CHAPTER ONE
1060 Words
On their way out of the shopping mall, Peach Shenaya hadn't realized that Feather had run off. Again. Probably for the tenth time in an hour.
How could she have known? It had always been Feather’s habit to run off amongst all four children.
Since they were born, Feather had always been the one to play matchmaker and interrogate her about their father. Maybe it was because her name was Feather; she couldn't stay still, always sweeping around like a feather blown by the wind. Peach Shenaya loved her kids, but sometimes she regretted her choices of names, especially with one being Heather, Feather, Weather, and Tether.
"Honey, Daddy is dead. He died in a plane crash," Peach had lied.
What else did she expect herself to say?
‘Oh, Feather darling, Mommy slept with a stranger five years ago and got pregnant out of wedlock.’
As they grew, her story about their biological father changed a lot, but she finally settled on the crash story.
Feather was much smarter than other children her age, and now that she was five, if Peach ever switched stories, Feather would be on her case for lying.
She had grown so much in the past five years, but honestly, not much had changed. She was still the young and naive version of herself; the only problem was that she was no longer that young, and now she had quadruplets—a plain, naive mom.
"Feather, come back here!" She dropped the grocery bags.
"You stay here, pumpkins. I'll go get your sister," she told the others, positioning them to sit in a corner until she returned.
Feather was already pushing the limits with her sharp, strange, impulsive behaviors. She always thought everyone was her father.
Peach quickened her pace as she heard Feather say the usual, "Daddy," to a total stranger standing by a car with a phone to his ear.
"Daddy?" The stranger raised an eyebrow and crouched to her height. Feather ran into his arms. “Are you my daddy?”
"Little creature, I'm not your daddy, okay?" he soothed, trying to maintain a sweet demeanor.
Peach reached them. "Feather, come on. Not everyone is your daddy," she said as the stranger gently placed Feather on the ground, and she ran into Peach's arms.
"Stop doing this, please?" Peach stroked her hair, her annoyance creasing her brow.
Without paying much attention, she began to walk away with Feather. It wasn't the first time, nor the fifth time, that Feather had done this.
"Where is her dad?" a voice struck Peach to her core.
She turned around and could now see his face clearly.
What was his business with the little girl’s father? Peach thought, but she tried hard to maintain her demeanor of always telling her kids to be nice to strangers.
"He died in a car crash," she said sternly, her face turning crimson as she remembered those amber eyes and that… that mole on the left side of his dimples.
Panic set in, and she feared he might recognize her. Peach spun around, grabbing Feather's wrist, and walked quickly to rejoin the others.
Shane Downey had grown so proportional and muscular. She remembered running her hand along those jawlines, sharp as they looked today. Those wavy locks and his height—damn, Shane had grown so much. Bet he was super rich. He wouldn't be driving that car if he wasn't.
"Mommy, I thought you said a plane crash?" Feather said in her cute little voice. Of course she had heard her mom say a car crash, and being Feather, who wanted to meet her dad so badly, she seized every opportunity to call her mom out on her white lies.
Everything inside Peach had drained from seeing the father of her babies after so many years. What's worse, he didn't seem to remember her.
"Mommy made a mistake. It's okay to make mistakes sometimes. We're all human," she managed to soothe Feather with an explanation, masking her unease.
Raising so many babies alone had taught her to always clarify any misunderstandings they had.
She kissed Feather's forehead as she let her walk on her own.
Peach carried the grocery bags. "Come on, pumpkins," she chirped, hiding her aching heart.
"Wait!" Shane yelled from behind, but she bluntly ignored him as if she hadn't heard anything.
Before curious Feather could turn her head to look, Peach interrupted, "Who wants to go on an ice cream date with Mama?" to distract her.
"Me!" they all chimed excitedly.
"Then we better get going before the ice cream melts," Peach said, using her usual phrase.
They held each other's hands, just as she always taught them; "Mommy's hands might be busy at some point, so when that happens, you hold each other and walk together, okay?" she always instructed.
They walked in front of her, giving Peach the chance to steal glimpses of Shane, the night from five years ago taunting her as if it happened just yesterday.
Shane was no longer looking in their direction; instead, he strode toward his luxury car, which was being held open by a valet.
“Oddly strange.” Shane let out a shallow laugh, one that didn’t even reach his stomach, as he slid into his car. His neck craned toward the direction where Peach and her kids had disappeared.
This past week had been hectic for Shane. Not only was he under pressure to marry his longtime girlfriend, the daughter of the prestigious Jewel Co., but he couldn’t seem to reach her himself.
Even his valet was aware of this, and with the wedding right around the corner, PA Dlon wasn’t surprised by the worry lines that had deepened on Shane’s forehead.
“Mr. Shane, with all due respect, why not cancel the wedding or postpone it until we can get ahold of Miss Jewel?” Dlon suggested carefully.
Shane, his gaze fixed on the now moving road, replied, “Thank you, Dlon, but I’m afraid it still holds. I’ll go through with it. I trust Jewel wouldn’t throw away our years of hard work. She’ll eventually show up—don’t worry.”
Dlon nodded, though concern filled his eyes. He knew Shane was clinging to a hope that barely existed. Inwardly, he shared Shane’s wish that Jewel would indeed appear at their wedding.
- Writer
