Christiana’s POV
The morning sunlight streamed through the curtains, but it did nothing to lift my mood. All I could think about was the chaos Alex had caused last night. I paced the length of my bedroom, my anger simmering beneath the surface. How dare he? How dare he storm in and ruin my night with Daniel as if he still had any claim over me? It wasn’t like I went to sabotage his relationship with Bianca when he left me for her, so what gave him the right to show up and humiliate me like that?
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t notice the twins had snuck into the room until I felt a tug on my robe. I looked down to see Ethan and Emma, both staring up at me with expectant faces. Their innocent eyes, so full of curiosity, were the only things capable of grounding me when I felt this lost.
“Mommy, we wanna see Daddy,” Emma said, her small voice carrying more weight than she knew. Ethan nodded eagerly beside her, his eyes wide with hope.
My chest tightened at their words. Of course, they wanted to see him. They’d been asking about Alex nonstop since the airport incident, and I’d been stalling, trying to figure out how to manage this impossible situation. But after last night? The idea of facing him again, after that ridiculous stunt he pulled, was unbearable.
“Sweethearts,” I said as gently as I could, crouching down to their level. “Daddy’s… very busy right now. He has a lot of work to do, and we can’t just see him anytime we want.”
“But you promised,” Ethan whined, his lower lip jutting out in that way that always broke my heart. “You said we could see him soon. You said!”
I took a deep breath, trying to hold onto my patience. “I know I did, baby, but sometimes things don’t go as planned. Maybe we can plan something for another time?”
“No!” Emma stamped her foot, her little face scrunched up in determination. “You always say that, Mommy! We wanna see
him now!”
My hands clenched at my sides. I knew they were just kids, and they didn’t understand what was going on, but the constant pressure from them, combined with the anger boiling inside me because of Alex, was too much. I could feel the frustration rising, the knot in my chest tightening until it snapped.
“I said no, Emma!” I snapped, the sharpness in my tone startling even me. “You can’t see him right now, and that’s finall”
Both of them froze, eyes wide in shock. They weren’t used to me raising my voice like this, and seeing their little faces. crumple with confusion and hurt broke something inside me. Emma’s eyes welled up with tears, and she quickly wiped at them with her fists, trying to be brave. Ethan just stared at me, as if he couldn’t believe I’d spoken to them that way.
I closed my eyes, guilt crashing over me like a wave. What was I doing? This wasn’t their fault. They were just kids, caught up in a mess they didn’t deserve to be part of. The tears in their eyes were a mirror of the chaos I was feeling inside, and I hated that I’d been the one to put them there.
“Oh, sweethearts, I’m so sorry.” My voice was shaky as I pulled them both into a hug, their small bodies stiff against me at first. “I didn’t mean to yell at you. I’m just… tired, and there’s a lot going on right now. Please don’t be sad”
Emma sniffled against my shoulder. “You don’t want us to see Daddy anymore?”
“No, no, it’s not that,” I said quickly, rubbing her back in slow circles. “I just need a little more time to figure things out, okay? I promise I’ll make sure you see him soon, but you have to be patient with Mommy, okay?”
Ethan looked up at me, his eyes still full of worry. “You’re not mad at us?”
r with
My heart twisted at the vulnerability in his voice. “Never, my love. I could never be mad at you two. I’m just… dealing some grown–up stuff, and sometimes it makes me say things I don’t mean.”
They both nodded slowly, but I could tell they were still unsure. I kissed the tops of their heads, wishing I could take back the harshness of my words. They didn’t deserve to feel like this, not because of my issues with their father. It was Alex who I w supposed to be transferring all my frustrations at, and not the kids.
“Tell you what,” I said, forcing a smile onto my face. “How about we do something fun today? Maybe we can bake cookies or watch a movie together? You can even pick the movie.”
11:52 AM
Chapter 41
Their faces lit up just a bit at that. “Can we watch Frozen?” Emma asked, her voice tinged with hope and caution, something which stirred up a dull ache in my chest because she looked so innocent, so sweet.
*Frozen it is,” I said, grateful for anything that would help smooth over this rocky moment. Because I had acted out of line and hurt their feelings by yelling out of frustration.
But as they hugged me tighter and started chattering about their favorite scenes, the weight of what I was dealing with down on me even more. I couldn’t keep doing this–lying to them, putting off their questions, pretending I had it all und control when I was barely holding on. Something had to give, and soon. But I knew one thing for sure: I wasn’t ready to face Alex again, not after what he did last night.
As much as I wanted to protect my kids, I also needed to protect myself. And right now, that meant keeping a safe distance from the man who seemed hell–bent on tear
ing apart the little peace I’d managed to build.
