Without You | BOOK 2 TO ARRANGED

Strong

PRESENT
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"Daddy, I want a snack, please." Aleah says, pointing to her mouth as I sit in my office.

"Wait a second, baby. Daddy's coming." I say with my hand over my phone. "I already talked to him about this, why hasn't he done anything?" I say into my phone.

"Sir, I don't know what he's been doing, but-"

"Figure it out and get back to me. If he hasn't tracked it, don't call me back." I say, then I hang up the phone.

I get up with a sigh and I pick up Aleah, giving her a kiss on her forehead as I walk downstairs to the kitchen. The house is empty. It's just me and the kids. The boys come over with their girls sometimes, but it's not the same. We talk and laugh and we get along, but at the end of the day, the memory of Kyla not being here sits between us all.

Leo's been moved out for almost four years. I haven't seen him since our situation with his photographs. He doesn't call, he doesn't text, and he doesn't visit.

He could be dead right now and I wouldn't know.

It's been hard being a single parent. I've always thought it'd be me and Kyla. Together. But I knew from the moment they covered her casket in dirt that I would have to do this alone. I never wanted to accept the fact that she's gone, hell, I still don't. But I have to. So I won't end up crazy and in some mental asylum while my kids sit in a foster home.

I'm trying, every day, to be the dad Kyla wanted me to be for the kids, and I can't say that it's been easy. There's been nights where I don't get any sleep because I'm running around doing things for the kids, and, well... tracking Malcom.

For three years, I haven't been able to find him.

Mark thought he killed Scarface the night Kyla died, but Scarface tricked us. He killed her and ran off and got replaced by someone else, and by the time Mark fired that gun, Malcom was long gone.

I don't know how he did it. All I know is when I get my hands on him, I'll make him regret his whole life and everything he ever did leading up to that moment.

I grab some watermelon chunks from the refrigerator and I hand them to Aleah and she sits on the island counter as I stand next to it, watching her.

"Daddy, can you open it? I need help." she says.

"You haven't tried yet, Bee." I say. "Try it first." I add. Harley and Kai run around the living room, playing, and they start to get loud. "Harley! Kai! Quiet down, just a little bit, okay?" I say as politely as I can. When I get stressed out during the day, I try not to take it out on the kids. They don't know any better and I try to be the father mine wasn't to me to them.

Aleah still struggles to open her watermelon, so she stops trying and holds them up to me. "I need help, Daddy." she says.

"Okay, I'll open it for you. Thank you for trying." I say, opening her watermelon for her.

"Daddy, why can't we see Mommy?" she suddenly asks.

My heart drops.

"We... we've already been here, Bee." I say, tapping my knuckles on the counter anxiously.

"I'm sorry, Daddy. I didn't mean to make you sad." she says.

I sigh, and I throw my head back. "It's okay, Bee. I just miss her sometimes, that's all. You wanna hear some stories about her?" I ask her, smiling softly.

"I want to!" says Harley, running into the kitchen.

"Be careful, son. You can hear too, Kai." I say, picking them both up to sit them on the counter. "Your mom was very special. When I met her, I thought she was beautiful." I start.

"Like princess?" Kai asks.

"Yeah. Like a princess." I respond. "She made Daddy really happy, all the time. Even sometimes when we would get mad at each other, Mommy and Daddy always loved each other, no matter what." I continue. "She had hair just like you, Bee. She had eyes like you, Bubba. Mommy had a face shape just like yours, Sunny." I say, looking at each of them. "Before she went away, she wanted me to always make sure you guys know she loves you. Can you guys feel how much she loves you?" I ask them, looking at them.

"Yeah." Kai says, smiling.

"That's good, babies." I say. "She's always loved you guys, okay? I will always love you three, alright? Never forget that."

"We love you too, Daddy." they all say, hugging me.

I hug them back and my heart grows warm as I sit in their embrace.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings. I let go of them and I put the twins on the floor so they can go and play.

"Don't move, Leah. Stay still." I say, walking to the door. I open it, and Z stands there. "Zeno, what's up, man? Where's the missus?" I say, doing a handshake with him.

"Mara and Bentley went on a girls date today so I decided to come see my best man." he says, smiling as he walks in.

"Uncle Z!" Aleah says as he walks over to her.

He picks her up and kisses her cheek and lets her play with the strings on his hoodie as he talks with me. "So, I have to talk to you about something." he says, looking at me seriously.

I raise my eyebrow at him with a questioning look and he nods his head softly.

"Let's go sit down." I say, grabbing Aleah. "Go play with your sister and brother for a bit, Bee. Me and Uncle Z have to talk." I say, kissing her head and putting her down to let her run into the living room.

We go into the living room and the kids run around playing as we sit down on the couch.