Five

Sydney's POV

"Nicklaus, Asher, would you like to go on a picnic?" I asked my adorable boys.

"Yes, Mommy!" they chanted as I scooped them up.

It had been so long since I spent some real time with my boys. Whatever that told Jeffrey that I needed a break should keep doing that. Maybe it was Alexander? No, not after the way I've been treated. A tiny hand wipes a stray tear off my face. "Why are you crying, Mommy?" my boys asked in unison.

"It's nothing loves." We got into Aunt Rosa's pickup truck which she let me use whenever she wasn't going anywhere.

"Where's the picnic at, Mommy?" Nicklaus kept asking but I didn't reply.

Klaus was the bubbly of the two. And as much as he brightened my day, sometimes, I just couldn't deal with all that energy at once. Asher was the gloomy one. He and I related on so many levels.

We arrived at the park and laid out the scantiest basket anyone there could have seen. But the moment those two saw apples, the whole world was complete for them.

I watched them play and my heart tugged when they mixed with other kids. But I wanted them to be more social so I let it be.

I dashed to one and of the park to get ice cream for the three of us. The air felt very nice on me and I love it.

When I got back, I couldn't see them. The already slippery cups fell to the ground. My heart sped. Where could they have been?

"This can't be happening," I kept muttering as I ran from one end of the park to another. Then I did a double-decker back to the entrance and saw them. A man or woman with a crop of orange hair was holding their hands and sprinting out of the park.

"Hey, you!" I screamed and tackled her but she ran, Asher still attached to her.

A scream escaped my lips. I almost rolled off my bed but there were spikes on my hand. Spikes?

I opened my eyes and beheld myself in a loose white gown with blue spots. My vision was clearer soon and then I saw that the spikes were just needles. My gown was drenched in sweat but that wasn't nearly as disturbing as my twitching leg.

"You've been doing that since you arrived. That was our only way of knowing you were alive even," a nurse sitting beside me explained. I barely grasped it. All I could think of was that nightmare. No, I couldn't let anyone take Nicklaus or Asher from me. I'd just die.

"So thankfully-"

"Can I just go yet?" I cut her short.

"Yes, you can," she replied coldly, disconnecting the needles from me.

"Your aunt is waiting at the reception," she told me as she gave me back my clothes.

"Thanks. I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier. It wasn't intentional." The awkward smile she threw at me left me wondering if she was still pissed or just a really good actress.

Two little figures ran to me when I stepped into the reception. "My loves." I hugged them.

Aunt Rosa stood. "I'm hoping you fainted from exhaustion but it doesn't explain why you were braindead for three days," she snorted as we got to the car.

I was quiet throughout the ride back home, momentarily panicking every ten minutes and looking behind at the boys' seat.

"What happened, Sydney?" If I didn't know this woman better, I'd have thought she was worried about me.

"Can we talk at home? Alone?" I requested.

She had them in the house before coming back to the car as soon as we pulled up. "You of rejected, didn't you?"

"You-"

"It's not a question, Sydney. I know it."

Rolling my eyes, I said, "Yes."

Pity flashed in her eyes and she gave me a side hug that was neither comforting nor wanted. Still, she managed to do both, then we got out of the car silently.

"By the way, who took me to the hospital?" I asked.

"Your boss. I'm surprised he had it in him," she yelled as she entered the room shared with Lucas.

~~~

"Hi Jeffrey," I said to the manager.

He jumped. "You scared me!" Sometimes I thought Jeffrey deserved to be an actor. "You're back already?"

Surprised, since this was the closest this man had been to caring, I replied with a shrug, "Yeah. I got discharged yesterday. I just wanted to thank you for taking me to the hospital." I spun on my feet, ready to work.

"You should thank Mr. Grayson. He's the one who alerted me." I'd rather lick floors than do that.

As I went to clean my first room for the day since Cheryl took over my waitressing duties, I passed room 206. Did he leave immediately after? Or was he still here? Against my better judgment, I leaned against the door frame to see if I'd hear his voice.

Moaning. Very loud moaning was all I heard. Maybe it was someone else with their partner. But it was easier to think it was him.

'How men move on,' I thought bitterly as I rearranged the pillows in the now-empty room 100. Maybe Alexander wasn't the one for me. Because why would the Moon goddess break my heart twice?

'He is the one for us,' Reika said.

'So you speak. It's been rather long since I heard your angelic voice." I was pissed.

'Alexander is ours and we may never get another.'

'Then let's not get another. I just want to raise my sons and be done with it.'

'You need a mate. So do I. Mates are more than just romance,' she argued.

'I don't care. If you're so eager to fuck, why don't you do that on one of these full moons? You must be starved,' I hissed. I waited, expecting an answer but she was quiet. Petty as always.

As I dropped off the mops, Jeffrey popped up in my face. "I thought I'd scare you as you did me in the morning," he said, dejected. Since when did he start playing like this? "Anyway, you're free to go for the day."

"My shift hasn't ended," I replied with raised brows.

"Yes. But you're still recovering, so take the rest of the day off."

"Thanks." I disposed of my uniform quickly before he came back to his senses and decided to change his mind. An angry Cheryl raised her middle finger as I ran out of the building but who cares?

I stopped at a candy shop on my way. There were too many chocolates with romantic themes. What was this, valentine's day? I paid for the candy I wanted and ran out before I could see one more chocolate bar talking about love.

"Mommy!" They tackled me once I came in. Or at least they tried to.

"You missed me?"

"They've been crying for you all day. That's why I had to play with them," Lucas said. I nodded in appreciation. One would think six years of living in the same house as him would have changed my opinion about the man. But I just couldn't shake off this irritation I felt around him.

Asher had already taken his sweets. He was the one who could never passion presents even if they hadn't been handed to him yet. No wonder he was the younger one.

"We're eating out tonight," I announced. Halfway through his chocolate, Asher folded big neatly, no doubt to make space for the extra food, while Nick jumped like crazy.

"Tell my aunt I'm with her car," I told Lucas as I ushered the twins out.

As I watched Asher and Nick ear like they were competing, I kept wondering what I'd do without them in my life. My best moments were with these two.

Alexander was badly wounded as he fought off what could have been like three packs at the same time. They were all in wolf form but he was in his human form. Weird.

"I won't let you touch them," he gritted.

Looking at him now, I didn't have it in me to be angry anymore. Instead, I wanted to help.

"Ma'am," someone kept calling me.

I peeled my eyes open. "Yes?"

"You've been sleeping for about fifteen minutes now and you're not eating. Would you like me to pack the food for you?" the waitress asked.

Sleeping? For fifteen minutes? "Uh, sure. I guess."

My eyes darted to the seat opposite mine. It was empty. Swallowing, I asked the waitress, "Hey. Please where are the kids in this chair?"

She frowned. "I didn't see any kids. Are you sure you brought them?"

She watched me sleep for fifteen minutes but didn't see any kids?!

"Maybe they went to the kids' fountain over there," she said, pointing at a chocolate fountain. "Would you like a paper bag with this?"

'Bitch, eat your paper bags.'

I ran to the fountain hoping they were there. But my heart sank all over again.