Till death do us part

6

Juliana Thorne

"Babies, you want to go get some ice cream?" I ask.

Rome and Milana gasp and look at each other excitedly then look back to me and nod eagerly. "Okay, let's goo!" I shout and point to the front door.

They giggle and run to the door while I open it. "We'll be back mom!" I shout.

"Okay, I'll be here, love you guys." She shouts back.

I close the door and follow Rome and Milana to our car. I pick them up and sit them in their car seats and buckle them up. I walk to the driver's seat and the first thing I see is the little red box. It's taunting me, mocking me in a way.

I gulp and climb in my seat before slowly moving it away. I throw it in the glove compartment and quickly shut it. The twins squeal in excitement and I start the engine.

/

I open the door and the twins run inside the ice cream parlor. Polly, the lady that has worked here for years, laughs. She knows us pretty well, we only come to this ice cream parlor, it's the best.

"Hi, Juliana and hi twins." She waves down at them.

They wave back and start to look at the toppings in excitement. "Mommy I want stawberry," Milana shouts and points to a big picture with strawberry ice cream on it.

"Okay, you will, shh." I giggle. "How about you Rome?"

He puts his hand on his chin in a thinking action as he looks around. Milana crosses her arms and taps her foot as she looks at her brother impatiently.

"We don't got all day brotha!" She huffs.

Polly makes a yikes face and I roll my eyes. "Me and Milana will have a scoop of strawberry with brownie toppings and Rome will have Chocolate with colorful sprinkles," I say.

Milana gasps and nods her head. Rome points his finger to me and gasps. "How did you know mommy?!"

I laugh, he gets it every time we come so obviously, I knew what he would want.

"Mommy can read minds!" Milana and Rome gasp.

Polly and I laugh and she hands me their mini ice cream cones. They clap their hands and jump up and down until they grab their cone. Then she gives me my strawberry cone and I hand her $2

"Okay bye Polly, thanks," I say as we exit the parlor.

I get a bad feeling and look around, I feel like someone is watching us. "okay come on, hurry so we can see grandma!" I try to rush the twins in the car.

I buckle their seatbelts and drive out of the parking lot. When we make it inside my mom's house, I put the tv on for the twins and went to talk to my mom.

She was folding some laundry as I walked towards her. "What's wrong?" she asks

"I feel like I'm being watched, maybe I'm paranoid but I have this bad feeling." I grab my hair in frustration.

She puts the clothes down and grabs my hands. "I know that you're scared and upset that he's out but he's been out for a week already and he hasn't come or contacted you. Maybe he's changed."

"I have my date with Parker tomorrow, I should cancel."

"No, you said he was nice and cute, don't let this son of a bitch control your life when he's not even here. You deserve this date, you were so happy about it." My mom says.

"I just don't want anything bad to happen to him." I whisper.

"Just try one date and if you don't think he's right for you, then tell him honestly. Don't let Jaxon control your dating life after three years."

I nod. "I want to speak to Veronica."

"What why? Why would you want to talk to her?" My mom asks, confused of the change of topic.

"Can you give me her number, please?" I ask.

She grabs her phone and tells me the number. "I don't know if it's still her number."

"I'll be in my room." I say and walk upstairs.

She answers right when I lay on the bed, "hello?" I haven't heard her voice in years.

"Hi Veronica, it's Juliana."

I hear her gasp but she doesn't answer for a couple seconds. "How are you? I-I'm so so sorry I-" she starts to cry.

"None of what happened is you're fault. I never blamed you, I'm sorry for not contacting you earlier." I say honestly.

"Thank you but it is my fault, I should have raised him more carefully and better. I should have done everything in my power to get him straight."

"I don't think you could have done anything to change what happened. I feel bad for not talking to you so I want to invite you over for dinner."

"Oh, would your mom be okay with that? I know we're not on the best terms right now. I really appreciate it but-"

"I really want you over for dinner, and whatever bad terms you and my mom have can slide for now. I-I want to show you your grandkids."

She's quite and I know she never knew what happened. "I-what? Are-are you serious? I'm a..grandma?" I can hear the shock and disbelief in her voice.

"Yea, they're two years old. Milana and Roman, Rome for short." I smile.

"They're twins? wow." I can sense a smile in her voice. "Jaxon..and you?"

My smile fades and I gulp down my fear and nervousness. "He-He f-forced me a day before he got caught and I ended up getting pregnant." my voice cracks.

I hear her gasp, "I can't believe he- I'm so sorry sweetie." She cries.

"It's not your fault. I'm just happy I have my mom and my babies now..and I hope I'll always have you too." I smile.

"Of course, I'll be there."

We schedule a date to see each other and have dinner then I make spaghetti for Rome and Milana. I tell my mom she's coming over, she disagreed at first but I convinced her that it's time to forgive her.

~~

3:08 pm  June 1