I arrived at the house exactly at 4 and entered to see Kala laughing while the kids danced silly dances with each other. Kala must have not noticed me there because soon she joined in too. When she turned around and saw me she jumped a bit in fright then her cheeks turned pink and stopped dancing.
"Oh, i'm sorry i didn't hear you step in" She said decreasing the volume of the music coming from her phone
"It's alright. You guys were having fun" I said smiling and putting my things down on the counter
"The kids were wonderful. The hours passed so quickly without me really noticing. Tennis went good. I used the cash you left on the counter for lunch and they wanted Panera. The change is on the counter"she said pointing to the cash and coins on the counter. "Also Lia did take a one hour nap becuse she was tired after tennis and Ben read his books during that hour."
"Thank you so much Kala. How is your schedule so we can see when you can help us out?"
"I'm actually free always. I don't have any other job right now so this really does help me out."
"Well Ben and Lia need a more permanent babysitter. Would you be open to being their babysitter?"
"Yes it's just that the bus does not come to my side of time and today i had to ask my friend to drive me here and back home. She won't be able to drive me everyday that early so i will be unable to start at 7"
"If you don't mind me asking where do you live"
"Near the steel bridge. I guess in the Chinatown area" She said now embarrassed and looking down.
"Are you living by yourself?"
"Well, yeah now i am" she said avoiding eye contact. That side of town was not safe for anyone to be living especially a young lady like her living alone. I didn't want to pity her but i couldn't help but feel like i needed to help her.
"What about i help you out. If you become their full time babysitter or nanny you can stay in my old apartment. I lived there for free since the building is owned by my fathers friend so you wouldn't have to pay rent."
"I would really appreciate that" She said now with a smile
"Good. I'll talk to the guys about it and we'll go from there. Also here is the pay from today. For now we will pay daily but once everything is set in place it will be weekly." I said handing her an envelope with her pay in it. "Ban and Lia come and say thank you and bye to Kala''
"Bye Kala" Lia and Ben said running to her and giving her a high five in the hand she held out
"And thank you, you two"
"Thank you Kala" they said with big toothy smiles. We then took her outside where her friend was waiting to drive her home. They drove away and we went back outside
"I hungry Kiara" Ben said grabbing my hand
"Me too" Lia said holding my other hand
"Okay, how about you two get dressed and we'll head to the grocery store. If you guys are good enough we'll stop for a treat on the way there." I said bribing them. Not even a second later they were running to get dressed.
On our drive to the grocery store we stopped at DQ and got blizzards. By the time we made it to the grocery store their cups were empty but a good portion of the blizzard ended up around their mouths. I wiped their mouths with wet wipes I had in the car and we headed into the costco.
When we were browsing the aisles Matteo texted saying that they were home and were wondering where we were. I told him we were at Costco and the twins and I continued making our rounds. Once our cart was full of foods, many of which we didn't need but the twins really wanted, and I could barely push the heavy cart anymore we went to the cashier. When we were waiting in line to check out a woman walked over to us and gave me a nasty look.
"Are you two okay?" she asked the twins. I was taken aback by the question and I felt offended by her inference that the two kids wouldn't be okay with me.
"Yes, " Lia said, shaking the box of snacks we were about to buy.
"Are you sure? So you know that woman?" She said pointing to me
"Yes that's Kiara" Lia said looking at me confused. I gave her a small smile them moved closer to her
"Can i help you ma'am?" I asked her politely
"No. I was talking to the children not you" she said giving me another disgusted look. Attention was now being drawn to us and I felt uncomfortable. "This is not you mother, right?" She asked the children
"No" Lia said simply
"Is this your babysitter or something?" She said looking me up and down
"No, this is Kiara," Lia said, even more confused now. Ben was just standing next to his sister letting her answer the question
"Let me take you to you mother" She said, grabbing Lia's arm. I immediately removed her hand from Lia's arm and stood in between them. I shouldn't have even let the situation get this far but i was unsure what to do or say
"Do NOT touch my children" I said surprising myself
"They are not your children" She said trying to grab Ben this time but I grabbed her wrist just in time. A worker walked over just as i let go of her arm
"How can i help you two?" The worker asked, trying to assess the situation. His brown eyes landed on Lia and Ben.
"This woman has children that are not hers. I was trying to take them back to their mother" the woman said trying to defend herself
"I would like you four to follow me" the worker said bringing us out of the line and to the side where we were not attracting as much information. He had Lia and Ben sit on the seat a couple feet away from us. The guy's boss was now here as well assessing the situation.
YOU ARE READING
The Thorns To Our Roses
Romance"What do the tattoos mean" i said brushing my fingers along both of their spines where 'le spine alla nostra rosa' was inked into their skin. "it's italian for the thorns to our rose" Matteo said with a sad, heavy voice slowly turning around to make...
