It should have been like this episode 2

🤩 Kemmy B. Gabriel Present Another rom-nce Novel: 🤩

💔 It Should Have Been Like This 💔

👩‍💻 Book Two: biggest surprise of all 👩‍💻

💜 Lavender’s viewpoint 💜

I went about my day like a miserable person. My eyes were deep and hollow from crying too much as I attend to the customers. I had to apply a lot of makeup to cover up. It had been almost five days and I was yet to get any money. I had to pay the org-nization for what I borrowed or I’ll be jailed because I don’t have any property to seize and they already took my collateral, but it only paid half of the money. I didn’t know what else to do, especially with the landlord knocking at my door every morning to scre-m and humiliate me.

Zayne had another episode the previous day. He wasn’t able to move his legs for three hours, three good f-cking hours and he was complaining about his back. I don’t know what I did to deserve such punishment, what I did to fate to make me so miserable. I still needed to worry about Serenity. She almost had another breath freeze, almost.

God, help me.

I could have asked Mr. Miller for money, to just help me and I’ll work for him for the rest of my life. But even I knew my salary was just enough to put food on the table, not pay such huge amount of money. If I use my salary, what about the house rent? What about the money I borrowed? How would we feed?

Rominic.

I shook my head frantically. I wasn’t going to consider that option, ever. I knew he would be arriving the next day, but that didn’t change anything. They were my children, not his.

But are you really going to let them die?

They won’t die, I knew that. Things can never get that worse. I believe, I believe that there’s someone up there who loves me enough to see me through. God knows me, right? He’s all I have left. I know he would find a way out for me. That was my strong belief.

“I’ll have two glass of amaranto with three ice cubes and a little squeeze of lime,” I nodded absent mindedly at the man who had been trying so hærd to make me notice his flirting signs. I quietly walked over to the wall of drinks to fetch him what he asked for.

How to get money, how to get money…

I could use my body, but it was pointless. There was no one who would be willing to pay such huge amount for a leftover. Except a novel billionaire who would pay millions to get a girl. And God help me, I looked so miserable I doubt any man even sincerely gave me a second thought. I knew that because I work at the bar of a hotel not doing too bad, see a lot of men and little to none try to woo me. And even when they did, it was just for a cheap one-night stand.

Another reason why I couldn’t ask my boss for money, he didn’t have that much. He was just a manager of a average hotel, not a diamond must-go hotel. I understand the man had a family to attend to. The amount of money I needed to sort everything in my life would wreck him.

“Here you go,”

“Miss, are you alright? Your mind don’t seem to be here,” good of him to notice. I languidly waved him off, making a small humming sound. “Let me guess, money? Ex? Husband?”

“I don’t have a husband, don’t have a ex but I have kids, five kids. There, leave me alone,” he choked on the liquid in his mouth, ending up in a violent cough I didn’t care to apologize for. I sat down on my stool and rest my chest on the counter, in a way my br-asts pop out of my uniform, slightly.

“Five children,” he coughed, “how come?”

“Unexpected pregnancy, unfortunately, quintuplets,” I sighed. His coughing changed to a laugh, a very amusing laugh that made me smile. “What’s so funny?” I asked once he was done laughing.

“It reminds me of my sister. She wanted a baby girl, the doctor told her it was a girl. You see, we are four boys and she the only girl, so she wanted females. ‘I’ve spent my wh0le life with boys, I don’t need any more’ she said, but at the end, she didn’t just get a boy, she got triple of them.” He said between his laugh.

“That must have been…”

“A bummer? It was. She was so pissed and confuse she cried her eyes out for days. What can she do but to accept it the way she sees it?”

“Exactly!”

“So, are yours boys too?” He wiggled a teasing brow at me. Boys are troublesome.

“Both, three boys and two girls, but they are darlings actually. The only problem with them is how much they eat,” I complained, “but they are good,”

“Are anyone of them sick?” I asked.

“Excuse me?”

“Well, when the children are more than three, sometimes, one tend to fall ill.” I sighed and fell my face on the counter, letting a whimper leave my l-ips.

“Two, and they are going to die if I don’t get the money, I don’t know what to do,”

Don’t cry, don’t cry…

“Maybe I can help,” I raised my head as I let out a sardonic laugh.

“Brother, the amount needed for their treatment isn’t something you can just ‘give’ for free or give at all. Darling, we are talking about millions,”

“Not me. My friend–a very good friend of my mother actually–is hosting something that deals with triplets and more life support. She was born s€×tuplets but they all died, leaving just her. So now she plans to start a…”

“For free?”

“Yes, but she’ll need lots of donators and how best to do it than have the cutest of children for the advert. She needs a ad video and wants willing volunteer. Before the government approve of her work, she must start little and work with a particular set of children. If her new medical system works well to keep the children alive, then it would become fully operational and even adults can come…”

“Wait, I don’t understand, if her new medical…”

“She’s a scientist, created a formula that just might strengthen your kid’s immune system,” I frowned at him.

“So, use my kids as lab rat then,”

“No, the formula have been tested and it works, but the government don’t trust it yet, not when it was only tested on triplets, once… Look, I can tell you don’t trust me, but…”

“I know what is wrong with my children, I know how to cure it but what I need is money, not an uncertain experiment.” He could be lying, they might not have even tried the formula yet. I wasn’t going to endanger my children’s life.

“Okay, okay, that slash. What about this,” he leaned closer to the counter, “you are a beautiful woman, a very capable woman and if you can bear five children, you are perfect for what I want. I’m like an agent for my boss, a really wealthy man that needs someone to carry his child. If you agree, he will pay you any amount of your choice, in exchange for carrying his…”

“Why not ask someone else?”

“He has tried, multiple times. So his doctor told him to get a very fertile woman and what other woman scre-m that but you? I know, I know, it doesn’t seem real at all or even reasonable, but he is desperate.”

Carry a stranger’s baby for money?

“Surely there are wealthy girls he’d…”

“He needs someone who would willingly forget the child or children after their birth,” in other words, someone he can easily win with a lawsuit or get rid of if she proves to be a problem.

“How old is he?”

He cleared his throat and coughed out a “sixty two”. I stared at him unsurely. Sleeping with a man I love is one thing, sleeping with young men for money is another but carrying the child of an old man, I don’t think so. He kept talking and trying to convince me, then he left his card with me, in case I change my mind.

I stared at the card thoughtfully, lots and lots of thoughts going on in my head. Yes, in the past I slept with few men to get money for my children’s treatment, but this was a wh0le new low for me. I couldn’t do it, I shiver when I thought of me opening my legs for anymore man. That year was the worse for me. The insult, the uncomfortable positions I had to bear, the feeling of guilt and filth. But I had no other choice.

Still, this one was bad.

What example would I be showing to my children? They might understand but it would change their view of me forever. I was able to hide what I did to keep them alive because there was no evidence, but this one was different, I would be carrying a child.

My phone ringing broke through my thoughts. I pushed myself off the counter a little and reach into my pocket for my old phone. Serafina was calling. I got them small mobile phones to communicate when they needed something urgent. I slid the green icon up and placed the phone to my ear.

“Mommy, mommy…” Serenity sobbed. I knew her voice, it was lighter and sweet. Plus, she mostly called me mommy.

“Serene? What’s going on? Why are you crying? Where’s Sera?”

“Mommy, it’s Zayne and Zyaire,” my heart literally dropped to my stomach, a sudden fear hit me so hærd I almost found it hærd to breathe. “Zayne was hungry, there was nothing at home to eat so we took the money you left to go buy snacks from Aunty Allison. On our way back, there was a motorcycle, it was coming too quickly, it was going to hit Zayne…” She burst into tears, I was already panicking.

“Serene, give the phone to your sister! To anyone! Serene!…” I heard a small rustle before Zach’s shaky voice came through.

“Mom, Zyaire pushed Zayne out of the way, he got hit. Zayne on the other hand fell roughly, fell on his spine and…”

“Just tell me where the freaking hospital is! Where are you!”

~~~~~~

“I’m sorry, miss, but the fall kick-start his already rising disease, if we don’t get the surgery done soon, your son might lose his ability to walk. As for the one that got hit, we have been able to sustain him but he needs immediate brain surgery. If not soon, he is likely to become a vegetable or worse. You have to hurry, ma’am, it’s important they get their surgery, now.” Her words reverberated in my head.

I was blaming her for not helping me, but I knew it wasn’t her fault. I stared at my children sleeping on the hospital bed in tears. Zayne didn’t sustain anything but minor bruises, but he was crippled, using a wheelchair now and likely to die slowly. Zyaire was still in a coma, living on life support and I was afraid the new development would bring Serenity’s problem fast. I was tired of praying and crying, but the tears wouldn’t stop flowing. On top of that, I was fired.

I ran out of work, the new manager didn’t find it funny and didn’t bother to hear my explanation, he just fired me. My bad luck didn’t end there. The landlord came and gave me a week to get out. I was staying in the hospital because of fear of the cops looking for me, to arrest me for the money I was owing.

I did nothing to deserve this, why me?

~~~~~~

Zachary and Serafina watched as Serenity struggle to push Zayne’s chair. They sat outside, in the hospital park, trying to cheer him up. It wasn’t easy to move from walking to cripple. The two older children wasn’t happy or smiling, wasn’t crying but their hearts bled for their siblings. They knew how much their mother was struggling and running around for money, but they knew it wouldn’t bring any good result.

Zach sighed, a very tired one. “Did you hear the phone call mom made last night? The one with the Stanley?” Zach asked. Lavender decided she had no choice, she would do anything to keep her children alive. Unfortunately for her, her two smartest kids overheard her phonecall.

“Mom is planning to carry someone’s child for money,” Sera whispered, “but the man is away on a journey and would be back in four days. We can’t let mom do what she would regret. I know she loves us, I know what she is doing is for us, but we can’t let her, not when we have a father swimming in money. What are we going to do Zach? Mom’s pride and hatred is blinding her, Zyaire can die before the end of the four days or it could be a trap, I don’t know…”

“We have to find dad ourselves, he arrived in Vegas three days ago, he is here, we can find him…”

“How? How can we? We are just eight years old, Zach, we won’t even be allowed in. And what if he denies us after finding out? What if he rejects us?” The little girl sobbed. Her brother wrapped his hands around her shoulder to comfort her.

“If he rejects us and mom ends up doing something stupid for our sake or anything happens to our brothers and sister, then I won’t ever forgive him, I won’t ever stop until I kill him with my own hands. That’s a promise I will never break,” the eight years old vowed both in his heart and his mind.

“Don’t worry, I know he won’t,” he said, to assure his sister, “I have a plan. According to what I found online, he would be at Stiles Enterprise today, this afternoon to finalize a collaboration with The Stiles. We might not be able to see him again, this is our only chance.”

“Okay, so how do we do it?”

“Perry,” was his only words.

~~~~~~

The two children left the hospital, used their money to take a cab to the company. When they got there, they remained at the opposite side of the building. The children knelt in front of their white and yellow parrot, Sera petting his head and feeding him crackers.

“Remember, Perry, you are to fly around until you find the boardroom or this man,” Zach showed him the picture of his father on his laptop, “when you find him, do you remember what you are suppose to say?”

“I say it right and you give me a cracker,”

“Not that one, the other one,”

“What am I? A bunny? I remember what to say. Perry helps Zyaire and Zayne, they are family.”

“Good,” Zach pulled out the picture album himself and Sera spent all morning making. Well, it wasn’t a album actually, but a cut out carbon paper with four photographs glued to one side and two on the other. Below the two was a written note that would help their father use his head.

“Go, Perry,”

“Wish me luck!” Perry singsong as he spread his wings and took off, taking the album along with him. The big bird flew to the top and checked every window that looked like a boardroom’s. He didn’t have to check far before he found the man he was looking for.

Sitting on a black leather swivel chair, legs crossed, hands resting on the fluffy arms of the chair and back rested. His eyes held a certain gentleness, one that masked his emotions but still found a way to scare them all. His l-ips wasn’t bending up or down, just still. He blinked his eyes slowly, his aerial foot tap syncing with the rhythm of his drumming fingers and heartbeat.

He wasn’t listening.

Perry flew in through the open window and perch on the large table, startling the people seated around it. They all flinched and flew out of their seats with gasps and scre-ms, but he did not move.

“Who let a bird in here! Someone, get this filthy thing out!”

“Excuse me? Who are you calling a thing? And filthy for that matter?” They did not expect him to talk, especially with such rudeness and authority.

“A parrot, what… Chase him out…”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold on, sassy p-nts, I came here for him, not any of you so hold on while I deliver my message,” the children giggled, they could hear what he was saying through the bug Zach placed at the back of his neck.

“Wh…”

“Let him be,” Rominic commanded, his eyes fixed on the big intelligent bird. It’s not everyday a bird shows up in an important meeting and make a scene. He leaned forward on the chair and rested his elbows on the table, “who sent you?”

“Now that is not under my jurisdiction, so I’m not telling you,” the bird shrug, a move that amused the onlookers, “and before I deliver the message, I demand you give me something sweet to eat as payment for the stress,”

Zach gro-ned from where he was sitting outside the company, he had a feeling his pet would do that. “I only have biscuits here, is that okay?” Rominic asked, his gentle gaze now filled with amusement. He watched the bird nod before he snapped his fingers. He had an habit of carrying biscuits around, since he was a child.

The bodyguard standing at the wall behind him step forward with the small box in his hands. He placed the box on the table, opened it to reveal the rows after rows of biscuits and sweets, and picked out a chocolate butter one. He picked a creamy one and walked to the bird.

“Do you seriously just carry that around?” Perry asked. Just like Zyaire and Zayne.

“Yes, it’s an habit,” Rominic answered, taking one for himself, “can I have the message now?” Perry flew up, snatch the two packs of biscuits and flew out. The guard picked up the carbon he brought and gave it to Rominic. “You can all sit, the meeting continues.”

🧡 Rominic’s viewpoint 🧡

Living with regrest is never a way to live; it is a torment to the spirit and torture to the soul. A lot of things I have seen in this life of mine, a lot I have experience and a lot I regret. Everyday was a new discovery of emptiness, loneliness, regret, sadness and depression. When I thought I could not get anymore emptier, anymore frustrated and depress, life proved me wrong.

I took it as a punishment for my sins, as karma’s reward. I was given a chance to feel true love, someone who truly loved me and not my money, but I was blinded by the one obsessing over me. So many things I didn’t want to think about, so many I wish to never remember, so many of my mother’s words that haunt me. She warned me.

I took what was rightfully my grandmother’s and another which wasn’t mine at the request of my girlfriend–the woman I thought I loved–to make her happy. She told me she wanted the factory and I gave her, but in doing so, I destroyed the only woman that genuinely loved me, before I realized I loved her. It was too late, I killed her, she took her life because of me. She was better off when she didn’t know me.

I could never get her memories out of my head and the pain that came with the memory fueled my depression. Her smile, her eyes, her nose, her horrible laugh, her voice, the way she talks and the advice she would always give. She was money cautious, responsible, everything a good woman should be. But I toss her away before I realize the kind of gem I had.

And for the first time in nine years, something amusing happened in my life. A parrot, a bird with a message that could be a trick to get food. I stared at the pink carbon for the umpteenth time, sighing again. I picked it up from my dresser, lazily opened it and yawned. My eyes lazily roamed the pictures with disinterest, but I returned to one picture at the right side of the page.

Her sandy brown hair flew with the wind as she laughed, holding on to a small boy. Those gemstone green eyes, I can never forget them. I swept my eyes to the other picture on the same page. In this picture, she was sitting on the porch of a house, strawberry blonde fringe hair braided into pigtails, and her eyes black, but I knew that smile.

She was smiling at the girl sitting between her legs, the kid with black hair and glasses, but those eyes are my eyes. My heart hammered against my eardrums and ribcage, almost as fast as my brain beating against my skull.

I looked at the other pictures, the ones that only had five children in it. Each and every one of their smiling faces, their eyes, their smiles, every detail on them. Their hair was black, they wore glasses, but I wasn’t blind to the resemblance or even the color of their eyes. In one of the picture, three of them were slash with red marker.

Why?

I swept my eyes to what was written below her pictures and read the words.

“I don’t know if you have put two or two together by now. If you care enough or is even a little bit curious, then find us with the address below, find us before the end of three days or you will never see us again–Z.”

In nine years I got a means of amusement, something to be curious about. In the wh0le of my existent, I was struck with the biggest surprise of all.

💔

💔

💔

💔

To be continued.

And the story begins. 😉