Missing pieces

Chapter 25

From the accident of Maribel's birthday there was no more talk about it because the child had begun to avoid her parents. When her parents came back to put her to bed she pretended to be asleep already and in the morning the girl would go down a few seconds before leaving. For their part, her parents were particularly busy in the last week so Mariska had given her PA the task of organizing the party for the three friends for the weekend.

The adults wanted to find a way to talk to Raya and figure out what she was thinking about and to talk about what happened with Ashley on Maribel's birthday.

The children would go straight to Raya's house after school on Fridays. Ruby, the nanny, was waiting for them outside the school exit.

As the three were about to leave to reach the nanny they had spotted from afar and stopped by Ashley.

"I got in trouble because of you! My parents are right, you are a bastard who must not be seen, that's why they keep you hidden!" she walks away laughing with her friends.

"Hey Raya, are you ok?" Silas asks by placing a hand on the child's shoulder.

"My parents say she is jealous.. and she wants to channel her anger at something because her parents are breaking up" Maribel says.

"I don't care what Ashley says today we have something more fun to do" Raya says lying.

The three reach the nanny who asks them how the day went but before Raya's friends could say anything about what happened with Ashley, Raya smiled "a normal school day, even a little boring".

"Well well well something tells me this boring day is going to take a fun turn" the nanny replies.

The house was festively decorated. There were balloon sculptures everywhere and arrows leading to a guest bedroom on the first floor that had been emptied to make way for a large white tent reminiscent of the circus one. Inside the tent the walls were covered with fairy lights everywhere, on the floor large pillows, large blankets and a large television with a selection of movies. The children were thrilled to spend the night there.

"Do you like Raya?" Peter asks the little girl as she appears at the door. She missed the child and although she had tried more than once to seek contact with the child she had always rejected him.

"Yeah, thanks we like it very much! Let's go to my room and put on the pajamas" Raya tells to her friends leaving the man there. The children take the pajamas they found in the tent and go to change.

The kids go down to the kitchen in their matchy pajamas and sit at the kitchen counter where Peter and Ruby were finishing making dinner.

"Where is Mariska?" Maribel asks.

"She come back late on Fridays" Raya says changing the subject.

"Raya, your mom comes back after dinner so you can spend some time together maybe you can see a movie with her" Peter says.

"I don't think Rish should see a movie with us, adults generally supervise but don't participate" Raya replies annoyed.

Peter hadn't heard Rish called by her first name in months. He was baffled by the backward steps they were taking and at that point he no longer agreed with his wife's tactic of letting go. He saw his wife suffering from the situation but at the same time being afraid of doing something and her work that took her out of the house for many hours and her pregnancy, in short, she was a river in flood but this situation had to be clarified.

Ruby serves the children lasagna and salad, one of Peter's dishes that Raya liked the most, and she played with her food but she hardly touched it.