It takes only one night

Chapter 7

7 years later...

Annabella...

"Happy birthday mom," the twins said as I blew out all twenty-four candles. I placed a kiss on both my babies. I couldn't believe that they were already eight-years-old.

Eight years went by so quick.

I graduated both high school and culinary school, had a steady job that made good money, healthy twin kids, loving nurturing parents, a grandma I will owe my entire life too and more. Life was good and I was so freaking thankful for it to turn out the way it did.

With hard work and dedication, anything was possible.

"Open our my gift first mom," Lillian said while handing me a small box that she made herself. Her long blonde hair that she refused to have cut was reaching below her waistline. She had her dad's eyes as well, but more resembling to how I looked when I was her age. Kyle was growing bigger by the second, he was tall for an eight-year-old. He became more and more like his father by the second.

I opened the box and in there laid a small heart locket that had their names engraved on it, along with a letter. "We've been saving up our allowance to buy you something nice, do you like it?" Kyle asked while tears started to work down my cheeks.

"It's beautiful sweetheart, thank you!" I said while placing it on. They both wrapped their arms around me while dad was filming the whole thing.

"Read the letter mom," Lillian said as she handed it to me.

I took it and started to read, "Dear mom, we love you so much. So much more then you can ever imagine. You've been there for us whether it was day or night. We're sorry for getting on your nerves sometimes ( not me, but kyle) and want to let you know how much we appreciate you. We both wished dad would come back, but I know he will after he's done with his work overseas. When he calls again, I'll tell him to come back home, that we miss him and want to be a family again.... I know you don't like talking with him, but… but he loves you and will… make up for lost times. Love, your two annoying twins, Kyle and Lillian...."

Tears fell and fell until I felt a pair of small hands wiping them away.

"That was beautiful, thank you, my love bugs," I said while hugging them both.

Their father still doesn't know about them. They started to ask about him when they first started kindergarten. I didn't know what to say, so I lied. I told them that he was a busy man and that he couldn't come to visit us due to his job. After a while they asked to speak with him. Kristen had this silly idea to let someone I can trust to call them every week and talk with them, as if the man was their real father. I didn't know who to ask or who to trust. Joe had a brother that was serving in the Marines. He told him about me and about the whole situation. The guy offered to help. I was desperate and said yes right away.

His name was Scott, twenty-seven years old. He called and talked with me, said he would do it, he asked what was their father's name and I told him but only gave him the first name. So he scheduled every week on a Sunday to call them. At first it was easy to talk with five-year-olds, but as they grew more and more, it became harder on him. He visited his brother once; that's when I met him. Tall and handsome with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes, very buff as well. He rarely came to visit; it was curiosity that got to him to come and meet me. That was the one time he came and visited me at work. He continued to call the kids every week after that. Until now, he met someone and didn't know how to tell me that he didn't want to get in any deeper.

I thanked him and told him I understood, the last call he made to the kids was two months ago. He told them that he wasn't going to be able to call anymore, that he had a lot of work to get done. Now the kids waited by the phone every Sunday, but no calls came.

"How about we eat some cake, who wants ice cream on theirs?" Mom said while rushing to the kitchen.

Grandma handed me a letter as well. I opened it up while looking at the smile on her face. "It came in the mail today, right timing if you ask me," she said with a giggle.

I read the letter and gasped out loud.

"Oh my God, Oh my God, oh my God. Dear Annabella Hudson, you are heareby qualified in the finals of the Bake Your Heart Out competition. The prize winner will receive a quarter of a million dollars and a year contract with us. You and your staff have one week to respond back to us if you wish to compete. We wish you the best of luck and hope to see you in Greece on February 13th. Signed by Director Board Member. Alexopoulos," I screamed out.

"Oh my God, that's amazing. You're in the finals Anna, I knew they pick my baby girl." Dad said proudly.

The twins hugged me while jumping up and down in joy, "Oh my God, I can't believe it!" They screamed.

I couldn't hold in the happiness I had. Mom came from behind me. She hugged me tightly, "Congratulations, sweetheart, I'm so happy for you."

"Move along, I knew she would win all this time," Grandma said while holding her arms out. "Give granny a hug, baby girl, you did it and I'm sure you're going to win it."

I hugged her as tight as I could. This was an opportunity of a lifetime.

~~~

February 13th...

"When will they announce the top three who will go head to head with each other, mom?" Kyle asked as we waited.

"Soon, baby, we have to wait. If I'm called, then I have to compete between the other two to win the prize," I said nervously.

I brought my babies with me along with Kristen who begged to come. She promised to look after the twins while I worked my ass off with Lizzy and Doug. They were my ‘staff.’ Everyone had more than five people helping them but I had two. If I would win, they both would get a year contract as well to work at the same place I was fighting to get in, along with a 50-grand prize for both. Lizzy was twenty-two with short black hair and brown eyes, While Doug was a short, buff guy with blue hair and deep black eyes. They both had amazing taste and impeccable presentation when baking. They both also worked for Joe. I was glad to enter this competition with people I knew.

"I'm f*****g dying here. Why don't they just tell us already?" Doug hissed out while Lizzy gave him a smack on the head. "Language, you i***t, we have kids in our company," Lizzy said.

"Sorry," Doug mumbled.

"I wish grandpa and grandma were here, too bad they couldn't come," Lillian said while pouting out her lips.

"I'm filming everything for grandpa, he made me promise him to not miss a thing. Say hi mom!" Kyle said while pointing the camera at me. I waved into the camera and smiled.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to announce our top three finalists. Please come up and get ready if you're one of our top three, you will be asked to bake a masterpiece of your own. Please give us your best. It can determine if you have what it takes to work with Alexopoulos Sweets, the top selling sweets in the world. Our three surprise judges will determine who's the winner. Without further ado, our top three finalists are: Sammons Good Bake, Chocolate Heavenly Goodness, and Lily's Bake Shack."

"Oh my God, mom, you won. You're a finalist," my Lillian gushed out happily.

"f**k yeah!" "Woooooo!" Doug and Lizzy yelled out at once.

"Yes, oh my god, girl! Go bring home the bacon," Kristen said while Kyle was filming it all. "I knew they would call your name, go win the prize, mom."

"Look after them," I asked Kristen before looking down at my babies.

"Don't leave her sight, I love you both. Now, cheer for me as loud as you can," I whispered while kissing them both.

I ran up the stage where Doug and Lizzy were waiting for me. The crowd was still cheering loud. The announcer held the mic closely to his lips. I waited for him to talk but my heart dropped as I watched him walk on stage.

I turned around and hid behind Lizzy who was frowning at my actions.

"What's wrong?"

What the f**k is he doing here?

"I would like to present to you our top three judges who will determine our winner in less than two hours from now. I present to you our very own Adamos Alexopoulos, CEO of Alexopoulos Sweets, Deimos Alexopoulos, and Ćesar Del Mar. The three judges will be fair, they will not meet the contestants only after they have judged on taste and presentation. As you can see, they are heading upstairs, waiting to judge our top three finalists. You all have two hours, starting now."

I looked over to my kids and Kristen who had her eyes wide open along with her mouth. I didn't want to do this, I can't. "Where are you going?" Lizzy asked while pulling me back on stage.

"I'm sorry, I can't. I really can't do this, I'm so sorry."

"Wait what?" Lizzy asked in fear. "No, please Anna, I need this job. I have a loan to pay and s**t to work out. Don't bail on us now. We're so close, please don't back out now."

"What's going on? Come on, we're losing time," Doug yelled while running backstage.

My heart was racing, this can't be happening. Please, God no.

"Mom, I know you can do this. If not for you, then do it for us. Please," Lillian said while staring at me.

"Come on, mom, you can do. You can face anything, go and do your best. We believe in you," Kyle said as I held on to all the flooding emotions that were crashing in.

"Face him, Anna, you f*****g faced hell for eight years. I'm sure you can do this. Do it for Lillian and Kyle," Kristen whispered low.

I felt Lizzy pulling me up the stage. I blocked out every emotion I had in me. I walked backstage while grabbing onto my locket my babies gave me.

You can do it, you can do it, Anna.

~~~~

Ćesar...

"Let's hope this one is better than the these two. That wasn't a wow factor, can't believe they made it to the top three," I stated while taking a sip of wine.

"I agree, that wasn't interesting," Deimos said. The Alexopoulos brother and I have been friends ever since I could remember, so when they asked for help to judge in this silly competition they held to find new creative people to work for them, I agreed.

I looked at the last plate left, which came with instructions. "This looks interesting, listen up boys. ‘You must cleanse your palate before taking a bite. In front of you is homemade wine that I've created four years ago. I know you've drunk the best in the world but I would appreciate it if you took a sip before indulging our truffles. First off, you have a chocolate covered chestnut caramel truffle with white chocolate. The second is a dark chocolate truffle with cinnamon spicy raspberry filling. The third is called Majestic love, yea corny, I know but I'm sure you'll fall in love with it. Each judge will get to try my special creation that took me over five years to master. It's called Majestic love for a reason, you'll fall in love after it melts in your mouth. Due to its secret ingredients, I won't be sharing any information about what I put in it. I've read the rules and nowhere does it state I must give proper details. But I will tell you that it has over ten different levels of chocolate base and much more. That is all, please enjoy ~ Lily's Bake Shack... oh and the wine is called Lillian's Sparkle, it's a white wine my grandmother helped me with. It will go great with the truffles.’"

"That sounds good, let's try it," Adamos said while reaching out. We all had our three pieces of truffles before us on a small plate. I reached for the rusty bottle that had elegant handwriting in black marker.

Noises of satisfaction came from the two brothers as they started without me. "Oh my, that's incredible," Deimos said while going in for the second truffle.

"She said to cleanse your palate."

"This doesn't need any cleansing, it's absolutely to die for. Is this the Majestic truffle or is it this? My goodness, they taste remarkable," Adamos said in awe.

"This is the winner, definitely this one. Why aren't you eating Ćesar?"

I took a sip of the wine which had this bitter sweet taste. How was this going to cleanse my… h, that's good.

"Our winner's without a doubt are Lily's Bake Shack," Adamos stated.

"It can't be that..." I stopped talking as I felt an explosion pop in my mouth.

Dark chocolate, hazelnut, salted caramel pistachios… Oh my, that is really good.

"That is extraordinary, very, very amazing" I had to admit that was absolutely divine.

~~~~

Annabella....

"Mommy you won, you won!"

"Oh my god, Anna. you freaking won!"

"f**k yeah, that's what I'm talking about."

Everyone cheered, but I felt I was about to face death. I watched how all three judges walked down the stairs and onto the stage.

"He looks like Kyle so much," Kristen whispered against my ear.

I just stared at him. Everything was going my way for the past eight years. He can't f**k up my life.

What if he sees the kids, what if...

"Would our winner please come on stage."

"Go girl, just face him. He might not even remember you," Kristen said while pushing me after Doug and Lizzy.

"Ahhh, let me tell you, that was the most amazing, mouthwatering, mind blowing truffles I have ever had. Who is mastermind behind the creation?" the CEO of Alexopoulos said.

"I'm Adamos," he said while pulling my hand up to his lips. Ćesar was talking with the other guy who was standing behind Adamos.

"You created those masterpiece?" he asked before someone behind him pushed him away.

"You'll have to excuse my brother, congratulations! Those were the most delicious truffles I've ever had, even my snobby friend that doesn't like anything enjoyed them. Isn't that so, Ćesar?" the man said.

I didn't dare to look at him, but I had no choice but to. He extended his hand towards me. "Congratulations Annabella, nice to see you after all these years," He said while bringing my hand up to his lips.

"Yeah, thanks!" I muttered out before pulling my hand away.

"You two know each other?" one the brothers asked curiously.

"Yes, actually....."

"Mommy," Kyle shouted so loud. I stared up at Ćesar eyes who weren't looking at me but at Kyle.

"Your son?" he asked while staring between him and I.

The look on his face changed so quickly; my heart was pounding out of my chest. I felt I was having a heart attack. A pair of small arms wrapped around my waist. "I'm so proud of you, mommy," Lillian said before Kyle reached me.

"YOU HAVE TWINS?" Ćesar shouted.