” Daddy, can I have this too?” Amelia hugged a large pink teddy as she gave Justin the cutest big eyes ever.
” Honey, you don’t need this,” I was against it. She already had teddy bears at home, even though they couldn’t compare in price and quality with this, they still served the same purpose.
” I do,” she pouted refusing to let go.
” You don’t honey,” I stood on my ground.
” How do you know I don’t need it?” She wasn’t relenting on this issue.
” Because you have many teddies at home, so getting a new one isn’t necessary,” I said.
” But this one is big and pink and… and… I just want it!” She stomped her feet. Amelia had never behaved like this before. She had never thrown a tantrum no matter how annoyed she was, could Justin’s presence in her life be the reason for her sudden change?
” I don’t want to hear another word about getting a teddy, you can pick something else,” I wasn’t still planning on letting her have her way.
” It’s alright, Isa. Let her get whatever she wants,” Justin placed a hand on my shoulder. ” Honey, you can pick out as many teddy bears as you want,” Justin bent over to Amelia.
” It’s not okay,” I refuted in a hushed voice. He was going to spoil the kids at this rate, especially Amelia.
” Why not? They deserve to enjoy everything they want,” he disagreed with my opinion on this matter.
” Do you really think that all a child needs is reckless spending?!”
” Nope but it’s not excluded,” he smiled confidently. ” As long as their dad can afford it, they can have whatever they wish for and fortunately for them, I have the money and resources to give them everything they can ever want,”
” Well I’m against this show of recklessness in front of the kids,” the last thing I wanted was for the twins to get used to such squandering.
” Can we not argue about this?” He sighed. ” Especially not now, let the kids have want they want for today, you can go against it any other time,” he appealed.
” Fine,” I succumbed. ” Amelia, you can have what you want just for today,” I said to her.
” Really?!” she asked excitedly.
” Yes,”
” Thank you, mummy. You’re the best,” she squealed in delight as she beckoned to me to bend over so she could plant a sweet kiss on my cheeks. She was indeed sweet.
” Let’s pick whatever you want,” I announced as I picked her up and placed her in my trolley. Even if this was going to be a temporary pleasure, I was still happy that the kids could make memories.
” Aiden, have you decided on the bicycle you want to get you?” Justin turned his attention to Aiden.
” Yes,” he responded with a quick nod. ” It’s over there,” he pointed at the section for bicycles and toy cars.
” Let’s go on a shopping spree then,” Justin announced enthusiastically as he led the way to where the bicycles were.
___________________________________
We sat in the park closest to my house while the kids took their time to run around the park, Aiden testing out his mini bicycle with training wheels and Amelia chasing after birds and butterflies. It was blissful to see them happy.
” They’re happy right?” Justin broke the silence as he stared at the twins with something I wasn’t quite familiar with… Care and love. I had never seen such emotions in his eyes before, I knew he wanted to make up for the past.
” Yes and I’m grateful that you made their day,” I acknowledged.
” You shouldn’t be, it’s my responsibility and I should have taken it on a long time ago,” he held on to his coffee cup tighter.
” Still, the kids were glad to spend time with you, not because of the gifts and the presents alone but because they did it with you. So I’m grateful for that, for being their dad for today,” I smiled at him sincerely. As long as my children were happy, I was fine by it.
Placing his hands on mine,” But it doesn’t have to be just for today,” he turned my face towards him, our eyes fixed on each other. ” I’m more than willing to be their dad and your husband for way longer, till our old age even,” he was definitely a sweet talker.
” Justin, I don’t want to talk about this,” I calmly slapped his hands from chin, giving me room to turn away.
” But I want to talk about it. We need to address this,”
” There’s nothing to address, Justin,”
” Isa, you know deep down that my feelings for you are true. I made a mistake which I’m willing to admit over a million times if that would make you see my sincerity. Isa, we’re still married and we have kids, it’s only natural for us to be a family,” he proposed.
” It was simply marriage based on lies and deceit, it was far from real and children? You didn’t even plan for them,” I said in spite.
” That’s why I want to make things right. Shouldn’t you be liberal enough to give me a second chance? I mean, no one is perfect and everyone is bound to make mistakes,”
” But certain mistakes shouldn’t be taken lightly,” why were we still having this conversation?
” Isa look into my eyes and tell me that you don’t have any sort of feelings for me,” he dared me as he once again turned my face in his direction.
” Justi, I don’t…,” I gasped as my body suddenly became aware of his presence, memories of the moments we shared flashed before my eyes as I stared deep into his eyes. I was so sure I could say I didn’t have any form of residual feelings for him but my body… I wasn’t so sure about that. My eyes flickered as it delved deep into his eyes, why was body acting up?
His warm lips pressed against mine as he locked his lips with mine, I wanted to resist but his kiss had me completely melted. I didn’t plan this at all. Opening a bit of his mouth, he greedily devoured my mouth in his as he sucked and pulled, making steady turns. It brought back the good old days when we had kisses like this, sweet and calm but yet intricate and emotion packed. I couldn’t let this go further. I forced myself to pull away from his enchanting lips before things got out of hand.
” What happened? Why did you suddenly pull away?” he asked worried as he tried to search my face for answers as I remained quiet.
” I’m involved with James now so I don’t want you going around kissing me and creating a misunderstanding,” I looked at him with tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn’t even explain fully the reason for my tears.
” You can’t be involved with someone else when you are still legally married to me,” he said enraged.
” Marriage takes the consent of two and I don’t consent to this, so it doesn’t matter if we are married in paper. After all, you still threw me out even though we were married just to have your lover all to yourself so why are acting self righteous now? Justin, I’m going to say this loud and clear… I DO NOT LOVE YOU AND NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, IT WON’T CHANGE,” I emphasized. I needed to get rid of him.
He looked at me in what seemed to look like the mixture of shock, fear and terror. Was he really expecting that I would say I loved him?
” I don’t believe you,” he called out as I stood up. ” If you didn’t have any sort of feelings for me, why did you not let go of me when I kissed you?”
” I was simply taken aback, that’s all,” I did my best to conceal my emotions. ” Aiden!! Amelia!!! Come to mummy, let’s start heading home!” I called out to the twins.
” I’m truly grateful for what you did for the kids today but please refrain from buying them such expensive gifts if you at least want to see them once in a while. I can’t have you spoil them with gifts when your presence in their life is just temporal,” I said just before the kids ran up to me.
” And please, don’t come to my house whenever you want to. I may be forced one day to have to call the cops on you,” I threatened as I flagged down a cab. ” You can send the goods to my apartment later,” I said finally before getting in with the kids leaving him dumbfounded.
I was never going to let my kids get used to someone who would only be temporal in their lives because I knew sooner or later, he would go running back to Nina.