A Surrogate Mother for the Triplets

Chapter4

She searched her wardrobe, threw on one of her club fit dress, matched it with a three inch comfortable heels and went out the house, heading to the club Paisley wanted them to meet. Outside her apartment, she stared over at her neighbors. The lights were on, she could hear the slow pop music coming from his apartment. She was tempted to actually divert and go on to dinner with him as planned. Soon enough, she went into her car and drove out.

~~~Loud blaring music as expected, Paisley close to drunk by the time Sophia got to the club.

'Sophiaa.. there you are!!!' Paisley pulled her into an aggressive hug. 'Can't believe I found you in just one attempt.'.

'You mean, 'I' found you'. Sophia rolled her eyes as she corrected.

'My ginger hair stands out, girlll. It's an easy job to find me quickly.. Come on, I've got some hot boys lined up for you. It's time to let go of everything and party..' Paisley slurred on her words, jumping excitedly to the jam the DJ was playing. Shortly after, she pushed a bottle of alcohol to Sophia. 'Drink some. Drink your sorrows away, let the music lift your soul' she whispered, her cheeks, crimson red.

'I'd rather stay sober and look after you' Sophia objected almost immediately.

Paisley, knowing the value of that didn't bother to protest, instead, she extends her heartfelt gratitude to her. 'That is why you are the best....'

And so, Sophia spent the rest of her night being a watch guard to her extroverted cousin. What a great way to spend the night after avoiding a cozy dinner at the hot neighbor's house.

~~~

Lucas Fernando heard a car engine roar to life and peered through his window to see her driving off. He gently took off the kitchen gloves, headed to the dining to meet his triplets.

'Daddy.. Where is she?' Logan demanded enthusiastically.

'Something urgent came up so she couldn't make it'

Lucas didn't miss the disappointment that crossed Their features at the same time. Even he, as the father, was disappointed. It was an harmless dinner to show his gratitude to her for actually helping him deal with his kids and getting him to the hospital for proper care.

'Why? What came up?'.

Lucas shrugged his shoulders. 'I can not provide an answer to that. It's something private.'

'Let's eat.'

Once done with their meal, Lucas read his babies some bed time stories, watched them fall asleep before heading to his little office space to get some assignments done. Whilst doing that, he looked out for his neighbor, waiting to hear her drive back in that night. Distractedly, his phone buzzed. Lucas's heart skipped at the name display on his phone. Shaky fingers picked up the phone, then received the unexpected call.

'Gabrielle?' he called, out of breath.

The next five minutes went by and neither Lucas nor Gabrielle said a word over the phone call. For Lucas, it felt like he had been summoned by a ghost. A shadow from his past which he hoped to forget and move on, but that seemed impossible.

After a moment, Gabrielle finally responded to her name. "Lucas, love, how have you been?" She asked like they were still together.

"Lucas sighed. "I'm not your love, Gabrielle. You lost every right to call me that since you decided to leave three kids with me."

Gabrielle laughed over the phone, but there was a hint of regret that resounded with her voice. Lucas was still hurt from her disappearance, and it was understandable.

"How are they kids?" She asked, quickly changing the topic. "Ethel? And his brothers. How are they holding up without their mother?"

Before Lucas could respond, he heard a rustle in the kitchen. It was an unusual habit of Logan to wake up in the middle of night Looking for snacks. He always came to ask his daddy, but tonight he didn't.

Lucas stood to his feet and walked to the kitchen while reprimanding his beloved baby mama. "His name isn't Ethel, it's Ethan. If you had stayed around for the first four years of their life, maybe you'd know that. You'd also know that Logan takes after you." He said.

"Is that a compliment?" Gabrielle teased him. "Lucas Fernando, I've missed you so much."

Lucas found Logan in the kitchen, but he wasn't taking a snack this time. He held a cup of water in his hands, filled right to the brim. He smiled at his father who returned the gesture and carried him in his arms back to their bedroom.

"Daddy, will she come for dinner tomorrow?" Logan asked before drifting into a peaceful slumber in his father's arms.

Gabrielle heard him, and the words of her five year old son sparked a little jealousy in her. Gabrielle was an emotional manipulator on a good day, a trick she'd learned to use against Lucas whenever she needed something. A trick she thought to employ at this very moment.

"Lucas you naughty boy," she chuckled over the phone. "Why didn't you tell me you had a new girlfriend?"

"I don't."

"So what was our boy talking about? You're a father, you shouldn't be bringing random women into our home. Have you put him to bed? It's quite late for him to be awake."

"Don't tell me how to do my job as a father, Gabrielle. Four years you've been gone and those four years, I've been left to charter for the kids alone, you know nothing about them or me." Lucas scolded.

Gabrielle went cold at the other end of the phone, but Lucas knew she had a reason for calling and so he asked with a firm voice. "What do you want?"

"I want to see my children, Lucas. I miss them so much and I know they're craving the love of their mother. I was thinking, maybe I could come home and see them…"

Her voice carried a lot of emotions in it. Regret, sorrow, love, but more than that, it made Lucas feel remorseful for being so dismissive from the start of their conversation.

Lucas took a deep breath and finally responded. "You should have given that much thought before you left."

Those were the last words he said to her before ending the call. He felt his heart thud against his chest. He hadn't heard from Gabrielle in four years, and just when he thought he was getting over her, she chose to call and reignite his roller coaster feelings.

Lucas stared at his phone for over an hour, hoping and longing and waiting for her to call once more, but she didn't. He couldn't sleep in his bedroom that night, and so he slept on the couch, but one thought lingered on his mind, and that was Gabrielle.

*****

Early the next morning Sophia drove back into their compound. She was tired and exhausted, but luckily for her, she hadn't gotten herself wasted like her dear friend Paisley. She drove her back home and made sure she was asleep before leaving.

Stepping down from the car, Sophia was welcomed by the chatter of three adorable children whom she knew their lovely voices ever so well, but something else caught her attention.

Standing under the rising sun and struggling to put a shirt on his perfectly ripped body was Lucas. He held the door with one door and his baby's bags in the other. It was a school day and Sophia got to witness first hand how awful he was at getting the kids to school on time.

One step led to another and soon Sophia was standing In Front of Lucas who barely noticed her presence until the kids yelled after her. "Daddy! It's the pretty lady who helped," said Logan.

Lucas turned and stared at her, but his smile wasn't welcoming. The atmosphere between both parties was tense, even the kids felt it. So they hurried on to the car without saying another word to Sophia or their father.

"You're very terrible at locking doors," Sophia teased, pointing to the door which was now wide open.

Lucas smiled. "It's been a busy day." He said. "The kids expected you for dinner."

"Yes, about that. I'm truly sorry I bailed on you at the last hour. My friend invited me for a girls night out and she couldn't take no for an answer,"

"Um… Sophia, you don't have to explain yourself to me," Lucas pulled the door once more and twisted the key till he heard a click sound and smiled victoriously.

He turned back to his neighbor. "It wasn't a date or anything, so it's perfectly fine if you didn't come, thanks again for looking out for my kids while I was at the hospital."

"Yeah. Sure… anytime…" Sophia responded. She tried to walk away, but something about the charm of her new neighbor kept holding her back. He was ready to go, and so when he walked past Sophia and made way for his car, she called after him.

"Mr. Fernando?"

He stopped and looked at her. "Yeah?"

"How about dinner at my place tonight, to make up for last night. I'd be more than happy to host you and the three little musketeers," she offered expectantly.

Lucas smiled. "Maybe some other time. I'm sorry, but I have to go… the kids are late for school."

Sophia sighed. "That was such a cringe move," she said to herself as she walked back to her home.

Lucas appeared to be the perfect man, the perfect father, but maybe Paisley was right, maybe her and s single father of three, would be a bad idea, or maybe it wouldn't. But Sophia was sure as hell taking no chances. She was going to make her moves, even if he wasn't.