The Billionaire's Second Wife

Chapter 8

The next morning, Ella woke up to the soft sobs of Bobby. Justin was in a deep sleep and Ella didn't want to bother him. She carefully placed her pillow and blanket back on the bed beside Justin, so that Sandra doesn't make another big fuzz for not sharing the bed with her son.

Justin stirred on the bed but eventually went back to sleep. Ella silently opened the door and rushed into Bobby's room.

She saw him rubbing his small chubby fist over his eye.

"Hey sweety, what's wrong? Did you have a bad dream?" she carried him gently and he placed his head against her neck. Ella began to rock him while patting on his back softly which caused him to fall asleep instantly.

Justin thought he heard some noise from Bobby's room and when he got out of his bed, he noticed the couch where Ella was sleeping early was unoccupied now.

He bolted to his son's room only to see Ella standing there with Bobby in her arms. As soon as her eyes fell upon Justin, she brought her forefinger near her lips,  signaling him to be quiet as she went back to patting Bobby's back.

Justin stood there for a few minutes and watched her place a sleeping Bobby back on his bed. She covered him with his blanket before walking out of his room.

"What happened?" Justin asked her as soon as she closed the door behind her.

"I heard him cry and you were in a deep sleep.. That's why I didn't wake you up. Sorry.." She thought he would be mad at her for not informing him about Bobby.

"Oh.. Sorry I didn't hear his cries. Uhm..Thanks for checking up on him."

"No problem.." She smiled.

After that, Justin went to the living room to get some more minutes of sleep since it was still too early to get up, while Ella went to take shower. She quickly got ready and by the time she came out of the room, Sandra was already in the kitchen preparing breakfast for everyone. Ella helped her with whatever little work was left and just when she was placing the dishes on the breakfast counter, she heard Bobby's groggy voice.

"Dada.." She watched him as he walked to the couch with his  dinosaur plushie tucked under his arm.

"Hey.. You got up?" Justin cooed softly, stretching his hands towards him, still sprawled on the couch. When he was in his reach, he effortlessly swept him off the floor and laid him over his chest.

"Good morning.." He greeted Bobby with a kiss on his golden hair and wound both his arms around his small body.

Ella's heart was virtually defrosted as she took in the scene in front of her eyes. She stood there like a fool until she heard Sandra's voice behind her. "Hey boys, wake up now. Breakfast is ready.."

As much as she hated it, Ella tore away her eyes from Justin and Bobby to walk back into the kitchen to bring the plates.

In the next few minutes, they both had freshened up. Justin had placed Bobby on his lap to feed him his porridge when  Bobby started pointing at Ella, asking her to feed him instead.

She remembered how Justin had lost his cool the previous morning when she offered to clean his place. Fearing he would do the same, she shifted her eyes to Justin but surprisingly he was looking at her, as is asking if she could feed Bobby.

She came forward and sat on the chair beside them. When she was about to carry Bobby, he straight away refused to get away from his dad by hugging at Justin's waist tightly but he still wanted to be fed by Ella.

Pressing her lips into a thin line, Ella started feeding him from where she was sitting. She felt a little awkward to move  the chair closer to them. So She had to stretch her hand each time to bring it closer to Bobby's mouth. Feeling her discomfort, Justin moved his seat closer to hers causing his knees to brush against hers slightly.

Ella tried to remain unaffected my the simple contact of their clothed skin but her body heat was beginning to shoot up instantly with those butterflies back in her abdomen.

She restricted her eye movements only between Bobby's mouth and the bowl of porridge.

Holding Bobby in one hand and Ella so close to him, Justin was having a difficult time eating his own food. So, he had to sit there doing nothing except to wait for Bobby to finish eating. 

"Ella, at what time do you have to go to college?" Sandra asked cutting the thick silence lingering around.

"I have to be there by nine.."

"You have only forty five minutes left." She turned to her son immediately.  "Justin, can you drop her at college?"

He was certain that his mom would never take a negative answer from him and moreover Ella was late because she had to feed Bobby till the last minute.

This was just a mutual help and there was nothing wrong in it, he reason before agreeing to his mom.

Ella rushed out of their room, carrying her hospital coat, stethoscope and a bag. She kissed Bobby's cheek and waved at him before following Justin out of their house.

Standing inside the elevator, were Mr. And Mrs. Clarks, who were in their early sixties. They weren't close to Justin  or anything but they were very nosy and often kept asking him personal questions, which most of the times, Justin didn't feel like answering.

"Good morning Justin." Chirped the old lady.

"Good morning Mrs. Clark." He forced a smile at her.

"Who is this lovely lady?" She asked studying Ella from head to toe making her a bit self conscious all of a sudden.

"This is Ella." He paused there, not explaining who she was to him. "..Ella, this is Susan and her husband John."

"Hi.. Nice to meet you.." Ella greeted them.

"Is she your girlfriend Justin?" Susan pried when she wasn't satisfied with his  outlined answer.

Justin fought the urge to clench his teeth at the old lady's annoying behaviour. What did she have to do with all these details, he wondered.

"She is my wife.." He muttered staring at the steel walls of the elevator.

"No wonder your hid her all these months. She is very beautiful and I should say you are made for each other." Susan squealed causing a deep blush to crawl over Ella's face.

Justin rolled his eyes mentally before he mumbled a 'Thanks.'

Luckily for him, The Clarks had to get down at the twenty first floor. "See you soon, lovebirds." Susan chirped before getting out.

"Bye, Mrs. Clark." Ella smiled at her before the door closed again while Justin let out a huge sigh of relief looking up, as if thanking God for saving him from that nosy lady.

The drive to her college was silent as usual. She pulled out her phone and decided to text Sophie to inform her that she was on the way to college.

Ella: Hey babes, I will be reaching in ten minutes.

She got an immediate reply from her bestie.

Sophie: You are coming to college? Are you nuts? You must be in bed with your hubby.

Ella: Shut up. Wait for me at the gate.

She shoved the phone back into her bag when they were nearing her college gates.

"Thanks for the ride." She turned her head to look at Justin.

"No problem." He flashed his signature half smile at her. "Do you want me to send a car to pick you up in the afternoon?"

"Don't worry about it. Sophie will drop me home."

"Alright then, Bye.."

"Bye.." She got down and watched his car disappeared into the next street. She turned around to the sound of someone clearing their throat and saw Sophie looking at her with a teasing grin.

"That was so romantic.." She said with a crooked smile. Ella smacked her head playfully and pulled her towards the outpatient clinic where she had her duty.

"So, how was your wedding night? Did you two do it?" Sophie asked jumping up and down like a five year old. "Of course you would have done it. You were too hot for someone to resisted you.." She was also too loud.

"Sophie.." Ella chided trying to muffle her voice by covering her mouth. Sophie chuckled as she pushed Ella's hand away from her mouth.

"I would have told you each and everything about my first night, if I were in your place. I can't believe you don't consider me close enough to share those details." She placed her palm over her chest to fake hurt at Ella, causing her to roll her eyes at Sophie.

Ella was glad that they were interrupted by some of their other friends.

The long queue outside the OP ward kept her busy the whole morning, after which she had to assist her chief doctor with a minor operation. By mid afternoon, she was done with her work and she decided to walk home since Sophie had to work for a couple of hours more.

Reaching home, Ella was welcomed by Sandra who informed her that she had a wedding to attend and would be back only after dinner.

Bobby was napping so Ella decided to take a quick shower. She came out wiping her wet hair with a towel when the photo frame on the side table caught her eyes. She strolled near it and lifted it in her hand.

As she had guessed, it was a picture of her husband and the woman he still loved. She was a very beautiful woman with curly golden hair and deep blue eyes just like Bobby's. She had a perfect body that could get people think that she was a model. No wonder Justin couldn't forget her even a year after her death. Her eyes travelled to Justin.

He looked handsome as always but also a lot younger than he did now. He didn't have the thick beard then and most importantly, he looked genuinely happy. There was this huge smile on his face which Ella had never seen before.

She felt like a huge lump was stuck at her throat. Her chest was constricted with an unknown emotion. Was it sadness, jealousy, or insecurity? She couldn't quite name it. There was no way he could love her when his dead wife was so beautiful. She would never be able to replace Andrea at his heart and would always be the woman whom he married just for the sake of his son.

When she thought she couldn't take it anymore, she placed the photo frame on the table and turned away.

In the evening when Bobby woke up, Ella decided to take him to the park. Before going, she texted Sandra about going to the park with Bobby.

Since the park was just a few blocks away she carried him in her arms. She kept pointing at things on the road while naming each one of them and Bobby kept repeating most of her words.  

She let him down only when they reached the park. He started playing with the other small kids who were there. Ella took a seat on a nearby bench.

The lady who was sitting beside her smiled at Ella. "Are you Bobby's mom?" She asked.

"Y-Yeah.."

"Hi.. I'm Olivia, Neil's mom and that's my son Neil's." she pointed at the little boy with whom Bobby was playing. "I have always seen Bobby coming here with his dad. I always wondered who his mother is. Nice meeting you by the way."

"Nice meeting you too. I'm Ella."

They were talking for sometime when Bobby came running towards Ella and began to pull at her skirt as he pointed at the slide. She chortled and got up.

"Excuse me.."

"Please carry on.." Olivia waved at her.

**************************************

When Justin came home, the house was surrounded by darkness. He panicked immediately and called his mother.

"Mom, where are you and where's Bobby?"

"Now that he has a mommy, you must ask her.." she replied coolly and when he wasn't going to reply her she asked, "Don't tell me you don't know your wife's phone number.."

"I-I didn't get the right moment to ask her.." He stuttered.

"Justin.." She exclaimed. "I can't believe you.."

"Mom, you can discipline me later. Now give me Ella's number."

"You can ask her when you find the right moment." She taunted him. "Oh and you will find them in the park."

"Park?" He shrieked.

"Yeah.. Why? Is there something wrong with that?"

"Mom, how could you let her take him out just like that?"

"Justin she is Bobby's mom. I don't understand why you are freaking out."

"She is Bobby's Step-mom.." he corrected her.

"How does that make a big difference?"

"Mom, she is inexperienced with raising a child and I have heard of so many incidents of stepmothers being very careless with their kids."

"Justin, don't forget that I was raised by my step-mom and you know she was more than just a mother to me.." she bellowed at him.

"Mom.. I am sorry.. I didn't mean it that way.." He apologizes and sounded absolutely sorry.

"Whatever. . I have to go now. Talk to you later.." She was still pissed off at him before ending the call.

Justin sighed. He felt very extremely stupid for saying that to his mother but at the same time, he wasn't entirely guilty for doing so.

Everyone could not be compared to his grandmother, especially a young girl like Ella.

He decided to drive to the park so that he could go and check on Bobby himself.

Parking the car on the nearby street, he walked into the park. He looked around until his eyes were caught by the beautiful view in front of him.

Bobby was running as fast as his legs could take him while Ella was chasing Bobby with slowed steps, intentionally trying to maintain a distance. Capturing him between her hands, she tossed him into the air, causing him to giggle and laugh his heart out.

Ella rubbed her nose against his neck making him squirm in her hold and laugh even harder than before. Seeing them, a tiny smile grazed at Justin's lips.

"Ella, chase chase.." Bobby squealed clapping his hands.

"Alright.. Run.." She let Bobby down and began to chase him once again until her gaze was locked with Justin's and she eventually slowed down, "Bobby, see who's here." she pointed at Justin.

Bobby stopped running and looked around, "Dada.." He screeched as he came running into his dad's arms.

Justin crouched down and hugged his son before placing a tender kiss on his cheek. "Hey, buddy, looks like you are having a great time.."

Ella came walking behind him slowly and stopped in front of them. Justin stood up carrying Bobby in his hands, "Hey.." He greeted her to her surprise.

"Hi.. When did you come?" she asked timidly.

"Just now.. Mom told me that you two were at the park. So I thought of coming here.." He said when in fact, he went there because he didn't trust Ella with his son. But after what he saw a minute ago, he realised she was doing pretty good at taking care of Bobby.

"Shall we go home?" He looked down at his son and got a nod as reply.

Sauntering back to where their car was parked, Bobby tried to lift his legs off the ground by holding up his parents hands. He giggled each time they lifted him up together.

Justin looked at his son with a warm smile plastered on his lips. His eyes slowly trailed to Ella. She was looking down at Bobby with an unfeigned smile. And that moment she seemed like a good person to Justin.

After settling Bobby at the back seat, he got into the car with Ella beside him in the passenger seat.

"Ella.." Justin called softly before starting his engine. If he had to live with her for the rest of his life, then he couldn't possibly go on without asking for her phone number. He would need it in case of emergency.

"Hmm..?" She lifted her gaze at Justin with a sparkle in her eyes which didn't go unnoticed by Justin.

"Can you give me your phone for a minute?"

"Sure.." She handed it after unlocking it, not quiet sure of what he wanted to do with her phone.

She watched him type something on the screen before his phone rang in his pocket just for a couple of rings.

"I have saved my number on your handset and I'll save yours on mine." He informed her giving it back to Ella.