Filed to story: Bring It On My Mafia Life Novel (Rhea & Lukas)
“It’s okay, I totally understand. You are a brave man, Elijah,” Victor began to pat him on the shoulder, feeling pity for his in-law. Raising Caleb alone was hell for him, imagine adding three other Calebs to the picture, he might as well dig his own grave and rest in peace.
The staff came in to clean up the mess the children made, especially the boys – although Leah has no problem copying her brothers – and it took a while to get the children under control. Minutes later, they took up respective positions on the sofa with the kids tucked in between them or resting on their bodies.
It would have been a nice moment for them all if it wasn’t for the fact that the kids were watching a children’s cartoon and the adults in the room were close to throwing up if they watched that a minute longer.
“How did my life get to this point?” Lukas muttered, tired. The cartoon was predictably childish unlike his daughter who enjoyed every second with her eyes glued to the screen.
“You mean, ‘we’ right?” Victor pointed out that they were all involved in this.
“Because we got married.” Elijah groaned, pinching the space between the brows. The carton’s chant alone made him want to throw up. How could you ask the audience the number of objects available when the answer was clear on the screen?
He said, “I suddenly wish to be my brother Ezra who’s determined not to get caught married.”
Victor turned to him, “He and Cindy broke up again?”
“For the tenth time? Yes. Both of them are so toxic yet right for each other.”
“This is not how I imagined this night would go. I was thinking about beer and having lots of fun.” Lukas grumbled.
“I feel you, Bro. I just don’t feel these kids who are oddly up at this time. Do you think they know our plan and are doing this on purpose?” Elijah asked.
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” Lukas muttered, staring at her wide-eyed daughter. She did not seem ready to go to bed anytime soon.
“Not unless we have fun with them.” Victor straightened up with an idea, his eyes gleaming.
“I don’t like that look,” Lukas shook his head, “Rhea would kill me if she knows I’m out with her kid.”
“And so would Mimi, but they wouldn’t be back anytime soon and we can have as much fun with the kids.”
Elijah was uncertain about this, but he would say yes to anything that would keep him from watching this crappy carton.
“What’s the plan?”
Victor smirked, “Nothing harmless, I think.”
He’s going to regret this, Lukas swore under his breath.
“I feel sick,” Adele moaned over the toilet seat.
“Shhh, it’s okay,” Rhea muttered, rubbing her back, “You’re going to be fine and we are going to take you home right now.”
“No, I’ll be -” She was about to protest when another wave of nausea hit her and she was retching into the toilet once more.
Good thing no other person was coming in to use the restroom since this wasn’t exactly a pretty sight. Adele was kneeling over the toilet while Rhea was behind her keeping her hair from getting in the way. The toilet cubicle was opened since it wasn’t spacious enough for the both of them.
“Mimi, could you stop staring at that strip and get the car ready? ” Rhea chided her with a glower. This was not a joke.
Mimi in question was leaning against the sink and staring at the pregnancy strip as if it was a national treasure. While Adele had not denied the allegation of sleeping with her “husband” she was positive that she wasn’t pregnant.
It was too early nor did she have plans of having more kids, with four pain in the ass already waiting for her at home. Moreover, they – she and Elijah – have been careful and there was no way she could be pregnant. So the women decided on a test and the result was as clear as daylight. Adele was pregnant. Her shagging with Elijah had not gone unrewarded.
Instead of making a move, Mimi asked instead, “Why is she throwing up at night though? I thought morning sickness should happen in the morning, hence the name?”
“Pregnancy-related nausea isn’t just a morning thing. It can strike at night, too.” Rhea answered not only Mimi, but Adele, who was also curious about her condition, “Night-time queasiness is especially unpleasant. Moreover, it differs from pregnancy to pregnancy, so just because you didn’t experience it during your first birth doesn’t mean it wouldn’t appear the second.”
She added, “If I were you Adele, I would be more concerned if this isn’t another multiple pregnancy.”
Rhea had not intended to scare her but pointed out a fact, however, the blood drained from Adele’s face while Mimi burst into hysterical laughter to everyone’s surprise. She laughed and laughed till she found out that all eyes were on her and they didn’t look amused at all.
“A-hem,” She cleared her throat, composed herself, and said, “I’ll get the car ready then.”
And with that, she was out of the restroom in five strides. However, she was barely out of there before another laughter palmed her mouth and she had to cup her mouth so as not to let a sound escape.
Mimi was not exactly mocking Adele, but she made the mistake of graphically imagining the scene of her new friend giving birth to another set of Quadruplets and the chaos that was to follow after. It was an explicit visual of Adele and her husband Elijah trying to handle eight kids with just an age gap of two years and being comical was an understatement. It was hilarious hence the uncontrollable outbursts of laughter.
But she had a job to do and hence went outside to where the car was packed and picked hers. The three of them had all come with their cars and Rhea didn’t exactly give her specific instructions nor keys for hers, so she assumed her own car was good to go.
“Good to go.” Mimi sent her a text as soon as she was done starting the car and tested her headlight by flashing them once.
“How are you feeling now? Do you think you’re ready to move around on your own?” Rhea asked Adele who was now up on her feet and rinsed her mouth in the sink.
“I’m good.” Adele told her, “And I’m sorry that our outing had to end abruptly like this.”
Rhea could see the guilt on her face and told her right away, “You don’t need to feel guilty over anything. Both of you would have done the same for me had I been the one in your condition.”
Before Adele had the chance to counter her words and let the guilt eat at her, Rhea already looped her arms around hers and pulled her out. This was not the time to wallow in guilt and things that she had no control over.
They got outside and located Mimi who waved at them to get in. Rhea and Adele did not worry about their cars knowing they would be sent back to their places in one piece. Hence they climbed into Mimi’s car and she drove off.
Once in the car, Adele was lying with her legs stretched out on the backseat, her head on Rhea’s lap while she worked her hand through her hair. It was a soothing motion and comfortable position until Mimi began with her questioning.
“So when did you and Elijah begin to get close to each other?”
“Mimi, Adele is not in the position to tall right now. Save the questions for -“
“No, it’s okay,” Adele said and squeezed Rhea’s hand to tell her that it was okay. After what happened tonight, it was obvious that there was a shift in their relationship and it was for good. Rhea and Mimi finally managed to pull down her walls.
“It was after the quadruplet’s birth…” There was a slight furrow on her face as she thought about it, “Or perhaps while I was still pregnant. It was hard not to fall in love again with a man that took good care of you. Perhaps, I intentionally closed up my heart perceiving he was only fulfilling the role of being there for the children. There was no need to get invested in a relationship that was doomed to fail. So I ignored him until the children were born and I couldn’t resist it anymore. His actions became genuine and the attraction was ignited once again, I guess.” Adele confessed, her cheeks already hot from shame. She was not used to sharing intimate information about her marriage.
“Jesus Christ!” Mimi slapped her thigh in disbelief, “How did I not notice that?! And the both of you hid it for how long? Two years? Geez, both of you deserve an Oscar award for best acting.”
“They were not acting, you were just carried away in your own happiness to notice the changes in their relationship,” And please eyes on the road, my daughter is too young to be without a mother. “Rhea told her.
Of course, they continued the conversation until they got to Elijah’s residence and drove through the driveway, packing in the garage. All three women had just stepped out when Rhea was the first to notice,
“Isn’t that Lukas’s car or are my eyes playing tricks on me?” She pointed at the familiar SUV packed alongside others and the plate number was even the same.
Mimi said, “I don’t think so? What would he be doing here….” She trailed off as she located another familiar car too, “Victor? What…?”
And then she and Rhea’s eyes connected as they made the connection, their husbands were here! The same husbands who had promised to stay home and take care of the kids while they hung out. So what is this?
Without a word, the woman stomped out of the driveway and walked into the house. On their way coming, they noticed the exuberant noise made by the kids and adults alike. At almost one in the morning, the children were playing around instead of sleeping.
Oh, they had so many questions to answer.
But when they came into the living room, nothing prepared Rhea for the scene of watching her daughter among others run away from something. Or someone. The scene played out in slow motion before her like some cinematic masterpiece. Rhea watched as her daughter Aricel ran with all of her strength from someone who turned out to be her father.
Lukas carried a compressed gas-powered gun with paint-filled pellets that he fired at her as she ran. But one of the paintballs hit her in the back and her daughter dramatically fell to the ground.
And died.
What the fuck, Rhea’s jaw dropped to the ground.
He should have known.
Lukas felt his phone ring earlier, but then, he had been so engulfed in the fun he was having with the children that he ignored it. Moreover, he had not expected Rhea home until the early hours of the morning, nor had it ever crossed his mind that she would ever come here.
Even late at night, the children had a great burst of energy and didn’t tire easily and who knew that the game would turn out to be more fun than he thought? Victor decided that they should play paintball and it was even stunning that he had the equipment in his booth as if he had seen this coming.
Enlightening the kid on how to play the game was a bit taxing at first, but after about four trial games, they were good to go. The kids were smart and Lukas couldn’t have been more proud of his daughter over the way she expertly dodged the Marker, paint-filled pellet.
However, they were holding back on purpose because he, Elijah, and Victor were all expert shooters and this was supposed to be fun. But then, he had to be impartial and could not spare his daughter nor that he had her in sight.
Aside from that, Lukas was a leader and thus needed to test his daughter and see if she had the same ingredients to take over his position one day, even if she was merely two years old. It was never too old to start grooming his heir.
So he fired pellet after pellet at her, but she couldn’t dodge him forever, and to his surprise, his daughter didn’t try to ignore the shot and run off like the other kids who had been hit, she fell like a worthy warrior. Pride filled Lukas’s chest, and he ripped off the mask, showing off the lips on his lips.
He was about to walk over to his daughter and lift her to her feet since she was still pretending to be dead only to sense movements from the corner of his eyes and turn only for his heart to leap out of his chest.
Oh no.
He was dead meat.
It was his wife, Rhea.
And no, he was not hallucinating.
Rhea was standing right in front of him.
He looked at her and the shock on his face as she stared at her kid was not surprising. He would be shocked too if he were in her shoes, nor did he tell her his intention of coming here. Lukas knew that he had to do something. Someone had to save his ass.
And so, Lukas reached for the weapon that has been tested and proven to melt her raging heart. He carried Aricel off her the ground and into his arms as he carefully approached her, saying, “Guess who is the best mummy in the world?”
Lukas gave Rhea a lopsided grin just as their little girl recognized her presence, “Mummy!” Aricel made grabbing motions with her little hands and Lukas knew what that meant because he handed the child to her.