I’d rather regret trying something than not giving it a go.
It had been a week since that day.
I had not told Max what really happened in that hospital room, although he told me to call him if anything happened. And as for the baby, I decided to keep it. If I had to talk with some other girl in my state, I’d tell her to keep it. Your parents don’t support you? Are you really going to kill your future because of your past? No, that’s not the way to do it. You find it hard to live with it? Then live for the baby. When there’s a will, there’s a way.
Future.
When I closed my eyes and thought of the embryo in my belly, I saw the future with a child playing with me, and that was enough for me. All worries seemed to disappear when I focused on my future with a little kid I’d 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, this kind of gathering 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 Amy at her brother’s for the weekend, but since he also had to go, she asked me to watch over her daughter 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 there 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.
“Nonsense, Kaley,” she started. “This is just a mansion, not a family one, of course. My brother’s never liked living in the family mansion, so he moved to this smaller one,” she said. Maybe her brother was delusional because that house is freaking huge.
I sighed. No point in arguing.
I glanced over where Amy and Ade stood talking to each other before she grabbed his hand and got him inside. They should definitely keep me busy.
“Yeah, sure,” I said. “Now go. The sooner you leave, the sooner will you return.” 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.
“Alright, 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 lot Batman-like. “This is Kaley. She came to look after Amy until my brother and I return. Where is he, anyway?” she asked.
“He’s already left because his date, in his words, ‘an ungrateful clawed witch that Satan himself sent,’ has been bugging him to hurry up,” he answered with a scowl on his face, and 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.
“Don’t tell me he brought her out off all of them?” Mel had the same scowl 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 had heard horrible sounds last night. I will have nightmares because of her screams until the day I die…And maybe even after. Thank heavens my wife was away for a while helping with our daughter’s wedding.” Poor Alfred. Just what did his job cover? What had happened the last night in this house? Just what had he witnessed?
“She’s a spoiled brat who only chases money. 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.” That stung. Was she really that bad a person?
“Oh, I don’t think he likes her, though. Last month, he was really depressed about some girl he’d met. I got it out of him a few days ago when he got drunk. Apparently, he met and slept with some girl, and he’s hung up on her. I think he likes her and is using Regwitch to fill that void.” Awkward. 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, Al, Kay is the complete opposite of Regwitch, so you’ll enjoy her company,” she said, and I smiled. “Prepare the limo. I plan on going there and getting drunk to forget everything. Or maybe I’ll end up puking on her the moment I see her.” She laughed wholeheartedly; Alfred just nodded.
“Alright, and miss?” he asked as she looked at him.
“It’s good to have you back,” he said and warmly smiled. She only shook her head.
“I can’t say I agree with you. That person will be there tonight, and I’d rather sell my soul to Satan before meeting up with him.”
Her voice was low and defeated and almost sounded fearful? Regretful? I couldn’t place it, and although it got my attention, I really didn’t want to find out the reason 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,” he 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.” He chuckled. Though old, the guy seemed like he was at the top of his youth. “The driver will take you there, as your brother is driving his own car. Why did he even employ us when he’s not even letting us do our jobs?” he complained as Mel burst out laughing. She said that she understood how he felt. I, on the other hand, felt like I was the third wheel in this conversation.
“Alright, alright. I’m leaving,” she finally said before going out the house, I assumed to get to the limousine. Before she left, she wished me good luck, and I debated as to whether she just said it on a whim, or her words held another hidden meaning…
For my sake, I hoped it was the former, which was all proven wrong when I saw how expensive the inside of the house looked, with Amy and Aiden jumping around following a golden retriever I believed also belonged to him.
How in the world was I supposed to take care of them?
“Sis, sis!” Ayden called out to me when he noticed me. “Look, it’s a dog. They have a dog!” he exclaimed with 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 to get to it.
“What is your name, doggy?” I mumbled to myself, but Alfred responded to it, anyway.
“It’s Alexander. He’s been around for good three years,” he spoke, and I grinned. So it was him!
“That’s a pretty name for a pretty dog like you,” I mumbled, and suddenly, I was reminded of the same scenery with my kid playing with a dog. Maybe I should get a retriever too?
“Feel free to do whatever you want, Miss Kaley. I will go ahead and prepare a hot drink if you’d like. As of lunch and dinner, we have something left in the fridge for them, so just inform me whenever you’re ready to eat,” he said, and I nodded my head.
“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,” he said, and I looked at those two.
“What would you like to drink?” I asked them, and Amy was first to speak.
“Chocolate. Hot chocolate!” Seeing her reaction, Ayden immediately joined.
“Me too! Me too!” he said. I glanced at Alfred who only nodded, telling me that it was available on the menu.
“Alright. Stay here and be nice. I’ll be back in second,” 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 Alfred and I 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 at.
The second thing was that Alfred didn’t know anything about cooking to save his head. He didn’t even know how to make hot chocolate. Like, you put bought dust 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 for that, and I almost got a heart attack when I saw him doing that, which was the reason I prepared those hot chocolates all alone, fearing I would let 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, and we got to the living room where Ayden and Amy brushed Alexander and chatted. I felt relieved because they hadn’t managed to destroy anything while I was away from them.
Loudly exhaling as I sat on one of the white sofas, I took a second to look at my surroundings. The living room had white walls, a few black and white designed pictures, and 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 ground. Two white couches and one black armchair to match the atmosphere, and I had to give the credit to designer of the place. With so little details, they managed to blend everything into a perfect picture, especially with the white laminated floor. The kitchen was a bit different, but you could see the similarities in design: white walls and black counter with a lot of silver parts.
As much as I recalled, the outside of the house was also white with a black roof. The hall also had white walls with a long black carpet and monochrome photos and lamps.
“It’s nice here.” I found myself saying, “It doesn’t give a lot that homey vibe, but it doesn’t feel empty either. It’s just…pleasant to be in here.”
“That man would be honored to hear those words from you. The entire house was designed by his sister. He took it to himself to make it exactly as she envisioned it after she died,” he said, 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 agreeing to his change of mode.
“Alright,” I said, and Ayden raised his hand.
“Can we drink now?” he asked, and I smiled as Alfred took their hot chocolates before putting them on the glass table.
“Not yet, young man. First, you have to wait for it to cool down,” he said, and Ayden pouted as Amy immediately followed when noticing his action.
They were seriously the cutest combination of troublemakers there was.
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 tranquility while discarding any worry that came to attack my heart, I believed 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 when bad weather arrived.