She just nods, pressing her lips. I touch her cheek. "It's a lot for him to take at this age. I can feel him. I can relate to him so much. He reminds me of my childhood. Those days when I was left alone with a bunch of strangers. Life in a foster home. Even though this is different and he does have a mother and all of us. He just can't trust enough because of all the bitterness Damien put into his premature head. It's gonna take a long time""I know", she looks at me, cupping my face with a small smile. "And I understand why you're so careful and patient with him. I have always known that it was because you saw your childhood in him"I pass her a painful smile.
Kane"Emily?" I exclaim. "Why are you sounding so worried? Is she alright?"I leave everything open on my desk, surging away towards the window. "She's okay. But I think she's gonna need you", she says, making my heart twist. "What exactly happened?" I ask, my voice clenching. Ivanna narrates the whole thing to me. I squeeze my eyes shut while she rambles from beginning to end. Every time such a thing happens and she gets hurt, I feel helpless. More than ever. That I can't do anything for her. "I tried to avoid that and give her some excuse but if she ever gets to know I lied to her and kept her away from this party, she would be more hurt. I had no better way", she explains.I let out a deep sigh. "No. No. It's fine. You don't have to explain. I know you handle her better than anyone does. You would find the best way. It's not your fault that the best way stings"We haven't spoken for a while. "She must be at home. If you're not that busy—" she says."I'm going to her anyway", I
KaneI turn the stove on and let the spaghetti boil while cutting the veggie. My phone rings just then. I wipe my hands and grab the phone. It's Ivanna."How's she doing?" She snaps as soon as I receive the call. "Did she cry a lot? She was silent? Or she kept ranting? Did she eat something?""Ivanna, relax!" I tell her, smiling audibly. "She's not that fine. But better than before. She cried and rambled a lot. But she didn't ask me to go this time. I was hugging her for like thirty minutes before she finally got up to get a shower", I narrate the whole thing and hear Ivanna sighing deeply."I'm feeling so terrible right now, Kane. She should be here now. But I couldn't do anything to—""It's okay", I assure her. "She understands that. And you know why she was crying? That we have to worry about her all the time. That we're always scared she'll be hurt""That's Emily for a reason. She thinks she's obliged to make everyone happy", she says. "But I'm definitely obliged to make her hap
IvannaChrissie is all dressed up. All her friends from school are here and I bring her downstairs to meet them. She is so happy after months to see all her friends altogether, wishing her. The parents of her friends also congratulate her for being on the way to recovery. She responds to them very politely despite hearing the same things from everyone. Colton brings the cake after a while."Mama!" Chrisanna whispers to me. I bend down near her."Yes, baby", I ask."Where's Emmy and Batman? Paa is also nowhere. Did he go to bring Samuel?" She asks.I hesitantly smile. "Well, Emmy isn't coming. She's a bit sick. So, Kane is also with her""What happened to her?" She blurts out."Nothing serious", I smile, touching her chin. "She's going to have a baby, no? So, that's normal sickness""Oh! I got it. Just like Linda in that soap opera", she says."Yeah. Like her", I chuckle. "And paa is on the way. Samuel is coming""Okay", she smiles wider and suddenly her smile disappears. "But mama!"
KaneI come rushing downstairs after spending only twenty minutes in the other room which I use when Emily needs the whole room alone. Fortunately, I hate a pair of clothes over there. I put on the as usual white shirt and black pants after showering for a long fifteen minutes to get rid of the smells of herbs and onions. No one wants a spice-stinky date, of course. I find Emily sitting by the table, the candle is placed just in front of her face, making her glow even more in that yellow dress that I chose for her. However, I didn't expect her to be dressed with this much effort. As I step closer, I find a lot of details she hates to do. Or I can say she's too lazy to do it. She doesn't style her hair more often because every time we have to go out, she always finds the last ten minutes to get dressed. She would eventually leave them open or make a bun. It's not that I didn't like it that way. Emily drives her eyes away from the phone and looks over at me. Her lips widen into a bea
Kane"Em! Baby, relax. You need to calm down", I say but she continues to whimper her heart out. I don't know what she's saying. Or if she even knows what she's asking for. She had decided not to make it complicated for Samuel but in the end, she lost all control."I can't", she sobs. "I really can't anymore. Please take me""Baby", I grab her face and make her look at me. "Ssssshhhhh... Stop"I cup her face and kiss her ardently, wiping her tears off. "You cried enough today. Not anymore"She sniffles and gulps down. "I wanna see him, Kane. I badly wanna see him""Em!" I make her look at me. "Look at me. You're not talking in sense now, baby. You never wanted this. You never wanted to drive him away from yourself. If he sees you, he'll— he'll definitely lose all faith in Christian. Our last hope to be connected to him. That's Christian. He'll close that door too", I try to explain to her. She gulps down and shakes her head. I hope she tries to control herself and understand the cons
Christian"Friends?" Chrissie approaches for a handshake to Samuel when I ask to drop him off. I tried to make him stay here tonight. But he refused. All the guests are gone. And now there's only Samuel left. Samuel shakes hands with her, just passing her a smile. Chrisanna's smile slowly fades. Maybe she expected him to accept her as a friend. However, I know it's gonna take some time. "Okay, then, I'm going to drop Samuel. Say bye, Chrissie", I tell her. "Come again", Chrissie says, "bye""Bye", Samuel waves at her and I lean to Ivanna, whispering to Ivanna. "Make a call to Kane"She nods, blinking at me. *Samuel has been silent throughout the way to the foster care home. I was a bit shaken by that since he really enjoyed the party. He was even dancing and laughing more often. I thought he was finally out of his shells. In fact, he didn't talk at all.Other times, he likes to talk about random stuff with me. I didn't question him anyway. He took his medicine as prescribed
TiffanyAnother knock on the door. I flinch and look at the clock. It's seven. I have been sitting here for almost an hour now and didn't even realise. "Tiffany!" John's voice comes from outside, startling me. I immediately wipe my tears off and look in the mirror. Thankfully, I'm not looking much worse."Yeah. Coming!" I stutter and open the door."I'm sorry if you were sleeping", he says."No. It's fine", I tell him, smiling. "Well, Kevin has left his art project at home. Thea had called me. I can't find it anywhere", he says. Wow! Leaving home one hour earlier and still forgetting things!"He did that project in your room yesterday", I tell him. "Yeah. I looked over there. Found nothing", he says."Let me check", I come out of the room and surge towards his room. *I and John search the whole room for the artwork but it's nowhere to be seen. I even checked the boys' room in between. The artwork should be clear here because Thea had started doing all this last night which I did