Leonica asked.
"Where's Ashley now?" Gabriel asked.
It only took them a second after they had gotten the information they asked for, for them to each rash out of the restaurant and towards their cars.
Kennedy was more than confused when Leonica suddenly pulled the door open and jumped into the car. He was aware that she had promised not to stay too long, which she hadn't, but seeing her in such a hasty state caused him to worry. "Ma'am?" "University hospital, now." Leonica demanded with urgency.
Hearing it was a hospital emergency, most definitely one of her loved ones to have her this worried, Kennerly didn't hesitate to speed through traffic and in a matter of fifteen minutes, they had arrived at the hospital.
Leonica was quick to jump out of her car without any word. Ahead of her, Gabriel who had just arrived minutes before her was already rushing into the hospital. She caught up to him in a matter of seconds and they both approached the receptionist area. "Hello, how may i-?" "Ashley Romero," Leonica eagerly interrupted. "Where is he?" The receptionist was still stunned, but managed to maneuver his way through his system logs and found the child they were seeking "P-parent, I assume?" He questioned.
"Yes." Gabriel answered.
"I see. Well, he's in room 205, undergoing check up. Just walk down this hallway and you should find the room in less than a minute." He instructed, pointing in the direction they were meant to head.
Leonies rushed off in a heartbeat whilst Gabriel offered him a thankful nod before chasing after her. However, both their strides were brought to a halt as they spotted a familiar figure standing outside the room where Ashley was supposedly in.
Angelina Fernandez. Seeing her alone was enough to explain the entire situation to Gabriel. But on second look, bandage wrapped around her upper arm and dress dinied, he wasn't really sure what the situation was, Leonica on the other hand, took one step forward and one look at her before she concluded the entire situation. The bitch had cfor revenge. It was obvious the kind of person Angelina was, bite her once and she'd bite back, in a more painful manner. And it was plain to see, to Leonica at least, that Angelina was here simply because she wanted to get back at her for supposedly murdering her unborn child But oh how it was a foolish move on her path to show her face after hurting Ashley! You-" Leonica had matched towards Angelina, temper clearly lost with intentions of dishing out a much deserved blinding slap and many more, when the door behind Angelina opened and Ashley walked out, unharmed but confused at the entire situation. He glanced at his father, mother and then Angelina, before asking "Mommy? Daddy? How are you guys here?" Seeing her son's face, unharmed and well, Leonica momentarily forgot her anger towards Angelina and rushed to Ashley. She examined his face after wrapping him in her arms. "Oh baby, thank goodness you're alright." "Why are you guys here?" Ashley repeated after he had gotten enough snuggle from his mother and a smile from his father.
"We... we got a call from your school. They said you had gotten in an accident and rushed to the hospital," Leonica paused and scanned her son. The realization that he was unharmed finally setting in and causing her brows to crease. "But Ashley, you're you're fine." The child nodded his head. "Mhm him. Thet's because," He pointed at Angelina, who had been quiet all this while, holding onto her arm and watching the scene, with a big prin of his and announced "This beautiful Aunty over here protected me.' Spin to Claim Play The Devil Tanbig Sabot..
The alt in the room bal isddenly turned stift after Ashley's words. Hit the Ing remained parents exchanges! ing, clearly not knowing the meaning of the glace en his ew? Scheming, witchy and all? Had they just head right? Ashley, saved by Angelina? The very sAngelina Fedex they Uh oh, no way in hell that actually happened. But it was abban that Ashley wasn't lying. The boulled demon of joy fooked far too longer to be hyling. At times Levmkarven teared that the kid didn't even know So, it was either his brain was still a bit miskiled from the entire experience or the doctors had given him ssort of shot that messed up his entire dandmade him mouth speak all! but rubbish, or perhaps bodi.
Leonica chigged her son's strange bebacion and mencal words up to the two, Chockling, she gently brought his hands down. "Ash, Honry, tell me, do you teel alright "T01., need to question the doctor about "Noge." The child was spick to shake his heal. This tand however, he didn't iniss the glances his parents exchanged dead as much as he was glad that either of the two wasn't trying to bite one's headball, be colla't igthe waves of misunderstanding that was shooting out of their eyes..
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtOh, but it vossar't towardsanother. With each glance in her illection, the waves were being directed toward the Bennette Aunty who had served him. "Ash, are you site about what you're saying?" dabelel was the one who add this time, Both he and Lemnica were questioning their son about th woman who had saved him, the very swen who was in their midst but had not been ghen the chance to speck for herself.
And against his better will, that one nagging sensation in the back of his intial that Ashley was still too young to understand, telling him to keep quiet, Ashley spoke vps "Yes daily. You see my school hal pone on an excision today. We went to the zon, Ciriel glaced at Leonics for confirmation and she gave him a subtle nol, indicating that she law of the trip, "but our way back, huge irons suddenly deel from the sky!" And that was when Ashley lost the gerous? Balling from the sky? How actly was that possible? "The construction site nearby had a scaffolding malfunction. Angelina spoke up for the first time, vuice low and Innocent, which died further es Leonie a and Gabriel turned to look at her, showing a lullcation that they acknowledged her presence for the first tin long minutes.
But they did not say anything, rather pondered her words...
Scattolling malfunction? Was that what Ashley meant? Makes sense sering as he had mentioned frons falling from the sky, Leonice thought as she turned her attention back to Ashley, ghug him to cothe the rest of his story.
"Teacher Harper was able to get my classmates out of the way, but," Now was the part when he felt guilty. Slowly, be brought the staffed bunny his mother had bought for him back in Colorado, out from behind him and presented it. The toy looked roughed up, as it someone had taken it and tossed it in the sand, wrestling with it until it was dirty enough and then gave li back to the kid. "Botty fell behind. I couldn't leave her and went back but then, the iron fell but Aunty over here shielded me." He explained with a frown, expecting ssort of scolding from his parents.
But Leonica and Gabriel were too stunned by the revelation to even scold him.
Angelina had actually saved Ashley? Seeing the look of astonishment being thrown her way, Angelina scrambled to explain. "L. I know its hard to believe and I don't ask that you thankor oweanything, after all, it's the least I could do after everything that I've done. And even if you refuse to accept my apology in that form then I'm okay. But... I couldn't have just sat by and watched a child get hurt when," She touched her stomach with a saddened. "I myself had just lost a baby." Gabriel's expression softened at her words. But Leonica, oh no she wasn't buying one shit. So many things seemed far too coincidental to be a colueklence. Firstly, what the heck was Angelina doing around Ashley's school and secondly, a scaffolding That construction site had been going on for months without one mistake and only a nave person would believe that the mistake so happened to have occurred today.
Sally Gabriel was one of those people.
"I would be a liar if I said this isn't surprising. But thank you, Angelina." He said and offered her a smile, She didn't hesitate to offer one of her own back and glanced at Leonica who had just finished picking Ashley up but never once took her gaze off her. "Yeah, thank you, Angelina. I'll have my assistant take care of your medical bills, so don't worry yourself." Leonica said with her usual vague smile. Except this one had something mixed with it that make Angelina look away.
'Wh,' Leonica thaght, narrowing; her eyes at the brunelte..
*Mommy?" The sound of Ashley's voice interrupted her thoughts.
She looked down at him anul smiled, "Yes darling"" "Can Arat Angelina cto my birthday party?" He asked That was all it took to wipe the smile all Leonica's face and like an instinct, that one got feeling that always pushed her in the right way, Leonica wAS about to rele. Her lips had already parted, words forming on the tip of her tongue, when Gabriel suddenly beat her to speaking.
"Ol emeso," It took only a second, like a whiplash, to have Leia's heal tapping in Gabriel's direction, per evident in her eyes. But of course, being the person he is, Gabriel Ignored.. managed to ignore the look Leonica was giving him and focused on his son. He took a few steps forward and ruffled The child's hair "Angelina had a trip to a faraway place, but because you want her at your party, I'll have her departure pashed back." "Really?!" Ashley asked black eyes brimming with delight.
Gabriel nodded his head and glanced at Leonica, a smile pulling at the corners of his lips as he asked. "Do you disagree?" "Do you mama?" Ashley joined his father in questioning, except he sounded more expectant of her answer. A positive one, Leonica knew and for that reason, she couldn't say what was truly on her mind and instead silently glared at Gabriel.
Their encounter ended a few minute after that, but Leonica couldn't seem to cto terms with Angelina's foreign actions. When they got home, Ashley noticed Anastasia's Mercedes AMG coupe parked in the driveway and quickly jumped out of the back seat. "Aunty Annie's here!" He exclaimed as he ran up to their house porch, leaving his school bag for his mother to bring in, while he furiously rang the door bell until Grace opened the door and he launched himself inside.
"Aunt Annie!" Ashley exclaimed once again as he spotted his godmother in their kitchen pouring herself a cup of juice as Grace had gone to answer the door.
She hadn't fully comprehended his presence when he launched himself into her arm, causing sof her juice to spill.
"Whoa, Ash, is that you?" Anastasia questioned with a chuckle.
"Yup, I'm back." The child announced the obvious.
"Welcback." Anastasia said and ruffled his hair, her attention later being drawn by Leanica who had just stepped into the kitchen. "Hey Leo," She greeted with a wave, giving the younger boy enough chance to slip out of her hold and head for the freezer. "Hey." Leonica returned the wave before asking "Why are you here?" "Meg's been trying to reach you all afternoon," Her words caused Leonica to reach for her phone, only to realize that it had died off right after the call that had informed her of Ashley's situation. Anastasia lowered her voice to a whisper before she added. "The final touches for Ashley's cake are done." "Thank you- Ashley what did I say about taking treats from the freezer without washing your hands?" Leonica gently scolded as she caught the child in the middle of his action Ashley merely giggled and ran off with the chocolate chip brownie in each of his hands, causing Leonica to sigh out in exhaustion.
Anastasia took notice of this, along with the fact that something was bothering her friend. "Hey," She gently tapped her shoulder. "Is everything alright?" Leonica thought of playing Anastasia's worry off, but decided against it. "Not exactly. She confessed as she shook her head.
"What is it? Talk to"Anastasia demanded in all seriousness.
Leonica hesitated, wetting her lips and looking around as if the walls had ears before speaking, "It's Angelina." Anastasia frowned at the mentions of the she devil. "What did she do this taround? Did she try and hurt my Ash- "No." Leonica interrupted. "She didn't. Rather she saved him." She spat out the rest of the words, expression contorting into that of confusion as she still couldn't cto terms with the brunette's actions. "What?" And so couldn't Anastasia "Says she couldn't seat back and watched Ashley get hurt. But, I don't trust her, Anastasia" She said the last part in a low tone. "I don't know what, I can feel that she's up to something. And to make matters worse, Gabriel allowed her to attend Ashley's birthday party." but Anastasia went quiet for a while before she sighed, clapping Leonica's shoulder afterwards. "It's alright." She assured. "Attending Ash's party or not, I'll keep an eye on her. Whatever she's up to, she won't ever be able to achieve it, so you just focus on getting Ashley's birthday ready. Alright?" Leonica hesitantly nodded. "Alright." But despite saying that and offering her best friend the best forced smile she could muster, she couldn't help but worry about Angelina's sudden change in attitude and her plans for the future, If she had any Ashley's Birthday Party.
The next few days had gone in a bliss of eventless hours. And soon, it was the day of Ashley's birthday party. Standing in front of the mirror, Leonica examined the dress Ashley had insisted hard on her wearing. It was a black evening gown, opened at the back with moderate neckline and golden lining at the bottom which stopped at her ankle.
At first glance, she saw nothing special about the dress and wondered why Ashley had been so insistent on her wearing it "Mommy, it's tto go- CAshley's voice from outside her room door and soon, the small child appeared, dressed in a black suit and pants, a befitting attire for his birthday party.
It was then Leonica took one look at his dress and then back at hers in the mirror and chuckled. Now she understood why Ashley had insisted on her wearing the dress he had picked out. It was because he was wearing something to match her.
The lapel of his tiny black suit had glitters of gold and so did his tiny bow tie, almost as if it was made to go precisely with Leonica's dress.
Sch Ash," She breathed out.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Mommy, you look beautiful" Ashley complimented.
"Thank you Ash, you don't look so bad yourself. She said and offered her hand and they both walked down the stairs.
"Grace, please watch the house well." "Of course. Would you needto prepare anything? A late night dinner perhaps?"
Leonica shook her head "Ashley won't be needing anything after the party tonight, but I on the other hand," Leonica shook her head with a e disapproving sigh. Grace could almost imagine her counting all the junk food she'd eat at the party. As much of a sweet tooth Leonica had, she was also a healthy eater. Salad in the morning, appropriate hunch meals with as little calories as possible and then a soft night meal that she sometimes kicked off with a glass of wine and healthy stick of smoke, whenever Ashley had dozed off to wonderland and left her to her thoughts. So knowing the type of person her mistress is, Grace knew exactly what to expect. "A place of Salad?" She beat Leonica to her exact words and earned a grin.
"You have it all sorted out. We'll leave now." She said and took Ashley's hand.
Watching the duo walk towards the door, Grace bowed once again. "Have a lovely evening, Ms. Romero. Young master Romero." Now standing outside, Leonica glanced at her wrist watch, trying to recall the exact tshe had told Kennedy to pick them up.
If she had told Kennedy to pick them up? "Shit," She muttered underneath her breath as realization suddenly hit. She had in fact not told Kennedy to pick them up.
'I fucked up, she thought, trying her very best to hide her expression from Ashley, who was currently skipping down their driveway with a huge grin on his face and towards a black Range Rover Velar Now if that, and the fact that amongst all the cars she had, A range rover Velar wasn't part of them, personal reasons, didn't catch Leonica's attention, then Ashley calling out to his father surely did.
Rotted in her spot, Leonica watched as the drive's door opened and Gabriel stepped out. Immediately her eyes landed on him and Ashley, they widened in yet another realization.
Now forego the fact that Gabriel was handsome, because of course was. No sane women in her right up one sense of mind could wake morning lay eyes on Gabriel Bryce, well dressed or not, and say that he wasn't handsome. The main reason why Leonica couldn't take her eyes off Gabriel and Ashley too, was because their outfits looked so fucking much alike. And now that she saw that, she also realized that she was wearing the exact soutfit as Ashley. Dressed the way they were, someone could easily mistake them for one big happy family.
"Ah, that sly little baby demon. Leonica thought as Ashley's main motive finally formed in her mind. "Mommy look, Daddy cto pick us up" Ashley called out to his mother, comfortably seating in Gabriel's arms.
"Of course he did." Leonica mattered and folded her arms, doing very little atthe to hide the displeasure flowing m through her veins at the sight of Gabriel. Gabriel, however, had a Rherv different view of the situation. Seeing Leonica dressed in her party gown mesmerized him and he made little to no effort to hide his expression "I wasn't expecting to see you here" Leonica informed the instance her son and his father were in front of her.
"Yeah well Ashley called, informedthat you had forgotten to call Kennedy." Gabriel explained and watched as Leonica glared at the little demon in his hold. Chucking, he took a more to camine ber dress all the more Disregarding the fact that their entire attire looked like it was cut from one bit fat fabric, Ashley responsible as the culprit, Gabriel wholeheartedly admitted that Leonica looked Stunning, godlessly even "That dress, it suits you" Gabriel praised with a calm smile Oh sweet lood, Paint Leonica a freading Bar it she could look you in the face, right this moment and tell you that Gabriel's words hadn't affected her one bit. Because, it did.
His words affected her so much that her cheeks warmed and if not for the dimed skies, the white-Ente was sure that either Gabriel of her son would start teasing her over the blush creeping onto her cheeks that made it seem like she had added extra blash to her makeup