Chapter 28: Epilogue — Katie

I was in the penthouse, thinking about my three men and how they’ve changed my life. I’d gone from the shy nanny to not having just one baby, but three for Pete. The guys had accepted our new arrangement, and the year had swiftly passed.

“Sorry, you Katie Baldson?” a voice cried out as soon as I got out of the building. I was taking the twins for a walk, something I’d been doing for the last couple of months. I used to do it with Stan, then Pete, but the twins were older and pretty good on their feet.

“Mama,” Rachel said as she pulled on my hand. Stan offered to come with me, but I felt like spending some time with them alone. I hadn’t done it in a while.

“We need to go.” I turned to face the small-framed woman who had spoken to me. It was then it hit me, as she bent down to face Rachel—they were a copy of each other. The same hazel eyes, the same warm smile, and long dark hair. Everyone said that Rachel was a mirror-of her mom, whereas Steven was of his dad.

“Baby. I just want to talk to mama one minute, mi cariña, okay?”

It was as if Rachel, who never spoke to strangers, let alone listened to them, automatically stopped yanking my arm. She found a calming relief by talking to her. She stopped and then looked at me.

I agreed with her. “Yes, we need to talk. Follow me.”

My heart was pounding out of control. I had to go home at some point, something I never had the heart to do. It would mean everyone knowing I was with three men. It was crazy; I shouldn’t care, because Mom knew and had accepted it, and everyone who we knew in L.A. knew about our relationship. But people back home… that was another hurdle—one I wasn’t sure I was brave enough to face.

Now, what? She’d be gone, and now she was back to talk to me. I thought Rachel and Steven were fed up with being inside all the time. They should be in daycare right now, they needed interaction with other kids. The twins were only babies, but Rachel and Steven were older and they needed stimulation, besides I couldn’t give them all the attention they needed and deserved all the time.

“You spoke to Rick?”

She shook her head. It didn’t take a genius to figure out she was Maite.

As I thought, she’d been watching me. It was the only reason she would know I was here at this time, or that I would be with the twins.

“They good. I see them. They good children.”

Her words made me feel even more defensive as she looked at them as we got to the crossing. I could see love in her eyes, but that didn’t take away the fact that she left them. She dumped them in the middle of the hallway and ran. She left a note with Rick’s apartment number, and said he should take them.

Maite was standing in front of me. The one who had her heart broken by Rick, but why was she back now? Did she come back for the twins? Or even worse, my husband-to-be?

As we crossed the street and we entered the gated playground, I knew the twins couldn’t get lost, and they would run to the castle, the same one they did whenever we went to the park. She naturally walked toward it, which confirmed what I’d already suspected—she’d been following us for a while.

“So?” I asked crossing my arms, waiting impatiently to her to speak. I knew what she was going to say. My shirt was light and I had shorts on, but all of a sudden I felt hot, as if I was in the middle of a heatwave. As the twins settled on the slide, I knew it wouldn’t be long before one of them got bored. She had to talk fast before one of them had a fall or got bored.

“I think I want my kids. But I’m not sure how to do it…” She paused which gave me a little bit of relief. She didn’t have a plan, and for some reason, it gave me some relief. It meant that she would probably change her mind or leave?

Fuck!

What was I thinking?

I was being harsh, so I remained silent and nodded, waiting for her to continue. The idea of her being here, wanting to speak to me, and not Rick, was a dead giveaway. She wanted to talk about the kids, and most likely felt that seeing as I was a woman, I was the right person to talk to first.

“I don’t suppose you could think of a way to talk to them for me.”

“Me?” I pointed at myself. “Why would I help someone who had abandoned their own children and left a note? A good candidate to help get back their kids. What, you going to do again? Get bored and dump them again?”

I didn’t wait for a response as I noticed Rachel wandering off, indicating as I had suspected she would do. She was bored. I turned to see if she followed, but she didn’t.

Good!

I sighed as I took a deep breath, thinking I’d got rid of her already. I felt guilty about it, but she posed as a threat. In a few weeks I would be Mrs. Rick Steele, and nothing was going to stand in the way. We had kids together and she was coming back into their lives and killing it. I couldn’t let her do that. I wouldn’t.

“Where should we go now?” I chirped as I grabbed both Rachel and Steven’s hand.

“Where’s your friend?” Rachel asked as she tugged on my hand. My head spun around, looking for her, hoping she wouldn’t be in sight. That’s when, a familiar scent tickled my nose, and I knew who was behind me.

“Daddy!” Rachel screamed. She was a daddy’s girl and he treated her like a little princess. I told him one too many times he should treat them the same.

“You look as if you’ve seen a ghost. You okay?”

Steven said, “Mommy lost her friend.”

Before I had time to answer, Rick gave me a puzzled look, wondering if I was going to fill in the blanks.

“The twins are sleeping. I thought you were up with them.”

He gave me a quizzed look, as if he was shocked as I closed up and became all defensive. Then he smiled at me, the one he’d done a little too often lately, which said hormones. I hated when he did that, even if he was probably right. The twins are only a few weeks old, they’d all told me to take it easy. But, going to the park and showing Rachel and Steven they were still our kids, even if there were babies in the penthouse, we didn’t want them to get jealous.

“Melanie and Carly are sleeping, and Auntie Elizabeth is up there with them. Okay?” He bend down just about to give me a kiss, but then Rachel jumped into his arms, and Steven decided we should be on our way—something I’d planned to do before Rick showed up.

“Let’s go to the swings!”

Everyone’s attention changed to the swings, which was fine. I had one eye on the twins while Rick was searching for who Steven had called as my friend. She was far from my friend—more like their mom, the real one. I was a mother, and I knew for another to leave their kids the way she did it must have been for a reason.

I shouldn’t have been harsh. I should have given her a chance to explain, instead of throwing daggers at her.

Fuck!

I was never like this, never the bitch and being a mother and soon-to-be wife should have made me feel more secure than I’d ever felt in my life.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Rick said as he stood on one side and noticed Steven was yelling to be pushed—he’d got more demanding as he got older.

I didn’t answer him, instead I pushed Steven and I knew he would be happy for a few seconds until he demanded he went higher than his sister.

I really hoped I’d see Maite again. I needed to tell her I was sorry and listen to what she had to say. I was their mother at heart, and on paper, I’d adopted them. The idea of losing them turned me into an ugly monster. I could never do that. We all make mistakes in life, some of us pay dearly for them, whereas others don’t even pay the price.

The End