9 - Leon

LEON

The moment someone calls her from behind, Rose stops walking.

I watch as she slowly turns around. The smile that had been on her face a moment ago disappears, and she bites her lower lip while staring at the woman approaching us.

Something changes in her expression.

It's subtle, but I notice it.

Rose looks as though she has just seen a ghost.

“Mommy, come on.” Leon tugs impatiently at her shirt, but she doesn't seem to hear him.

Instead, she slips her arm around mine, holding me as though she needs something to steady herself.

I glance down at her hand before looking at the approaching woman.

“No. It can't be Rose.”

The woman stops directly in front of us, her eyes fixed on Rose. She looks genuinely shocked, almost as though she has encountered someone she never expected to see again.

Her gaze shifts to the children.

Then back to Rose.

For a moment, none of us speak.“I'm sorry.” The woman suddenly straightens, forcing a smile that looks just as uncomfortable as Rose's expression. “I thought you were someone else.”

Someone else?

I raise an eyebrow.

She had clearly called Rose by name a moment ago. How could she mistake someone she knew well enough to recognize for a stranger?

Before I can question her, the woman takes the hand of the little girl standing beside her and leads her towards the principal's office.

I watch them leave, my eyes following the woman until she disappears through the doorway.

Something about that encounter doesn't sit right with me.

I turn to Rose.

“Do you know her?”

She takes a deep breath.

“No.”

The answer comes too quickly. You don't react that way to someone you don't know.

I look at her for a moment, waiting for her to say something else, but she doesn't. Her face has become an unreadable mask, and the hand resting on my arm slowly falls away.

“Thank you for the ride, Leon. I'll take it from here.”

Her voice is devoid of emotion.

Just like that, she is dismissing me.

I should be relieved. After all, I have already done more than enough by driving her and the children here. I have other things to do, and spending the rest of my morning at a school isn't exactly part of my plans.

Yet, before I can respond, two small bodies cling to my legs.

“Don't go,” Leon says.

I look down at him.

His little hands are wrapped around my leg, while Leona clings to the other one. Both children stare up at me with expressions that make it difficult to tell them no.

“Hey, what's this?” I ask, trying to sound amused. “Don't you two have a class to attend?”

Leon shakes his head.

“Look!” He points towards the school entrance, where several children are walking inside with their parents. “The other kids are with their mommies and daddies.”

I follow his gaze.

A little girl is holding her father's hand while chattering excitedly about something. Nearby, another child is being carried by his mother, who keeps kissing his cheek despite his protests.

Ordinary moments.

Things these children should be able to enjoy without thinking twice about them.

“Leo…” Rose's voice comes from beside me.

I glance at her, but she looks away.

“It's not fair.” Leon's voice breaks through the silence.

I look down again.

“Why do we only get to have Mommy?”

The question catches me off guard.

His eyes are becoming watery, and Leona's lower lip trembles as she tightens her grip on my trousers.

For a moment, I don't know what to do.

I am a grown man. I have handled difficult negotiations, faced people who would do anything to get what they wanted, and made decisions that affected hundreds of employees.

But two children looking at me as though I am capable of fixing their little world?

Somehow, that is more difficult.

I crouch slightly, hoping to reason with them.

“Your mommy is right here, isn't she?”

Leon nods, but he doesn't let go.

“Yes, but the other children have their daddies too.”

I open my mouth, then close it again.

What am I supposed to tell him?

That not every family looks the same? That some children grow up without fathers? That he shouldn't compare his family to others?

Those are sensible answers for an adult.

But looking at his tear-filled eyes, I doubt any of them would make him feel better.

Before I can think of something else, I straighten and bend down to pick them both up.

Leona settles against my right side, while Leon wraps his arms around my neck on the left.

They are surprisingly light.

I adjust my hold, making sure neither of them slips, and stand upright.

“There,” I say. “Is that better?”

Leon's face lights up almost instantly.

“Mommy, look!”

Rose raises her head.

“Uncle is super strong! He carried Leona and me!”

He laughs, and Leona joins him, her earlier sadness seemingly forgotten.

I shake my head.

“Super strong, huh? I suppose I should start charging for these services.”

The children burst into laughter.

And just like that, the uncomfortable silence that had settled over us disappears.

Almost.

I look at Rose.

She is smiling, but it is a weak smile, the kind people wear when they don't want anyone to ask whether they are all right.

Her eyes move from the children to me, lingering on the way I hold them.

For a brief moment, something softens in her expression.

Then it disappears.

“Thank you,” she murmurs.

I tilt my head.

“For what?”

“For being good to them.”

Her words are simple, but something about the way she says them makes me pause.

As though kindness is something she has learned not to expect from people.

I glance at the children in my arms before looking back at her.

“They're good kids.”

Rose lowers her gaze.

“Sometimes, they're all I have.”

The words slip out so quietly that I almost miss them.

Before I can ask what she means, she looks up and forces another smile.

“We should get them inside. They're going to be late.”

I nod, but my eyes drift towards the principal's office.

The woman who called Rose by name is still on my mind.

Rose says she doesn't know her.

Yet, the moment that woman appeared, Rose had held on to my arm as though she needed protection.

I have no idea what happened between them, and I have no intention of forcing Rose to tell me.

Not yet.

But one thing is certain.

Rose is hiding something.

And judging by the look on her face when that woman called her name, whatever it is, it has hurt her far more than she wants anyone to know.