ALESSIA
We both stood up simultaneously and quickly headed to the door. When Claude opened it, we were greeted by Adrian’s crying. He is still rubbing his eyes as tears flowed freely.
“Hey! What happened, baby?” Claude immediately lifted Adrian and carried him into the room. He sat on the sofa and cradled the child.
“Why are you crying, son?” I asked, sitting beside my husband.
“I thought you left me. I was alone in the room. I had no one,” Adrian said, tears streaming down his face as he hugged Claude.
“You weren’t left alone, baby. Your mom and I are here in the room. We just don’t fit in your bed, so we have a different room,” Claude explained as he stroked Adrian’s back.
“Don’t you like sleeping alone in your room, son?” I asked. I wanted to make sure if our son was afraid to be alone in his room.
“I want someone with me. Won’t you sleep with me?” Adrian asked.
Claude and I exchanged glances, but I took the lead in making a decision.
“Okay, son. Dad and I will sleep with you in your room tonight and for the next two nights. But in the following nights, you’ll sleep alone. You need to get used to it, son, because you’re already big,” I decided.
“And you’re also about to become a big brother,” Claude added.
I rolled my eyes, but Claude just laughed at me.
“Really? I’m going to be a big brother! I want a baby sister!” Adrian exclaimed.
I scratched my head, not reacting further.
“That’s why you need to get used to sleeping alone in your room, baby, so your mom and I can make a baby girl,” Claude said with a grin.
I pinched Claude’s arm and gave him a stern look, annoyed by his remarks to our son.
Claude winced, which widened Adrian’s eyes.
“Mom, why are you pinching dad?” Adrian asked.
I didn’t answer right away. I was thinking of how to respond to my son’s question without making his own father look bad in his eyes.
Claude was the one who answered Adrian’s question.
“Just let your mom be, baby. That’s just how she acts. But I really love her, and I don’t want us to fight,” Claude said, patting Adrian’s back.
It was as if a wave of relief washed over me when I heard Claude’s explanation. My husband is really head over heels in love with me. I just hoped it wouldn’t change. I hoped his old treatment of me wouldn’t return. I hoped everything would be okay now that we are together as a complete family.
“Baby, just sit here for now, okay?” Claude put Adrian down beside me. “I’ll just order our food for dinner.”
Claude took his cellphone from his back pocket and tapped on it before putting it to his ear.
“What do you want to eat?” he asked us.
“I want fried chicken and hotdog,” Adrian quickly replied.
“What about you, Sweetpea? What do you want?” Claude asked me.
“Whatever, as long as it has vegetables,” I replied.
Claude raised an eyebrow.
“Hey, Lyndon! Will you please send food to my new house? A whole buttery fried chicken, along with some mash and steamed hotdogs. Also buttered mixed vegetables, fillet mignon, pork chops, garlic butter shrimp, and seabass with spinach. I think Rice Pilaf can go well with those, so as lemonade, and bottled water – a bottle of still and two bottles of sparkling. Thanks!” Claude dictated into his phone.
I cringed upon hearing how much Claude ordered.
“Okay, I’ve ordered our dinner. They said it would be delivered between six to seven, they have a lot of customers right now,” Claude said after he finished talking.
“That’s okay. Let’s just wait for it. But you ordered so a lit! Can we finish all of those?” I scolded him.
“We just ate a lot at Quincy’s cafe earlier, and now we’re going to eat a lot again. Maybe Adrian and I won’t be able to digest it all,” I added.
“That’s for tonight, Sweetpea. It’s only past three. The food you and Adrian ate will be digested by six,” Claude explained.
“Mom, I want to eat a lot so I can grow quickly,” Adrian interjected.
Claude playfully ruffled Adrian’s hair. “Very good, baby. You’re right. You should always eat a lot. I’ll be the one to buy the food you want. I might even hire a chef so we can have someone to cook when I haven’t ordered.”
“Yay! I like that!” Adrian clapped enthusiastically.
I just sighed. I am not starving my son. But the food I could buy was limited. My income wasn’t that sufficient. It was just enough for us. I also spent a lot on his medical expenses before. It was a good thing I met Claude again, even though I didn’t intend to ask for his help at first.
But it was also good that I swallowed my pride because we were okay now. No more problems that came up. I didn’t want our family to be separated anymore. I knew how difficult it was to raise a child. Aside from being very costly, it was also hard to take care of and discipline a child.
“Let’s go downstairs. Let’s watch TV if you don’t want to sleep yet, baby,” Claude suggested.
“Okay. Does your TV have Cartoon Network, dad?”
Claude scratched his head. “I’m not sure, baby. But if the TV downstairs doesn’t have that channel, I’ll just open my laptop and find something for you to watch there.”
“Okay, okay.”
Claude carried Adrian and extended one hand to me. I accepted it with a smile, and we walked out of the room together. When we reached the living room, Adrian was the one who decided what to watch.
We sat quietly beside our son. After a few minutes, Claude signaled me to come closer. I leaned in, but I couldn’t understand him because the TV’s volume was a bit loud.
“I can’t understand you,” I said, shaking my head at my husband.
Claude took out his cellphone and typed something on it. Then he handed the phone to me. My eyes widened as I read what Claude had written in the notes.
‘Let’s have a quickie, Sweetpea. Let’s go to the kitchen so Adrian won’t hear us.’
I turned sharply to my husband and punched him. Seriously! He’s insatiable! Whenever and wherever we were, he would always try to score with me. Maybe he was the one with a problem with sex and not me. I might have just caught it from his libido. He didn’t choose a time or place. Whenever he felt horny, he would bother me. It would be okay if we were alone. But our son is there too! What if we got caught? How would we explain it to our innocent child?
Claude raised his index finger to his lips and gestured to our son. I shook my head vigorously.