Dylan’s POV
Mother gave me a kiss on the cheek along with the children. Or should I say my children.
“Get to know them.” My father whispered to me as he put on his shoes.
“Your father and I are leaving. Behave and take good care of them. The list of things to do is on the counter. Most importantly, never forget to feed them.” My mom was still talking as she tugged my father out of the house.
I looked around to see that my children have run off to the backyard. It was weird having them here. I’ve only met them yesterday so it’s still a bit awkward. The only one who seems to warm up to me and like me was Alexander, the shy little blond boy.
The other two didn’t like me much. Well, William –the dirty blond boy –pretty much glared at me whenever he caught me looking at him. His glares weren’t those of hatred, it was that of distrust and wariness. After all, they’ve only known me for less than a day and their mother dies and they’re suddenly sent to their “dad” who they never met.
I understand and I’ll give William time to adjust to me. I just hope he’d warm up soon.
The little girl who looked like me was named Catherine. She practically ignored me the whole time.
And Gabriele was out with his family so he couldn’t visit. Besides, I’m stuck here to get to know my kids better. Not that it’s a bad thing. It’s just that I don’t know what to do or say. I’ve never had kids before!
I picked up the slightly long list from the kitchen counter. There were tiny boxes for checking before the things-to-do. The only box with the check says, Feed them breakfast.
Next on the list was to take them out somewhere. I wonder if it’d be okay to take them to the park. I really don’t know what kids like.
I opened the sliding door to the backyard to find Catherine using mother’s prized flowers to make flower crowns. I’m going to receive the blow when mother comes home after she sees her garden.
The boys were on the ground wrestling and rolling around.
I clapped my hands, trying to gain their attention. All of their heads snapped to me. “Uh, hey, guys. So, who wants to go to the park?” I said a bit unsure.
At the mention of a park, their big round eyes widened even more and they ran to me, clinging to my legs.
“Can we go now? Pwease, pwetty, pwetty pwease?” Alexander batted his eyelashes at me. You know, for a boy he sure has long curved lashes.
I gave a yes and they all squealed, running around and packing the stuff they wanted to bring to the park. And as the one playing the mother role, I went to the kitchen to pack up some food. I sliced some fruits and brought whip cream, made scrambled egg, turkey and ham sandwiches, filled the big cooler with Kool Aid, and (secretly) wrapped up all the cookies mom left near the window to cool.
Now that everyone was ready, we conspicuously hurried to my car. I didn’t want anyone questioning me about the kids. Not yet, anyway.
The drive to the park lasted for about five minutes. My children were jumping up and down on their seats. Their little hands were all clutching colourful kites as their faces were all smiles which in turn made me smile. Bringing them to the park was a good idea.
We finished eating an hour ago. The kids were now running around the park. I was beginning to clean up so we could leave.
“Where are your parents?” A familiar voice asked.
“Mommy’s happy with God now.” I heard Catherine reply.
The voice gasped a little and asked again, “How about your daddy?” I looked up the see Hailey talking with Catherine. Hailey crouched down to Catherine’s height; Hailey’s back was to me.
I could only widen my eyes as Catherine pointed to me. Hailey turned around and gasped. She asked Catherine if she was really pointing to me.
“Yeah. Mommy says he’s our daddy.” Catherine said.
“Dylan?” Hailey whispered; her face painted with disbelief.
I waved at her and gave her a sheepish smile. “Hey there, Hailey.”
She marched towards me and when she reached me, she gave me a good slap and ouch, it hurts. Hailey does not hit like a girl.
“How could you?” Hailey shrieked. “Yelle was only gone for a day and you’re already cheating on him.” And another slap. Hailey was about to punch my gut (and I’m sure it’ll hurt like a mofo) when I caught her fist mid-swing.
“Hailey please let me explain. Just give me a chance to explain, alright?” I tried calming her. Hailey’s posture relaxed a bit, but still ready to sock me. “First of all, I haven’t been cheating on Gabriele. I lov –like him.
Second, yes, they are my children,” She was about to kick me when I added, “But! But –I didn’t know about them since yesterday. I swear. I got their mother pregnant way before I met Gabe, okay?”
Hailey calmed down a bit and her usual motherly glare returned at full blast. Both of us were now sitting on a nearby bench as my children played by the slides.
“So, how are you going to explain this to Yelle? I’m pretty sure he won’t be okay with this.” She crossed her arms.
I scratched the back of my head, forgetting that I’ll have to explain to my boyfriend why I suddenly gave birth to three year-old triplets. “He… likes children, so it’s good. I guess?”
Wrong answer.
Hailey punched my shoulder. “Hey, stop hurting me!” I rubbed my shoulder, whining like a little kid. Hailey just rolled his eyes.
“Haiwey!” A little red-headed Asian kid ran towards Hailey. He clung to Hailey’s leg like those little magnet things to the fridge.
Hailey lifted the little boy and he clung to her like Dora’s backpack. “Hey, Julian! I wantcha to meet a… friend of big sis.” Hailey pointed to me, “That’s Dylan. Your big bro Gabby’s boyfriend. Say hi.”
Julian gave me a big grin showing me his missing frontal tooth. “Hey-a, mister!” He greeted enthusiastically with a bit of Irish accent, “The name’s Julian. Only big bro Gabby can call me Jules. Hope cha don’t hurt him or else I’ll make Terry track you down and kill cha off.” He laughed good-heartedly and climbed down Hailey towards a black Hondo Pilot.
Terry? Sounds like a small puppy. I raised my brow at Hailey. She just shrugged. “My baby brother’s a sadistic lad. But I wouldn’t be surprised if I were you. Julian will make Terry track you down. Ya don’t see albino tigers like good ol’ Terry nowadays. Just don’t hurt Yelle and you’ll be fine.”
An albino tiger. Seriously? Does the government allow this stuff?
Hailey must’ve seen my disbelieving look when she said, “It’s in my Chinese family’s tradition to raise albino tigers. Don’t ask me why. My ancestors were a bunch of drunken rich fools.”
The car Julian entered blew its horn.
“Guess that’s my cue to leave. You better practice now –both on your speech and defence skills. Gabriele will be home tomorrow.” Hailey patted my back and went on her way.
~
The kids and I were already at home. It’s been two hours since the meeting with Hailey in the park. And it’s also nearing lunch time. The checklist was halfway done.
Feed them breakfast –check!
Spend time with them –check!
Lunchtime
Get them something they want
Have dinner outside
Tuck them into bed
I opened the guest room door where the children were staying at. All of them were sprawled all over the floor with colouring materials scattered. “So, what do you kids want for lunch?”
“I want ice cream!” screamed Alexander.
“Chinese-styled fried chicken!” William yelled on top of his lungs.
“Juice.” Catherine demanded.
Since every single thing they mentioned isn’t available –“Who wants to go with me to the grocery store. And a Chinese restaurant is just nearby.”
They all scrambled out the room to change their paint-soiled clothes.
A few moments later, we arrived at the grocery shop. Since mom left a lot of money on the shelf, I decided to let the kids buy anything in the grocery shop.
William pulled out a big cart and Catherine rode on top while Alexander rode at the bottom, all before I could enter the building.
Catherine was the one to pick out the stuff that they want on top of the shelf and Alexander picked out the stuff they wanted at the bottom of the shelf. William was the designated driver.
It was a funny sight. Unfortunately, Katie didn’t think it was.
“Whose kids are these?” She screamed after William bumped into her while she was bending, sending her through a pyramid of canned sausages.
I ran to her and helped her up. William and the other two were cowering in a corner after Katie’s outburst.
“Shit, Katie, I’m really sorry.” I helped her stand up.
“Sorry for what?” She said, fixing the cans back to a pyramid. I helped her fix the cans back up.
“We’re sorry, daddy. We didn’t see her. We’re really sorry.” Alexander sobbed.
Katie chocked on her own spit and I froze. Shit.
I patted William’s back. “It’s okay. You guys can continue buying the stuff you need, alright? I’ll just be a while and we can buy lunch.”
My children apologized to Katie once more and ran off more carefully in fear of bumping into another person. When they were out of earshot, Katie turned to me with arms crossed.
“Care to explain, Dylan? Does Gabriele know?” The way she inquired surprised me. I expected her to yell at me, then punch me or vice versa. She was calmer than Hailey who I expected to jut glare at me and scold me and give me this long speech on adultery. Hailey even punched me.
But the world loved proving me wrong.
“I got a girl pregnant in a few years back. And she recently… passed away so the children that I never knew existed were suddenly sent to me.” I explained.
Katie’s face was blank. She gave me a pat on the shoulder and said, “It’s sad to lose a parent. They’ll need you now because their mom’s gone. Treasure them, okay, Dyl? If not, they’ll feel like orphans.”
“And, Dyl,” Katie started to say, but thought better of it and closed her mouth. Katie was called by the manager and she bade me farewell.
We got out the grocery store with two big plastic bags. The kids bought a lot of sweets and junk food. The things they bought were obviously not healthy, but I didn’t want them to sulk nor did I know what they eat for snacks. I helped them get up the car one by one and we rode off towards the Chinese restaurant nearby.
“Welcome, sir. May I take your order?” A young teen wearing a Chinese costume said.
“We’d like four of your combo three; no drinks, one serving of buchi and all take out.” I listed off. I turned to the kids and asked if they wanted to add something.
“Fortune cookies!” William screamed and the waitress listed that off and went towards the kitchen.
“Sorry about Willie.” Catherine said. “He has this thing for cookies.”
Our orders came in plastic bags a few minutes later. I paid for the meal and we drove off to the CD rental store to rent the movie Wreck It Ralph which Alex insisted on.
“I found it!” Catherine said. The kids all piled up on the counter while I rented out the movie.
“Do, by any chance, have the movie Insidious?” A soft voice asked beside me.
The cashier’s eyes widened. “Holy sh!t! You two are Ally and Anne. I can’t believe you two’re here! Oh, Insidious, right. Sorry about that. I’ll get it for you. Just stay there.”
My eyes also widened and I turned to my left to meet Allison’s eyes. I waved sheepishly.
“My, they are so adorable! Are you Dylan’s wittle brother?” Anne cooed at William. William shook his head.
“Nope, he’s my daddy!” William said in a “duh” tone. Way to go, son. Son. Huh, it sounds weird when I call him that. Even if I only mentally said it.
“It isn’t even a week and he suddenly got kids. And they’re about five years old. And there’re three of them. You seem to be on a roll today, Daddy Dylan.” Allison said with venom in her voice. “So, who did you shack up with?”
“Ally, that’s not nice! Especially not in front of children.” Anne reprimanded her twin. Allison ‘hmphed’, obviously mad at me.
The cashier and some customers were listening to our exchange the whole time. Don’t these people have lives?
Allison sneered at me and said to her sister, “You get the tape. I’ll be in our car.” Then she turned her heel and walked away.
“I’m really sorry about her.” Anne apologized on behalf of her sister. “But what’s with the sudden magical appearance to those kids?” She said referring to my children who were venturing the shop filled with CDs and action figures.
“Got a girl pregnant, she, uh, passed away and now, the kids I never knew I had were sent to me just last night. Please explain that to Gabriele. I never cheated on him.”
Anne gave me a small smile. “Good luck with that. And, Dylan, you have really adorable kids.” Anne took the CD from the cashier and walked back to where her sister was at.
We drove back home so we could pig out on sweets and Chinese food as we watched the animation film.
“Daddy, who were those pretty girls today? Are they going to be our new mommy?” Alexander asked curiously.
If I had been drinking, I would’ve either spit it on Catherine who was sitting in front of me or try and fail to swallow it.
Sadly, I wasn’t drinking so I choked on air which I never knew could be possible. “No, sport. But you might have two daddies.” I explained.
Catherine said it would be awesome to have two daddies to take care of her and both the boys agreed saying that when one’s not there, the other daddy would still be there to play ball.
I know it’s inappropriate to talk about gay in front of children, but I didn’t want to lie to them. And I used “might” instead of “will” because Gabriele might not want me after this.
Gabriele. I just hope he’ll still accept me.
William walked to me with a fortune cookie, Chips Ahoy and some Oreo cookies. This boy’s love for cookies is strange. But at least he’s opening up to me.
“Thank you, Will.” He smiled at his nickname.
The Oreos were instantly gone. After eating three packs of Chips Ahoy, I decided to pocket the fortune cookie for later.
After tidying up, Cat (my new nickname for Catherine) announced that it was “Nap time.” They all jumped to bed as I went back down and tidied there mess. I checked up on them after the room was spotless and turned on the alarm clock so we could all prepare to eat dinner outside.
I went to my own bedroom and slumped down the bean bag and grabbed my game controller which reminds me that I’m a teenage guy who is still in his senior year.
I felt a bump from my back pocket only to find out that I sat on the fortune cookie. It was now in tiny pieces and I could see the tiny folded paper inside.
I opened the plastic, sad to see that the sweet sugar fortune cookie was crushed. I unrolled the paper and read the text loudly,
A BAD AND A GOOD SURPRISE AWAITS YOU AT DINNER.
Cool. Now I’m excited for dinner.