Tempted By Love

Chapter 2 – Plan Preparation

6 hours Before….

Margo's (P.O.V)

Mental Note to Remember: Matt's swimming lesson at noon

It's been a busy day so far. After breakfast Nanny Susan arrived and got Matt ready for the day. She had taken him to the park for a few hours just to have some play time with kids his own age. Matt still has a few months to go before he starts kindergarten.

While Nanny Susan was entertaining Matt, Rita and I went ahead to do some shopping for supplies we’ll need to get our part of the plan ready for tonight. Once we were done with the shopping, Rita kept everything in her car, just in case Theo decided to check up on me. We decided to have some tea at a coffee shop around the corner from the mall we were at.

“Are you sure you are ready for tonight?” Rita asked me, looking a bit concerned as she could see the conflicting look on my face. I nod and say “Yes, I have to. I may not like it but it has to be done. We cannot carry on living this way no matter how much I love Theo. Sometimes love Is Not Enough.” Rita reached her hand over mine, squeezing it showing understanding for what I'm going through in a way it feels like she's taken some of my pain on her, and I know that in a heartbeat Rita would exchange places with me just so that I don't have to feel or go through this pain that I'm going through. We continued sipping on our tea and eating some pastries, as this was my new craving. When Rita changed the conversation to a lighter topic and we began laughing about the old days, remembering the whole Melissa and her posse situation and how they were even too scared to look at us after the punishment. “Just like we dealt with them then we can deal with any problematic situation that comes at us including this one with Theo.” She reassured me, “Just like I had your back then, I still have it now and always will.”

When we were done with our tea Rita and I both hugged each other goodbye and she whispered in my ear, “Till later.” and we went our separate ways. I rushed back home because it's almost noon, time for Matt’s swimming lesson. After he finished his swimming lesson, I decided to take Matt for some ice cream and we walked around a quiet park with our vanilla ice cream cones.

I realize that the time has come for me to talk to Matt and let him in on this big plan for tonight. “Matt, baby, you know how much mummy loves you?” He nodded and replied with a quick, “Yes, mom.” while trying to lick his melting ice-cream cone. “And you know that I will do anything to protect you?” Again, he replies with a quick “Ahuh!”, so I ask again, “Do you want us to stay with daddy?”

He goes completely still and his body is rigid as he pauses for a moment in between licking his ice cream cone. He looks up at me with his big green eyes filled with unshed tears as he says, “Mom you know I love dad, right?”

I look down at his cute face, my heart breaking a little inside. I nod, as a quick “Yes” escapes my lips; a huge lump was stuck in the back of my throat; I could barely speak. I understand him completely because Theo is the only man I have ever loved and I don't see myself loving anyone else ever.

He continues to say, “But I don't like it when dad hurts you or me. I’m too little to protect you and me from him.” He sighs with a shrug of his shoulders. My heart is crumbling into a million pieces as I watch my baby boy act so grown up.

When did this happen? How did time fly by so fast? I remember the day I found out I was pregnant with him. Back then Theo and I were so in love and it was always us against the world. We had been living together for 2 years and Theo was thriving in his career as the basketball star of his team.

Sure, he used to travel a lot and leave me at home for days, sometimes weeks at a time, but I trusted him wholeheartedly and he never let me down. He used to call me at least twice a day and he would never go to bed without hearing my voice.

I remember how he used to surprise me each day he was away with a different color bouquet of roses, my favorite, either at home or at school or at work. Those were the days I used to work at the restaurant as a waitress. I always wanted to do more with my career than waitressing.

Don’t get me wrong the job did pay; I was able to look after myself and not have to rely on Theo for anything financially. Even though Theo didn’t mind at all, those were the days he was so generous. He had to practically force me to accept some cash here and there and he would spoil me any chance he got.

“No expense should be spared!” is what he used to say when it came to spoiling me. He would tell me “I want to give you the world so that you will not lack anything in my lifetime and after I have passed on.” Oh how those days seem like another lifetime altogether.

The man Theo has become is so different to the one I fell in love with all those years ago. My heart breaks at the thought that my children won’t get to experience the fun, loving, generous man he used to be. “Don’t worry mom, we will be ok!” Matt says snapping me back to the present as I feel the stray tears rolling down my cheeks.

Wiping away at them quickly, not wanting Matt to see me like this, I look at him in his eyes and reassure him. “Yes, my love we will be ok and mummy was working on a plan with Aunty Rita to make sure that we will be ok and never have to experience this hurt and pain again.”

As Matt registers the words I just spoke, he opens his big eyes wide in surprise at what he just heard. I watch the flash of emotions that cross his face in the few minutes it takes him to realize what I have just said.

First I see a burst of excitement that washes over his cute little face. Then a sadness cross his face as he bends his head looking at his feet for a moment before he brings his head back up as he draws his eyebrows together with this serious look of concentration and concern on his little face.

Once again it reminds me of how fast he had to grow up. Lol, ‘My Big, Little man’, as I like to call him because of times just like this. As he looks me straight in the eyes he asks me the questions that are burning in his little mind. “Mom, dad is not coming with us is he?” his face holding a seriousness and a bit concern to it as he waits for my reply.

I shake my head and whisper a firm “NO!” not sure if he will be happy or sad, just as the thought reaches my mind I see a happy yet sad look cross his face before he asks his next question. “And dad doesn’t know about this plan, right?”

Again I shake my head and utter another “No.” under my breath but he still heard it. Now there’s just this look of concern on his face as he asks again, “Won’t dad get mad at us when he finds us gone?”

I look at my son as I struggle to find the words to explain to him that in essence we are running away and going off the grid where Theo can’t find us even with all the money in the world. I am kind of hoping that he won’t even bother looking for us, with all this abuse its clear he doesn’t want or need us around.

“Well I’m sure he will but the good news is that we are going to go to a place where he won’t be able to find us and we will be very happy.” I explain as Matt processes what I have said.

As sadness once again crossed his cute little face he says with a heave heart.

“I love dad a lot and I am sad that we are leaving him behind but I don’t want us to stay with him when he keeps hurting us like this, if we stay, I’m scared that he will kill you mom.” My heart just dropped into my tummy at Matt’s words and I never thought it possible for Theo to go that far, but Matt is right.

Theo has become bolder with the physical abuse on both Matt and I and if we stay I know that he will end up killing me and probably Matt as well.

I pull Matt into my arms as I reassure him, “Don’t worry baby that will never happen, I promise.” Pulling away from our embrace, I hold Matt at arm’s length with my hands on his shoulders as I look him in the eye and make my pledge to my son.

“I promise you I will do my best to give you the life that you deserve.” He looks back at me with his doe like green eyes and nods in acknowledgement of what I have just said. With that we continue eating out ice-cream cones.

A few moments of comfortable, content silence pass between us before Matt begins asking me a series of questions about where we are going. “Is it far away?... Will I have to take my toys with me or will there be toys waiting for me?.. Do you think there will be plenty new friends for me to make where we going?.. Is Aunty Rita coming with us?”

I begin answering all his questions after a few moments of laughter at the bust of excitement on his face, wow he took it a lot better that I thought he would. “Um lets see, Yes it is very far away and remember it’s our secret.” I tell him before continuing.

“It’s up to you if you want to take your toys with but remember whatever you take has to be light because we can’t take everything with us so daddy won’t get very suspicious quickly and yes there are a whole bunch of toys waiting for you where we are going.” I reassure him.

“Yes there will be plenty of friends for you to make where we are going and no, Aunty Rita is not coming with us now but she will join us later.” I tell him as we finish up our ice-cream cones. We get up to throw away our serviettes in the waste bin and begin walking, making our way back home, as the park is not too far away from the house.

Matt asks one final question, “What do we have to do to get ready and is there anything you want me to do?” He asks me. I answer his question with a nod as I tell him what the plan is. “Yes, well as you probably guessed by now, we are going far away to a new place in America and we have to change our names and what we look like. So tonight we are going to go with Aunty Rita after your dad falls asleep or if God allows, he doesn’t come home tonight then we can leave earlier. Aunty Rita is going to help us dye our hair a different color and probably give us new haircuts. Mummy and Aunty Rita already bought all our clothes and everything else that we will need for the journey. Once we are ready we will get new passports through Aunty Rita’s friend that will help us, it shouldn’t take too long before we can leave. So you need to put away a few things you want to take with when we get home and you can think of a new name you want to be called in America.”

“Ok mom, I can do that.” He says as he scrunches up his face in deep thought for a moment then says again “What about Liam as my new name?” looking up at me expectantly. I take a moment and tilt my head up in thought as I feel the name roll off my tongue as I say it, “Hmm, Liam, I like it. I just have to get used to it though.” With that set we continue on home.

By the time we reached home Matt was reassured, informed of his part of the plan and excited to put it in action, now we just pray that all goes well. Little did she know she was in for a huge surprise.

1 before….

Margo's (P.O.V)

“STOP!” Margo Diamandis screams out as she covers her highly pregnant belly with her arms, trying to protect her babies at 8 and a half months pregnant. She cannot block the blow from a first that connects with her jaw. It knocks her down to the ground, leaving her in a hazy daze.

As she comes around, she’s just in time to shout again, “Please...” as she pleads with Theo Andino, her longtime boyfriend and father of her 5-year-old son, Matthiou Diamandis, Matt, for short, who is huddled in the corner with his head between his knees, crying for his father to stop.

But their pleas go unheard. “Shut Up and Stop whining... This will teach you never to serve me rubbish food when I get home!”. Theo in his drunken state, continues to kick her in the back, eliciting a loud cry out of her.

Margo moans and tries again to plead for her babies' lives, “...The Babies, Please Theo...”. She cries again in a soft croak as she tries to breath because of the pain her breaths are quick and short.

But even that plea falls on deaf ears as Theo shouts ”I never wanted them anyway…” and gives her a final strong kick to the abdomen, causing her severe sharp pains, before cursing as he staggers out of the room.

Some liquid spills out between her legs. And for a split second Margo goes in to shock. As realization hit of what just took place a sense of panic settles in her mind as she fears for her babies lives.

Then almost immediately her body kicks into fight or flight mode and she knows she needs to act fast because time is of the essence, her babies are at stake here. Immediately she does a quick scan of the room looking for Matt. Her eyes land on his small frame crunched up in the corner with his head between his knees still crying and rocking himself, trying to sooth himself.

Margo knows she needs to get his attention as she tries to move a wave of sharp pains course through her body as she bites down on her bottom lip to try and silence her cry of pain so that Matt doesn’t get more upset than he is.

She realizes that she cannot move so Matt will have to be brave once she calms him down. Just then a wave of dizziness hits her hard that she begins to see black spots; she knows this is not a good thing and that at any moment she probably will black out. She knows she needs to act fast.

She reaches down to feel what’s between her legs; when she brings her fingers back up, she sees blood and goes into an immediate panic. “Matt, Matt honey, mummy needs you to be my big strong boy.” She calls out to him but Matt still hasn’t registered that his mom is talking to him as he is still in a state of shock.

Earlier that fateful night, Margo made mince and rice. When Margo placed his food in front of him, he threw the plate at her, missing her by a few inches as she stepped aside to avoid the plate. When Theo saw that he missed his target, he charged for her shouting and cursing her; that's when Matt left the table and ran to the corner for cover crying for his dad to stop.

“Matt, honey.” She tries again but still not managing to get through to him so she shouts with the little breath and strength that she can master up, “Matt!, mummy needs Help, Now!”

That’s when Matt finally registers that his mom is calling for him. He snaps his head up quickly and immediately notices his father has left the room and his mom is lying in a pool of blood barely breathing.

Matt runs over to his mom, who's curled up on the floor. “Mom! Mom are you ok?” he asks her. Margo tries to calm herself by taking deep breaths so she can instruct Matt to call 112 the emergency number in Greece.

“Matt, get mummy’s cell phone in my handbag and come here quickly.” Matt is afraid to bump into his dad, so he shakes his head refusing to leave his mother's side. Margo knows she has to convince Matt to help her fast for the sake of her babies' lives. So she tries again.

“Matt, honey, look at mummy, you're my brave and strong little boy, I promise nothing is going to happen to you when you get mummy’s phone. Mummy needs you right now, are you going to help mummy?” She asks, Matt thinks for a moment, then wipes the tears that are running down his chubby cheeks as he sniffs and nods his little head with a determined look on his face but he is still in a bit of a panic. So Margo helps him calm down a little bit by helping him breathe in and out a few times before he gets up and runs out of the room.