Love Me, Mr Billionaire

CHAPTER 2-THE DESCENT

Once more, when she awoke, the sun had risen and she could hear the baby laughing and gurgling contentedly. With Cassian gone, Piper was nestled next to her in their bed. She hadn't heard him go to work or bring the baby back upstairs.

She tickled her daughter's stomach. “Hi, Princess.” Piper laughed and kicked her legs happily. Maxine heard footsteps softly approaching, and then she saw Elijah peeping through the bedroom door, his favorite green blanket tightly gripped in his arms, his blonde head and drowsy gray eyes.

“Mommy,” he greeted, rubbing his eyes. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, baby,” she answered and stretched out her hands. “Come. Come here.”

Pushing aside his blanket, Elijah waddled to the bed and slid in next to his mother. Maxine was always delighted to share her son's company because he was usually asking after his dad.

But the quiet times were short-lived. Before Piper could go into full-blown tantrum mode because she was hungry, Maxine scooped her from the bed and climbed down.

“Pancakes and oatmeal, Elijah?”

He nodded solemnly.

“Good then. Let's go downstairs and see what we can do.”

After heading downstairs, the three of them went to the kitchen, where Maxine was delighted to see a basket full of freshly baked pancakes. She bet their chef, Maria must have baked them before Cassian headed to work. Maxine could not help but be very grateful.

“I pay the staff good money to take care of you and the kids. You don't have to grovel before then each time they do something for you,” Cassian had once said to her. But she had not listened.

Maxine had grown up a few lines away from poor. Her mother was a retail worker while her father worked in construction. After her father had an accident that made him lose his job, he started to find comfort at the bottom of a bottle. That was when the bill started piling up and her mother started spacing out because raising two children and a dealing with a drunk husband became too much for her. Maxine took over the running of the household when she was in middle school and had to take care of her little sister, Cameron on her own. She felt guilty about leaving her in the care of a distant aunt in order to attend college. But she had to choose a better life. She had to get out of there.

Shaking her head, she set Piper in her high chair and gave her her own pancake to pull apart. She went to the coffee maker to prepare a cup for herself and oatmeal for Elijah.

“Mommy, pancake,” Elijah whined.

“Oh,” Maxine said absentmindedly. She took three pancakes from the basket and placed them in a small plate. “Sorry, little guy. Mommy forgot.”

Why was she out of it so often these days? She wondered. Maybe she was destabilised because her routine in the morning was not this. She was supposed to be at the college this morning preparing for a class while the nannies handle the kids. Also, she was tired a lot now and found herself having so much pent-up emotions. What was the matter?

She got herself a pancake, made herself a cup of cold brew, which she felt was exactly what she needed to get going, and sat down at the table with the children. She silently thanked her amazing chef, who was always too skilled at her work, as she nibbled into her pancake, enjoying all the fluffiness.

Maxine didn't mind the mess Piper was creating as long as she was not sobbing, even if she was tearing her pancake apart and getting more on her face and the floor than in her mouth. Smiling because her daughter was having such a good time, Maxine swiftly took a picture of the messy infant with her phone and texted it to Cassian.

Had pancakes for breakfast but everywhere is a mess thanks to Piper. Still better than her screaming out her lungs, right? I hope you're having a good day. Xoxo.

Her phone pinged almost immediately.

Lol. All the mess in the world is better than Piper screaming out her lungs. I'm having a good day despite Delacroix attempting to get on my last nerves. I'll try to be home as soon as possible. Love you.

Maxine set her phone aside and carried on drinking her coffee, hoping the caffeine would take effect quickly and provide her with the energy she required to get through the day.

Except, it was going to be a very horrible day.

Soon after, Piper began to cry incessantly once more, and she would not stop no matter what Maxine did to divert her attention. Carrying her on her hip the entire time, Maxine labored to grade a few papers as the baby cried every time she attempted to put her down. The nannies intervened and tried to take her away, but each time they did, Piper's screaming got worse till Maxine could no longer ignore and had to go to her.

Piper was worn out by midday, but she resisted the urge to take a nap or give in to her own fatigue. When Maxine finally had enough, she wrapped Elijah and herself in their jackets, loaded Piper into her stroller, and left for the park in the gated community they lived in. She hoped Piper might get a little tired from her walk in the fresh air.

She was sitting on a seat in the playground, watching Elijah play. She stared at the various trees and shrubbery leaves all around her, and it brought back memories of her childhood home. She could also hear the birds singing over her head. Though it was still midsummer, soon the seasons will shift and the leaves would change from her favorite green to her husband's favorite orange. Winter would be here far too soon. Maxine abhorred the cold. She wanted to cry thinking of the tranquility the trees offered her. She knew that as time went on, her feelings would take over her more and more, and she understood that this was because she was feeling worn out, weary, and perhaps even a bit depressed.