Always Been You

~Dante’s POV~Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

I sat at the table with my three children and their grandmother for dinner. It’s a relief that the kids haven’t started asking for their mother yet. I don’t want any lady to come into my home and raise my children. Their mother has done an outstanding job raising them. If she can do it alone without any help, I can do it too. I watched as Lola’s mother eyed me. She hasn’t said a word.

“How was your trip, mother?”

“Not too shabby. I couldn’t let you fly out of the country since you told me you had children. However, who is their mother?” So it is true that none of them resemble Lola. I thought my angel looked just like her mother.

“Meet Kai, Tyler, and Mia, Mother. Your grandchildren.” She didn’t push the conversation; we continued eating till Mia spoke.

“Daddy, I don’t like this. It doesn’t taste good.” She remarked this while picking out the peas. Realization dawns on Lola’s mother as she looks at Mia and how she was selecting the peas. Lola doesn’t like peas either. She had been removing peas from her food since she was a kid. Catalina rose from her chair and stared my daughter in the eyes as she brushed her hair. Then I noticed a single tear fall from her eyes.

“Oh my angel, you are just like my daughter. Your mother never liked peas, either.”

“Really?” Catalina gave a nod. “Daddy, when is mommy coming?” I went completely still. What should I say? I don’t hate my wife. I want to teach her that communication is the key to everything, including relationships, which Lola and I failed terribly. We talked about anything, but never about our relationship. We could have gone a long way if she had trusted me with all my flaws and told me, but she didn’t, so she ran away.

“Yea, where is Lola?” Catalina spoke up.

“She lives in Ozark,” I said, giving her a pleading look not to press the matter in front of the children. Kai and Tyler know something is not right, but they are not asking. I don’t want to prove them right, but I also don’t want them to worry too much.

“Dad, can we play games after dinner?”

“Of course, but only for 2 hours and then you go to bed. Do we have an agreement?” They both smiled at me and kept eating. They eat almost anything, whereas my little angel is a finicky eater. They dashed into their gaming room after eating, leaving Mia seated at the table with her arms folded.

“What exactly is it, my angel?” I asked her as I sat close to her.

“Tyler and Kai have everything, but Daddy didn’t buy me any games.”

“Are you certain about that?” She nodded. “Why don’t you follow your brothers to the game room and see for yourself?”

“I had been there the day before. There were no games for me, only books.” She said, why she was still folding her hands. I leaned in and whispered something to her, “Really?” I agreed by nodding. “Oh my God, Oh my God, Yeah!” she screamed and started running towards the game room, but stopped and ran back to me to give me a kiss. “I love you, Daddy! You are the best!” She said as she ran to the game room. When she entered the room, the screams got even worse. I laughed at how cute she could have been looking at her games.

“You’re extremely wonderful with kids, aren’t you?”

“Well, I wasn’t given a chance to raise them or even know I had kids.”

“What exactly do you mean?”

“Lola got pregnant and ran away.”

“What, are you guys not supposed to be married?”

“We were married, but your daughter decided that I had no right and took off while pregnant.”

“What?”

“Yea, I just found out I was a father five days ago.” I came to a halt and glanced at her. “I’ve been lying to you, mother. That is why I wanted to visit Vietnam and apologize to you. I haven’t seen Lola in almost 5 years. My children are four years old now. She ran away from me while she was pregnant. I had no idea that she was pregnant. She planned everything right in front of my eyes and then flew away.”

“Did she not trust you because of the way you married her? I thought you said you wanted to tell her that you wanted to be with her and not your girlfriend?”

“Yea, but she never gave me a chance. She fled away with my children. She is not even willing to explain why she did it. So yea, mother, I don’t know her reasons.”

“That is not right. That’s not how I brought up Lola.” A voice spoke out from behind us.

“What do you mean, you didn’t raise Lola that way? Could she have waited till Dante was certain he wanted her? Do you have any idea how she felt while pregnant and watched her husband have an affair with Candice? She could have lost those children if she had stayed. What would you have done in her position? Sit around and hear Candice moan Dante’s name every night. Is it even possible for you to be a man?” My mother came to my house after warning her not to set foot in it.

“Hello to you too, Martha. My Dante is a man; he scored three goals at the same time. What exactly do you mean by ‘is he even a man?’ But she didn’t have the right to leave with his children. She was expecting! And besides, it’s not like she didn’t know about Candice. She should have waited for Dante to settle his differences with Candice so they could be together. Dante has feelings for her, not for Candice and Lola knew that, but like a coward, she ran away.”

“Are you listening to yourself, Catalina? It is a pregnancy! It can not be hidden. The bump grows every minute, if not seconds. Do you know what that evil girl could have done to Lola and my grandchildren if she had found out Lola was pregnant? Dante wasn’t man enough; he was a little bitch with no balls!”

“What did you call my son?”

“I gave birth to him, remember?”

“I seem to be doing a better job than you, don’t you think, Martha?”

“Well, I did a great job with Lola while you were busy with people that matter to you!”

“Stop it, you both!”

“What, does it hurt Catalina?”

“Stop it, you two. Your grandchildren are in that room. They could hear you both yelling at each other like a pair of rabid wolves. What’s the matter with you?” They both remained silent and stared at each other like wolves ready to pounce.

“I had no idea Lola gave birth to those children, but I believe I can be a greater mother than she was.” Everyone turned around.

“Hell no!” Martha and Catalina both yelled at the same time.

“Thomas! I roared.”

“Oh Dante, I drugged him. So that bitch got herself pregnant with your kids and took off. Well, we will raise them together.”