Chapter 21 - Part II

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"He let you go? Just like that?" Allie asked while I kept sobbing over a tub of ice cream. Romantic chick flicks had been a no go in Allie's After Aaron house so that was the only thing stopping me from hiding away from her incessant probes.

"And above that, you trust him." She stated disbelievingly.

"Of course, I trust him. He loves me, and if he said he'll come back for me, I believe him he will."

"Yeah, sure," She rolled her eyes, "When you will be on your deathbed and he will feel like telling his siblings about some woman who took care of them for the first nine months."

"What do you mean, Allie?! This is not really a time to be cynical. I need you!" I cried out.

"After what happened with Aaron, I can't help it. But you know what? I'm just trying to give you another outlook towards the situation here. So, if I'm right you know what to expect."

I hadn't spoken a single word since Terrence's father had given us the ultimatum. Whatever communication took place, it was in the form of longing glances and awkward silences. I hadn't kissed Terrence before I left. I just kissed Raine and Ryan and coddled them while they were still asleep.

Allie was wrong. Terrence would never do that to me.

"Look, Allie, if you don't feel like saying anything good, then don't say anything right now." I sniffed.

"I'm not going to stop, Liz. Let me get it out once and for all. Terrence should have fought for you. Fuck the suing and fuck the custody; he loves you and should have kept in mind what all you have done for Raine and Ryan. He wasn't the one taking in two babies in the middle of a night from a garbage bin. He wasn't the one who was ready to accept each and every change in his life for some abandoned kids he had no idea about. Terrence definitely should have fought for you, Lisa. He should have dragged his father and should have showed him all the fucking evidences because even tomorrow sounds too late. Can you, at this point of time, imagine your life without twins or Terrence?"

I shook my head, not being able to control my tears. I hated it that she sounded completely right, when right now the most important thing for me was to keep faith in Terrence and hope that everything will be alright.

Allie sighed, "Look, Lisa. You as well as I know that Larissa is a master manipulator. She will do anything to keep her place as the Queen of the house, even if it means abandoning her own children. You gave her a few minutes and she managed to play the mother card and turn Vincent against you. You heard her, right? Her lies sounded utterly convincing for someone who doesn't know you. What I really fear is that given a few days, she'll manage to turn Terrence against you, too."

"God, Alexandria! I need your support right now! And I definitely want you to encourage me to keep faith in Terrence, not to make me fear the worst! So help me now and fucking cuddle me to make me feel slightly better!" I shouted.

"It's about what you think. I think that I'm preparing you for the worst. This is something so fucking common with super rich people and playboy billionaires: they leave you completely clueless as to what they want next. And we're always the ones who end up heartbroken at the end. As much as I want to believe Terrence is not like that, I can't really say anything." She shrugged.

I snapped.

"What do you mean you can't say anything? He is not like that! He will prove you wrong and will come back for me very soon!"

"You as well as I hope that you are right and I am wrong. The thing is - Terrence hasn't shown any inclination towards proving me wrong. He had promised he'd stay by your side no matter what happened, right? I don't see him anywhere by your side right now. I think it's me who's been watching you break down and fuss over worrying about Raine and Ryan since the past hour. Sue me for being protective over my best friend and having an overactive imagination." She said, calmly.

"I'm calling, him."

"Then I should hope that he won't reject you call this time, unlike all your other calls." She retorted blandly.

I dialled his number and waiting for the call to connect, desperately hoping that he'd pick the call and shove all the nagging doubts away with his voice.

He picked up.

"God, Terrence, I've been calling you for so long! Why weren't you picking the calls?" I sobbed into the phone.

"I'm sorry, Alyssa. Terrence's busy right now."

I froze the moment I recognised Miranda's voice and for a moment I didn't know what to say. The ice cream spoon in my hold snapped and I wasn't sure how I was going to hold up anymore. Allie gave me a worried look.

Just when my will to keep faith in him was going to succumb to my doubts and worries, I heard Terrence's voice on the other side.

"What are you doing on my phone, Miranda?"

"Just making it clear to her that you guys are no longer together."

*No longer together?

I sent an impassive look to Allie.

Just when I was about to hang up, I heard and harsh, pained whisper on the other side and just like that, my heart melted.

"Alyssa, it's you."

Choking in my sob and letting out a wry chuckle, I said, "No longer together, huh?"

"Alyssa? Please don't tell me you believed a word of all the bullshit Miranda probably said to you." He said.

"She said you were busy. What are you doing with her, Terrence?" I couldn't help but ask, accusingly.

"Are you really trying to give me an idea that you believe I am cheating?" He voice broke at the end.

"You're not giving me anything else to think, Terrence!" I cried out, "You weren't answering the calls and I have been worried sick!"

"It's just been an hour, Alyssa." He said.

"And that's not going to stop me from worrying about Raine and Ryan! How are they? What are they doing?"

"They are fine. They're with me." His tone was awfully clipped and my heart broke a little.

"You've brought the kids when you're busy with *her*?" I simply asked. My brain had absolutely no chances of figuring out my emotions.

"Alyssa." Terrence sighed, "I am not here to meet her. I came to see Victor, Aaron and Lucy, and Aria and Jonah came along. I didn't know they were bringing her, too."

"So she knows the truth now?" I asked.

"No, she doesn't. She just believes we broke up or something."

"I don't care. How are Raine and Ryan?" I sat up and abandoned the ice cream tub.

"They are fine, but they are searching for you. They are probably thinking that this is one of the times you went to work for longer hours, or the times when we had had then stay at Jenny or Allie's place overnight. But, God, do I miss you, Alyssa. I miss you so much."

I couldn't help but ask, "Really?"

"What's gotten into you, Alyssa?" He asked, in a whisper.

"She's worried sick and getting more and more insecure with passing time. That's what's gotten into her." I heard Lucy's voice linger through the phone.

I think she snatched the cell phone from him because next, she muttered into the phone, "Clueless men."

"Hey, Lizzy. It's Lucy." She spoke.

"Yeah, I heard." I replied.

"How are you doing?" She asked.

"What do you think?" I asked her, sardonically. This was one question Lucy would understand more than anyone else. She had Xavier and Victor, people who she loved more than her own life.

"Feeling like you lost your home? Felling like Terrence doesn't love you anymore - or never did love you at all? Feeling like you were right in the beginning after all? That you were just a babysitter and now that he doesn't need you anymore, you are out for good? Wondering if the next time you meet Raine and Ryan will be when you die and Terrence will be philanthropic enough to let them attend you funeral - if he remembers you, then?"

The protests I heard from the other side, coming from Terrence, immediately stopped when I muttered a, "Yeah," with a sigh.

Lucy spoke again, "Then I'll tell you one thing. Terrence still loves you, as much as he did before, if not more. The rest of the assurances, he can give himself once we meet in, like, fifteen minutes. I gather you're at Alexandria's place?"

God, she was such a wonderful woman.

"Yeah. I didn't feel like going back to my own."

"Alright, tell Allie to get her home ready for the troops."

And she hung up the phone.

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Terrence crushed me to himself the moment he stepped inside. I clung to him and sobbed into his shoulder, clutching him tightly.

From the corner of my eyes, I saw a blurry image of Allie letting everyone in, and blushing particularly when her eyes met Aaron's.

Immediately, I pulled away from Terrence, searched for the twins, who were bouncing and squealing in their strollers while stretching their arms towards me. I was picking them one by one the next moment, showering them with kisses.

Their giggles soothed my aching heart, and for those few moments, all I wanted was just to be in our own bubble and forget everyone else.

Just me and my babies.