Love Stitches

Made a friend! (yay)

Hazel's POV

"Cookie Monster here!!" I shout and Jaylen, Savannah and even Ameya runs pretty quick.

I baked a batch of mixed cookies. Because I don't know what the kids's preferences are. I see Jaylen grabbing one sugar cookie and when he goes in for a peanut butter cookie, Savannah whispers something in his year so instead of peanu butter cookie he grabs a chocolate chip cookie. I smile at them.

Savannah loves chocolate and anything that has chocolate in them. So she grabs a chocolate chip cookie and an M&M cookie before running away to their room with Jaylen.

Ameya is left behind and I bend low on the kitchen counter to lean closer to her. She looks at me and then back to the cookie tray again.

"Is your favourite not here?" I ask and she shakes her head.

"I don't have a favourite" she says and that startles me a little.

"Why don't you? Whatever you like is your favourite" I say and walk around the kitchen counter to reach her. I sit on the stool before her and she smiles at me.

"I eat whatever Jaylen eats" she says.

"It is nice of you to follow your brother, Ameya. But you need to have your favourites" I whisper and she looks at me.

"Don't you like it if Jaylen follows you and eat whatever you tell is your favourite?" I ask and she smiles wide with a nod.

"Today, Savannah told Jaylen her personal favourite. So Jaylen followed her. Next time, you should be the one telling Savannah what your favourite is so she will give your favourite a try too" I say but she looks at the cookie tray that probably has almost thirty cookies.

Yeah. I baked them in three batches. Baking is also my stress buster so I needed that.

"You want to get back to playing with them?" I ask her.

"No. They are playing by themselves and I don't understand what they do" she says.

My heart is now warm for her. When Savannah told me that Ameya doesn't really talk to her much, I thought Ameya needs time to blend with people.

But this is a different scenario. It is because Jaylen is getting closer to Savannah, Ameya doesn't have her best buddy to play with. Savannah should include Ameya in her plans so she feels like she is a part too.

"In that case. I have an idea" I say and get a paper and pen.

I write down names of all the cookies names and give that to Ameya. She looks at that and at me. I then give her the pen and a piece of chocolate chip cookie.

She eats it and smiles at me. She then writes a number beside the chocolate chip cookie name on the list. And by the end of this cookie testing, and by the score we both come to a conclusion that she likes the m&m cookie.

"You are sweet, Mrs. Torres" she says and hugs me. I hug her back.

"If you think I am sweet, then I want you to do something for me" I say and she looks at me with expectant eyes.

"How about you call me Miss Torres instead of Mrs. Torres?" I ask and she nods again.

Ameya then proceeds tagging along with me. I tell her the game of UNO and deliberately lost for five times in a row making her jump up and down everytime she won.

This kid is adorable. I am glad Savannah made good friends. Jaylen and Savannah soon come out and this time, Ameya tells them about the UNO game. Savannah looks at me and I nod at her. She smiles and loses the game to let Ameya win.

Ameya hugs Savannah and I smile at the kids before walking to the kitchen. I have done prepping for the dinner already. So it doesn't really take much time.

And always remember, kids meals are never time consuming process. You give them Peanut Butter Jelly Sandwich and they feel it is the most amazing meal they had eaten. We tend to make it complicated when they like all little and simple things.

I make them some sausage rolls, pasta, ham and cheese sandwiches and they have ice cream for dessert. The bell rings and I know it must be the twin's mom.

I open the door and sure enough, it is Esther standing at the doorway.

"Hi" she smiles wide and gives me a box of something I don't know. I take that and invite her in.

"Mom" both the kids scream and run to her making Savannah stand beside me being totally shy.

"They weren't naughty, I hope" Esther says.

"If they weren't, they would not be kids" I say and she chuckles.

The kids then play in Savannah's room again while Esther and I sit at the kitchen counter. She takes a look at the dinner and she is surprised. But like I said, I don't know what they eat so I made something that I am confident at.

"You live alone?" She asks and I nod.

I show my empty ring finger and then my locket and she gets the point.

"I am so sorry" she says but I smile and wave my hand at her saying that it's okay.

"The other day when Jaylen called you Mrs. Torres and you did not correct, I thought you were married but in a different tradition so you don't have a ring. I am sorry I did not know" she apologises again and she genuinely feels sorry. Her face says it all.

"It is really okay, Esther. It has been almost seven years and I am doing fine. Moreover he is a kid so I did not know how to correct that" I say and she nods.

We then talk about our lives. And I came to know that Esther also is a working mom. She works as a receptionist at a star hotel. Her husband is a sports teacher for high school kids.

It is lovely to be talking to another mom and sharing our views on single parenting and normal parenting. I see Esther and I becoming friends just like our kids.

While having dinner, it is noisy unlike everyday. Savannah is the happiest among us.

The doorbell rings and I am confused. Who might it be at eight o clock? I open the door to see Elliot himself standing with a chocolate bouquet.

I don't know how Savannah is behind me but she screams before running to him and he gives her the chocolate bouquet which is so cute by the way.

"How are you here?" I ask him.

"Because I heard Savannah is being a good girl" he smiles at her and she nods at him with a wide smile on her face.

"Come in. We were just having dinner" I invite him in.

He comes inside and he talks to Savannah about the chocolates in the bouquet and she is giggling more than she usually does.

At the dining table, Esther stands up and straight the moment she notices Elliot. I look at him and he looks at her.

"Mr. Montgomery" she whispers.

"Do you know each other?" I ask and Elliot shakes his head looking at me.

"I work at Sheraton. Receptionist" she says.

"Oh" Elliot says and throws a half smile at her and then looks at me.

"The one Josh owns. I have been there few times" he whispers to me and I nod in understanding.

"I will drop by later, I have something else to do" he says and I got the point that he is not comfortable with the other guests. So I don't push him.

"If I be a good girl, right?" Savannah asks and Elliot smiles with a nod.

He talks to Savannah in living room and lets her play with his phone for a while before it was time for him to leave. Savannah quickly went back to the table and she is now talking to Jaylen and Ameya.

How I wish I was as social as my daughter is!

"How do you know him?" Esther asks.

"He is my boss. And we are in for a business trip next week. He is here to give me those details and Savannah likes him" I say and she smiles with a nod.

"He is my boss's friend" she says.

"Oh!" I act like Elliot did not tell me that.

"It feels refreshing to now know we are connected in different ways too" I say and she chuckles too.

The rest of dinner went by without anyone else walking in and Ameya cried so much when she had to wave bye at me. Even Esther is shocked to see that Ameya takes that strong liking towards me now.

Savannah and Jaylen, as usual. They adore each other.

"Thank you so much mom. This has been the best day of my life" she hugs me as soon as I close the door.

"I am happy you made friends too" I hug her back.

Later Savannah helps me by taking care with organising her toys and everything else they played with while I pack the leftovers and throw them in the fridge.

By the time I went to Savannah's room she is already sleeping on her bed. I smile and take her shoes off and don't mind changing her clothes. I tuck her under the blanket and leave the room.

I call Elliot once I am changed and on my bed and he doesn't answer. He might be with Ruby or someone else.

Just five minutes later I recieve another call from an unknown number and I answer the call with so much of hesitation.

"Hey Hazel! It's me Josh" he says and the instant relief I feel is priceless.

"Hello. How did you get my number?" I ask him.

"I had Elliot's phone with me. And since he is busy with Ruby, I thought to call you myself. Whatsup?" He asks.

"He was here earlier. To visit Savannah but I had guests. So he left soon" I tell him and he asks to tell me more about it.

"Savannah liked the chocolate bouquet that he brought. She is ready to boast about it in her school" I say with a chuckle.

"Point noted. Might as well use that on my babysitting days with her. Half of the chocolates for her and the other half for me of course" he says and we both laugh at it.

"And hey, turns out the mother of Savannah's best friend is working as a receptionist at Sheraton" I say.

"Oh! I don't know who that is but I see we now former solid connection" he says and I laugh.

We talk to fifteen minutes probably till I hear Elliot's voice. Josh and Elliot talk about Ruby and I came to know that Elliot kicked her out as soon as he is done.

Why don't Ruby have self respect?

Josh and Elliot then proceed talking about something else and everything that I don't know about. I realised Josh actually forgot that I am still on call. They both amuse me to levels I cannot describe!

I highly suspect these both are secretly married to each other. Josh's wife Rebecca and Elliot having Ruby is just a cover up so people don't get suspicious about them. I mean, that is exactly how they behave with each other. They don't run out of topics. They have inside jokes. They have such chemistry, I don't even want to start about it!

My eyes started feeling heavy already and the last words I heard before I fell asleep were of Elliot. And I heard my name. At this point I don't know if I am already asleep and dreaming of it or if he really told that. But his words were,

"I don't know if it's Hazel or me"