Leap OF Fate

The mountain of work that her father left occupied Serene's time for the past months. There had been a lot of things she needed to learn and do in a short amount of time. She's thankful that Albert had been there to assist her. Subconsciously, she thought of Justin. His business acumen would really help her this time, but just like the previous times she thought of him, she immediately buried the thought down. As much as she could, she did not want to remember him.

She massaged her back as she took a quick breather from all the documents in front of her. Albert convinced Conrad to put up a canning business as a contingency. That way, their harvest would always have a consumer and would not depend heavily on the orders from hotels and restaurants.

Since the canning business is still in its infancy, there are a lot of things that need to be established. They're laying down the foundations, and so they needed to roll up their sleeves and work harder. Feeling a throbbing pain in her temples, Serene massaged the area with her fingers.

A gentle knock made her open her eyes. "Come in, please" she said. Mary entered and closed the door behind her.

She raised her brow at her best friend. "What brought you here?" she asked curiously.

"I have something to propose to you," she said, looking at her with her clear round eyes. When they were children, every time Mary looked at her that way, it would involve sneaking out, or doing something they should not be doing, which is why her brows hitched higher when she asked the question.

Mary swallowed her saliva and continued, "Since you've moved back here, I thought it would be a good idea to open up a studio or gallery here. What do you think?" Her kilowatt smile made Serene more suspicious. "Hmmmn..."

"I found a perfect place for you in Hyacinth Bay. It's near the shopping district ---"

"No."

""Why not?"

"Did you forget Justin is in Hyacinth Bay? I do not want to risk the chance of bumping into him."

"You won't. I mean, it's not like you're going to show yourself to the public, right? Besides, Shen, it's been so long since you two broke up and he did not even know you were pregnant then. We are in a free country and he does not own Hyacinth Bay." "You're wrong. The Rains practically is Hyacinth Bay. Let's just say he did not know that I was pregnant then, but it does not require rocket science to see how much my children looked like him. If he chanced upon meeting them, I know he'd know they're his." "So, what if he knew they're his? Didn't he say he got nothing to do with you and wanted you out of his life? Come on, Shen, don't cage yourself. Don't be afraid of him."

"Mary, I am not afraid of him, if it were just me. But my kids' lives are at stake. What if he takes them away from me? I couldn't bear that."

Mary pondered on her words for a moment. She's right, the children's safety is their utmost priority. Didn't she give up her love just to make sure they're safe?

"Shen, no one in the world knew that you are Felicity Pax except our families. We'll keep it that way. As for the kids, we'll find a school with the best security and privacy policies. What do you think?"

"I don't know, Sis."

"You three can remain anonymous and live as you normally would. Give it a shot, Shen."

"Why don't I just open a gallery here in Coast City? I mean, I can continue working in Ellis Inc. and handle the gallery. Do you think that will work?"

Mary thought about Serene's suggestion. She initially wanted her to put up a gallery in Hyacinth Bay so they could work closely together, but she did not consider the twins when the idea came to her. Serene's suggestion was not bad at all. They could still work closely together as compared to when she was abroad.

She jumped up from her seat, then hugged and kissed her best friend's cheeks. "Thank you, Shen! I promise you won't regret it. I'll take care of the logistics. Don't worry. Focus on Ellis Inc. I'll just work with Viv." Vivienne, whom Mary fondly called Viv, was her secretary in New York.

Serene simply nodded. After getting what she wanted, Mary left to 'make things happen'. Left alone, she attended to the documents she had before her until it was almost 6 PM. No matter how busy she was, she made sure she had dinner with the twins. The work could always wait, her children couldn't. So, when she saw that it's almost time to go home, she tidied up her things and made notes of the items she'd pick up for the following day.

All the exhaustion and soreness of her muscles eased at the sight of her toddlers running towards her in excitement.

"I miss you, Mommy," squealed Felicity when she carried her and gave her cheeks tiny kisses. Felicity responded by covering hers with wet kisses.

"Mommy!" Pax hugged her leg and looked up at her. Serene bent down to be on her son's eye level. Pax then threw himself on her, hugging her neck and kissed her cheek. "I missed you, Mommy!"

"I miss you too, my little man," she lovingly said and gave her son's cheeks a kiss.

The three went inside the house hand in hand. Her children told her how their day went while they walked.

"Mom, grandpa said we'd go fishing tomorrow," Pax shared, his eyes beaming with excitement.

"You are? Wow, that would be fun!"

"Yeah! Don't worry Mommy, I'll catch you a pretty fish!" Felicity proudly declared.

"No such thing as pretty fish, Lizzy!" rebuffed Pax. Serene groaned inwardly. Bickering coming right up!

"There is! Nemo is a pretty fish!" Felicity retorted and stuck her tongue out to her brother.

"Nemo is not real. It's just a movie!" Pax answered back, sticking out his tongue too.

"Mom! Pax is being naughty!"

"Mom, I'm not. Nemo is really just a movie."

"Enough, you two. Pax, you are right, Nemo is a movie," she explained. Pax gave his sister a smug look. "But it's based on an actual fish called clown fish. So, Lizzie is also correct," she continued making Felicity look at her brother with 'told yah!' expression. "Both of you are correct, stop arguing ok?" She looked at each of her children. Both looked content with her explanation. They held each other's hand and ran their way into the house, leaving her watching their tiny backs.

She played with her children a little before joining them and her parents for dinner.

"Dad, Mary dropped by the office today. She asked me to open a gallery in Hyacinth Bay," she looked at her father, who just looked back at her with a pensive expression.

"You agreed?" Conrad asked, his brows hitched.

"No, and yes. I did not agree to open a gallery in Hyacinth Bay. I thought it's risky for the twins. But I told her I am fine to open one here, in Coast City." she explained, while dabbing a tissue on Felicity's chocolate smeared mouth. "Hmm." Conrad said, nodding. He looked at his daughter intently. Motherhood changed her. She's no longer as impulsive as she was when she was younger. He's happy to see that her children's safety was on top of her mind.

Carol observed the father and daughter in their conversation. She's happy to see that Serene had already matured. Truly, motherhood forced her to grow up. As her mother, though, she ached at knowing that her daughter had to compromise for her dream. Coast City was not as huge as Hyacinth Bay. Having a gallery in Hyacinth Bay would further propel her career, but for the sake of her children, she had to compromise.

She looked at her grandchildren as they happily ate their pudding. They're so innocent, yet their surrounding circumstances were chaotic. It would have been perfect if they did not need to leave the United States and grow up there as normal children, away from all the complications between their parents.

However, thinking about it, it had been three years since Serene and Justin parted, and in those three years, there had been no noise on his side, perhaps he really did not bother with Serene anymore, so she and her children could live in peace wherever they were. She hoped against all hopes that it was the case.