33. Jiya
JIYA
Istepped out of the taxi carefully as my feet touched the ground. The late afternoon sun warmed my face, but my body still felt heavy and sore.
“Mama!” Lucas ran toward me, his eyebrows squished together. “What happened?”
He’d been playing with the neighbour’s children when he saw the taxi pull up in front of the house.
“Just had a small accident, honey, but I’m fine,” I said with a reassuring smile, wrapping my good arm around him, pulling him close.
He took my bag without being asked, his little fingers gripping it tightly as he reached for my uninjured hand and led me inside the house as though he were the adult and I were the child.
“Are you sure, Mama?” he asked, looking up at me with wide, searching eyes.
Before I could answer, Emma saw me and began to cry.
“Sweetheart, I’m fine,” I said softly, bending slightly despite the pull of pain in my shoulder, trying to soothe her.
“Mama, no fine. Mama hwurt,” she sobbed.
I reached out and wiped her tears away with my fingers.
“I’m fine,” I said, brushing her hair back gently. “Just a little broken right now.”
That evening, Liam came by as he had promised, holding a bouquet of fresh flowers in his hand. The soft fragrance filled the living room as he stepped inside, his eyes scanning me, assessing every movement.
“Is Caleb fine?”
“Yes, he is,” I replied. “The car hit my side.”
“I’m glad both of you are fine,” he said, smiling warmly.
Before dinner, my phone buzzed with a short message from Caleb checking if I was feeling any better. A small part of me wished he had called instead, and disappointment flickered briefly through my chest before I pushed it away almost immediately.
He was probably with his family or Tatiana.
I had no right to expect more from him anymore, no matter how much the accident had shaken both of us.
Still, I found myself rereading the message, quietly clinging to the concern hidden between the simple words.
Liam stayed for dinner, keeping the children entertained with stories and laughter, and then left later that evening once he was certain I was stable.
That night, Lucas and Emma wouldn’t leave my side. They climbed into my bed and curled up beside me, their small bodies pressed against mine. Milo jumped onto the mattress near my feet while Oreo pressed close to Lucas’s side, both dogs unusually quiet as though they too sensed I was hurt.
They followed me everywhere in the house the next day, while Geeta hovered nearby, refusing to let me lift even a finger.
She carefully helped change my bandages, scolding me gently whenever I tried to move too quickly.
More than once, I nearly tripped over Milo and Oreo because they stayed so close to me, following me from room to room like silent shadows.
The following morning, Karena came over as soon as she heard about the accident.
“I don’t know why people drink and drive,” she said, shaking her head, nostrils flared, as she set a bowl of steaming soup in front of me. “There are so many taxis around. Why can’t they take them instead of jeopardizing their lives and other people’s lives?”
“I know,” I replied, taking the bowl with my good hand and lowering myself slowly into the dining chair. “People, unfortunately, are quite inconsiderate and foolish at times.”
The warmth of the soup seeped into my palms and travelled through my body.
“This soup will help you heal.” Karena stroked my hair.
The quiet, motherly care stirred something deep inside me. For the first time in my life, I understood what it felt like to be looked after by my own mother.
Karena stayed the night. Lucas spent the evening showing her his superhero drawings while Emma followed her around the house chattering endlessly. Even Milo and Oreo rolled onto their backs for belly rubs while she laughed and played with them on the living room floor.
That night, after dinner, I tucked Lucas and Emma into Lucas’s bed while rain tapped softly against the windows. Emma lay curled against my side while Lucas rested against the headboard beside me as I closed the superhero book I had been reading aloud.
“There’s something important I want to tell you guys,” I said softly.
Both children immediately turned toward me.
“You know how Nan-Nan calls a lot, comes over often, and always brings you little gifts?”
Lucas nodded while Emma hugged Mia closer.
“Well...” I swallowed hard. “There’s a reason for that.”
“What is it, Mama?” Lucas asked.
I took a slow breath.
“Nan-Nan is my biological mother.”
Lucas blinked several times as though trying to process the words.
“The mommy who gave birth to you?” he asked carefully.
I nodded slowly. “Yes.”
Emma’s eyes widened.
“Nan-Nan your mama?” she asked softly.
“She is,” I replied.
Emma smiled and hugged her bunny tighter. “Dat nice.”
Lucas smiled slowly after that before leaning against my shoulder. “That’s actually really cool.”
Emotion swelled painfully inside my chest as I wrapped an arm around both of them.
Karena left in the morning, and I rested for the next two days, allowing my body the time it needed to recover.
By the time the weekend approached, the wounds had begun to heal, and the throbbing in my head had eased into a dull ache that I could manage.
On Friday morning, I drove to the cemetery to visit Cole by myself.
Standing in front of his grave, I took a slow breath.
“Yeah,” I said softly. “Drunk drivers. You don’t have to worry about that sort of thing... do you?”
A giggle escaped my lips.
For a few minutes, I spoke to him, and before long, the words tangled together, and then the tears came.
Somehow, the conversation shifted, and I found myself talking about Caleb.
Guilt twisted painfully inside me as the confession spilled out.
I had loved Cole deeply. He had been my husband, my safe place, the man who helped rebuild me after my world fell apart.
But Caleb had been different.
Different from anything I had ever experienced with Harper or Cole.
He had been my first true love. The kind that branded itself onto a person’s soul so deeply that neither time nor distance could fully erase it.
I wiped my tears with trembling fingers and looked at his gravestone.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
A cool breeze brushed against my cheek, and for one impossible second, I felt as though he understood.
That afternoon, after lunch, I lay down for a nap.
Sleep came quickly, pulling me into a dream.
We were all in a park, surrounded by sunlight and laughter. Eva stood nearby, smiling warmly, while Chloe ran across the grass. My children played beside her, their tiny hands reaching for one another as if they had known each other forever.
I found myself talking to Eva as though we were old friends, our conversation flowing easily.
Then Cole walked toward me.
He took my hand gently and guided me a few steps away from the others.
“I want you to be happy again,” he said. “I want you to love again. I don’t want you to be alone.”
A tender smile spread across his face as he looked at me, and then his gaze shifted toward someone in the distance.
I turned slowly, following the direction of his eyes.
My vision blurred.
Then the figure became clearer, step by step, moving toward us.
My breath caught in my throat.
It was none other than Caleb.
That evening, just before dinner, the doorbell rang.
Geeta went to open the door while the children remained in the living room with me, watching television.
“Hi, guys!”
I turned around.
Butterflies erupted in my stomach the moment I saw Caleb standing there, filling the doorway with his presence.
I had not stopped thinking about him since the accident. He had been the love of my life before I met Cole. The first man I had ever given my whole heart to. He had been the reason I fought to live when my own heart nearly gave up on me years ago. The man I had once imagined spending forever with.
Lucas and Emma shrieked and ran toward him, throwing their arms around his legs as if he had returned from a long journey instead of arriving after only a few days.
I stood up from the couch, watching him with my children clinging to him in excitement. Joy bloomed inside my chest despite the dull ache in my arm.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, unable to keep the smile from my face, walking toward him.
“I was around and thought I’d check up on you. How are you feeling?” he asked, his eyes searching mine.
“I’m better,” I said.
“Your arm?” His brows knitted together, deep lines forming between.
“Much better.”
“Are you staying for dinner, Caleb?” Lucas asked in a bubbly tone.
Caleb looked at me, silently asking permission.
I nodded.
“Yes, I am and...” he paused, his lips curving into a playful smile. “Guess what I bought?”
He knelt and opened the bag he was carrying.
“Ice cream! Ice cream!” Emma squealed, clapping her hands.
Laughter filled the room.
After dinner, we all huddled together on the couch and played Ludo while the television murmured in the background.
Lucas argued dramatically over the rules while Emma kept trying to move everyone’s game pieces instead of her own, making all of us burst into amused groans every few minutes. Milo and Oreo sprawled across the floor between us, their tails thumping lazily whenever the children squealed excitedly.
As the night wore on, the energy slowly faded.
Lucas began rubbing his eyes between turns while Emma’s words became sleepy and slurred.
Both children fought to stay awake, stubbornly insisting they were not tired even as their yawns grew bigger.
Within the hour, they drifted off against the couch cushions, their small bodies warm and heavy beside us.
“Any plans for tomorrow?” Caleb asked from behind me as he gently lifted Lucas into his arms and carried him upstairs to his bedroom.
“I promised to take them to the farm tomorrow,” I replied, holding Emma carefully against my good side.
“That’s great.”
“Would you like to join us, or are you going back now?” I asked.
My heart raced as I waited for his answer.
I wanted him to share that simple day with us, to laugh with the children, to be part of our world, even if only for a little while longer.
“I’m staying at the hotel this weekend. I have some business to take care of here,” he said, pausing before continuing. “I’d be more than happy to join you tomorrow.”
He tucked Lucas into bed, pulling the blanket up to his chin and smoothing his hair back. Then he walked toward me and carefully lifted Emma from my arms.
“Let me,” he said softly.
I watched as he carried her to her room, cradling her.
He laid her down gently on the bed and tucked her in, adjusting the blanket around her small body with the same careful attention he had given Lucas.
Standing there in the doorway, I blinked back the tears in my eyes.
Father and daughter.
The sight rooted me to the doorway. I wished I could freeze that moment forever and hold on to it for the rest of my life.
Would this be the right time to tell him? Would he forgive me for keeping this secret from him, or would doubt cloud his eyes? Would he accept Emma as his child, or would he turn away from us both?
Guilt coiled tightly inside me as I watched them together.
Our daughter.
He and Emma were growing closer every day, building a bond without realizing who they truly were to each other. By staying silent, I was cheating him out of the truth, withholding something that rightfully belonged to him.
Walking back downstairs together, he turned toward me and said, “Why don’t you guys come to the hotel for breakfast tomorrow, and we can go to the farm after that?”
“That sounds great,” I replied.
A minute later, we found ourselves standing at the front door.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asked, his voice gentle, his gaze steady.
Lowering my eyes, I nodded slowly.
I did not want him to leave. Every part of me longed for him to stay, to close the distance between us and hold me the way he once had.
When I lifted my gaze to meet his again, time slowed.
We stood there silently, looking at each other, the air thick with unspoken words and buried emotions.
His lips parted slightly, as though he wanted to say something, as though he was standing on the edge of a confession.
Seconds later, he turned away.
Without another word, he walked to his car.