Just to make one thing clear:
Terrence and I were not engaged.
In some sense, we were, at least for the rest of the world. Everyone we knew congratulated us on the engagement, phone calls, letters, messages, emails and every social media account was flooded with congratulations. Even Jenny who looked like she was over the moon, came to meet me, many a times, and kept gushing how Terrence was a true prince charming.
Anyways, it was over the news soon, that Alyssa was still Alyssa Reynolds, not Alyssa Powers.
And just that we were engaged.
That definitely wasn't the truth too. Terrence did not go down on one knee and proposed me to make him the happiest man on earth. No, we were still in a relationship, and we were testing the waters of love.
Honestly, engagement itself was a big commitment for the both of us, I mean, it took us a month to properly kiss each other, and it took me three fucking months to finally realise that I had fallen in love with him. Many must have read stories about people falling in love and getting married within five weeks, so it shouldn't have been a big deal, you know, getting engaged after knowing each other for a month.
But it was. For us, it surely was.
Terrence and I barely spent time with each other. We did spend time together, but with the babies with us. There were still so many things that he didn't know about me and there was so much more I didn't know about him. The babies were demanding, there was no doubt at that, and to top it, our work was demanding too. Whenever we got time off the babies, anyone could find us sitting next to each other yet engrossed in our own laptops. The only time we spent together was when we cuddled in the bed at night while sleeping, or whenever we watched movies in the bedroom during the weekends.
We were so close, yet, we were distant.
Terrence had shifted everything, his clothes, his underwear, his toiletries and everything that had adorned his master bedroom, into the one he had given to us. He always complained that he was too lazy to go upstairs to the master bedroom for all the little things, and it was better to have them all here, where he spent most of his time.
I was only too willing to let him be with me.
I would have to say, I was absolutely smitten with him. I freaking loved it when he pampered me, giving me oh-so-sensual massages during my period that took my mind of the cramps. He helped me in everything, and many a times he let me sleep and played with the babies whenever they woke up in the middle of the night. I was becoming more and more indiscreet about my ogling and his perverse nature was terribly rubbing off on me.
Whenever he caught me ogling, he just smirked at me and muttered the cliche 'Like what you see?' All I did was wink back at him and nod boldly. In the beginning, it was funny to see him get surprised, but now he teased me more, seductively, to the point that I almost wanted to jump him.
But when did I not?
I was still ogling him as he was rummaging through the fridge to find something. He had woken up just a few minutes ago, and emerged out of the room in his half naked glory, with only his black boxers on. I was ogling him ever since, cleaning the living room at the same time.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" He asked, taking out an apple and walking towards me.
I picked up the magazine that was lying on the floor and stood up to give him a long lingering morning kiss. He kissed my temple when we pulled away and flopped down on the couch behind me.
"You're not going to work today, and the babies kept you awake for quite a lot of time last night. You needed the sleep." I said, bending to pick up the newspaper, completely forgetting that Terrence was sitting right behind me.
I yelped when he smacked my butt, and turned around to find him smirking, "You know better than to test my libido, babe. I want you so badly, and I had to take more cold showers these three months then I had to in my entire existence. Don't tease me more, Alyssa, I don't want our first time to be on a couch."
I blushed, but that just widened his smirk and he grabbed me wrist, pulling me down so that I fell on his lap. And no, I wasn't sitting or straddling him. My torso was on the couch my abdomen resting across his lap. The heat on my cheeks spread through my entire body when I felt his hand slip under my shirt and trace a curve of my butt cheek.
Did I mention that I myself wasn't modestly dressed? I was just in Terrence's T-shirt and panties.
No bra.
"Taunt me like that once again and I'm going to spank you, babe. And no crying, no babies, no cock blockers are going to stop me." He kept his large warm hand on the flesh of my behind, the tingling spreading throughout my entire body. It was me now, who desperately needed a cold shower. I was squirming and he had trapped my wrists in one of his hands. I was so hot and bothered right now, and he was surely having a lot of fun.
He was hard, already, and his boxers were strangling the erection he had, the huge bulge poking my waist. He released me wrists and pulled me up to straddle his muscular thighs. Once I was on top, I grabbed his hair and crushed my lips to his, opening my mouth to let his tongue enter. He smirked into the beseeching kiss, full of lust and passion.
He rolled his hips and I moaned loudly in his mouth. Can't he just fuck me already? I never felt so fucking wanton in my entire life!
"I really hope you don't have your dick inside her right now, Powers. I am going to close my eyes and count to ten, I want Terrence inside his room by then. Better yet, why don't you give that T-shirt to him, Liz, he is the one who really needs to hide his nudity right now."
I groaned.
"Gah! I can't believe you're still a virgin. The sexual tension is suffocating."
I got off Terrence and he scurried immediately to the room, miserably hiding the erection he was sporting and trying to keep his ears from turning red. I turned to scowl at the infuriating best friend of mine, peeking at the both of us through her slightly parted fingers. She had a slight smirk on her face, and I was sure she was enjoying playing cock blocker.
"Is he gone?" Allie asked.
"Don't you know?" I grumbled, "You were definitely watching him through your fingers."
She took off her hands from her face and grinned at me, plopping down on the couch next to me.
"Are you still a virgin?"
"Allie."
She pouted, "Come on, Liz, the way you two were making out right no—"
"Alexandria."
"Okay, okay." She held her hands up in surrender.
"But, Lisa, this is by far the most awkward moment I am having with you. I've seen you naked so many times, but this way? Oh my, no." She fanned herself, sighing way too exaggeratedly for my liking.
Yeah, sure. You don't look like you're feeling awkward at all.
I scowled at her.
"Don't you guys have some decency? You guys were almost naked for god's sake. You wouldn't have even realised that I was standing right there! How can you keep the door unlocked?!"
"Don't you have some decency to knock?" I grumbled, crossing my arms over my chest.
"I always barge in, Lissy, you know that. But you know what, I'll knock next time. God knows how guilty I feel, you two haven't had any action in the past three months and will probably fuck like wild rabbits once you get the time—"
She immediately stopped when Terrence came out of the room, looking fresh like he had just showered, and was completely dressed. He had an impressive scowl on his face, trained on Allie, who just smirked back at him. He sat down next to me, and possessively pulled my half naked state on his lap.
I was going to get off immediately, but then I realised why he had pulled me there.
That poor guy wasn't able to get rid of the boner.
"Had a cold shower?" Allie asked, smirking at Terrence.
He just scowled deeper.
"It didn't work, did it? Making Lisa sit on it is just going to make it worse—"
"Allie! Shut your mouth right now, and tell me why are you here!" I chastised.
She raised a brow, "Didn't you just tell me to shut up?"
I gave her a look.
"I need some girl talk with you asap, Liz, it's important, well, to me."
Trust me, her definition of important was completely different from mine.
"We could've talked after the get together too, Allie. But if it's that important, then come with me, we'll talk in the room."
Terrence muttered, "I've some work to do. I'll be back."
"Have fun jerking off, Terrence!" She yelled as I pulled her into the room with me.
*******************
"This has never happened, Liz, and I just don't know what to do. He's a really nice guy, I'm sure of that. I mean which guy stays in the morning and cuddles you after a one night stand, asking for more? He said that he really likes me, and wants us to like...date. I just don't know what to do!" Allie flopped back on the bed.
A literal catastrophe had struck in Allie's life, it would soon strike in mine too, with the name Hurricane Alexandria. I was close to biting off my nails with what Allie had just told me.
On one hand, where Aaron made thousand sweet gestures to the girl and ditched her right after taking her virginity, this guy Darren, on the other hand, took her straight to bed and then proposed her a serious relationship.
He was Allie's colleague, meaning, he was my colleague too, though I had never met him. According to Allie, this guy was one of the hottest guys in the Publishing house, and was one of the nicest guys too. He wasn't a 'womanising douchebag asshole' as she had quoted, indirectly pointing to the guy who took her virginity.
My biggest mistake here? I had invited Darren to the same get together where me, Terrence, Allie, Victor, Lucy and Aaron were going to be present. Terrence was against the idea, of course, because he and I both knew that having Allie's ex lover and present lover under the same roof would be nothing short of a disaster.
But then, I didn't want to leave Allie alone, especially when she was going to be so uncomfortable during Aaron's presence. She didn't know that I knew him, nor did she know that he was Terrence's best friend. This was going to be the first time after eight years that they would stand in front of each other.
Also, Lucy had heard about Allie, but she never met her. So she would probably be sticking more to Victor and Xavier's side. I myself would be busy with the twins and everyone, so it was best to invite Darren too. I wanted to meet that guy too, desperately, because for the first time I had heard Allie talk about a man so much.
She liked him too, and now that she was going to take their one night of lovemaking seriously, her meeting with Aaron was going to be a big obstacle for the new budding relationship.
"I asked you something, Alyssa. What should I do?" I looked up at Allie, who was curiously looking at Ryan suckling my breast loudly. I was feeding him since he had woken up hungry, and Allie was looking at me as if she was a little girl who never saw a mother feeding her babe, and was probably wondering if she'd have to do that one day too.
"I don't know, Allie. It's not my decision to take, I barely know that guy. But you do what you want to. Don't feel pressurised to be in a relationship or something. Go ahead if you really like him, god knows you need someone to pamper and cuddle you right now." I said, giving her a soft, encouraging smile.
I wanted the best for Allie. So even though I didn't want to encourage her, I did because I wanted her to give herself another chance at finding love. If it had to be with someone of her own choice, then so be it.
You have no idea I had to steel myself and say that her, very well knowing that my ship was going to sink before it even started to sail.
I had met Aaron many time in the past two months, and I could see why Allie fell in love with him. What he did was unforgivable, of course, and it was completely up to Allie if she wanted to get back with him.
But...
Allie sighed, "I can't believe it Alyssa. It's been seven years and I haven't been serious about a single guy. But Darren? He just...rocks my world. He's nice, he's a gentleman, definitely not in bed. In the bed he's wild, he's an animal and well, you get my point He's amazing. But..."
"But you don't want to use him as a rebound guy." I completed her sentence.
"What are you talking about?" She gave me an incredulous look. "I'm over him, Liz, I'm over him." She reassured herself more than me.
We'll see that, won't we?
The doorbell rang, interrupting the look that I was about to give her.
"I'll get the door." She said, pointing towards Ryan who still had not had his fill. His was loud, oh my god, embarrassingly loud, and Terrence always chuckled and teased me anyone could here him sucking from twelve feet away.
I glanced at the wall clock and sudden panic settle in.
Oh shit!
It was time for everyone to come, and I could bet that Aaron was the one at the door.
Shit, shit shit!
I wanted to be the one to introduce them, Allie would probably murder him at my doorstep.
I didn't know what to do—
"Aaaaaah! Why is this asshole here, Lisa?!"
I scrunched my eyes shut and took a deep breath in. I heard thundering footsteps, and Allie barged right inside. I caught a glimpse of Aaron, staring at her back with a longing look on his face before the door was slammed shut.
Luckily, he didn't see me breastfeeding Ryan.
Ryan twitched in my arms, slightly moving to pay attention to the person who was being unnecessarily noisy. He couldn't see Allie, so he stopped sucking and turned to look at her, giving her his toothless grin for some unknown reason.
Her murderous glare softened and she smiled at Ryan, but then she pointed at me, "This little guy and your boyfriend, both gave me the identical kind of grins when I screamed at that gorilla standing outside. Why didn't you tell me, huh, Alyssa? This is so sick!" She hissed.
"Allie, I..."
"What? Tell me? Why are you doing this to me? You know how much I hate him! You know how badly I want to move on! Then why did you bring me here? You didn't even tell me that you knew him! I invited Darren too, for fuck's sake, Lisa, and that poor guy would be on his way. No, wait, I'm telling him not to come. I'm going too, I don't think I'm going to stay here just to remind myself what a stupid dork I was." She said, grabbing her phone and scrolling, the look in her eyes screaming betrayal.
I hopped off the bed. I had already put Ryan down since he was more engrossed in looking at Aunt Allie. I grabbed Allie elbow and stopped her to face me. She had frustrated tears in her eyes, and I couldn't forgive myself at that moment.
I hurt her.
"I'm sorry, Allie. I really am. But you just can't keep running away from him. Face him today, show him that you're stronger now. Keep Darren by your side if you wish to, I know he'll keep you calm."
She nodded, her nose pink, her eyes sparkling with the tears. I rubbed her shoulder, "I prolonged it as long as I could, Allie, but this was inevitable. I had no idea how to tell you."
"It's fine." She mumbled resting her head on my shoulder.
I stroked her head and said what I feared the most, "Now that Aaron is here, I want you to promise me one thing."
She nodded.
"Don't use Darren as a rebound guy. Getting over your first love is difficult, but it doesn't mean that you can trample on hearts on your way to letting go. If he's a really nice guy, then he doesn't deserve being led on only to be used as a substitute, you get me?"
She nodded again, "I promise."
Ryan had started crying, probably remembering that he was distracted in the middle of his feeding session. Allie spluttered a laugh in the midst of her sobs, and my heart hurt to see her like this, heartbroken.
I went to Ryan and adjusted myself to feed him again. Allie and I watched him slowly fall asleep, once again. A knock on the bedroom door stirred Ryan, but he closed his eyes soon, his mouth slowly letting go of my breast.
Terrence opened the door and gave Allie an apologetic look, "He's asking for you, Alexandria. He wants to talk to you."
"Who?" She asked, even though we knew who he was talking about.
"Aaron. Aaron wants to talk to you, Allie."
She stubbornly held up her chin and said, "I am not—"
She was interrupted when her phone started ringing. I immediately got up to put Ryan in his crib in the nursery, but I didn't miss the way her eyes lit up when she saw the caller and answered it. The moment I took the baby monitor and rushed out of the room, following Allie who was sprinting towards the door, running past Aaron who looked desperate to stop her.
She opened the door, revealing Darren with a small gift box in his hands, smiling down at Allie who immediately threw herself at him. That moment I was sure that she genuinely liked him, after all, Darren was the only one about whom she talked a lot. I didn't even know the names of the rest of her one night stands.
I remembered coming across him at one or two occasions, after all he was also not spared from Larissa, the bitch's wrath. He had those charming and warm brown eyes, and an adorable goofy grin that was bound to melt her heart into a puddle. He wrapped his arms around her in an embrace and I felt Terrence stand close to me, leaning in to whisper, "Is he...?
"Yes, he is. He's Darren, Allie's, hopefully, soon to be boyfriend."
We both turned to glance at Aaron who was looking at the duo with an incomprehensible look on his face. He hadn't heard us, his eyes and ears were trained on the guy who had wrapped his arms around Allie.
They both came towards us, the happy, giddy smile on my best friend's lips telling me that my pep talk probably did it's magic.
Aaron was not going to get her anytime soon.
When they reached us, Darren held out the box and gave me a polite smile. "It's nice to meet you in person, Alyssa. I've seen you a lot at the Publishing House. Well... This is from all of us, for the the twins." He said, as I took the gift from him.
"Thank you. It's nice to meet you too. Allie talks a lot about you." The baby monitor squeaked right then, and I looked at them apologetically, "I think one of them is hungry. I'll be right back." I then turned to Allie, "See to it that he's comfortable here, okay?"
Allie nodded and I started making my way towards the bedroom when I realised that Terrence was following me.
"Where are you going?"
"I'm coming with you." He said.
"I think you should stay here, Terrence. The air is going to get quite awkward. You might be needed as a mediator."
He sighed and nodded, returning towards the new couple and his glaring best friend.
This was going to be a long day.
************************************
Allie had actually taken the whole Aaron thing better than I had expected her to. But then, maybe it was Darren's presence that calmed her down and compelled her to keep her emotions concealed. I couldn't understand what exactly was it that I was feeling right then, happiness or disappointment.
There was no doubt that I wanted my best friend to be happy, after all, I loved her to death. But I didn't want her to get her heart broken too, because I knew she'd go crazy with another love-gone-wrong.
That was the thing about her. When Allie loved and cared for someone, she was bound to do it with her whole heart without expecting anything but, at least, respect in return. She never liked ungrateful people, and for her, Aaron was far worse than ungrateful.
He had hurt her. Badly.
The gears of my brain kept whirring as I entered the nursery, finding both Raine and Ryan awake, flipped on their fronts and blabbering to themselves. They both were squealing and I wondered what was it that fascinated them so much.
"Raine, Ryan, what are you looking at?" I cooed and they lazily flipped on their backs, their grins turning towards me. Raine squealed when I bent over her crib and scooped her up in my arms.
Eww. I could smell the stink of the poop.
I put her down immediately before my clothes started smelling like poop too. Honestly, it felt like I had grown used to the smell of baby products as well as baby poop. Me breastfeeding didn't help much too, since it stank more now.
I fished out a diaper, giving and occasional smile to Ryan, who's little hand were trying to reach me. He squealed and giggled every time he touched me, making the love simmer in my veins.
Honestly, the twins smiling, giggling and squealing were the most beautiful sights for me, and nothing could beat it. Having them in my arms, feeding them, playing with them, talking to them made me feel so loved, so proud, of all four of us. It was heartbreaking to watch my babies cry, because it always took me back to the time when I had found them, looking so hopeful yet desolate and lonely.
They were my angels in disguise, because without them, I wouldn't have been here, with three more people to love and care for. Without them, I would've never known that Terrence and Larissa weren't married. I would've never fallen in live with Terrence.
"Ah. Good old memories." I heard a voice say as I was bent over Raine's crib to take off her soiled diaper. " Fresh fragrance of poop lingering in the air." She sighed, "I still remember when Xavier was born. I had really become used to the smell of potty, vomit, breast milk and baby products. I felt like common air to me."
I turned to look at Lucy with Xavier on her hip, her eyes wandering around the cute nursery. Her eyes then found mine as I rolled my eyes, and then Raine's, who gave the mother-son duo a toothless smile.
"Hi Waine. Hi Wyan." Xavier mumbled sleepily. I chuckled and ruffled his hair, but felt his warm forehead. It was unusually hot, and he looked feverish too.
"Does he have a fever?" I frowned and looked at Lucy, who nodded.
"We were going to cancel our visit and Victor and I were going to stay at home with him. But he was adamant to meet you and threw a tantrum all over the place. He kept crying and was stubborn so we gave in." She sighed.
"It's fine. He can sleep and rest here." I ran my fingers in his messy hair as he blinked up at me. "He can sleep here alone, right?" I asked Lucy.
"Yeah, he can." She said, and put Xavier on the spare bed that Terrence had bought for the nursery in case the babies refused to sleep after their midnight playing sessions. We didn't need that bed anymore, but the housekeepers that cleaned the house three days a week kept it neat and tidy.
Raine and Ryan both stared as Lucy and I put the little boy to bed, and Lucy kissed his forehead once Xavier closed his eyes. That poor boy looked so tired, he really needed the sleep. The bed was large enough so that he wouldn't fall down if he rolled like he usually did, but we still arranged the toys and cushions around him.
That was when I saw the apple in Lucy's hold.
When she saw what I was looking at, she smirked. "This apple was lying on the floor beside the couch, looking so lonely and desolate."
I blushed, looking as red as the apple itself.
"Pray tell, my dear Lisa, what was the apple doing there when it was supposed to be in the fruit bowl? And why are you blushing like how you did when I asked you about how you came to know that you started producing the milk?"
"Lucy!" I scolded, my face red and heated. This woman needed a duct tape on her mouth sometimes.
"Don't worry, Lisa. Allie told me, and let me tell you she feels guilty about it." She said sympathetically.
"She doesn't." I mumbled, scowling, yet the blush didn't leave my face.
Lucy chuckled at me, nodding her head. Her eyes were lit with him or and she said, "Allie is amazing, just as you always told me. But God! I never knew that Allie was Dree! I met her once or twice years back, whenever I went to visit Victor."
Then she frowned, "I had always thought that Aaron was in love with her, but I myself was devastated and wanted to whoop his ass when Victor told me about the disaster he created. He is in love, of course, the tension in the living room can be felt in the nursery too."
She was right. The living room was possibly the eeriest and most tensed place right now.
"You know what," Lucy started, throwing the apple on my bed, "Victor was about to take a U turn when he saw Darren, and definitely wanted us to flee when he saw the look on Aaron's face, but I saw Allie at the same moment and literally squealed her name and entered."
How come I didn't hear her squealing?
I smiled, "Poor Victor, he must be sitting with Terrence, right now, completely clueless about what to do with their stupid best friend. Honestly, I think Allie should give Darren a chance, because I don't think he'll be leaving her mind soon. Also, she might be the one to easily let go of things, but being humiliated by her first love was one thing she could never let go." I said, shaking my head.
We both stood up then and she helped me pick up both the babies so that I could place them on my hips. We walked out and went straight into the kitchen, muffling our giggles when we saw the scene out side.
A jealous ex-love.
A happy new couple.
Two horrified and clueless best friends.
Lucy and I put the babies in the baby chair and started to prepare the lunch for today's little party. I hesitated for a moment, thinking about calling Allie to join Lucy and I, but then decided against it because I didn't want the trio outside to intimidate the poor guy with her.
"Honestly, I feel bad for Aaron." Lucy sighed, standing between where Raine and Ryan were seated.
"I don't know, Lucy." I turned and leant against the kitchen counter. "I don't know whom to feel bad or sorry for. Allie has seen pretty bad days because of him. Humiliation is one thing, but facing the sympathetic faces around you makes you even more frustrated about what happened. I know, I was there till she graduated from university. Allie is strong, she definitely is." I paused, as Lucy nodded
"But I think she needs to give her heart another chance to find love, and forget whom she loved before. I know her like the back of my hand, but I still can't say if Aaron has a chance or not, because she is not going to forgive him easily."
Lucy frowned, "Aaron feels really guilty, you know. He really loves her and is ready to wait for her to forgive him, not that he isn't going to try his best. Whenever these three idiots had their lad's night, they made sure that Aaron didn't drink much, because once he was intoxicated, all he would do was sob and beg for her. He once even thought that I was Allie, and would've kissed me had not Victor punched some sense back into him. What the worst was, when Aaron had finally settled, he searched for his lady love, Dree, everywhere. He found her in a club by chance and was about to approach her when she was whisked off by another guy. He drank beyond limits that day and holed himself in his office for a week."
I let out a loud sigh.
"It's hard to say anything right now. Darren is a really nice guy, he cares for her and is the first one to ask for more after he got into her pants. He has the hots for her, and their relationship has a potential for love, then why not. If he makes her forget about—"
"Do I even have a chance?" Lucy and I jumped a feet when we heard Aaron at the kitchen entrance and stared at him wide-eyed.
Fuck! He heard us.
I shook my head dejectedly, "I honestly don't know, Aaron. It's up to her and up to what you do to get her back. Right now, you gotta lay off so she can have her mind clear."
"About Darren?" He gritted.
"Yes, she needs her mind clear about Darren." I sighed.
My, my, I was sighing a lot today.
"Is there any way I can make things right? I can't see her with that f-ducker." He corrected himself when I glared at him and gestured towards my babies.
I turned around and started collecting the ingredients, not wanting to face the hope that was shining in his eyes. It was a dangerous combination, what he was feeling. Pain, regret, hurt, guilt, grief, longing, desperation, love yet hanging yo the last threads of hope. He looked broken, and I knew if things worsened for him, he might even become an obsessive stalker who would make heaven and earth meet just to have Allie with him forever.
Love was crazy, for sure.
"Not now, Aaron. Give her some time, but at the same time, make it clear that you want her back. Don't let her think you don't care. What you did to her was horrible, and you never appeared after you humiliated and broke her so heartlessly. Your disappearance did nothing but fuelled the fire, and you don't have a single good thing on your side. I'm not trying to bring your hope and spirits down, but I'm not going to interfere. It's just you and her, and you have to earn a lot of golden points to win her back, even if she still loves you."
"She does?" His question was hopeful, and somehow determined. "I will win her back and I will win her back soon."
I turned around, looking at the determined look on his face as he gave himself a pep talk, but stilled in my tracks in horror when I saw a different kind of determined look on Ryan's face, as he let out his own version of battle cry and tested his motor skills...
By ramming the pointed fork in Aaron's ass that was facing him.
"Ryan, no!"
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!"
An ear piercing scream echoed in the entire household and I rushed towards Aaron, who collapsed onto his knees, as the fork slipped out of Ryan's hand and landed right onto his head.
Oh, poor guy.
"I deserved it." He gritted out as his whole body shook with pain. Lucy was gaping at the whole scene, frozen in her spot as she stared at Ryan who giggled.
"I'm so sorry, Aaron." I gasped, "Are you alright? God, what am I even asking?! Does it hurt?"
He looked up at me weakly, where I was crouched down next to him. He murmured, "I just thank the heavens it wasn't a knife. Two buttocks are fine, three, not so much. Tell me, Lisa, is this what you teach your babies? He aimed that thing just an inch away from my asshole." He gritted out weakly. "I thank God that it wasn't my front that was facing him."
I was mortified as I gasped loudly, but Lucy's muffled giggles were distracting me.
I ignored the sound of approaching footsteps, "I'm really sorry. I don't even know how he got hold of the fork. We always keep the pointed things away from the twins..."
I glared up at Lucy and her face immediately straightened when I threw her an accusing look, "How could you not see Ryan handling a fork?"
"What happened here?" Terrence's voice saved Lucy from answering.
Yet again, I threw an accusing look, this time at Terrence.
"Did you leave the fork near the twins' chair?"
"I..." He trailed off, as he looked at the scene.
Ryan trying to reach for the fork.
Me soothing a pained Aaron.
And Lucy struggling to keep her face straight.
It didn't take them much time to put two and two together. Victor was the one to crack up first, his boisterous laughter making Lucy's facade and mine crack for a minute. I only had to look at Aaron to not laugh, but it was difficult for Lucy as she slapped her husband's chest, who was literally on the verge of rolling on the floor.
"Don't laugh, Victor. It's rude. He's hurt."
"Where?" Victor wheezed out, still laughing.
"Ass..." Aaron said.
"Hole?" Victor said, breaking into louder fits of laughter.
"Lord, no!"
And that was the cue for Terrence to start laughing too. He picked Ryan up from the chair and said, "I had no idea it would lead to this." He struggled to say the words normally.
"I'm...sorry." And yes, he started laughing too.
Pigs.
I now looked up to see Allie standing there too, her eyes concerned as she watched Aaron getting himself together. Darren wasn't here with her, and I was thankful for that. Darren's presence would have mortified Aaron, and I was sure he didn't want to bruise his manly ego in front of his competition.
Terrence and Victor were on the floor now, laughing their asses off. At least Terrence was composed because of Ryan, but Victor?
Please, stop laughing.
My lips twitched at the scene, but my eyes widened as I saw that Ryan had gotten hold of the fork again.
"No, Ryan. Bad boy." I scolded him, and took the fork out of his hands.
"This is really not my day." Aaron murmured as everyone kept on laughing, even Ryan, who looked proud of the little stunt he had pulled.
***************
"No, Ryan. You're not getting it, it's not a toy." Terrence said, slightly scolding Ryan, who was crying as he tried to reach for the fork. He had been crying for the past half hour, and I had given him to Terrence because only he had the power not to melt under the boy's tearful eyes.
Ryan was adamant on wanting the spoon and cried as his hands tried to reach out towards the kitchen. Raine was in Allie's lap, giving Aaron, who was was on one side, her most charming grin, and paying polite attention to Darren many times.
Allie was uncomfortable in the beginning, but Raine wanted to play with Aaron and Allie together. Once she realised that Aaron was maintaining respectful distance, she relaxed.
When daddy was not going to budge, Ryan resorted to guilt-tripping mommy by crying louder and reaching out for me. Terrence sighed and I shook my head.
"I knew it. I told you, Jonah, those twins looked too much like this ape to not be his. Of course they had to be Terrence's kids, but I don't understand one thing."
We all looked at the familiar heavily pregnant woman waddling towards us with her husband in tow. She engulfed me in a warm hug, her eight month pregnant belly coming in between.
"Aria?" I asked, dumbfounded.
She ignored me and waddled quicker towards Terrence, smacking his head.
"I told you that your stupid ways are going to land you in a lot of trouble, didn't I? But oh my," she smiled widely as she cooed at Ryan, "This trouble is surely worth it."
Ryan gave her the most dazzling, charming, infamous, Powers Special grin.
"Just how small is the world?" I mumbled and gave Jonah a hug.
"I know right." He grinned at me, "At the shopping mall that day, who knew that we would meet the four of you again."
Allie was next to me in an instant as she held Raine in her arms. "Oh my, Jonah, Aria, it's so good to see you two again!"
"The babies have grown so much!" Aria squealed, her eyes lit with joy as they flickered from Raine to Ryan.
"So you are Aaron's twin." I stated, addressing Aria as she took Ryan in her arms.
"Yeah, I know it's unbelievable. An angel cannot be a twin to such a dickhead, but I had to live with what I had." She winked at me.
Allie scoffed in affirmation.
Aaron scowled, "Yeah, the fallen angel."
"But seriously, didn't I tell you that day, Jonah, that both Raine and Ryan looked like Terrence?"
"Yeah, you did." Jonah said, patting his wife's arm to calm her down.
"Wait, wait. I'm totally out of the loop here, when did the two of you meet?" Terrence butted in, raising a questioning brow at me.
"You remember that day when we met in the park?" I said, his eyes widening in realisation that I was referring to the day he met the babies for the first time.
"Oh."
By the time she had introduced herself to everyone, we were settled in, and soon all of us found ourselves in the kitchen. The kitchen was big enough for all of us to fit in, as the men folk chattered on the table, except Darren who gave his inputs occasionally, but was perfectly comfortable talking to Allie.
Aaron was annoyed, partially because of the day's happenings, and mostly because Allie was doing a perfect job in avoiding him like a plague. She wasn't paying attention to him at all, and even if she did, she smilees politely as if they hadn't shared a past together. And Darren, oh Darren, he was receiving so many death glares that it wasn't even funny.
That guy surely knew how not to be intimidated by a group full of brooding and glaring men. He also helped me in cooking, sharing some of his jokes and making Lucy and me laugh, much to Terrence and Victor's dismay. Their behaviours was border lining possessive as they kept on trying to put him down, making Aria, Lucy and me frown, but we couldn't scold them in front of him.
Their egos might get bruised even further.
The fact that probably left a gaping hole in their egos was that he was the son of Dalton Walter, the heir to his business corporations. When asked why he didn't take it up yet, he answered:
"I don't have much of an interest in business, to be honest. I like the imaginary world of novels and books, and I want to go into social welfare, but time will tell where I'll head. I like the way I am right now, and want to work my way to the top." He winked at Allie at the last part, and I swear I had never seen Allie swoon like that. I smiled inwardly, because that was huge progress in my best friend's love life.
And there was more to come.
Aaron gritted his teeth as he glanced at the hormonal duo and I could see his arm twitch, for some unknown reason. He probably realised the sexual innuendo in the last line and just like me, he knew that Allie was slipping away right through his fingers.
And he couldn't do a thing about it.
I glanced at Terrence nervously who seemed to be doing the same, and he gave me a small smile.