LUNA'S BAGGAGE

Prologue

"Get out of my house!" I would be lying if I said I did not see this coming. In fact, this was happening later than I had expected. Truth be told, I had been psychologically prepared for Luca to do this months ago. "Carry your bastards with you and leave my house, you disgust me." my husband of 5 years yelled at me before throwing my packed suitcase, hitting me directly on my forehead. I was sure he did that on purpose, as if yanking me out of the house in the middle of a rainy afternoon in front of all our neighbors wasn't humiliating enough.

*****FLASHBACK*****

"Honey, business has not been good lately. We are behind on payments for the house again this month. This has been the case for the past three months. Luca and I had gotten married fresh from the university. We started dating in year 2, much to the dismay of my parents.

They did not like my boyfriend and they had made it pretty clear on several occasions. Luca had been the cause of several arguments during my family dinners but I was in love, he was the best man for me and I did not care what anyone had to say to me. Eventually, they let me be, with my father saying the world would definitely teach me one day.

But they were wrong. Luca loved me, he was such a gentle man, he treated me well even though I covered all the bills for everything we did together. By the fourth year of university, we were living together in a studio apartment I had tricked my parents into renting for me.

Living in the university hostels was inconvenient for us love birds, the lack of privacy and thin walls. You know what I mean, renting motels out of school was proving to be expensive too. Luca's family was not well off and it didn't seem fair to burden him with expenses, so the responsibility for catering for two budding adults had fallen on the head of my parents.

Don't get me wrong, my family was not rich. My father ran a convenient store while my mother was a homemaker, as she liked to call herself. I had no siblings, so whatever my father made was enough for us to get through and adding one more mouth to feed wasn't a big a deal.

Life had been wonderful for Luca and I. We had everything we needed, that was until my parents suddenly passed away in an accident caused by a road rage incident on their way to my graduation. They were running late and had cut off someone in their hurry to get to my school, prompted by the many calls I was making to my mother.

I heard everything happening while on the phone, my mum trying to reassure me that they would make it on time. "Hurrrrrryyyyyy! Every parent is here except you guys." I whined into the phone but my answer came in the form of a loud crash.

Deep down I knew this was my fault, there was no way it was not related to me.

I ran out of the school grounds in the direction of my home and there it was! Just two blocks from school, my dad's car was beside the road, wheels facing the sky.

They were so close! If only I had just been a little more patient, why did I have to act like a spoilt brat?

I woke up in the hospital hours later strapped to the bed out of fear that I would cause harm to myself.

Weeks later, I was standing at the cemetery with Luca and his parents by my side, joined by the members of my little town in mourning. My parents were well loved in this area, so it wasn't a surprise that the whole town came for the funeral.

I had been forced to put my dad's beloved store up for sale to help with the funeral expenses and, being the only heir, the house was left to me.

It wasn't long before Luca had convinced me to sell the house, something a long the lines of leaving the past behind and healing. He 'feared' for my mental health. The house was soon sold with the money being used to buy Luca and I our own place and the leftovers to start his business.

Luca might have been a good student but he was a terrible business man. We were making losses in the first month of going into business. It was so bad that I was forced to look for another job to help ease up things.

That was where I first heard the idea.

SURROGACY!

My co-workers kept talking about how it was easy to make a fortune by being a surrogate, it was as if that was the new talk of town. Someone always seemed to veer towards the topic.

I did as much research as I could on it. The pay was good, but I wasn't ready for such a commitment. Luca and I had not talked about having children and, with our financial situation, that was for the best.

Our relationship wasn't as blissful as it had been earlier and I had simply chalked it down to stressful schedules. Being an adult was hard, having to depend on no one but each other was proving to be tougher than I had thought. Luca and I barely talked, not unless he was complaining about his failing business.

I had finally brought up the topic of surrogacy after listening to his daily complaints for two months. It was getting exhausting to be honest. I thought he would put up an argument like any man would, 'don't worry baby, I'll take care of you. You don't need to do this, I'll think of a way out.' I got the opposite, he was very encouraging, even going as far as making a budget on what he would spend the money on when the plan succeeded.

Luca had accompanied me to all my appointments, he'd even helped me choose a suitable family to help with my precious womb, as he called it. It felt amazing to get his attention and be doted on. I hadn't had that in a very long time.

Pretty soon, a family was picked and the procedure put in motion. A down p*****t was made which my darling husband collected in the name of investment in our future children. The investment, just another one of his failed ventures.

As my luck would have it, the family I was carrying for just had to die on me. There I was 8 months pregnant with kids that weren't meant to be mine. The surrogacy agency had claimed they had no way to help me. I watched as three hundred thousand dollars slipped right out of my hands. I was to get one hundred thousand for each baby and I was expecting triplets. Suddenly, I had no money, but instead was left with additional responsibility.

Joy, Jayden and Joe were soon added to our family, with Luca refusing to sign the birth certificates. He made it very clear that the children weren't his and he wanted no part of it.

That was the beginning of my living hell. Luca changed into someone I could barely recognize. Fast forward to years later, Luca was standing at the door of the house that I had bought, with his mistress helping him pass me my bags as he kicked out the house.

****

"You have brought me nothing but problems. I don't want to see you any more." he shouted, as if wanting to let the whole world know he was finally getting rid of a burden.

Where was the sweet man I had loved? The man that took care of me when I had no one else?

Just like that, everything was gone.

That was the beginning of my life, a 24 years old single mother of triplets. Throughout the whole ordeal with Luca, no one had stepped out to lend me a hand. Staying in the comforts of their own porches as they watched my toddlers getting rained on.

Dragging my tired body, it wasn't long before I reached the boarding house. Yes, I knew where it was. I had started researching my options when I realized Luca was cheating on me. I told you I knew he was going to kick me out of our matrimonial home.

I know you're thinking about why I didn't leave on my own before. The truth is, I wanted my children to live comfortably for as long as possible. Besides, I had paid for the house to

The nuns at the boarding house set us up with a room to stay in. The catch is that we could only live there for a week, but that was no problem. I had an interview scheduled for Friday in a little town much like where I had grown up.

Thompson Springs, please be kind to me and my babies.