“Fuck this woman,” I muttered, crumpling the note in my hand and tossing it back to the massive package of surprises that had been dumped in our laps.
“Unbelievable,” I mouthed, shaking my head.
Xavier’s eyes met mine, his expression mirroring my outrage. “I need more answers from her,” he said, his voice firm as he looked at nothing in particular. “But she isn’t here to explain further.”
I nodded. “Why would she do this all of a sudden?”
The children had already taken their seats on the sofa, making themselves at home, unaware of the emotional turmoil unfolding around them. They watched us with wide eyes. Well, the twins, who were kind of a little mature, were paying attention to every word we said, and what was even more confusing was just how comfortable they were with all this. Calling a man they hadn’t met before their daddy because their mom had told them any man they saw after coming out of the box was their biological father and also not so bothered about their mother’s absence was unsettling, to say the least.
Elizabeth, the youngest, was quieter, observing us with big, curious eyes.
“How can you be so calm?” I asked, directing my question to the twins.
Harper, or probably Hayden, shrugged-I can’t really differentiate them; I don’t even know which name belongs to whom. “Mom said you’d take care of us, so she prepared us.”
“Prepared you?” Xavier repeated, his voice laced with skepticism.
Hayden, or Harper, nodded. “Yeah, she told us about you, Daddy.”
“Daddy?” Xavier whispered, still in denial. I wouldn’t blame him, though; after ten years since his divorce, suddenly three children show up calling him daddy. He wouldn’t know how to process this bombshell.
Xavier’s eyes darted between the children, searching for answers.
Harper, Hayden, and Elizabeth gazed back at him, their faces filled with expectation.
But come to think of it, ten years ago, Nicole left pregnant, so the twins should be exactly nine years old. Where does the little one, Elizabeth, fit into the picture?
“Xavier, I think you’ve been played,” I said as realization struck me.
Xavier’s eyes locked on me in confusion. Then his expression turned thoughtful, finally realizing what I meant.
“The little girl is not mine; Nicole left ten years ago, so…” He trailed off and sprang up from the sofa.
“Where did your mother go?” His question was directed towards the twins, his eyes blazing.
The twins shook their heads, shrugging their arms. “We don’t know where, but we know she is running away from…” The twins paused, their eyes widening, as if they had just blurted something they shouldn’t have. “Oh-oh, we messed up,” the other said, as all of them exchanged horrified glances.
These fucked-up children are really something… I cursed under my breath and exchanged a concerned glance with Xavier, who looked back at me.
“Where’s your mom now?” I asked, trying to gauge their reaction.
The twins’ expressions faltered for a moment before one of them spoke up.
“Mom’s gone,” she said, her voice matter-of-fact. “She said she had to leave, but don’t ask the reason why because we won’t tell you.”
Xavier’s face twisted in annoyance, but he knew he would never get an answer from them with that kind of attitude. These children really know how to piss someone off.
He approached them and crouched down, taking a deep breath. “You can tell me; she wouldn’t know anyway,” he said, and we both knew he would have to try harder than that.
The twins flashed him a wry smile and shook their heads slowly in disapproval. “Nah, sorry, new daddy. We made a promise.”
“Yeah, we made a promise,” Elizabeth, the little one, chimed in, swaying her body in an annoying way.
Damn these kids!
I stormed over to them and grabbed one of the twins’ arms, giving them the worst frown I had ever pulled off in my life. The kids needed to know we were serious, and I was going to rip answers out of them.
“Why did she leave you guys? Answer me!” I said, almost yelling, but my facade was slipping off, and it was now obvious because I could see the kids covering their mouths with their palms, laughing at their sick mother-not me.
“What an attitude,” they said in unison, rolling their eyes. Did their mother teach them that?
Before I could burst into outrage, Xavier pulled me back and took me to a secluded spot in the living room, pressing me against the wall.
“Sarah, I know I shouldn’t ask this, but… what are WE going to do?” The way he emphasized the WE part was scaring me a little.
My brow furrowed in confusion. Seriously, was that a question? But before I could ask him that, he cut me off.
“I don’t think we can easily get the truth out of these kids, and time is running out. I have a conference to attend. I have less than forty minutes,” his words tumbled out, his frustration palpable as he breathed out a sigh, more like a huff.
I just stared at him, not knowing how to calm him down from all this sudden shock and frustration that kept building up, and the children weren’t helping matters either. I could already guess they could be an annoying buzzing flies to our peace of mind.
“Seriously, Elizabeth, stop doing that,” we turned toward their direction as we heard their voices sounding from the sofa.
“Take your hand off that thing. We have to make a good impression. We don’t want to break anything.”
“Oh yeah, Mom said we should make him like us; if not, we might be kicked out into the street.”
“I don’t want to be an orphan, yack.” The last voice was Elizabeth’s, and I rolled my eyes and slumped my head against the wall.
Oh boy, what if I become a mother to these children? It’s great, but… but… God, I don’t know what to think about that…
“Sarah.” Xavier snapped me out of my suffocating thoughts, his desperation palpable. “You have exams, and I have an important conference that will last four hours or more. And…”
I felt like all his words were drowning in my ears, jumbling with my mind because I had an idea where he was going with this. And I don’t like the sound of it. I raised my hand to silence him and let out a sharp sigh.
“Xavier, we should go sit down and think about this… properly.”