Chapter Twenty-three

“Love, I’ll be home late. Don’t wait for me.”

“Okay.”

Jack raised his eyebrow. Not believing a word that Hyacinth just said. There has been more than one occasion where he would go home late and Hyacinth would be waiting in the living room, sleeping while waiting for him. 

“I’m serious, hun. I have no idea when I will be home. So, you better be sleeping soundly in the bedroom when I get back, okay?”

Hyacinth wears her feelings on her sleeves and Jack can easily see the protest that is running in her mind. Clingy, she may be and it would show on her face but she’s considerate enough to not stop other plans for her sake. She pouted and hugged Jack. “I can’t help it. I can’t sleep on an empty bed.”

“I know… which is also why I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you next time, I promise.” Jack kissed the side of Hyacinth’s head. “I’ll go to work now. Have fun with work.”

“You too. Love you.” She said, feeling the need to remind herself too.

There was a slight pause in his part that Hyacinth didn’t know what it meant. Those five seconds were enough to make her mind run wild. 

“Love you too. See you later.” He finally answered.

There’s nothing more than she’d want more. She is happily married. She has a loving husband and a great son, lives in a beautiful house, and has a fulfilling job that she wouldn’t exchange for the world. No one is perfect. Thus, no life is perfect too but her whole life has been bliss since she met Jack three years ago.

“Mommy.” Elias was holding his stuffed toy. His hair was messy and he was trying to open his sleepy eyes. “Did Daddy leave already?”

Hyacinth kissed the side of Elias’ head. “Good morning, sleepy head. Yes, Daddy just left. You were sleeping so peacefully so we didn’t wake you up.”

Elias kissed Hyacinth’s cheeks too before resting his head on her neck. “Love you, Mom.”

This is her peace. This is her home.

***

“That birthday party you were talking about days ago is today, right?” 

Hyacinth nodded. She was preparing lunch and was about to get Elias’ lemon juice ready before he finished his tutorial.

“Yeah.”

“Why are you not ready yet?”

Dressed in a plain white shirt and comfortable yoga pants, Hyacinth didn’t look like she was going somewhere anytime soon. There is no need to because they have a cook, but she decided to prepare their lunch herself. This was after she did a general cleaning of their living room. 

“No, I can stay here. Besides, it’s that time of the month that I need to do general cleaning. I was done with the living area, but there’s upstairs and I need to see if Elias’ toys are disinfected.”

Jack got the ladle from her hand and took off the apron that Hyacinth wore. “You were looking forward to this party before you even went to that ocean park. Of course, you should go. I know you like that kid so much.”

It would be awkward. That was the real reason why Hyacinth didn’t want to go. 

Nikolai assured her that he would explain things to Liam so it won’t happen again. After he said that she looked a lot like Liam’s mother and Nikolai’s wife, it wouldn’t leave her mind. So, that was why the father and son looked at him the way they did when they first saw her.

She was uncomfortable with it and she’s scared that it might affect her personal life too. She is not the one to cross the line, but a part of her felt like she was already doing it unconsciously. She just really cared for the kid and wanted him to feel comfortable in the class. It would be wrong to give the kid any idea that she was acting like her mother. Maybe she was, but it was out of place.

She is Liam’s teacher, not his mother.

“Is there any problem, hun?”

“No,” Hyacinth answered with a tone of defensiveness. “Of course, not.”

“You should go and have fun there. I’ll stay with Elias. Don’t worry.”

“You know what?” She just had an idea. “I’ll bring him with me. Elias would love it there. We’re thinking of enrolling him at Evergreen, right?”

“Yeah. You said you’d try the school first, right? If you think it would be a great idea, then, I’m totally on board.”

“I think it would be great.” Elias would fit in that school. He was enrolled in another school and the school year had started already which was why he wasn’t transferred. Elias had a hard time socializing and they were told that it could be because of his high IQ. They made the decision to get Elias a tutor after school to keep him interested academically with topics not yet discussed at school.

“Thank you so much for doing this. You’re the best mom.”

Those words are more than enough. She made a promise to love Jack forever when they got married. She also vowed to love Elias like her own. It wasn’t even a challenge. Elias loved Hyacinth and as far as he knew, she was her real mom. No one would try to argue. She had been playing the role perfectly and flawlessly.

“Let’s fix your glasses, dear.” Hyacinth made sure that Elias was ready for the birthday party. The kids he was about to meet will be his schoolmates soon too. It would be great if even before he could enroll, he’d have friends from the campus already.

Elias didn’t seem to hear her because he was mesmerized by the human-sized shark at the entrance. “Mommy, you said that there are real shark bones there right? I searched for it on the internet and it’s a Rhincodon typus!”

The kid was hopping and even ran to the entrance. Hyacinth couldn’t even stop the kid’s excitement. She ran to follow her son too when someone grabbed her hand all of a sudden.

“Isobelle!” A man squeezed her and pulled her into a tight embrace. She was too stunned to react for a few seconds until the feeling of surprise was replaced by harassment.

A voice in her head was stopping her to make a scene. Nikolai badly wanted this party to be perfect. If it weren’t for that, she would have screamed for help already.

“I knew you were alive! Never did I ever believe that you're gone.”

She tried to pull away from the embrace but he wouldn’t budge.

“Sir, I’m sorry but I would appreciate it if you let me go before I call security.” She tried controlling her voice so the kids and their guardians wouldn’t hear as the guests were starting to arrive.

“Uncle Preston, that’s not my mother.” He tapped Hyacinth with his little hand. “This is my teacher, Miss Hya. Not Mommy.”

What Liam said caused the guy to let go of Hyacinth. Both are in awe, except for the kid who seems to know better than both of the adults. 

Hyacinth couldn’t understand why, but looking at Liam after hearing him say those words shattered her heart into a tiny million pieces.