Reyona almost laughed out loud at the priceless expression on Ruth Lanoth's face as she entered and met her with the kids. They were eating the crackers that Reyona bought on her way to the house and surfing through the channels to see what show would satisfy all parties involved, as she had met the kids arguing over the channel that the eldest had put on.
Thomas's mother had never learned the habit of locking up her door, as she had said that she did not have a property that belonged to a burglar. So, it was quite normal for Reyona to simply walk through the door and call out to her mother-in-law if she didn't immediately see her in the living room.
Lugging the grocery bags she had with her, she opened the door, picked up the bags, and used one of them to push the door wider. She entered and called out even before she fully raised her head."Mum, are you…?"
She trailed off as she saw the three miniature copies of her husband staring back at her. Two of them had been in a tussle over the remote while the baby was waving her arms excitedly at the antics of her siblings. They all stopped their activities and looked at Reyona in confusion.
She had been expecting to see them.
Of course, they were the reason why she came there today. She had even bought some cereals she wouldn't normally buy for Ruth after the salesgirls had said they were nutritious for children. She had bought them, intending to shock her two-faced mother-in-law.
She had come there to see the shock on her mother-in-law's face when she saw her, but she was the one who got the shock of her life when she saw the facial characteristics of her husband on the children's innocent faces. The kind of faces she had expected to see in individuals they would call their children. Unexpected tears burned the back of her eyes, but she knew she had to hold them off.
"Who are you?" the only boy among them asked in curiosity as he lifted off the couch where he had been trying to get the remote from his sister.
Reyona smiled as she gave him an appreciative look.
The boy was brave. She would give him that; she knew of kids his age who would turn mute at the sight of strangers.
"And who are you?" Reyona asked as she felt the pull on her arms, and she dropped the groceries on the table.
The boy raised himself to his full height as he thumped his chest and declared that he was the man of the house.
The eldest of his sisters snorted from behind him and told him to dream on.
"Grandma said so!" the boy said petulantly as he faced his sister, forgetting about Reyona for the moment.
The girl rolled her eyes at him. "Grandma was just trying to be nice because she knew that you are a crybaby and she didn't want you to...."
She couldn't complete her sentence as her brother launched at her with outrage that only a man could muster because she was called a crybaby.
"I am no crybaby!" he declared again as he looked for what to do for his sister after jumping on her and decided that collecting the remote from her would be the best punishment. His mother had told him to never pull her hair again after all.
The sister was also bent on stretching her hand farther so that he wouldn't be able to collect the remote. Just as Reyona wanted to intervene, she felt a slight tug on her pants leg, and she looked down to see their baby sister's hand on her clothes.
The child beamed at Reyona so sweetly that she almost teared up again as she bent down to the level of the beautiful child, who seemed to have lost interest in her sibling's uninteresting squabble as she admired Reyona's hair.
When Reyona was at face level with her, the kid raised her chubby hand to Reyona's hair, which she pulled gently and rubbed against her cheek as she said "Pwety" and then gave Reyona a cheeky grin again.
"Oh, this is too much," Reyona thought as she almost lost her composure when she thought briefly that this was the kind of sweet kid she had instigated her separation from her mother.
She nodded at the girl who moved closer to her and checked out her patterned tunic top as she bestowed another "Pwety" comment on Reyona."You are pretty too," Reyona said to the child, who beamed beautifully before she turned around in a pirouette like she was on a runway. The girl was a beauty with her curly brown hair, piercing pale blue eyes, and clear skin devoid of freckles that were most prominent on the faces of kids her age.
"Do you think we should let her get close to Leah like that? We don't know her."
"She is cool; she called Grandma Mom the other time. She is not a bad type."
"Still…"
"Quit your yapping and get your mouth off my face. Your breath stinks."
"No, it did not!" The boy dumped the whispers they had been speaking in before and shouted at his sister, then his eyes alighted on the remote that his sister had dropped.
His sister wouldn't let him have it, though, and they started their tussle again.
The baby, Leah, was it? She turned to Reyona and said, "I want Disney Junior."
"Well, then you will watch..."
"No!" her elder siblings both chorused as they looked over at Reyona.
"No, anything but Disney Junior! All they do there is baby stuff!" The boy lamented, and his sister nodded her head in agreement.
"Okay, what about we do it like this? Let's all surf through the channels, anyone you feel like watching, and Leah... It's Leah, right?"
Leah nodded, and the boy asked, "How did you know?"
"You mentioned it, dummy," his sister bopped him on the head. "Let her continue."
"I am no dummy," he whispered, not willing to let his sister have the last words as he turned back to Reyona.
"So if Leah agrees with what you two agree on, that is what we will pick, yeah?"
The two of them looked at each other before they nodded reluctantly."Leah?"The kid shook her head; her hair bounced with her movements, and then she smiled at Reyona again.
Disarmed in the face of such sweetness, Reyona hurriedly looked around as she pondered aloud, "I need something to munch on. Who wants some crackers and juice?"
The boy shouted enthusiastically that he wanted it, and Leah nodded her head as she clapped her hands excitedly.
Their sister called the boy "Glutton" before she said she could eat one or two.
Reyona smiled as she took the groceries to the kitchen.
Spoken like a diva. She shook her head as she thought of how well-behaved the children were.
"If only your sire was not such a scum," she thought as she got out the platter to pour the cracker. She dropped the groceries on the counter. Ruth could stock her fridge. She thought in anger as she left the kitchen again.
She collected the remote after bringing out the juices, and as she sat, she saw Leah looking at her lap."Do you want me to carry you?" she asked, and the child nodded.
Reyona couldn't deny the fact that the baby knew how to warm her way to her heart. She was sorry for these kids, but that wouldn't change anything. "Come," she said to the baby with her arms spread in invitation.
"It was because mum used to..."The older one jabbed her brother in the sides, and he shut his mouth.
Reyona, of course, knew what he wanted to say. It was about the bitch who decided to trick her fellow woman with Thomas. She remembered that she didn't get the kids' names as she surfed through the channels, and they all kept saying, "No, no.".
Of course, she had their names, but it would seem weird if she blurted them out without them telling her, so she asked them.
The boy said, "You already know my sister's name is Leah." His sister smacked her forehead as she rolled her eyes at him.
He poked his tongue out at her. "My name is..."He jerked his head towards the door when he heard, "Where are my sweethearts?"
"Grandma!" he shouted.
Ruth, who was removing her outdoor shoes by the door, raised her head, and the smile on her face morphed into a horrified look.
Reyona had to hold herself from laughing even as she felt the well of sadness deepen within her.
This was the woman she had treated like family since she knew her.
The woman she called mom.