A Different Kind Of Love [18+]

Chapter Two

"Leah, this is Jade, our new lawyer. Jade, Leah, your legal secretary."

I extend my hand and take hers in my grasp.

"Nice to meet you."

"Same. Ask me anything. I want to help you get acclimated around here."

"Thank you Leah."

The junior partner, Cassidy, walks me to an office across from Leah's desk. "And this is your office."

I look around the spacious office. "It's bigger than I expected."

"Tony offered to switch with you."

I turn and look at her confused.

"Why would he do that?"

"He heard that you had kids and thought the extra space would be nice in case you wanted to bring them up here with you."

"Wow. That was really nice of him."

"He had a few little ones at home so he gets it."

"So twins," she says after a beat.

"Yeah," I say with a nervous laugh.

"I saw you dropping them off in daycare. I was dropping off my son," she says as a way of explaining. "You're single, right?"

"Yeah. It's just me and the girls." I didn't have a problem with being a single mom, but some people did. It was the reason I left the firm I was at in New York and moved to Vegas. They weren't accommodating and too many of the other lawyers assumed I would be flaky because I was raising my girls alone. The whispers behind my back became too much. I hoped I wouldn't experience much of the same here.

"I don't know how you do it. I have so much respect for single mothers. I have a husband at home and sometimes it feels like I'm going at it alone and I just want to scream. I couldn't imagine doing it with two, and the same age."

I smile at the random outburst. Every now and again I would run into someone who understood the strength it took to be a single mom.

"Those times when you want to scream and just give up, what stops you?"

She thinks about it before answering. "Looking at the little guy. He makes all of the headache worth it." Then she smiles too. "I get it."

"I think you do."

"Welcome to the team Jade."

Cassidy turns and walks out of the office leaving me alone. I make myself comfortable and go through the case files that were left for me from the previous lawyer who I replaced. Leah stops in along with a paralegal. We work for hours so that I can get caught up and then I head out to get the girls and take them home.

~~~~~

The girls and I walk through the doors and into a large and elegantly designed lobby of a tall building. I have each of their hands and my bag is secured to my back. It's a backpack, but a designer backpack so I don't feel like a schoolgirl. There is a loud screech and before I can react the twins rip their hands from mine and take off running through the lobby. I watch as they fling themselves into the waiting arms of my best friend and their aunt, Meg.

I smile adoringly at the display. Meg left New York a year and a half ago and relocated to Vegas. She was no longer bartending but instead helping manage one of Vegas' big up and coming casinos. We talked everyday and even video chatted, but it was nothing like being able to see her face in person.

Meg tries to get up from her crouching position with the girls in her arms and wobbles.

"I don't know how you do this," she says grunting.