Meant To Be Yours!

Chapter XIII

"Miss Edwards, as I said during the initial assessment. Nathan needs more sessions especially now that he is about to join his twin in a regular school. They will need him to do an initial test to know which level to enrol him in. For him to be ready, he needs occupational and speech therapy to make it a success. With that being said, Nathan's doctor explained that he needs to have two sessions per day, five times a week with home activities for the weekends". It was the three months progress meeting and what she was telling me, was just hard to process. "Miss Edwards, As I told you in the beginning, Nathan is an amazing child as you can see, he passed the behavioural therapy tests wonderfully so, at least we can reduce cost there. I know this is tough for you but we need to do this effectively otherwise it will take longer, and from my understanding, you want him to be in the same school as his sister right?", "Yes", "Ok then. We will work on an instalment plan that will make things easier ok?", she said reaching for my hand. 

"Ok, thank you". I left the hospital with my Nathan playing with his toy car with no care in the world. I switched my phone off. I just wanted to be left alone. When I got home, I found Claire helping Natalia with homework. Claire decided to move in with us, it made things easier because I was able to take the night shift whenever my boss was unavailable. The overtime salary helped with some of the bills, but sadly before I could celebrate, Nathan's meeting happened and I was back to square one. 

I didn't seem to catch a break, every time I thought things were going to get better something happens. I just wanted to lock myself in my room and just breathe. Claire usually seems to notice when I'm in such state so there was no need to explain myself. I grabbed a bottle of wine and then went to my room. I sat by the window looking at the bright moonlight. The sweetness of the wine felt good on my throat, it was an addictive taste that I could not get over. Why did I have to be the one facing all of this? I couldn't blame god because I knew he wouldn't give me something I couldn't handle. The challenges were getting tougher, I didn't know how I was going to fix this. The rent's due date was just around the corner. I was hoping that my overtime pay would cover that while the rest would go to Natalia's school fees. I wish I could ask Craig or Charles but I couldn't, they picked dad's side ages ago. I still look at them on social media and I don't even know why I do it.

"Nikki, why is your phone off? I was so worried about you", Abdul complained when he entered my bedroom. I tried to wipe my tears away before he could see me but I was too late. "Babe what's wrong?", "Oh, it's nothing, I just wanted some alone time that's all. Can you go to the living room? I'll be out in a minute", instead of hearing footsteps retrieving, they were approaching me, and I knew I was in trouble. "Nikki, there is no such thing as alone time. We don't keep secrets from each other so, tell me why you're crying babe", he turned me to face him, taking the bottle out of my hands. His eyes were so soft. "I went to Nathan's progress meeting and the doctor said, he is moving too slowly so he needs more than just one hour of therapy three times a week. She wants him to do two hours per day five times a week", "Then let's do it, babe. He needs it right?", he was not getting my point. 

"I will but I need time to sort my finances. I can't afford that right now. My rent is due next month, Natalia's school fees is also due soon and I need to save for it and food too. I just c-", he cut me off with a kiss that I found myself responding to. It was like I couldn't resist him which was very annoying at times. "Nikki, babe... you're not alone. Let me help you", "No, I can do this, I just need to put my affairs in order", I tried to make a quick calculation in my head on how I was going to do it but failed miserably. "Hey... I mean it. I'm not asking. Now I'm gonna take a quick shower then we will discuss this ok?", I ended up nodding my head. Watching him go to my tiny bathroom. For someone who likes big spaces, he seemed to be comfortable in my apartment. Too comfortable. 

I got in bed and waited for him with my diary, where I wrote all my expenses. I swallowed hard as I thought of his Mother and Sister. I was doing exactly what they called me out for. "All done, now walk me through everything", he said sitting next to me. I explained all the costs, he did his calculation on his phone. Then turned to me. "Nikki do you trust me?", "Of course". "Ok, this is what we're going to do. First, you guys will move in with me. Then we will get insurance coverage for Nathan, we just need to know which one is acceptable at the Therapy Center then, we will look for a school that offers both special education and normal education so that they can both go to the same school. That's my thinking what do you say?", he finished kissing my temple, pride all over his face no doubt congratulating himself for getting the idea. 

"Move in with you? Do you want your Mother to kill me?", I asked making him chuckle. "Babe, I want to help you and I believe doing this will do just that. He finished typing on his phone only to tell me that his secretary was working on a solution that would help me. "Don't worry, everything will be ok. Promise me that there will be no more MIA from you", he said turning me to face him. "I promise. I'm just used to doing things on my own but that's no excuse, I will change", I confessed. He smiled kissing my lips then we were back to him spooning me. I fell asleep a few minutes after feeling at peace. I was no longer going to cry myself to sleep when facing problems, which made me feel loved. It was a good feeling.