Chapter 10

Sunday was spent just as we planned. We lounged around the house for the first part of the day, staying in bed with the girls, talking, sleeping, and reading. Once we rolled out of bed, we pulled out the girls kitty pool and decided it would be a nice day for them to swim. While the girls played in their kitty pool, I relaxed in a lounge chair reading over a few chapters for work and Royce was playing with Spot. The sun felt amazing against my skin and I didn't want this beautiful day to come to an end. I was happy in my little bubble with my little family. Spot jumped on my thighs suddenly and I laughed running my hands through his fur. Royce jogged over to me and sat down at the foot of my chair.

"I guess Spot was missing you as much as me." He winked.

I smiled as Spot laid his head on my lap. "Or maybe he was just tired of you making him chase a ball." I said.

"That's probably true too." He laughed.

"Momma, momma!" Lily came running towards us. "Momma water!" She yelled.

I laughed. "Yes baby girl water." I said.

She ran back towards the pool and jumped in with Peppa. "They're so happy and carefree." Royce said.

"Yea, like how every child supposed to be."

"How is it she can play in the pool with ease but hate to take baths?" He asked and I wondered the same thing.

"I have no idea, maybe it's the whole cleaning process she doesn't like." I shrugged.

"Well she's not the only one who has a problem with the whole cleaning process." He mumbled causing me to giggle slightly. He watched them for a moment before turning to face me. "Pizza tonight right?"

"Of course." I replied.

"I'm going to set up the living room. A movie would be a nice way to end the evening." He said.

He got up to head inside and Spot followed him wagging his tail. I put my laptop away and got up from my chair to go over to the girls. They were so happy splashing and playing, they hadn't realized when I came to kneel next to the pool.

"Hi babies." I cooed.

I placed my hand into the warm water and flicked my fingers at them playfully. They giggled covering their little faces.

"Momma, water." Peppa said.

"Yes baby, water. Are you having fun with the water?"

"Fun momma!" Lily yelled.

I smiled and played with them for a while, because the more tired they are, the better it is for me. I have work first thing in the morning and the last thing I want is them waking up in the middle of the night.

"Babe the pizza is here!" Royce yelled from inside the house.

"Oooo, girls the pizza is here. Roy got pizza, do you want pizza?" I asked excitedly.

"Pizza!"

"Pizza momma!" Their little green eyes lit up with excitement and I knew this would be a perfect excuse to get them out of the pool. I helped them out the pool and they dashed inside laughing, while I tried keeping up behind them. Royce stopped them in the kitchen with towels and we wrapped them up.

"Come on girls, let's get you in your pajamas and we can eat pizza." I said.

After I got the girls and I cleaned up and got into our pajamas, we headed downstairs. The living room was set up and waiting for our arrival. Royce spread blankets on the floor, brought out a bunch of pillows and already had a movie set to play.

"Ooo, this looks cozy." I said.

I tugged the girls along and pulled them down on the floor with me. Royce pulled out the pizza and we slowly dug in.

"What movie are we watching?" I asked.

"Hotel Transylvania." Royce said.

The room went silent as the movie started. Lily and Peppa munched on their pizzas and their eyes never left the tv. "Today was a great day." I whispered.

"Yea it was."

By the middle of the movie the girls were done with their pizzas and began tugging at my shirt.

"Is it weird for you to still be breast feeding them?" Royce asked.

"Hmm, well, I don't really think on it much anymore. It's the most natural thing and I'm just glad that this is something that I can still share with them." I said.

By the end of the movie, the girls were completely asleep and I was half way there. I ran my hand through their hairs as I watched them sleep peacefully.

"They are so beautiful. I can't wait until we can have one together." Royce said.

"Another one?" I asked.

"Well, yea, you do want to have kids with me right?"

"Of course I do." I said.

Apart of me felt a little hurt at his words. Although the girls aren't his, he is the only father figure they have right now.

"I just wasn't planning on having anymore so soon. The girls are still young." I said.

"So you didn't think twice about having...." Royce trailed off and I froze.

"Having what?" I asked.

"Nothing babe, let's just go to bed." He stood and started tidying up.

"Why won't you finish the sentence?" I asked.

"Just forget about it Ava." It felt like my heart cracked, he didn't have to complete the sentence because I already knew it. I didn't think twice about having stranger's kids. His words hurt me a lot but they were true. I can't explain the feeling that came over me that encouraged me to keep the girls and frankly I'm tired trying to. Everytime I think Royce and I are past something, we are back to walking around on eggshells. This is exactly why talking about my feelings with Royce is a bad idea. The rest of the night was silent and no matter how much I buried myself in the blanket, our bed still felt ice cold. The next morning was pretty much the same as the night before. We barely talked to each other and the only reason we stayed in the same room was to get the girls dressed. I hated this so much. Why are we always taking four steps forward and six steps back? Today I decided to dress in my short sleeved burgundy dress with a black leather belt. I was in the mirror doing my hair when Royce walked in.

"Hey, um the girls are ready and in their room, I'm heading out." He said.

"So, now you talk."

"Let's not do this." He walked away. No surprise there. I glanced into the girls room and followed him down the stairs to the front door.

"Why can't you just tell me that you hate me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Royce, I'm not stupid okay? I know you hate me, I hate myself for what I did, but I can't keep holding my breath waiting for you to throw something else at my face." I said.

"Ava, I'm dealing with this just as much as you, maybe even more. How do you think I feel? That night isn't going to just disappear because those little girls are right upstairs." He said.

"So it's the girls? You're mad I kept them?"

"Of course not! I love those little girls and you know that, but I can't pretend like their presence doesn't serves as a reminder sometimes." He said helplessly.

We were silent for a moment staring at each other. Royce sighed breaking the silence, before turning away and heading out the door. I wiped away the tear that escaped unknowingly and headed upstairs to the girls. I'm supposed to be immune to him walking out whenever we argue but it feels as if apart of me breaks everytime that door shuts. I tried to clear my mind and focus on getting through the day without breaking down. I got the girls packed up and headed out the house and over to my mom's. The best part about her job is that she works at night so days I have to work she can watch the girls until I get off.

"Hi girls!" My mom said when she opened the door.

"Nana!" the girls yelled as they ran inside. I handed her their bags quietly.

"Morning Ava bear." She smiled.

"Hey mom."

"Is everything okay?" She asked concerned.

"Yea, I'm okay."

"You aren't still mad at me for yesterday are you?"

"What? No, I'm fine. You're free to date whoever you want." I mumbled.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"Mom, I really have to get to work, I don't have time for this." I said.

"Well make time." She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the door post with a sigh.

"I just wished that the girls were Royce's, then maybe I wouldn't have this dark cloud following me around." I shrugged.

"Ava, those girls are here for a reason, don't doubt that."

"I don't ma, those girls are my life, I just hate that Royce and I have to go through this."

"Ava, your children come first no matter what. It's been almost three years, it was a mistake, but Royce knew what he was getting himself into when he took you back. If he's gonna keep holding it against you then you guys need to decide what you're going to do."

"Ma, please, can't you see it from his side? Who is to say how long it takes to heal from something like this? It's not easy to forget and I can't blame him for that. He's hurting, he's human..."

"So are you Ava, and throwing your mistakes in your face isn't helping anyone, it'll only make it harder to..." I held up my hands quickly to silence her.

"Look mom, I really gotta go I can't do this right now okay?" I said.

She sighed and nodded.

"Lily, Peppa, come kiss momma goodbye." I said.

The drive to work was silent. I didn't want to listen to music or any kind of noise around me right now, I even wanted my thoughts to shut up at this point, but it just wouldn't. My mother was right, but then so was I right? I know that accepting what happened is so hard especially with the girls, but how can we ever move forward if Royce is constantly reminding me of that mistake? I got to work o'clock on the dot and quickly grabbed my things and headed inside.

"Morning Ava!"

"Hey Stacy."

I smiled waving my hand as I passed her desk. I moved through the cubicles slowly and spotted Julia at her desk also.

"Well don't you look like an edible arrangement." Julia smirked taking in my dress.

"Good morning, Julia." I laughed rolling my eyes.

"When you get settled in meet me in the break room." She said.

I nodded and quickly headed in the elevator and up to my little 'office'. I knocked on Caleb's office door softly before sticking my head inside.

"I'm here." I said.

"Oh hey good morning Ava, come here for a sec." He said. I came inside closing the door behind me.

"So I have a guest coming over today and we have a few of things to discuss. I need you to clear my schedule for this afternoon and keep anyone from coming to the top floor when he gets here." He said. I cocked my head in confusion.

"Caleb you had a very important meeting today, you know Jeffery Lloyd is about to get published."

"Yea I know, but can you just push what was planned for today for tomorrow? My brother and I have a lot to discuss." He said.

"Brother? Your special guest is your brother?" I asked.

"Yes, my twin brother is back in town from London, we have plenty of catching up to do."

"I didn't even knew you had a brother and I've been your assistant for over two years."

"Well, that's because I don't normally talk about my family unless I have too and I don't bring family into business."

"But isn't Reynolds Publishing a small branch of dozens of your family owned businesses?"

"Touchè" He smiled.

"Well okay, what time is he coming, I'll clear the day for you." I said.

"Thanks a lot he should be here in a few hours and he'll probably come right up." He said.

"Okay, so twins, are you identical?" I smiled.

"Hmm, fraternal. We have some resemblance but, he has way too much of my mother in him and I have way too much of my father in me."

"Sounds interesting." I nodded a little curious to see what he looks like.

"Yea, at least our parents didn't have to stitch our names in our clothing." He laughed.

"Oh shut it." I rolled my eyes.

"Bring me some coffee will ya?"

"I will think about it." I said.

For the next several hours, I worked on clearing his schedule and making a few calls. It was hard to explain to different people why Caleb needed things to be on pause until tomorrow. After I was done I felt the need to stretch my legs and stood up, I was sitting for nearly two hours. I knocked gently on Caleb's office door.

"Hey Caleb?" I asked.

"Yea?" He said not looking away from his laptop.

"I did everything you asked and Mr. Knowles said to call him when you're free."

"Okay, great."

"I'm going to head downstairs for a bit, I'll let you know when your brother is here." I said.

"That won't be necessary, he's the type to walk right in and he surely doesn't need an introduction." He laughed.

"Well okay, call me if you need me." I said.

I headed downstairs to look for Julia and found her inside the break room.

"Hey, want a piece of bagel?" She asked holding it out.

"Nah, I can't eat right now." I said.

I sat down at the break table with her and our coworker Jerry. Jerry was one of our editors and he's pretty good at what he does. He funny, smart, handsome and a bit of a nerd if you asked me.

"I was clearing Caleb's schedule today because his brother is coming for a visit." I said.

"Caleb has a brother?" Julia asked shocked.

"I know right, I didn't even know and I've been here for two years."

"I've been here for five and I didn't know that." Julia said.

"It's cause the Reynolds are very busy people. It's more than a family, it's a damn dynasty. They are all sectioned off and running their own companies. You barely see more than one Reynolds in a room unless it's some kind of big event." Jerry said.

"Well Caleb told me he had a nephew, but he didn't even mention he was twin." I said.

"Yea, he has a little sister too, his nephew belong to his sister." Jerry said.

"How the hell do you know?" Julia asked.

"Well that's because I actually read." He laughed.

"I read too but I'm not about to go searching for the background of the Reynolds family." I said.

"Well that is probably the only way you'd find out about them, Caleb is pretty tight lipped." He glanced at his watch suddenly. "Excuse me."

Jerry got up from the table with his cup of coffee and left.

"You should probably hang around your desk to get a look at him." Julia said.

"I have a man."

"No, for me silly. My lady parts are starting to collect dust."

"If your lady parts are collecting dust that is solely your fault and I highly doubt a millionaire will be interested in your museum." I laughed.

"A girl can dream. Meanwhile my shower head and I have the best on again off again relationship."

"Poor shower head."

"Yea well old faithful is getting more old by the minute."

"What about Jerry?"

"Oh yawn, my lady parts needs to be fixed and shined not slightly dusted." She rolled her eyes.

"You don't know what he's capable of." I shrugged.

"Pass."

"Well I can't help you."

"I don't see you volunteering any of your men."

"What men? I don't know any and besides I suggested Steven." I said.

"Ugh I said men not the spawn of satan." I laughed shaking my head.

"You should ask Royce to hook me up." She said.

"Oh please, that's if he's still talking to me."

"What do you mean?"

"He's just being so difficult." I sighed.

"Let me guess, he's still giving you a hard time for cheating?" She asked.

"How the hell do you know?"

"Oh please Ava, guys barely takes a woman back after cheating, let alone having kids with the guy they cheated with. You have a rare one."

"He is rare isn't he?" I mumbled.

"Duh! I'm eager to look under your dress, you've got to have some kind of gold between your thighs." She said.

"Very funny. Royce is just a really great guy and I know he loves me otherwise he wouldn't have stayed. I just wish there is some way to get pass this." I said.

"Under normal circumstances you probably could get pass it, but your circumstances are far from normal. He has to wake up every day to your kids."

"He loves the girls."

"I'm sure he does, but they also serve as a reminder of the guy that came in you."

"Do you have to be so vulgar?" I frowned.

"I prefer the term brutally honest. I'm only giving you a male's point of view."

"Well if it was going to be this hard why stay?" I asked.

"Love." Julia shrugged.

My phone rang suddenly, interrupting the conversation.

"Yes Caleb?" I asked.

"Hey Ava, I ordered some lunch for my brother and I to be delivered. I just got the text that they're here, can you bring it up for me?" He asked.

"Alright, I'll be right there." I said hanging up.

"I've gotta go, his brother is here." I said.

"Say hi for me." She smirked.

I laughed and left the break room. I got the food from the front door and headed to the elevator. My hands were overflowing with the bags of food. Is he feeding a group? The elevator opened and I blindly moved across the little lobby to Caleb's door. I knocked my foot against the door.

"Caleb." I called.

The door opened quickly and Caleb laughed. "Boy when they say from our oven to your door they weren't kidding huh?" He said.

"Yea yea." I mumbled.

"Come in let me help you." He said.

He grabbed some of the bags out of my arms and we carried the food to the little table in the corner of the room.

"Thanks a lot, I didn't realize I got so much."

"It's okay." I said as we arranged the food on the table quickly.

"Oh, Ava come over here. I'd like you to meet my brother, Mason Reynolds." He said waving his hand.

For the first time I noticed the tall slightly broad figure standing by his desk. He was dressed in simple white long sleeved shirt with black slacks. His reddish brown hair was curly and disheveled in the most sexy way. He was staring at his phone and he glanced up suddenly giving me his attention. Emerald eyes met mines and I gasped in utter shock. Eyes he has his eyes, those deep green eyes I've dreamt of every night for nearly three years, the eyes of my daughters. My breaths were coming out in quick pants and my hand began to tremble as my heart pounded erratically.

"Oh hello." He said politely with a gentle smile.

If I had any doubts about his eyes, his voice was the nail in the coffin. I searched for this man for so long that seeing him face to face maybe speechless and nearly brought me to my knees. Can it be My stranger? Did I sleep with my boss's twin brother?