Coming Home For Christmas

Chapter 3 - Changes.

It's crazy how fast our lives can change within the blink of an eye and sometimes you don't even know it's happening until it's already happened.

The past six years have been a crazy whirlwind and I've had to get used to a lot of changes in my life since I moved to London but now I'm happily settled and living my best life, well, I'm living as great of a life as I possibly can without my beloved family here with me.

There was a time when my family and I were extremely close, we would always see and talk with each other every day and we always did anything and everything for one another but all of that changed and I saw a totally different side to my family after Dylan and Luca's betrayal.

I always used to think I had the perfect family, the perfect parents, the perfect grandparents and the perfect older brothers and in a way, I still feel that way about them but I also can't forget the immediate change in them when I found out my older brother was screwing my fiance.

The betrayal left me a heartbroken mess and it changed my entire life forever, it also changed all of the plans I had made for my future.

Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to be a school teacher, I wanted to teach the future generation and prepare them for the next stages of their lives.

A few months before everything happened six years ago, I was offered a place at one of the best colleges in New York to get my teaching degree but then my relationship broke down and the perfect future I had planned with Dylan had gone up in flames along with everything else.

I no longer had any desire to get my teaching degree but I needed to find a steady income so that I could provide for myself and the triplets because I knew my savings which was a very substantial amount of money wouldn't last me forever.

I wasn't used to living like this because I was born a millionaire heiress, I had always lived a life of luxury and I never had to worry about anything, so to now live knowing money was running out was kind of scary, especially since I now had three extra mouths to feed and I didn't want my kids to grow up differently to how I did.

Don't get me wrong I wasn't a spoiled little rich girl or anything like that but I lived a comfortable life with no worries and I wanted the same for my kids as well.

I didn't want them to grow up worrying about things that they shouldn't have to which I know they would've done because they're really smart and they would've immediately sensed when something was wrong.

Anyway, I knew I needed to make some decent money and fast but I didn't know how.

That was until one day when I was watching some soppy rom-com movie which was based on some old book and it unlocked a brand new passion inside of me, a passion which I never knew existed if I'm being perfectly honest with you.

I always loved to read and loved nothing more than to get lost in a good book but I never once saw myself as a writer because I didn't think I was creative enough to be one.

All of that changed as soon as I put pen to paper or my fingers to my laptop I should say and that's when magic happened.

Within two months, I had finished and completed my first book The Billionaire's Secret Baby which later turned into a five-part series when my fans demanded more from me.

The series was a huge hit and before I knew it, I was a world-famous author, I was successful and I was rolling in the money, most of which I've either invested or I've put into different bank accounts for me and my kids for when they're older.

The rest of the money I used to buy us our current home and everything we needed to furnish it and I also bought myself a decent car as well.

I mean, I'm not at Donald Trump's level of rich but I've got enough money for me and the triplets to live happy and comfortable lives together.

Right now I'm in my office working on a new book and a new series but for some strange reason, I can't seem to concentrate and for the first time in my writing career, I've got writer's block.

I let out a sigh as I take off my glasses and rub the bridge of my nose.

This is so frustrating and annoying.

The worst thing for a writer to experience is knowing what you want to write and how you want to write it but being unable to articulate it in the right way and have it make sense.

There have been many times in the past where I've written something and when I've read it back I was like what the f**k? this makes absolutely no sense.

I looked back at the screen and decided I needed to take a break, so I got up and went into the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee and something to eat.

I didn't really have much of an appetite but I knew if I didn't eat something now then I probably wouldn't have anything to eat until dinner later on which wouldn't do me any good.

You need to be healthy in your mind, body and soul in order to do anything and I can't focus on writing a great story if I'm pushing myself without resting or eating.

I was sitting on the couch and eating my food with the television on in the background which I wasn't watching, it was just on for background noise because I hate silence and that's all I ever seem to have in this house when the kids aren't here.

Anyway, the T.V. quickly caught my attention when the annoying presenter with a high-pitched squeaky voice, who was wearing more make-up than a drag queen mentioned several familiar names which piqued my interest, one of which and the gossip about him almost had me choking on my coffee.

"Hello everyone and welcome to the Hollywood Daily, it's been a busy week for many of the Hollywood elite, more specifically those within the affluent Carpenter and Black families"

The presenter said with a huge grin on her face.

The first piece of news she was gossiping about was my sister-in-law Sabrina launching two new clothing lines, one is a maternity line and one is for kids which will be released after Christmas.

This will be her third and fourth lines that she's released, the first one being a bikini line and the second one was a sexy lingerie line which she worked on with my mom.

"Brace yourselves ladies and gentlemen because the latest announcement from the Carpenter family is one that is going to break all of our precious little hearts, Luca Carpenter the youngest son of James and Louise Carpenter has come out as gay"

This is the news which had me almost choking on my coffee.

What does she mean he's come out as gay?.

Didn't he do that six years ago?.

"According to a statement released earlier today, Luca said it's taken me a very long time to finally accept who and what I am and now I can proudly say that I'm a gay man"

Holy s**t.

"But that's not the most shocking part of the statement, the part which has left many of the public including fans of the family baffled and scratching their heads in confusion is when Luca also confessed his undying love for his soulmate and the love of his life Dylan Tate...does that name ring a bell? well, it should do because Dylan is the eldest son and heir of Lachlan and Sandra Tate and he's the former fiance of Luca's younger sister Lacey Carpenter who has been M.I.A for the past six years, are Luca and Dylan the reason for her disappearance from the limelight? has this love story been going on for a lot longer than the Carpenters want us to believe? this is something we may never know unless Luca, Dylan or even Lacey herself comes out and explains it to us"

I can't believe this.

It's a good job I legally changed my name six years ago before I gave birth to my kids because if I didn't, then this could have caused a lot of trouble for me and my kiddies.

"Moving on, we've got everyone's favourite billionaire playboy Logan Black who is as much known for his dating life as he is for his wealth, businesses and modelling career, the fitness model and business mogul is known for having a different woman on his arm every week but is his bachelor life officially over? it seems so after the sexy hunk was spotted shopping at one of New York's most expensive jewellery stores with singer and actress GiGi Addams"

What?.

It hurt my heart to hear about Logan settling down with someone else, especially with a snake like GiGi Addams.

Deep down in my heart, I knew why it hurt me so much but I just didn't want to admit to it.

I had always had a crush on Logan ever since I was a kid and I think somewhere over the years, that crush manifested into something more but I really didn't want to confess to those feelings because he's my older brother's best friend and also because of Dylan, not to mention Logan is everything I hate in a man.

He's cocky and conceited and he thinks if the world doesn't revolve around him then it should or at least that's how he was six years ago, I don't know if he's changed at all since I left the States.

I couldn't help but smile a sad and bittersweet smile as the presenter continued to talk about my family and those who used to be close to me and it really hurt my heart because I miss them so freaking much and I hate hearing about them and what's new in their lives through channels like this.

Changes are a natural part of life but sometimes it's the ones you weren't expecting that cause you the most pain and sorrow but also the most happiness as well.