6! Just A Stylist.... Not A Mother!

MABEL

I felt a surge of happiness as the voice of the child echoed from the stairs down to the very point where I stood.

Years after I left Ethan and my supposed son Jason, I had nightmares. Hunted by the thought that I betrayed Jason by leaving. That I should have fought for him.

But how can I fight for a child that didn't want me in the first place. Do I tell the court, ‘he is my son, but he isn't really.’

Maybe once I see this child that is bringing so much happiness to my body, the nightmare will stop. A child I haven't seen before, but about to see.

“Be careful, Liam,” I heard a voice up the stairs but I could hear the little stomp of a shoe. That can only be the shoe of a five year old.

“Mama,” I heard his voice even clearly now and he emerged from the stairs.

I held my chest as soon as I laid my eyes on him. His hair was a mixture of brown and black, just like mine was when I was a baby.

His skin sparkled like the sun and his eyes were dusty brown just like mine as well.

If someone looks closer, one could see the resemblance between the both of us. But in the end all of these is still not enough proof to say he is my son.

“Come say hi, Liam,” I heard Vanessa's voice, which brought me back to reality.

“Hiii,” Liam's voice echoed in my ears, I squatted down to reach his level and it took everything in me not to pull him into my body for a hug.

“Liam, meet Mabel, our personal stylist for today,” Venassa said and he squealed happily.

“He is so excited,” Venassa said as Liam ran back towards another woman in the room.

“I can tell,” I said, getting up to see Venassa looking at Liam with so much love in her eyes. “You really love him, don't you?” I asked her.

“He is my whole world,” she said. “You know when I found out I couldn't get pregnant, it felt like my whole world was falling down in front of my eyes, but then I met Liam and he ….Ah,” she sighed.

“He lit up my world and we have never looked back,” she waved at him with her fingers and he waved back as he played with his toys.

“Is it okay that we are doing this in his room?” Venassa asked me.

“Of course. I have worked with children before and trust me. This is the only way to get them really excited about clothes,” I said and we both laughed.

“How did you meet, Liam?” I found myself asking after a few minutes of silence.

“Oh, his birth mother passed away shortly after giving birth to him,” she said and scoffed. “Or at least that's what I was told.”

“You don't believe the adoption agency?” I asked her, more curious than ever.

“You know I just got a vibe from them, like a really terrible vibe that I can still feel in my gut till this day,” the happiness in her eyes seemed to be fading away. “That's one of the reasons I kept him away from the public eye for this long.”

“Wait, you didn't just adopt Liam?” I asked her, and suddenly it hit me. Here I'm asking a woman personal questions that I wouldn't want someone to ask me about my child, but I couldn't help myself.

“No, I adopted him five years ago, the day his mother supposedly died,” she said, and we both looked towards Liam.

“Believe the media at your own risk,” she said and a flash of panic ran across her face.

“Liam!” We both screamed at the same time as we saw him about to fall. We both rushed to him, catching him with different parts of his body.

“That was fun!” Liam squealed, dancing on Venassa's body.

“What were you doing, not watching my son?!” Venassa queried the woman who Liam had run to earlier.

“I'm sorry, Ms. Latham. I just took my eyes off him for one minute,” the woman said, but that didn't seem to please Venassa.

“You are fired!” She snapped and I looked at her shocked.

“What?!” Myself and the nanny said at the same time. “Isn't that huge, Venassa. It was a mistake.”

“Stay out of this, Mabel. You are a stylist, not a mother,” her words felt like a sting in my heart and I took a step back away from the situation.

I walked away towards the edge of the room with tears in my eyes…I could still hear her snapping at the nanny, saying a lot of words that I couldn't make out myself.

I faced the large window in front of me, allowing the rush of the outside air to flow directly on my face.

I closed my eyes and all I could see was me rocking a baby. “Jason,” I whispered.

I haven't seen him in years, but here I'm thinking about him with my maybe actual child in the same room with me.

“Damnit,” I hit my hand against the wall underneath the window and a drop of tears fell on my cheeks.

“Are you alright, Mabel?” I heard my assistant, Rose's voice. I wiped my face and turned to look at her.

“Never better,” I said with a fake smile and she tilted her head.

“I might just be an assistant but you know that I know you very well,” she said and I smiled, genuinely this time.

“Did you hear her?” I asked. “You are just a stylist, not a mother,” I scoffed.

“I'm so sorry, that sucks,” she said and I nodded with my eyes against the floor.

“Yes. It really does,” I said. I raised my head when I heard Rose speaking to someone else.

“She's ready for you,” Rose said to me and I shook my head. I wiped any trace of tears on my face and walked back towards Vanessa.

I got to her and saw Laim sleeping in her arms. He looked so adorable and precious.

“Can you work with this?” She asked and I smiled a little.

“Remember when I said I have worked with children before?” I asked her and she nodded.

“Yes,” she said.

“When I have also styled them in different positions as well,” I said, bending down to her level on the floor with my tablet in my hands.

“I mean I thought sex positions were the best positions, but children sleeping,” I chuckled. “Damn, they create the best positions.”

“I cannot believe you just compare children sleeping positions to sex positions,” Venassa said, laughing gently.

“I mean, don't tell me you haven't seen some moves that Liam has created,” I joined her laughing.

“Well, there is this one time. He slept on my bed with me, like normally. But by the time I woke up his legs were on the headboard,” she said, struggling to hold her laughter.

“Well, you are lucky he didn't kick you off the bed,” I said and she scoffed.

“I said one time, there is more,” she added and we both laughed.

It took some time but in under thirty minutes I created three sketches of three different looks for Liam and they looked amazing.

“These are beautiful, Mabel. Thank you,” Venassa said and I nodded.

“You are up next,” I said to her and met her eyes giving me a concerned look. “What is it?” I asked.

“I'm so sorry for snapping. I totally forgot,” she said and I looked at her surprised.

“Forgot what?” I asked her.

“I know it's no excuse, but I shouldn't have said you weren't a mother. Especially after what you have been through,” I looked at her with even more surprise.

“What have I been through?” I asked.

“Yeah, losing custody of your son with Ethan Hoss,” she said and my eyes widened.

“I'm sorry, what?”