A Second Chance

Chapter 7

I woke up the next day around seven and got ready for my day out with the twins. I wore my favorite skinny jeans. It hugged my legs but wasn't too tight, which was perfect to wear for a whole day out with tiny three year olds. I wore a white short sleeved top and brushed my long brown hair, and left it loose.

I got gold highlights in my hair now, and it was no longer its usual dull brown color.

I decided to leave my face makeup free except for some light pink lipgloss. I pulled on my white Converse, and I was ready to.
go.

On my way to pick up the twins, I decided to stop for breakfast at a small cafe near the hotel. Maybe by the time I get there, the kids would have hopefully eaten their breakfast and would be ready to go. Wishful thinking I know but anything to avoid Gabriel.

When I was finished with my bagel and coffee, I paid for my breakfast and left to pick up the twins.

As I entered the house, I heard voices coming from the kitchen. I could hear the twins's little voices, so I made my way there.

As I entered, I greeted them. "Hi girls, are you both..." But my voice  trail off seeing who was with them.

Gabriel was standing by the stove making pan cakes while the twins were sitting by the counter eating breakfast. They all looked up as I entered. Gabriel glanced at me briefly and looked away. I looked at the twins and smiled.

They were both dressed identical except for the colours. Bella was wearing a yellow t-shirt with blue shorts while Livy was wearing a lime green t-shirt  with blue shorts. Both had rainbows on the front of their t-shirt and wore matching bows on their head. They looked so cute.

They looked so like Sarah with their blond hair and light skin color. Their eyes were the only thing different from Sarah as they had their father's eyes.

"Awww, look at you cuties all dressed up and ready to go. I thought I would have to come and drag your lazy little bums out of bed." I said, coming up to them and tickling their necks. They both started giggling.

"Daddy woke us up and got us ready too," Bella said between giggles.

I stopped tickling them and glanced at Gabriel, "Oh, that's nice."

I didn't know what else to say. But I was glad Gabriel was doing things with the girls. They looked pretty normal today, not like a family that had buried their mother yesterday.

Gabriel glanced at me and smiled, " Yeah, I thought it would save time for them to be ready by the time you come. Its a tiring process getting them to wake up and get ready in the morning." He said as he turned to them, making a face.

They giggled some more seeing their father's face.

"Daddy sleeping is good. Who would want to wake up from dreams, Daddy?"

"Every other child. You two are just lazy!" he mumbled.

"Am not!" Livy gasped at once while Bella just laughed.

Gabriel smiled at them and turned to me, asking if I wanted breakfast. I shook my head, saying I already had mine.

He frowned but didn't say anything. Just switched off the stove and sat down with his coffee and his plate of pancakes.

I decided to let them finish breakfast and left the kitchen saying I would get the kids' stuff ready. By the time they were done, I had gotten everything ready and put it in the car.

They said their goodbyes to their father, and we all piled up in the car and left.

We first went to the park and played in the swings, fed the ducks, and ate ice cream from the ice cream truck.

Then we went to the mall to go shopping just for the fun of it and we bought silly hats, hairbands, bracelets and any other pretty little things we could find.

We had lunch at the mall and played some more in the indoor playground inside the mall. We had so much fun sliding inside the pool of balls and throwing balls at each other.

When we left the mall they wanted to visit the beach so we went and played in the waves and got our feet wet.

Playing in the beach reminded me of the summer days spent on the beach with Sarah.

The whole day, I had been missing her so much. It made me sad knowing that Sarah won't be able to enjoy these moments with Livy and Bella and won't be able to see them grow up.

She had been the best mama for these babies. Sarah had always loved kids and had wanted lots of them, and when she had gotten pregnant, she had been over the moon.

Sarah had quit her job as soon as she got pregnant and dedicated all her time to reading numerous books about how to raise kids. 

As they grew older, Sarah would spend her time teaching them all the stuff that she loved to do.

Like baking and gardening. They weren't much help, but they always had so much fun doing things together.

The girls would miss her so much, but I hope they will continue living their lives the way their mother had wanted them to.

They are still so small. I hope they don't forget the adventures they had with their mom.

It was getting cold now and getting late. The girls had to go home in time for dinner. I hope they don't fall asleep before that.

The beach wasn't far from their house so we arrived there in fifteen minutes. As we got out, the front door opened, and Gabriel stepped out.

Seeing their father, they both screamed excitedly and ran towards him to tell him about their day.

They were so excited that they were talking on top of each other, and it was impossible to understand a word they were saying. I laughed quietly, seeing Gabriel's face struggling to understand the babbles.

He finally gave up and announced that it was dinner time and sent them off with Paula to freshen up.

I followed the girls upstairs carrying their stuff. I put them down by the door and called for the girls.

They have now made poor Paula the victim of their excited chatter. "Girls, I'm leaving," I announced.

That got their attention. So they bounded back to me and I gave them both each a big hug.

"Thank you, girls. I had so much fun today. I don't think I have ever had that much fun ever in my life!" I exclaimed with a grin on my face with my eyes opened wide.

This was true, I had friends back home, and we went out a lot, but it's just so much more special when it's time spent with the girls. And this is the first time I had spent a day alone with them. Now I can understand why Sarah would never replace her time with her kids for anything.

"Thank you, Nicky," Livy said, hugging me tightly. "Will you come back tomorrow?"

"Of course! And we should do something fun tomorrow too!" I exclaimed, and they both cheered.

"Ok, now both of you go and take a shower. You both are so sticky from all that running." They both shrieked and ran off to the bathroom laughing.

"Goodnight!" I called out to them and left their room.