Once His Wife

The Lewis Family

"What happens in the past, is in the past. But don't be surprised if it comes back and haunts you."

- Nicholas Sparks, The Last Song

Chassie George

I frowned at my phone. Kathie's not answering hers. She called this morning and told me dad has been hospitalized. I've been bumping into people when I got in the hospital but my head is too occupied to mumble an apology. I'm beyond worried. I really didn't care if I was wearing a v-neck buttoned blouse and a white denim shorts with blue flip flops.

I stepped in the elevator with a disgruntled groan. "Come on, Kathie. Please, answer your phone."

Though I'm too engrossed with my own inner struggle, I felt someone's gaze on me. I scoot my eyes up to see who it was but the elevator closed before I could do so.

My thoughts are in a tangles of a giant yarn of turmoil to even notice much. I sighed. The elevator finally swished open, jolting me away from my anxiety. I raced down the long corridors and stopped when I found the right room.

I pushed the lump down my throat as I reached for the knob. My heart is sinking down my stomach.

I pulled out a sigh and opened the door.

Dad is sitting on the hospital bed. Mom is on his side.

My gut twisted inside me. I gulped hard.

Two pairs of eyes landed on me.

"Pickles?" Dad's voice entered my ears. A smile wrinkles the sides of his dark almond eyes. Grey streaks adorned his face like a stroke of a painter's brush. My dad is still unmistakably good looking in spite of the age.

Mom craned her neck to look at where dad was staring. Her radiant brown eyes waters when our gazes met. Her hands crawled up over her mouth as if to suppress a sniffle. "My baby girl," she sniffed anyways.

I remember rolling my eyes whenever they call me those endearments but now I just missed it so much.

Dad spread his arms out for me and I just sprinted towards it. He squeezed me closed to him. "I miss you, too." Dad chuckles when I squeezed him back.

Mom joined the hug, rubbing my back. We loosened the hug. I sat on the right left of the bed across mom.

"I miss you so much." She mumbles and kept me in arm's length. "Which reminds me..."

I grimaced when she twisted my left ear. "Aw. Mom, it hurts!" I exclaimed, holding onto her wrist to make her stop.

"Sweetheart, let go of our baby's ear now." Dad mercifully interrupted.

My scowling mother did as what she was told. "That was for refusing to contact your mommy for a decade!" She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. The soft waves of her light brown hair bounces along her movements.

I rubbed my ear which feels like it's on flame now. "You're exaggerating, mom. It was just four years."

"Well, it feels like it so don't tell me I'm over reacting." She raised her chin.

Dad enswathe an arm around her. "Lizzie, she's here now. Aren't you suppose to feel happy about it?"

"I am. But I just couldn't forget about the thoughts that kept me up all night when she was on her own."

I rolled my eyes. "And what exactly are those thoughts, mom?"

"You know like..." her shoulders tensed as she recalls all of them. And I'm talking about 'tons'. "Like 'Are you sleeping in a dirty alley now?', 'Are you getting food from a dumpster?' And-"

"Mom, that's so rude of you to ever think of that. I have savings remember?" My mom - the Elizabeth Lewis, known as the fairest beauty queen the world ever had, still looks gorgeous despite of all the worrying. Too bad I haven't inherited the poise and the grace. Kathie did though.

"She's right, sweetheart. Besides, I slipped a few amount of money to her account."

My eyes broadened at father in the most accusatory way. "So it was you, dad." I've been spending money a lot since I had Ethan. And I was astonished that my account has not drained out on me. Trust me it was not a 'few amount' as my dad put it.

"I just did it once, pickles. I'm sorry," he says, not looking contrite at all.

I lift a brow. I don't buy it. If he just did it once, how come I still have an ample amount of money in my account up until now? Money don't just grow on trees or in my case, multiply like a bacteria.

I facepalmed and decided to just drop it. The helped a lot after all.

"Okay, I believe you. How are you dad?" I'm relieved to see that he looks fine to me.

He chuckles before answering, "I'm okay, pickles. Just a migraine. It's just your mother being your mother." He winks. "You know what I mean."

I giggled.

Mom elbows him with a perfect arching brow. "What are you trying to say, Mister David Lewis?"

"Nothing, Mrs. Elizabeth Lewis. I just love you too much for loving me this much." He grins and pulled her closer to him.

I smiled. Back then I would just scrunch my nose in disgust when they're being this cheesy in front of me and Kathie.

"I'm back, mom." The door opened and my charming older sister walked in with brown paper bags which I assume are doughnuts. Her shoulders slumped, her lips purses disappointment. "Did I miss the hugs?"

I snorted. "Yeah. You weren't answering my calls anyway."

"I left my bag here." She throws a glare at me. "Can we redo the hugs. I can't miss family hugs."

Mom and dad laughed and gestured her to walked over to us. After a split second I'm crushed in the tightest group hug in history. "Oh, before I forgot. Someone wants to see you, dad." She smiles broadly.

My heart leaped in my throat. I took a huge gulp as I felt my palms sweating on my lap. I kept on reminding myself to breathe.

The door opened so did my ribcage. I think my heart just hopped off. Slowly, I turned my head to face whoever it was on the door.

"Hi." He splurged a smile that could've sold out a brand of toothpaste.

My heart leaped back to my ribcage and locked itself in. A guy in a slim fit army green long sleeve paired with a faded blue jeans enters my sight. His amber eyes and chestnut brown hair were a perfect blend.

"Hello, Owen." Dad greets back.

I felt Kathie nudges my shoulder. "My boyfriend," She whispers.

"Oh... Wait. Boyfriend?" My voice was too audible enough to echo around the room.

All eyes are on me.

"Yep," she says, popping the 'P'. "Ha! In your face who said I won't get one."

I fought hard the urge to roll my eyes.

"So, Chassie this is Owen. Owen, my baby sister Chassie."

He paces over to us and extended a hand. "It's nice to finally meet you. I've been hearing a lot about you from Kathie."

I forced a smile. "Nice to meet you." I briefly shakes his hand, skimming his frame.

I'm guessing he's not a business man or anything of that sort. He's handsome.

"You need a magnifying glass?" Kathie snorts.

I turn to her and shot her a blank look.

Owen and our parents seemed to get along well. But I... Well, I'm watching him closely.

Moments later, he told us he have to go because he have a photo shoot at eleven. When he finally left, Kathie jumped in front of me with eyes twinkling like a star. "What do you think?"

I shrugged as an answer.

Her lips purse into a hard line. "Is that it? A shrug? What does that even mean?"

"We don't know, toffee. Your sister can be a little ambiguous sometimes," dad chimes in.

Kathie stomp her feet and look over my shoulder. "Dad, stop calling me toffee. Especially in front of Owen."

Mom laughs. "What's wrong with 'toffee' and 'pickles'? He calls you girls that since you're little."

She's eating the doughnuts that Kathie just brought in. "Sweetheart, it's your favorite flavor. Lemon cream. Here."

I groaned. Why he calls us that? It's not a mystery. He calls me pickles because I could fit in a jar. Thanks to my misfortune with heights. He calls Kathie toffee because mom said it was Kathie's first word. She was asking for a tofu when 'toffee' slipped out of her mouth instead.

Dad took a bite at the doughnut that mom was holding to his mouth.

I sighed. Don't be around my parents when you just went through a break up.

"Wait a minute. Were you expecting someone else?"

My head snapped back to Kathie. She's beside me. "No." My voice raised an octave.

"Yes. You're definitely expecting someone else," she mutters in a sing song voice.

I give her a baneful glare but she just stick her tongue out to me.

"Pickles, do you still love chocolate glazed doughnut?"

The mention of my favorite doughnut flavor swerved me away from Kathie's suspecting eyes.

"I would love that."

Mom hands me the other paper bag with my chocolate glazed doughnuts in it. I took one and engrossed myself in the heavenly taste of chocolate.

"Napkins, sweetie. You're still a messy eater." Mom wipes the chocolate that smeared on the side of my lips herself.

Kathie laughed which earned her a glare from me.

"How about you, toffee? Don't you wanna have some?" Dad chews on his doughnut.

Kathie shakes her head. "Nah. I'm on a diet."

"Seriously? You're putting that body on a diet?" I raked my eyes from her head to toe. "Good luck looking like a stick that grown arms and legs."

She furrowed her brows to intimidate. As usual, that doesn't work on me.

"Girls, your dad and I have something to tell you." Mom's voice interjected.

We both crane our heads to her. She took out a sigh before speaking again. "Your dad's doctor insisted he should take a break from work. He needs to rest even just for a while."

My stomach knotted in worry. "Dad, I want to help. I promise I'll try my best not to mess everything up."

I haven't tried before because dad never really pushes me to do what I don't want to. But now, it's time to make myself useful. Or try to be.

I was expecting hesitant looks on the I faces but blossoming smiles astonished me.

"That's my girl," dad mumbles with pride.

Mom claps her hands with a small squeal. "Great! You're gonna live with us again."

"No, mom. I'm living with my boyfriend," I struggled to make it sound nonchalant.

"Boyfriend?" My parents questioned out in unison.

Kathie nods at them.

"Hold on, pickles. A new boyfriend?" dad's query is laced by skepticism.

"Uh. Yeah," I answered with a matching nod of the head.

Mom put a hand over her forehead. "Really? You're living with him already?"

"Yes."

"Without asking for our permission? For my permission?" Dad piles another question.

"Yes?" I answered a little reluctant this time.

Dad shakes his head. "I gotta meet this boyfriend. He's in a big trouble."

I gulped. Holy crap.

"Dad, I'm twenty three. I'm old enough to make my own decisions and that includes living with him." Oh, man. I can foresee what awaits France if he tries to pretend to be my boyfriend and it's a room with skeletons and

***

It's almost dinner time when I got home. I'm feeling lightheaded all the way here. My insides are tied in a messy ribbon that looks like the tangles of my hair every morning I wake up.

I can't help but feel anxious about what bound to get in my way tomorrow. I have a hunch this wouldn't be easy on me. I pluck out a frustrated sigh as I fidgeted with my index fingers. I'm silently praying that this is not just one of fate's schemes.

"Mommy?"

Ethan came in our bedroom in his superman printed pajama. I'm sitting on the edge the bed, getting my head hammered by these pessimistic thoughts. What if?

The biggest question that feels like a bomb inside me is, 'What if I see him again?'

"You're doing it again, mommy?"

I blinked. "I'm sorry, baby. What is it that I keep on doing?"

He pouts at me. "You're spacing out."

A smile somehow made its way to my face.

My Ethan trudges over the bed and crawled to my lap. He held my face in his cute hands and peered at my eyes. "What's wrong, mommy? You can tell me."

I let out a small laugh. "It's about grown up stuffs, Ethan."

"Please, tell me. Do grown ups always have stuffs to space out about? I'm a grown up now."

I kissed his forehead and just pulled him into a hug.

"Mommy?"

"Hmm?" I loosened the hug to look at his sapphire blue eyes. The same blue eyes I gaze upon whenever I feel troubled. It's funny how he really not looked like me when I carried him inside me for nine months.

Ethan is a perfect carbon copy of Nathan. From the charcoal black hair, to the facial features and to the fair skin. Anyone who would lay their eyes on him will recognize whose gene he carries with him.

But above all the features he shared with Nathan, his eyes is the most prominent resemblance.

"Everything's gonna be alright, mommy."

I felt my heart thawed. I tweak his cheeks affectionately and sighed. "Why am I so lucky to have you?"

My Than smiled back and mimic the way I just sighed. "Why am so lucky to have the best mommy in the world?"

A laugh bubbled up from my throat. "Are you trying to make me feel better?"

"Yes," he grins wickedly.

"So, you didn't mean it? Let's see if you still won't mean after I tickle the tummy out of you."

His eyes broadened. He was about to jumped off my lap and run but he was unable to evade.

I tickled him.

"Mommy!" He wriggles, trying to restrain from squealing.

His laughters resonated in the room. Hearing his laugh made me feel better. That's all it takes because he's my angel.

"Stop it, mommy! I mean it! I mean it!"

I ceased for a minute to let him breathe then continued tickling the life out him.

"Mommy, I mean it. You're the best mommy in the world!" He managed to say between huge pits of laughters.

"Okay. But I'll stop only if you say the magic word."

"Te Amo, mommy!" He shrieks as he squirms on my lap.

I laughed. "In English."

"I love you, mommy. You're the best mommy!"

I stopped and embraced him as he catches his breath. "You don't really have a choice. I'm your mommy and that's it."

He shakes his head and caged my face in his little hands. "Even if I have a choice. You'll always be the best mommy."

Before I knew it, I'm grinning broadly like I just won in a lottery.

What happens tomorrow won't be the death of me. So, fate. Give me your best shot.