Leap OF Fate

Felicity's bright, smiling eyes looked up at Justin. The smile on her face pierced Justin's heart. His chest tightened at the sight of her. Her smile brightened her face, removing the veil of gloom that blanketed his heart for the past five years. "Lizzy!" Serene's stern voice made Felicity release her hold on Justin's leg and take a step back towards her mother.

"What did we talk about strangers?" Serene said, looking at her daughter's eyes with warning.

Justin felt a painful blow on his stomach from Serene's voice. Stranger? Of all the people in the room, she knew best that he's the child's father. How could she carelessly say that he's a stranger? His eyes challenged hers, but she did not budge. Fury met fury. Fire met fire.

"He's not a stranger, Mom. Pax and I know him," Felicity's gentle voice reasoned with her mother.

Her daughter's retort brought confusion and fear in Serene. The twins knew Justin? How? When? Her eyes darted from Felicity to Pax and back.

With a deep crease on her brows, she probed, "You know him? How?" The worry and panic in Serene's voice were clear.

Justin's jaw clenched upon seeing her reaction. Was the thought of him knowing his children so repulsive she had to overreact this way? Did she really intend for them to grow up not knowing and having him in their lives? "He's Kenny's dad," Felicity confidently said and looked in Justin's direction.

"Kenny? Who's Kenny?" Serene asked, sounding confused. The creases on her brows deepened for every question she asked. She scanned her daughter's face, and she found nothing but innocence. "The cute one," Felicity added and beamed at her mother.

Serene felt a headache starting. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and applied a gentle pressure to her temples before turning her attention to her son. "Pax, help me out here, please. What is Lizzie saying?" She looked at Pax like he was her lifeline. Felicity could be ditzy sometimes, but Pax has always been level-headed.

The little boy sighed as he looked at his mother and sister. "Lizzie's right Mom. He's Kenny's dad."

"I heard that, Darling. But I don't know who Kenny is,"

"You know him, Mom. He was here yesterday."

"He was? But Darling, you had lots of friends over yesterday, which one is Kenny?"

Pax thought for a moment, then answered, "You changed his pants!" Pax raised his forefinger in the air to make a point. His eyes bright like he had some Aha moment.

"Oh, Snowball?" Serene clarified. She received a nod from her son as confirmation.

So, the cute child yesterday was Justin's. She did not know why, but she felt a pain in her heart at the thought that he already had a child of his own.

After Pax clarified Serene's confusion. Felicity once again ran to Justin to hug his leg. She looked up at him with bright, inquiring eyes.

"Uncle Chester, could Kenny go with us to the amusement park?" Felicity asked in a sweet angelic voice.

Justin stood fixed on the ground. He stared at the beautiful child who looked up to him. Her melodious voice transfixed him, missing everything she said.

"Yes, he could go with you," Elaina said. Felicity looked at her with confusion, so she clarified, "I'm Kenny's grandma." she smiled at Felicity. Her eyes glimmered as tears accumulated at the rim of her eyes.

"Darling, can you give this grandma a hug?" Elaina said, her voice trembling from the surge of emotions.

"Yes!" Felicity answered, then ran towards Elaina's extended arms.

Felicity embraced Elaina and gave her cheeks a quick peck. Elaina swallowed to control her emotions. Her eyes swept over every feature of Felicity's face. She still could not believe that Serene and Justin had children, and she's looking at them for the first time. Pax just looked on to his sister and Elaina hugging each other. His stony stares swept over Justin, and a slight frown registered on his forehead.

"Jane, please bring them upstairs. We'll just go over some business here," Serene, who had finally come to her senses, asked her helper.

Hearing their mother's order, Pax and Felicity reluctantly followed their nanny upstairs.

Serene cleared her throat after the children left the living room. "Ms. Smith, sorry about that. Shall we talk about your dress?"

Crystal's eyes shone. She felt like a confused outsider from all the exchanges that happened earlier. She worried that she and Justin seemed to have a shared past, however, seeing how Serene behaved, she felt assured that she would not come between her and Justin. "Mary said you wanted the gown hand painted?"

Serene focused her attention on the matter at hand and asked Crystal questions to know how to best paint her gown.

From what she gathered; the event was the formal announcement of her engagement with Justin. It would be in 3 weeks.

She mentioned she would create a draft of the dress and send it to her in three days. If she's happy with the design, she would begin painting. Serene agreed to finish everything in two weeks.

After getting the information she needed, she excused herself to go to her children, leaving the group to Mary.

All throughout the meeting, when Crystal and Serene were in serious discussion, Justin's eyes had never left Serene. He missed her so much and wanted to hold her but couldn't. Crystal held him back. But more than this, Serene's aura had changed drastically over the years.

She no longer exuded the welcoming vibe he was familiar with. Now, she felt cold and guarded. The loving look he used to receive from her got replaced with disdain.

He pined for her in the past five years, each day leaving his heart more scarred than before, but it did not occur to him that seeing her would bring him greater pain.

Yes, she's now in front of him, but her physical presence became a solid reminder that she's no longer his. She had moved on from him. He no longer occupied a space in her heart, and unfortunately, she even did not give a room for him in their children's lives. His temporomandibular joints moved from clenching his jaws tightly when he recalled how his children mistook him for Chester, just like their mother when they first met.

His brother knew of his children and did not even mention it to him. He sneered in his heart. Why would Chester bother, didn't he tell him and Bryan five years ago that he wanted nothing to do with them?

He recalled how Chester approached him to clarify the situation between Serene and Bryan, but he was too closed off to listen to a word he said. The whole thing turned ugly, him calling his brother names and kicking him and Bryan out of Rain International.

Their parents interceded, but he just gave them a deaf ear. In the end, Chester and Bryan moved abroad for a short time, then returned to Hyacinth Bay with a baby they had through surrogacy. The two established their own small business and kept their distance from him.

His anger and insecurity made him push away people from his life. Afraid of being deeply hurt, he simply shut off everyone. Everyone starting from Serene.

He had been living alone and lonely for a long time now. Sometimes, he no longer knew how it is to be happy. Seeing his children, he felt a kind of warmth in his heart he had not felt in a long time. The indescribable joy he felt when Felicity hugged his legs and looked up to him with her round, bright eyes, lit up a fire in him, making him want nothing else but to be with them.0000000000000000