His Runaway Queen

Chapter 6

Effie

While we waited for Dove to get ready, I packed up the diaper bag and made sure that I had juice and water for my little man to drink today. I also had a full sippy cup in the side of the diaper, ready to go. I then packed up some snacks for him and put those in the diaper bag as well. I double-checked that I had everything so that I was well prepared for the day.

Once Dove was ready, I picked up Veer (with his blanket and Paw Patrol dog), the diaper bag, my purse, and the stroller and started towards the door. I already had my phone and keys in my pocket, so I was ready to go.

When I opened the door, I heard Dove clear her throat. "Mmhmm. Hey Miss 'I can do everything myself'. I have two perfectly good hands, I can carry something for you. You don't have to do everything alone, you know."

"I know Dove, I'm sorry. I'm just used to doing it all. If you could carry the stroller, that would be a big help. I've got everything else, though. We're going to walk over to the diner, Tatum stopped by last night and got the car seat to put in his SUV. That way, we can just take one vehicle." I told her.

"OK, well, I'll set it up when we get to the sidewalk, and then we can put our little man inside of it." She said.

I agreed with her and after we stepped out of our door, she made sure that it was locked.

The door to our place is on the back side of the building. Thankfully, it doesn't open up to the outside. Instead, the steps go down to the bakery and we use the backdoor to go in and out.

When I first bought the place, it had steps that went both inside and outside. There was, and still is, a porch on the back. I just had the steps removed, and the porch closed off and fixed. It was all in terrible shape and had to be fixed. I decided that the steps inside would work just fine to get in and out of the building.

There used to be two doors at the bottom of the steps as well. One that lead to outside and the other to the bakery. The old owners rented out the apartment upstairs and didn't want the tenants to be able to have access to the shop downstairs. Since I was going to be living up there, I didn't need to worry about that, so I had the door removed.

Now when we come down the steps, we step into a little hallway. It has a small bathroom, my office, and a supply closet in it. I stepped into the kitchen and let the girls know that we were leaving and if they needed me to call or text. Usually, the weekends are pretty slow and they do ok without me.

When Dove and I got around the side of my building to the front, she set the stroller up on the sidewalk. When it was ready, I put Veer into it and got him strapped in. I tucked his blanket around him and gave him his toy. Then, I put his diaper bag into the basket. I kept my purse on over my shoulder. When we were ready, I unlocked his wheels, and we started towards the diner.

Dove walked in front of us on the way there. She got a call and was talking to whoever it was. So while we walked, I spent time looking around us.

After all of this time, I'm still paranoid that someone from my past will finally find me, especially now.

When that River girl came into the dinner the first time. I swear that she had Alena with her. It sure did look like her, anyway. I've not seen her in two years, but I'm sure that she's not changed her looks much in that time. Now me on the other hand, I have purposely.

Where I used to have long blonde hair, but with the way that I always wore it in a bun, no one ever knew how long it was. No one except for Leandro, that is. The few times that we had s*x, he always pulled it down so that he could run his hands through it or wrap it around his hand and pull it. My eyes were also a light green color.

Now, though, my hair is a rainbow of colors, and I wear contacts, and they are a dark green color.

I honestly don't look like I used to, especially after having my nugget. I gained some weight and even gained some boobs for a while since I was breastfeeding. I still do, but it's more at bedtime. I'm weening him off and he's almost there.

So even though I don't look the same, I still worry that someone from back then will recognize me and either call my b***h mother or Leandro. I don't want either one of them to find me. We're perfectly happy without either of them in our lives.

When we got to the diner, Tatum, Colton, and Momma Mia were already there. Dove held the door open for me, and I pushed Veer over to the table where they were all sitting at.

We had been coming here so long that we knew the owner, Rosa, and the waitress, Lea, really well. After greetings, we all sat down.

We always sit at a table so that we will all fit. So I had Veer pulled up beside me, and Momma Mia was on his other side. She had gotten him out and was playing with him. You could hear his giggles all over. It was the best sound.

Our waitress, Lia, came over to the table to take our orders. After she got our drink orders, she walked away.

"I can't wait for today. I've not been to the zoo in years. I can't wait to go, I love animals." Colton said.

I giggled at him, as did everyone else. We all know how much he loves animals. Hell, he's in vet school.

"Babe, I'm pretty sure that everyone around here knows how much you love the animals. It won't be much longer and you'll be working at the zoo as a vet, I just know it." Tatum said.

We were all laughing at the both of them over it because Tatum was picking on Colton and he was fake pouting. What was even funnier was that Veer was poking his little lip out at Colton. He is just so cute.

When we finally got our breakfast, I took Veer and was feeding him some of my scrambled eggs.

While we were eating, I just kept feeling like someone was watching me. But when I looked around, I didn't see anyone. I think that after seeing that River girl this week and hearing her last name, it just got me paranoid.

When everyone was done eating, we paid and then headed out. After we were all loaded up in Tatum's big SUV, we headed out to the zoo. I was ready for a day of fun with my family. I just hope that this feeling of being watched stops soon. I don't want it to ruin my day.