Red Alert

Chapter 13: Deviled Chicks

Ella's Pov

I was woken up once again by the sunlight hitting my face as I groaned. I sat up as I held a hand to my head. I had a splitting headache and my whole body felt as stiff as a rock. I don't know what is causing this headache heck I don't even remember getting into bed last night. That last thing I do remember is sitting at the table with Dylan and from there on it goes black.

I decided on not sweating it as I stepped out of bed and headed to the bathroom. At first, I wasn't planning on taking a bath but then changed my mind. After taking a bath I got dressed into ruffled bell-sleeved A-line striped sundress. It was a comfortable dress and I had bought it from Dylan's store using some of my money. I allowed myself to buy a few personal things with my paycheck. Although I didn't need much I still wanted to look pretty.

I looked into the vanity as I brushed my hair and let them loosely cascade down my back. I was about to head out to get something for my throbbing headache when my eyes caught sight of something on my side table. It was then that I noticed the glass of water and two bottles of medicine, that I hadn't noticed before. I picked up the bottles examining them over until I found the words headache written. I didn't know which would be effective but decided to go with the one named 'Advil' as I put two pills on my tongue and swallowed them with water.

After I was sure that I was ready for the day to begin, I picked up the glass and headed downstairs. As I descended the stairs the aroma of freshly made breakfast filled my nose and I could already feel my mouth watering. I couldn't help but wonder who it was but as soon as I entered the kitchen my questioned was answered. Dylan was standing by the stove and making what looked liked scrambled eggs as Emma and Aiden sat on the table, waiting patiently.

"Good morning!" I greeted as Dylan turned to glance at me while the twins grinned and ran over to me to hug my legs. "Looks like I was last to wake up today. Why did no one wake me?" I asked as I crouched down and hugged the twins before they walked back to their seats. I approached the kitchen's island table as I peeked over at what Dylan was making. Scrambled eggs. Not my favorite but healthy.

"Because you were snoring like a log," Dylan said to answer my question.

"I was not!" I exclaimed although I didn't know if I was snoring or not.

"Ask the twins if you don't believe me," Dylan spoke casually.

"Was I snoring or not?" I asked as I turned to the twins.

'You were.' Emma's tablet read.

'Like a log.' Aiden turned his tablet to face me as my cheeks turned red with shame.

"Well...You don't have to say it to my face!" I said as I turned my face away and walked over tot he table sitting down beside Emma.  

"It's not our fault that it's true," Dylan said, walking over frying pan in hand. He put some scrambled eggs in the plate, Emma's, Aiden's and his own before placing the pan in the sink. He brought over a plate with some eggs and placed it in the middle before sitting down opposite to me. "Enjoy your breakfast." He said as the twins nodded. I looked at the plate in the middle only then realizing that they were deviled chick eggs and they were insanely cute. 

'Thank you, dad.' I looked at the words written on Emma's tablet as I smiled to myself. Dylan simply smiled himself as he reached forward and rubbed Emma's hair. I started eating as I savored the taste of the eggs. It must have taken Dylan time to put all of this together but this only proves that he can cook and cares greatly for the twins. I couldn't help but also take one deviled chick as it was so cute and eating it sounded like a monstrosity but I still ate it.

'Mommy, will you help me pick a dress for today.' Emma typed on her tablet as she turned and showed it to me. My heart skipped a beat at her calling me mommy but I felt warm and happy. I didn't answer her as I sneaked a glance towards Dylan, who gave a small nod.

"I would love to," I stated as Emma pumped her fist in the air.

'Will you help me too?' Aiden turned his tablet to face me with a serious look.

"Sure," I replied. Somehow it made me feel very giddy that they were asking me to help them pick clothes for them. "Since you two are finished with breakfast, why don't you go and pick out a bunch of clothes to decide from. Alright?" I said as they both nodded obediently and slid off the chair, running upstairs in their pajamas.

"They sure seem to like you, huh?" Dylan said, watching the twin race up the stairs.

"I'll go wash the dishes," I said as I picked up all the plates and utensils. I walked over to the sink as I started scrubbing the plates and thinking to myself. The plates reminded me about last night but the thing was that I barely remembered anything, which was very weird. I had a photographic memory and I wasn't one to forget things so easily. I'm not even that old. Maybe I am that old to forget things? But I'm not old or am I? I honestly don't have a clue what I'm thinking about right now.

"You know you could just put the dishes in the dishwasher," Dylan said, walking up to me with a glass in hand and placing it next to the sink.

"I could but I don't want to because I prefer using my hands. It's efficient and it cleans the dishes better than any dishwasher can." I stated as I continued. The truth was I didn't know how to use a dishwasher but I wasn't going to admit to that in front of Dylan.

"That is true but are you sure you just don't know how to use a dishwasher?" He said as if he was reading my mind. I could feel my cheeks heat up but just turned away from him as I continued to do my work. "I'll do it. You go and help Emma and Aiden. They must be waiting." Dylan said as he grabbed the plate from my hand and took over. I hesitated for a moment but then wiped my hand on a towel as I turned away. I did take one glance at Dylan and noticed something very vital. 

Unlike all the times I had seen Dylan before, he wasn't wearing a suit. Instead, he was in casual homeware clothes which surprised me. I had never seen him in comfortable clothes before and to be utterly honest, casual clothes suited him better. He was wearing a white t-shirt underneath a black track top with black sweatpants accompanied by soft-looking fur slippers. In these clothes, I could tell that the guy had muscles but otherwise he didn't look that muscly in his usual suits.

I turned my head away as I jogged up the stairs towards the twin's bedroom. I opened the door and to my surprise, there were a lot, seriously a lot of clothes piled up on both Emma and Aiden's beds. Even I didn't have as many clothes as they did which made me feel poor. I would have to update my clothes and get better ones. I went over Emma's clothes first and finally, after a lot of discussing and choosing, Emma made her decision. She went with a grey shirt overlapped by a zebra coat, along with brown pants and black Nike converses.

After Emma's dressing was done, I walked over to Aiden's bed as I looked over his clothes. For a boy, Aiden was very picky and it took more time for him to chose his clothes than Emma. After a very tiring trail of his clothes, Aiden decided on a pair as I mentally thanked god. Aiden went with a blue and white zebra striped hoodie, matching with blue sweatpants and white joggers. 

After I helped them both get dressed I took Emma in my lap as I sat at the vanity. I brushed Emma's medium length hair and set her bangs so that they were covering her forehead and then placed a pink beanie on her head very carefully. She jumped off my lap as she ran over to the full-length mirror as she checked her style out. I smiled at her admiring herself as I lifted Aiden onto my lap. I did the same thing that I did to Emma's hair as I set Aiden's bangs to cover his forehead and placed a hat on his head, back facing the front. He went to check himself in the mirror as I stood by the mirror, watching them.

'Thank you, new mommy.' Aiden typed on his tablet as he turned it to face me.

"You are most welcome," I said with a bow and a smile.

"Hey, you two chipmunks ready to go?" Dylan's voice called from the hallway, peeking his head through the door. "Woah! You two look amazing!" He complimented the twins as Emma ran over to him and he lifted her into the air. I noticed that Dylan had changed from his casual clothes into a black suit and it was probably because he was heading out to drop the twins.

'It's all thanks to, new mommy. She is very good at styling. I say you keep her.' Aiden turned the tablet to face Dylan as I leaned a bit to have a look and almost laughed at the words.

"She is not a thing that we can keep but...she is staying here and if it's not too much trouble she can help you get dressed every morning for school," Dylan said as he gave me an unspoken questionable look. The twins also both turned and looked at me with puppy dog eyes and boy was I a sucker for those.

"It would be my honor." I grinned. Dylan let Emma down as Aiden gestured for him to crouch down. The three of them huddled up in a triangle as Aiden wrote something on the tablet and showed it to them but even though I tried to peek, I was unable to see the words. I was curious though because as soon as Aiden moved the tablet away, Emma turned and looked at me while giggling which made me suspicious. 

"Alright! You've taken up enough of Ella's time and now it's time to head to school." Dylan said, ushering the twins out but Emma moved out from the side, ran over and clung to my leg like a koala.

"Emma, it's time to go to school. Let go." I said softly as I tried to move her off my leg by shaking it but the girl was strong as I only managed to lift my leg with her on it. I shook my leg a bit but it was like Emma was glued to it. 

"Emma, come on! You do this every day but you still have to go to school. Look, Aiden's alright with going." Dylan said, trying to convince the young girl who was sticking to my leg to let go. Although Dylan had meant it in a good way, Aiden took it negatively as he ran over and clung to my other leg, startling me by the sudden act. These two were menaces but they were adorably adorable.

'School's awful. It's full of stupid people.' Aiden typed on his tablet, somehow while still clinging to my leg.

"I know you two are smart and have a high IQ but you have to bear with it for now," Dylan said but the twins still weren't convinced as they only clung tighter to my legs.

"How about I come with you?" I asked as I sat down and looked at the twins face to face. "If I come with you and drop you off...will you go then?" I offered and I could tell they were thinking it over. I thought they were going to disagree until Aiden nodded and so did Emma.

"Ok, then. Look's like you two are dragging her along with you." Dylan said as he exited the room with a smile. He did look much better with a smile on his face and in someway it made my stomach flutter, though I had no idea why. 

The twins smiled up at me as they each grabbed one of my hands and led me downstairs. We headed out the door as Dylan grabbed the twins bags and sat in the driver's seat. I got into the passenger seat as the twins got comfortable in the back seat. Dylan started the engine as we drove towards the twin's school. As soon as we arrived there I got out of the car and so did the twins as I looked at the building in front of me.

It wasn't exactly a building but it was a rather nice looking house with a garden. The pathway to the front door was very beautiful and the words 'Minx Kindergarten' was engraved into a metal board on top of the house. I was just going to wave to the twins from here but they pulled my hands as they directed me towards a pathway leading to the backyard. I didn't argue against them as I let them drag me along. If the front was beautiful, the backyard was marvelous. There were different types of playground equipment. A monkey bar, two slides, two sets of swing, a small rock wall, and a small merry-go-round were all present and there were a few bunch kids already present. 

"Hello!" A voice called getting my attention as I almost jumped. I turned to my right and saw a woman, not very old, looking at me with a smile. She was wearing a white t-shirt with blue jeans and a scarf. "Are you Emma and Aiden's mother?" She asked me as I looked at the twins, not sure what to reply.

"Uh, yeah, yeah. You could say that." I replied.

"Oh, that's great. I was starting to think they didn't have any parents. How come you and neither your husband come to any parent-teacher meetings?" She asked, making me confused. "Oh, wait, let me introduce myself first. I'm Raven Cranberry and I'm the owner as well as the teacher of this kindergarten." She said, holding a hand out for me to shake.

"I'm Ella Ja-Rhodes," I was about to use my surname until I remembered I was no longer quite a Jamison.

"Well, it's nice to finally meet you. Now that you're here today, Can I expect to be seeing you at the parent-teacher meeting?" She asked. 

"Uh...Yeah. Sure." I answered.

"That's great. Izzy! stop throwing stones at everyone!" Raven called as she walked away towards one of the kids playing by the swings. I smiled as I turned to the twins and crouched down to meet their heigh.

"I'm going to go now, alright? Have a great day and be nice to your friends. I would love to meet all of your friends one day." I gave them both a kiss on the forehead before waving as I headed back towards the car. I got into the passenger seat as Dylan started the engine.

"Did you meet their teacher?" Dylan asked, watching the road straight ahead. 

"Yeah. She looked nice." I told him as he simply gave a curt nod. I watched the road and as I had a good memory I was quick to realize that we were heading in the opposite direction of our house. "Uh...where are we going?" I asked as I turned to Dylan.

"We're going to update your closet." He answered as I snapped my head in his direction.

"Update my closet? What do you mean?" I questioned.

"Aiden thinks your sense of style is great but you don't apply it to yourself, am I correct?" Dylan said as I couldn't help but wonder about it. Not to boast but I do have a good sense of fashion and I would love to use it on myself except I don't have many clothes to style with so whatever I find, I make sure it is presentable and then I just go wear it. 

I didn't question Dylan after that I turned towards the window and watched the scene blur by. I used to think that all rich people had drivers to drive them around but right now Dylan was driving on his own and I was surprised but also found it easier. 

We soon arrived outside a long but not huge building. By the building's structure, I was able to depict that this store was a*****e for rich people. It was so fancy and as we stepped out of the car and headed inside, I was left even more astounded. There were fancy and elegant clothes hung inside and no piece of clothing was under 1000$ which made it very hard for me to shop here

"Pick whatever you want," Dylan said as trudged away. I was going to call after him but didn't want to trouble him anymore as I walked around and looked at the clothes.

 There had everything from dresses to two pieces but nothing was even close to what I could afford. I still took my time to look at a bunch of dresses and shirts but even though I ended up admiring a lot of them, I couldn't afford to buy any. I thought about it but then I thought about April and her academy tuition. I wanted to use my money on my siblings so I wasn't going to buy anything from here.

I looked for Dylan and found him standing in the corner as I approached him feeling nervous while twiddling my fingers.

"We can go now," I mumbled, feeling a bit embarrassed. Dylan had brought me here in an attempt to update my closet but what he doesn't know is that I'm not as rich as him to be able to buy any of these.

As much as quite liked a few of these dresses but I couldn't manage to use my money of them and I didn't want to ask Dylan to buy them for me. I still remember when he and his friends thought I was out for his money so I didn't want to use his money for anything. I wanted to prove and he and his friends were wrong about me. I do understand their worries but they could have asked me straightforward instead of accusing me so bluntly.

"Didn't you like anything?" Dylan asked, raising an eyebrow as he looked at me.

"I did but..." I trailed off not sure what to say as I diverted my attention away from Dylan's eyes. I didn't want to embarrass myself but I also didn't want to rude. Dylan simply stared at me for a moment as if trying to read me before sighing. 

"Excuse me!" He called as he waved for a*****e employee to come over.

"Mr. Rhodes, how would like for me to help you today?" A woman greeted, approaching us with a friendly look. She was wearing a black pantyhose with a pencil skirt and a buttoned-up shirt tucked in along with a black suit. The tag on her shirt read manager but there was no name. She was pretty though with her curls and perfect smile. She looked to be in about her mid-thirties or something. I'm an observer so no matter what the thing or person is, I always pay attention to everything, mostly clothing and the person in general.

"I want to buy these dresses," Dylan said as he started walking through the huge store with the woman following behind. He would point towards different sets of dresses while the woman would jot them down on a notepad and a nod. I walked behind them slowly as I watched Dylan pointing at some of the dresses I had liked. I couldn't help but wonder who he was getting those for because whoever got them would be very lucky.

"Dylan!" A voice called from the other end of the store as both Dylan and I turned to look for the person. I saw a woman wearing a short lavender dress with a white jacket, high heels, and long luscious blonde hair walking elegantly over to Dylan. I was confused but by Dylan's expression, I could tell that he knew this woman and I even had a guess how. "I was going to come over to your house tomorrow. It's great that I can see you now." She said as she and Dylan now stood face to face. 

"You may be excused and prepare everything I asked for," Dylan spoke to the saleswoman as she nodded and walked away. By the look on Dylan's face, I could tell he didn't harbor any nice feelings for the woman in front of him but the woman had a very sweet and innocent expression on her face. "You're back." He said as he turned to the woman.

"Dylan, come on. Stop this act. I've been overseas for a long time but I didn't stop thinking about you. I can't seem to forget you." The woman said. I know that I should've turned away and given them space but I was intrigued and instead of being decent, I stood there watching them intently. "Give me a chance, will you? I promise I'll take better care of Emma and Aiden. I'll treat them like their my children. Please, just give me a chance to prove that I've changed." She continued as I almost gaped.

"I'm afraid its too late now. I don't know if your parents told you or not but I've gotten married now." Dylan stated as the woman's mouth widened in surprise.

"But you...you weren't married last month and I know that but...all of a sudden you're telling me you're married. How could that be? That would mean you got married in a month but we've known each other for 3 long years, yet you never said anything to me. How could you marry someone who you barely know and you're willing to let her marry you? Your parents were alright with it?" The woman almost delivered a whole speech, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. The innocent and heartbroken look on her face made me feel bad for her. I wanted to hug her to make her feel better but I knew that would only make things worse.

"I'm sorry Violet but I've moved on. It's time for you to move on too." Dylan replied to her as he walked past her and towards the counter.

"Wait! You're lying, aren't you? You're just saying that because you don't want me to love you anymore, right?" The woman, Violet wasn't believing anything. "Dylan, please. I went overseas and I gave you space for a long time. You said that you needed time to think and I gave you time but I need an answer. I'm not ready to let you go." She said, grabbing onto Dylan's wrist.

"I already gave you an answer." He said, wrenching his hand away from hers as he started walking away only to stop and turn to face me. "Ella, let's head back home," Dylan spoke as he headed towards me and held my hand in his, intertwining our fingers. 

He led me towards the counter but instead of looking forward I turned back and glanced at the woman. A waterfall of tears was cascading down her cheeks as she turned her head and looked at me. Even though she looked broken, her eyes had a secret spark that was directed towards me. At first, she simply glanced at me but then took a double-take, this time her eyes landing on Dylan's and mine intertwined hands. She looked at me and gave a small smile although it looked very fake.

I turned my eyes back to the front as we approached the counter and Dylan let go of my hand. He grabbed six bags from the counter as we exited the store and headed to the car. After placing the bags in the car, we started towards home.

"Who was she?" I asked, trying to be not to be very pressing but my curiosity was killing me. 

"No one," Dylan answered, his eyes on the road.

"But she seemed..." I started, trying to find the right words.

"It's none your business!" He exclaimed, the anger clearly shown on his face.

"But..." I had so many questioned swirling and I couldn't help myself. I know I said I wouldn't poke my nose in his business and vice versa but I at least wanted to know who that Violet was and what her relation was to Dylan. 

"Just shut up! It's my business, not yours so stay out of it!" He shouted as I mentally rolled my eyes and looked out of the window. 

In my opinion, Dylan has some anger management issues and he needs to control it. He could've simply replied but no he's gotta be all grumpy. I decided to not take it on my heart as there was silent until we arrived back at the house. I got out and opened the car's boot as I took out all six bags, almost falling over by the weight. Dylan got out of the car as he headed straight inside without even thinking about helping me. I grabbed all the bags and stumbled inside, letting the bags on the floor.

"Where do you want me to put these?" I asked.

"Seriously? Are you honestly this stupid or are you pretending?" I got that as an answer instead as I frowned but hid it with a fake smile. Stupid. Am I really stupid enough for him to be calling me that? Dylan thought I understand but when I stood there oblivious he sighed as he pointed towards the bags. "There for you!" He exclaimed, annoyed.

"Me?!" I questioned. What? And all this time I thought he was buying these as a gift for someone else or Jennie. For me? "I-I can't. It's just..." I said as I looked ridiculously at Dylan.

"We already paid for them and they can't be returned." He said as he walked upstairs and disappeared in his room as I heard a slam. I was still shocked but decided to not dwell on it as I picked up the bags and headed towards my room. 

I took out the dresses and shirts from the bag as I stood in front of the full-length mirror and checked them out. They were all very beautiful and I could've never imagined wearing these. I have to thank Dylan for this because this is way over the top and it's quite sweet. I never had anyone buy anythign for me ever since mom and dad died so...it felt nice to be given something. Since there was nothing much to do and I didn't want to get bored, I tried on all the dresses and had a private fashion show. I strike different poses in the mirror as I laugh to myself and enjoy by myself. I had never had these type of dresses before and it made me feel special.