It takes only one night

Chapter 6

Annabella, One year later...

"Ugh... mom... no, wait... come back here, Kyle... oh my god, dad, grab him," I yelled out while running after him.

Dad caught him while letting out a loud laughter, "He's not walking, more like running. Aren't you, birthday boy, giving your mom a hard time? Give me his clothes, I'll dress him up for you."

"No, don't! Let him stay in his diaper for now. He's gonna get messy anyways while eating the cake. Where Lillian?" I asked dad who tilted his head towards mom.

I walked over to the two who were sleeping on the sofa. I sighed loudly.

Poor mom, she was up all night with Lillian who had trouble sleeping because of the earache she had. My poor baby was always sick, her brother wasn't thank god. He was more immune to getting sick than his sister. She could catch a cold, even when the temperature outside was freaking scorching hot.

"How long have they been sleeping for?" I asked dad as he dressed up Kyle.

"Well, let's see! You went in to finish your homework which took you a good hour. So, I'd say about an hour or so. Is the AC on? It's pretty hot in here, don't you think?"

"No AC, dad, the twins keep getting sick. It's like they take turns. Where's grandma?" I asked while walking in the kitchen to pour some water for Kyle to drink out of a sippy cup.

"She's with Patty next door," Dad mumbled while throwing Kyle up and down. His giggles filled the room quickly "Dad. stop, you might drop him."

Giving me a 'what the hell' look before continuing, I shook my head and took a seat. It's been a hell of a year; too much to grasp and handle at the same time, but not regretting one second of all the sleepless nights. I love them and accepted everything that came with my two bundles of joy.

Dad, mom, grandma, and Patty all helped me through the first couple of months. After the kids turned six months, the trouble began. You seriously have to keep both eyes peeled out for everything they do. For example, they eat anything they find on the floor. I mean, EVERYTHING!

There wasn't enough time for me to sleep, between school, work, and the twins. I felt exhausted; if they're up then I'm up. Caring for twins was no easy task; it was around the clock work you had to suck up and do. I don't remember the last time i had alone time with myself, but I wasn't going to complain.

"How 'bout you go take a nap. I'll look after Kyle for you," Dad offered.

"You have a boo to give him when he cries?" I asked while dad frowned.

I laughed loudly at the look on his face. The one thing my mom forced me to do was breastfeed my twins. I mean, she was not letting me give them any kind of formula the first couple of months. Ugh, I wanted to cry during that time, but eventually I ended up loving breastfeeding them.

Even the twins pediatrician was impressed that I was breastfeeding them. 'The healthy form of milk for a baby,' she said. Kyle would call it boo, whenever he was asking for it. Kyle crawled before his sister, walked before his sister, and ever said his first words that stung my heart before his sister.

His first words were not mama, but dada. I remembered that day so well. Mom and dad were over visiting. Mom was teaching Kyle to talk.

"Can you say mama, say mama, no? How 'bout dada, say dada, Kyle," Mom cooed.

"He's not going to talk now, woman......"

"Dada."

Dad and mom both gasped out loud as I dropped the toy that was in my hand.

Yea, it hurt like a b***h hearing him say dada before mama. "Dada, up, up," Kyle said loudly bringing me out of my thoughts. Dad was dada to him, the best dada he'll ever have "Up, you want me to throw you up like this?" Dad said while throwing my baby up to the ceiling before catching him.

"If he vomits, you're cleaning it up," I stated before walking into my room.

Locking the door, I reached the bed and sat on the edge of it. My stupid mind would think of the twins' father, how he was suppose to be in their lives, but then I'd think about his angry face when I told him I was pregnant.

"It's okay, Annabella, you can do this alone. They don't need him."

Inhaling deeply, I focused on what I had to do. Keep yourself together, they don't need him and never will. You have family that are with you, but what if they ask about him when they older? What should I tell them? That he's dead? Alive? Didn't want to be apart of their lives? What was I gonna say? How would I react to it when they ask?

"He's asking for the boo, should I bring him in?" Dad yelled out from behind the door.

"Yea dad, bring him in," I said. He walked in with Kyle in his arms.

"Sorry, baby girl, I tried giving him his cup but he refused."

"It's OK, dad, why don't you go take a nap on the other sofa. We'll do the party after dinner."

I grabbed Kyle from dad who nodded his head before leaving the room. The little monster pulled down my shirt and helped himself. Didn't take long for him to fall asleep, slowly brushing away his dark black hair from his face. I cried.

He looked so much like his dad. His hair, eyes, everything was a split image of Ćesar who I didn't know his last name until Googling it one night. Can you imagine the shock to find out Vivian was his cousin? I stopped working with her completely after finding out she was related to him.

I didn't want to randomly see him at her shop, so I apologized to her and told her I wouldn't be able to work with her anymore. I wanted nothing to do with them. All I wanted was to raise my babies in peace.

My phone vibrated. I placed Kyle in his crib that he already knew how to climb out of. I tell you, this boy was a handful while his sister was a complete angel. Tucking him in, I went over to see who texted me.

"Hey, I know I haven't been a good friend to you. I'm sorry :( " The text read from Kristen.

Yea, she wasn't a good friend. She was fake and never called or texted to see how I was doing.

"It's OK, how's life?" I texted back.

"It's awesome, Chrissy is having a party tonight. It's her seventeenth birthday, wish you were here. Everyone asks about you and why you left, what did you have?" she texted back.

Why was she asking me? I didn't want to tell her or make a rude comment to her, so I kept it simple.

"Hey, sorry! I have to go, have fun and be careful. Bye!"

"Oh, okay! Bye, can I come and see you?" she asked.

OK, something was definitely off.

"You haven't texted or called since you found out I was pregnant. Why are you so interested now?"

"I just miss you, I'm sorry for being a b***h. I just felt bad for you and didn't want to be reminded of what I dragged you in. All these friends I have are not like you Anna, they don't care about me. All they want to see is wild Kristen partying around while getting drunk, I'm like some clown entertain to them. I miss my best friend who always told me when I crossed the line, I'm sorry for not being there for you. I really am." ~ she wrote.

I still felt something wasn't right, a nagging feeling that wouldn't go away. But I felt bad for her.

"Sorry, just been under a lot of stress. You can come if you like, I'd sure love catching up with you."

"Really? Oh my God Annabella, I'm so so sorry for leaving you. Kiss your baby for me, I'll text you soon. Bye!"

"Bye."

I placed my phone down and went out to see if Lillian was awake or not. I slowly made my way to find her still asleep, but mom wasn't.

"You could have taken her into her crib Anna, she could have fallen on the floor."

"Mom, you had your arms wrapped around her securing her tight. You want me to make you a cup of coffee? I'm making myself one as well."

"One cup for you, young lady, your breastfeeding remember. It's bad for the twins."

I went over to make us some coffee while shaking my head. Leave it for mom to ruin my mood. She kept a close eye on what I ate or drank, stuffing me with veggies and proteins to keep my milk source coming in. My boobs looked like two helium balloons that were waiting to deflate any moment.

~

"Happy birthday day to you, heeeyyy," we all sung for the twins.

No candles cause the twins were placing their hands in them, mom rushed over and took them off the two round small cakes I had made for each one. Dad held the camera while Kyle and Lillian looked at us strangely.

"I wonder what they're thinking now?" Dad said while chuckling.

"They're thinking, are you really gonna let us eat this?" Grandma said causing us all to laugh out loud.

I went over and gave both of my babies kisses. I looked up at the camera and waved. Dad rubbed his eyes, "Dad, are you crying?" I asked while he shook his head.

"No... I'm fine, just happy I guess," he uttered out while wiping his tears away.

"Aww, dad, don't cry, please."

Grandma was by his side, rubbing his back. "She's doing a hell of a good job, you should be proud of her."

"I am, I really am. It just hurts, I don't know why," Dad whispered out lowly.

I walked over to him and gave him a big hug, "Thank you for being here, I wouldn't know what I would do without you guy's."