I'd rather regret trying something, then not giving it a go.
It has been a week since that day. I haven't told Max what really happened in that hospital room, although he told me to call him if anything happens. And as for the baby, I've decided to keep it. I was even looking a bit towards a bright future. When I closed my eyes and thought of the embryo in my belly, I'd see the future with a child playing with me. That was enough for me. All worries seemed to disappear when I focused on my future with a little child I would be proud to call mine running around, playing with Ayden or even a dog if we had one.
As for Blake, I sincerely doubted that I would ever see that man again. I didn't even have any means to contact him, so I gave up. He would have probably wanted me to have an abortion or call me a gold digger with his kind of personality.
Melissa asked me to go over and babysit Amy since she had to go to some family meeting. Her family had, as she explained to me, these kinds of gatherings at least once a year, but she didn't want to take Amy because her relationship with them was still . . . icy. She planned to leave her at her brother's place for the weekend. But since he also had to go, she asked me to watch over her kid until they returned. Pretty unplanned if you ask me, but having to spend an entire day with two kids seemed like a great way for me to kill my boredom. So, here I was, standing in front of a mansion. Actually it was more like a castle, so let me correct myself. I was standing in front of the gates of her brother's castle.
Damn, why is everyone turning out to be rich around me lately? Hell, even I seem a bit rich if it were not for my aunt.
"Nonsense, Kaley." She started. "This is just a mansion. Not a family one, of course. My brother never liked living in the family mansion so he moved to this smaller one," she said. Maybe her brother was delusional, because that house was freaking huge! This small peasant does not understand the minds of you rich people.
I sighed. No point in arguing. I glanced over where Amy and Ade stood talking to each other before she grabbed him by his hand and led him inside. They should definitely keep me busy. A brave little girl and boy who thought himself to be a hidden superhero . . . Ah, I hope I won't fall asleep during the day.
"Yeah, sure. Now go, the sooner you leave, the sooner you return to help me deal with these devils!" I silently prayed that she'd be back as soon as possible. I was afraid of what could happen in that house with its owner far from here and me being responsible for those two.
"All right. Uncle Alfred!" She called out and a butler appeared. My heart almost stopped by his sudden appearance and I couldn't suppress the thought that her brother was a bit batmanâlike. "This is Kaley. She came to look after Amy until my brother and I return. Where is that punk anyway?"
To be honest, seeing her gangster-like attitude, I almost shed a fake tear of compassion for her brother.
"He's already left because his date, in his words, a clawed witch from the nineteenth floor of hell that Satan himself sent, has been bugging him to hurry up," Alfred answered with a scowl on his face. I immediately thought that I liked him. The honesty in his voice surprised me and I thought that he'd be great to talk with. Rich people have their own drama, like going on a date with someone you obviously don't like. Sure enough, it's better to be a simple peasant like me. Fuck, did I just scold myself? Is this the legendary mood swing of pregnant women?
"Don't tell me, he brought her out of all people?" Mel had the same scowl as him while dramatically waving her hands around. I guessed that whoever that woman was, she really was a witch from hell. It took a lot for Mel to hate someone.
"Unfortunately, I heard horrible sounds last night, I will have nightmares because of her screams until the day I die, and maybe even after. Thank heaven that my wife was away for a while helping with our daughter's wedding." Poor Alfred. Just what did his job cover? What had happened last night in this house? Just what was witnessed?
"Damn, he did it with her?"
"No, she came to pester about getting married to him."
"What did he do?"
"What else can our master do? He watched the entire self-directed show with interest, shed a fake tear from being 'touched,' praised her acting skills for improving and finally went back to sleep after seeing enough drama."
Wha-what exactly is this drama that they're talking about? Why is the life of Melissa's brother so exciting?
"She's a spoiled brat that only chases. What the heck even goes through her head, I have no idea. But that Regina Waltz is someone we, as humans, should be ashamed to share this Earth with. I don't even know what my brother sees in her," Melissa said. Well, that stung. Was she really that bad of a person?
"Oh, I don't think he likes her though. Last month he was really depressed about some girl he met. I got it from him a few days ago when he was in a good mood. Apparently he met and slept with some girl and he's hung up on her. As for the young Miss Waltz, it's because of that older one that he's still entangled with her." He gave Melissa a knowing look and she spat on the ground.
Talk about awkwardness . . . Those guys forgot about me completely, so I coughed twice intentionally before I heard something they didn't want me to know.
"Oh, right. Well Uncle Al, Kay is the complete opposite of Regwich, so you'll enjoy her company," Melissa chuckled and I smiled faintly. I just came here to watch children, why rouse my interest with this drama?
"Prepare the limo, I plan on going there and getting drunk to forget everything. Or maybe I'll end up puking on them the moment I see those vampires!" She laughed wholeheartedly; Alfred just nodded.
"Alright, and Miss Melissa?" he asked as she looked at him. "It's good to have you back." A warm smile donned his face as she only shook her head.
"I can't say I agree with you. That person will be there tonight, and I really don't want to see him."
Her voice was low and defeated and almost sounded like . . . fearful? Regretful? I couldn't place a name on it and although it got my attention, I really didn't want to find out the reason why she said that. Somehow, I felt that it would be too much. So I kept quiet.
"I don't think he will. Sir said that he was away in Europe for some business, so I believe that you should be safe tonight," Alfred replied and she sighed in relief.
"Thank you, Al. That really helped to break the ice." She smiled. It was the purest smile of happiness I ever saw from Melissa. Whoever that person was, I was sure that he had a huge influence on Mel, in a bad way.
"Yeah, I know. I'm awesome." The old man vigorously chuckled. Though old, the guy seemed like he was at the peak of his youth. "The driver will take you there seeing that your brother drove his own car. Why did he even employ us when he's not even letting us do our jobs?" He nagged as Melissa bursted out laughing, saying that she understood how he felt. I, on the other hand, felt like I was a third wheel in this conversation. Hmmm, it was probably just my misconception.
"Alright, alright. I'm leaving." She finally left, but before she truly left, at least she had enough conscience to wish me good luck. I debated as to whether she just said it on a whim, or her words held another, hidden meaning . . .
It's the former. For my sake, I hoped it was the former. Which was all proven wrong when I saw how expensive the inside of the house her brother owned looked like. Amy and Ayden jumped around, following a golden retriever I believed also belonged to him. How in the world was I supposed to take care of those three?
"Sis, sis!" Ayden called out to me when he noticed me. "Look, it's a dog. They have a dog!" He had a huge smile on his face which made me smile back.
"I see that," I said, kneeling down as it came to me to pet it. I didn't spare a single second before getting to it.
"What is your name, doggy?" I mumbled to myself, but uncle Alfred responded to it anyway.
"It's Alexander, he's been around for a good three years," he spoke and I grinned. So, it's a he!
"That's a pretty name for a pretty dog like you," I mumbled. Suddenly, I was reminded of the same scenery with my kid playing with a dog. Maybe I should get a retriever, too? They say pets are indispensable in the growth of children. They also help the children to become braver.
"Feel free to do whatever you want, Miss Kaley. I will go ahead and prepare a hot drink if you'd like. As for lunch and dinner, we have something left in the fridge, so just inform me whenever you're ready to eat," Uncle Alfred informed.
"Got it, do you need help with it? I'm good at making hot drinks," I offered and I swear he sighed in relief.
"If you wouldn't mind doing so. We have a variety of them, so feel free to choose whichever you'd like." They might have a variety, but they had no means to make them, it seems.
"What would you like to drink?" I asked the two children and Amy was the first to speak out.
"Chocolate. We want to drink some hot chocolate!" Seeing her reaction, Ayden immediately joined the fun.
"Me too! Me too!" It made me glance at Uncle Alfred, who only nodded, telling me that it's available on the menu. Nice, uncle!
"Alright. Stay here and be nice. I'll be back in seconds," I said and they both did a saluting position as Alexander barked once.
"Yes, Kay-Kay!" Ade said and Amy followed.
"Yes, Aunt Kay!" I almost melted. They were so cute together and I came to believe that everything might actually go well.
The first thing I got to understand when me and uncle Alfred got to the kitchen was that there's no way that I'd even try to fry eggs in there. Everything was so silver, shining, and clean that I could even see my reflection wherever I looked. Evil capitalists. Ah wait, my desires were slowly showing their true colors. I shouldn't envy them.
The second thing was that uncle Alfred didn't know anything about cooking to save his head. He didn't even know how to make hot chocolate, even boiling water seemed like a mission impossible to this old man. Like, you just put an already bought package for it and then add hot milk, but no, he didn't even know how to warm milk. He was about to use a frying pan and I almost got a heart attack when I saw him doing that. I ended up preparing those hot chocolates all alone, fearing to let even a single drop fall on the surface of the kitchen counter. After finally finishing and putting everything on a single tray, Alfred took it away with such grace and skill that I almost forgot about his inability to deal with the kitchen. Almost.
Not wanting to stay any longer considering the bad luck looming over me, I followed immediately after him as we got to the living room where Ayden and Amy brushed Alexander and chatted. I felt relieved because they haven't managed to destroy anything while I was away from them.
Loudly exhaling in relief as I sat on one of the white sofas, I took a second to look at my surroundings. The living room had white walls and few black and white designed pictures with a single gray lamp at each corner. There was the chandelier on the ceiling with purple glasses which perfectly matched the fluffy, purple carpet on the floor. Two white couches and one black armchair matched the atmosphere and I had to give the credit to the designer of the place. With so little details, they managed to blend everything into a perfect picture, especially with the white laminated floor. Kitchen was a bit different, but you could see the similarities in design; white walls and black counters with a lot of silver parts. As much as I could recall, the outside of the house was also white with black roof and doors while the hall also had white walls with long black carpets and monochrome-themed photos and lamps.
"It's nice here." I found myself saying it out loud. "It doesn't give off that homey vibe, but it doesn't feel empty either. It's just like . . . it's a pleasure to be here."
"My master would be honored to hear those words from you. The entire house was designed by our eldest miss. He took it upon himself to make it exactly as she envisioned it before she died." Uncle Alfred sighed and my eyes widened. I never knew that Melissa had an older sister.
"Oh, I'm sorry for mentioning . . ." I started but he only shook his head.
"It's all right now. It's all in the past but we do not speak of her in this house. Sir loved her so much, so he was really broken after her death. But enough of that story, let's talk about something cheerful," he said and I nodded, unwilling to pry into other people's privacy.
"Alright."
Ayden raised his hand. "Can we drink now?" I smiled as Alfred took their hot chocolates before putting them on the glass table that stood in between the sofas.
"Not yet, young man. First you have to wait for it to cool down," Alfred said. Ayden pouted as Amy immediately followed after noticing his reaction. They were seriously the cutest combination of troublemakers.
I glanced through the window behind me hoping that the day would go well. I couldn't wait to take Ayden's hand and tell him that we were looking for a new house. He would be overjoyed.
Giving myself to the tranquility while discarding any worry that came to attack my heart, I believed that I was making the right choice. But I would only be reminded once again that the weather is always calm before the hurricane.
Had I not forgotten that fact, I might've been more prepared before the bad weather suddenly arrived.