O P H E L I A ' S P O V
"Mummy, mummy!" I heard a high, squeaky voice shouting from up the stairs.
I turned my head just in time to see my little girl, Olivia, hurrying in the kitchen with her pink Power Puff Girls backpack on, matching lunch bag in her hand, and curly hair done to perfection.
"Stop running, baby, you'll hurt yourself," I scolded as I turned my attention to her.
She jut out her bottom lip slightly, playing with her fingers, "Sorry, mummy," She apologised solemnly, but not even a second later, a big beautiful smile was back on her face. "Look! Daddy did my e-edgez." She struggled to pronounce the last word.
I bent down slightly and placed her on the counter next to where I was preparing her lunch. "Aren't you beautiful? Daddy did a good job," I praised as I placed my hand in her curly locks.
I took note of her pink, flowery, beautiful dress and her not-so-matching light green sneakers. I smiled as I shook my head, placing my hand on my hip and jutting it out to the side just as I heard heavy footsteps descending down the stairs.
The first thing I saw was a 6-foot 4 man waltzing in the kitchen, smug smile on his face and slight beard adorning his chin, which was in desperate need of a shave. Immediately after, I noticed another mop of curly hair on his shoulder, thumb tightly tucked into their mouth.
"Morning, my beautiful wife," Levi hummed as he kissed my cheek tenderly. We both heard a whine coming from the girl on his shoulder, making Levi pull back and look to his left, "What's wrong, princess?" He cooed.
Olivia was getting restless by now and took this time to put her hand in my hair, tugging and pulling at it.
"My daddy," Sofia mumbled stubbornly. I glared at the little girl in Levi's arms. She was definitely a daddy's girl, wanting to be constantly in Levi's arms at all times.
Levi chuckled deeply, his eyes showing mischief as he spoke, "It's okay, princess, I can be both of your daddies," He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at me.
I gasped as I hit the kitchen cloth that was over my shoulder in his face, hearing his deep laughter as he covered his face.
Levi gently placed Sofia on the ground, the little one immediately latching onto his leg, sucking on her thumb as if her life depended on it.
"How did you dress my children, Levi?" I tsked as I gestured towards Olivia's outfit. He smiled excitedly as he clasped his hands together, "It's great, isn't it? Think it'll make the boys scared to approach them?" He asked hopefully. "Forget about the outfit for a second, look at these smoking edges," He whistled. "Shalissa taught me how to do it." He stated proudly.
I face-palmed painfully as I watched Olivia pick up each one of the cherries from the counter and pop them into her tiny mouth. I sighed, "I hardly think the boys at kindergarten will refrain from approaching the girls just because you mismatched their outfit," I teased. "And what did I tell you about dressing them alike?"
Levi groaned as he moved behind me, obviously carrying Sofia with him with each step that made, wrapping his arms around me and placing them on my stomach as he situated his head in my neck.
"Come on, baby." He groaned. "They're twins, they're supposed to dress alike." He pointed out.
I sighed as I tilted my head to the side, his hands massaging my stomach, "How's the kicker?" He whispered against my skin.
I hummed, "He's kicking," I joked. "Didn't give me a break last night."
"Mummy, can I get down?" Olivia kicked her feet as she outstretched her hands.
"Sure, honey," I made a move to lift her up.
Levi, however, stops me, "Don't want to put a strain on the baby," He advised as he lifted her down himself.
I rolled my eyes at his antics, "She's not even 50 pounds, Levi," I shot.
He smiled as he ignored me and bent down to Sofia's and Olivia's level, "Hey, why don't you girls go and play, hm? And change your green shoes while you're at it," He smiled at them.
Olivia laughed giddily as she pulled along Sofia who was a bit reluctant to follow.
"Now for you, Levi Jr." Levi got on his knees as he placed his hands on my stomach, his head directly in front of it. "Can you please let my wife get a good night's sleep tonight?" He asked sweetly as he placed a kiss on my stomach.
I smiled as I ran my hand over his hair. Only God knew how much I wanted this child out of me. I never went through this much with Sofia and Olivia, and they were twins!
"Now get up so that I can hurry up and make lunch for their first day of school," I tried to shoo him away.
He looked up at me through his eyelashes, a glint shining throughout his eyes. "I bet I could do something that'll relax you," He murmured huskily as he slowly began hiking up my summer dress.
"Levi," I whined. "The girls are just upstairs and we're in the kitchen," I whispered harshly. "Another time, hm?" I said.
"Babyy," Levi whined. "You're seven months pregnant and I haven't tasted you in months," He groaned.
His hands snuck their way up to my panty, my bottom lip curling between my teeth at the hot trail he left behind with his tongue up my thigh.
My eyes fluttered open widely when we heard the doorbell ring.
I sighed as Levi looked up, my mind beginning to wander suddenly.
Four years ago, when Levi and I got married, he sold the mansion, firing all of his maids and workers. He ensured they still got good jobs, including Sam, despite him not being with Levi for a long time, and made sure that Gerald got a fat check of $750,000 just for him and his wife to live off of.
Levi said the house would be too big for our little family, and the millions of dollars he made off of it, bought the nice four-bedroom two-bathroom house that we had now. The rest of the money he placed in an account which would be for our children's college funds.
Levi still owned his large company, making way more money than we would ever need. He planned to retire at a very early age, only going to work two or three days a week to not only take care of Sofia and Olivia but me.
I got my degree for medicine two years ago, and with the help of Levi, I was now working for one of the best surgeons in the state, despite wanting to be a paediatrician. I now make a wealthy well-off 5-digit salary monthly, and I could never ask for a better job.
"Fuck, who's that?" Levi grunted as he rose from his knees. We both headed to the door, twisting and turning the knob to reveal Shalissa and Elijah.
I smiled widely and threw my arms around Shalissa gently, ensuring not to hit my stomach. I haven't seen her for 2 weeks, due to her and her new husband, Elijah, being on their honeymoon.
"I missed you too, sweet girl," I heard Shalissa laugh. Elijah and Levi hugged each other, soon after busying themselves with talk about business.
"Where're the girls?" Shalissa's smile faltered for a quick second as she asked this.
"Oh, they're—"
"Auntie Lisa!" Olivia yelled as she stumbled swiftly into the hallway, soon heading face down if it wasn't for Elijah quickly grabbing her and swinging her in his arms.
I felt my heart begin to beat normally again before a scowl formed on my face, "What did I tell you about running, young lady?" I scolded once again.
Olivia mumbled her apologies before planting a fat one on Elijah's cheek, "D-Did you bwing anyting for me, Uncle Eli?" Olivia bounced in his arms.
"Olivia," I glared at the little girl. Elijah chuckled and shook his head, "In fact, pretty girl, I did." He looked to Shalissa to open the bag that they walked in with.
Soon after, Sofia came trotting into the kitchen like a lost little girl. She tugged on Levi's pants, refusing to acknowledge the presence of anyone else in the room.
Shalissa shook her head as Levi picked Sofia up, smiling at his little girl when she rested her head on his shoulder and fluttered her eyes closed. "What is she going to do when she leaves for school and Levi isn't going to be there?" She tsked.
I shook my head in disapproval, the answer still a mystery to me, "Let's head into the living room." I smiled.
Everyone made their way to the front house as I made a move to close the door, immediately stopping when I saw a car pull up in our driveway.
I squinted my eyes just in time to see Angela stepping out, along with Thomas.
Thomas was Angela's boyfriend. What happened years ago between Angela and Levi's father apparently was because Angela said that she couldn't stand not seeing her son anymore and that they should go over at Levi's house and try to make peace with us.
Levi's father obviously didn't take too kindly to this admission and slapped her right across her face.
It was two months before Levi decided that something must be done and this was the time when Angela then filed for a divorce. It was definitely an easier process since Angela wanted nothing from that man. He had treated her too badly over the years and she didn't want anything that would be a reminder of it.
Two years later she met Thomas at her work and months later, they were in a more than healthy relationship.
Her eyes lit up when she saw me, that healthy glow in her skin shining in the sunlight. "Ophelia!" She ran toward me the best that she could in her long heels.
"It's so nice to see you!" She hugged me tightly. I nodded my head in Thomas' direction. He wasn't a man of many words, that was for sure, but he was still good for Angela nevertheless. "How's the little one?" She gushed as she massaged my stomach with her hand. I pushed my hair out of my face and looked adoringly down at my stomach. "He's surely creating a ruckus in there." I smiled.
"Come in, come in!" I said politely as I gestured to the front house. "Everyone's in the living room already."
She gave my shoulder a comforting pat before walking past me and pulling Thomas along with her.
I waddled my way toward the front house, my swollen feet becoming a problem for me. I plopped down tiredly on the couch, Levi quickly grabbing a pillow to support my back before asking, "Mother? What are you doing here?" He pulled my feet up on his lap and began massaging them.
"Can't I visit my grandchildren?" She glared. "Now come here, babies!" She smiled largely as the two girls giggled and ran into her arms. "Are you ready for your first day of school?" She asked as she bopped Sofia's nose.
"I am, I am!" Olivia cheered. "Daddy says he'll buy me a large cookies and cweam ice cweam if I tell him the name of the boys that talks to me," She giggled.
Levi's eyes widened before he spoke, a nervous chuckle leaving his throat as he looked at the glare I sent him, "No, no. Daddy didn't say that, A-Angel." He slackened his collar from around his neck.
Everyone in the room laughed loudly, the conversation soon beginning to take a turn to Elijah and Shalissa's honeymoon.
Did I mention that Vincent's was closed down? They had gone bankrupt, due to low customers. Although Rachel was never the best to me, Levi still took note of how kind her parents were to me, giving me a job when I was in need of one. Because of this, he placed $75,000 in an account just for them alone and even was so kind, because of me, to get Rachel another job.
Last time I checked, she was working as a waitress for an upscale restaurant downtown. Unfortunately, up to this day, I never knew the reason why she treated me the way she did, and I never asked, wanting my past to be left where it belonged.
I didn't hear from Trinity again, but I hoped that she was living a good life.
The same couldn't be said about Amanda. I supposed she was happy, being on television from time to time as the wife of the oldest millionaire in the state, being 64 years old, and having a beautiful 5-year-old son.
"What are you thinking about, baby?" I heard Levi ask me.
"Hmm?" I turned my head to him. "Nothing, everything." I hummed. I took a long pause. "Thank you, Levi," I whispered softly.
His eyebrows furrowed, "For what?"
I smiled, "For giving me a family. Two beautiful girls, a son on the way and for being an amazing husband and person in general, despite everyone telling you that I wasn't good enough for you— that you deserved better." I stared up the ceiling, my vision growing blurry.
It wasn't long before I felt Levi wound his hands around my body, hugging me tightly and whispering in my hair, "No one could've been better for me than you, Ophelia. I've always had high expectations for us, love— High Hopes."