Chapter 4

Sage

Malcolm: babe please talk to me, I miss you

"What a dweeb"Reggie muttered then swiped the message from my screen, "tell me about it"I say rolling my eyes, it was only six and he had school but he was helping Dad with some things in the garden out back. Mom was making breakfast as usual and Emily just walked in with a peanut butter jar, "no matter how early it is, you always have a spoon in your mouth"Mom says shaking her head, "you know me so well"Emily gushed, "if you know what we know you better put it down"Reggie chuckles, "indeed"Mom says giving her a look, Emily placed the jar on the counter then smiles.

Adrian's driver came to pick me up at 7:30, I'm glad he wasn't in the limo because I don't like him, he's so mean and he doesn't even smile. He looks like a robot, he sure moved like one too, Aria calls him Cyborg, it's funny how he can't say anything, although he doesn't know she calls him that, she whispers it.

"Sage"Adrian acknowledged when I walk inside the kitchen, "Adrian"I replied, he looked up at me with a raised eyebrow, "there's no way I'm calling you Mr Prince, so don't flatter yourself"I say glancing at him, there was a lady standing at the stove, she looked between us then cleared her throat, "Sir, should I set a plate for the babysitter?" she asks, "I'm sure she can find some insects to munch on"Adrian says while bringing his cup to his lips, I walk around him and bump into him causing the coffee to spill on his shirt, "hmmm"I say shrugging.

Adrian grits at me, "oops"I say sarcastically, "touché"he says getting up, the lady looked at me in shock, "are you alright Sir?" she asks immediately, "yes, it's fine Harriett, would you get the kids, tell them the Ogre is here"Adrian says looking over at me, he most definitely doesn't want to play that game with me. "Next time, don't do that in the presence of my help"Adrian says wiping his hands, "like I care"I snort, "I'm sure you need this job Sage" "no honey, I'm just here for the kids, you one the other hand, you need me" "I need you?", Adi walked in with Ari on her hip, Aiden followed behind reading a book.

"You look tense, what's wrong?" Adi asks me, "Adrian fired me"I say and he opened his mouth to say something but closed it, "what?!" the kids exclaimed, they start to shower him with questions, I smirk at him, "okay, that's enough!" Adrian snapped and everyone went silent, Ari stood before him and he looked down at her pout, "please don't fire Happy"she pleads, "why not, she's a brat"he replied, "I'll hold my breath until I faint if you fire her"Ari says, Adrian took a seat and challenged her, he can't be serious.

Ari has been holding her breath for two minutes, she's really good at this. "Alright, you win"Adrian says and she breathed out falling on him, "yaay!" Ari cheered when she caught her breath, "you haven't been her presence for two days well and she's already a bad influence"Adrian says then glared at me, I put my hands up, "you need me"I tell him with a smirk, he eyed me then got up, "I'll see you guys later"he says to the kids, "goodbye Uncle Adrian"they say waving at him, "goodbye Shrek"I waved, he looked at me and shook his head, "goodbye Sage".

"So, what do you guys want to do today?" I ask the children, "let's play a game"Ari suggests, "what kind?" I ask, "no"Adi says to us, "she only plays dress up and I'd be damned if she puts makeup on me"Aiden says eyeing his sister, "but it's fun" "alright, how about we just watch cartoons, I'll get the popcorn" "sounds fun". This isn't so bad, we ended up watching three cartoons before noon, I made them sandwiches for lunch and then they took a nap, I was just laying around playing games on my phone when Ari started whimpering, I walk over to her and run my fingers through her hair.

"It's okay Ari"I whisper, she stirred then settled down, I wonder what her dream was about, probably about their Mom, she lost her at a very young age. "Happy, can you get me a glass of water please?" Aiden asks sitting up, I got up and Ari grabbed my arm, "take me"she says, I chuckle, "come on"I say picking her up, I got the water and walked back to Aiden, Adi was nowhere to be found, "Aiden, where's Adi?" I ask and he looked up then shrugged, "I don't know, she's probably in her room"he says, "watch her"I say placing Ari on the couch.

I walk up the many stairs and to the room that has Adi's name on it. I knock on the door but no answer, I turn the knob and it opened, "Adi, are you in here?" I ask when I walk in, water was running inside the bathroom, the door was slightly open, I walk in and I gasp when I Adi with her wrists slit, she was unconscious obviously, I turn the pipe off and took her out, I pulled down a towel and wrapped it around her body, I search the cupboards until I find a first aid kit.

"Happy?" Ari asks pushing the door open, she screams and Aiden covers her eyes, "Aiden, take her downstairs"I tell him, he took her out while I worked on getting Adi conscious, at least I learned a little something in kickboxing. I wrap her wrist and the I take her to the bed, I change her clothes, I contemplated whether I should call Adrian or not, "Happy?" Adi asks weakly, "you need to rest"I tell her, "please don't tell Uncle Adrian"she pleads, "he's going to ask Adi and I'm confused also" "please, he can't know", I sigh nodding, "okay, I won't, now get some rest, I'll bring you something to eat later" "thank you".

My mind was jumbled, why would she do that?

There was a feeling in the room and I look up, Adrian looked at each of us curiously, "it's quiet"he acknowledged, "we sensed the devil spawn"I tell him, "Uncle Adrian!" Ari squeals, he gave her a light smile, oh, so he can smile, thought his face was broken or something. "You can have the day off tomorrow Sage, I'll be home"Adrian says, "ohkay"I nod getting my bag and getting up, I walk towards him to leave but he stopped me, "what happened to Adi's wrist?" Adrian asks, great, "um....I was cutting fruits for Ari and she wanted to help, she accidentally slit her wrist" "both of them?" "she's not good with knives", he nods unsure but let me go, I just lied to my boss, absolutely great.