Chapter Twenty-Nine

Patricia and Ivan were in the dining room, having breakfast. Nicolas was climbing down the stairs and didn't see Ivan in the living room. He dropped his briefcase on the arm chair and went to the kitchen. He had a hunch that Ivan could be there. As he was walking to the kitchen, he heard laughter coming from the dining room. Nicolas went in and saw Ivan and Patricia, seated at the table.

"Good morning, Daddy!" Ivan said cheerfully, seeing his father at the door.

Nicolas nodded and looked at Patricia.

"Good morning, Mum!" Nicolas greeted Patricia.

"Nick! How are you? Have you had breakfast yet?" Patricia asked.

"No, I..." Nicolas said flatly.

"Come, sit! Come and have breakfast with us." She said, cutting him off.

Patricia pointed at the empty chair next to her. It was at the centre of the table.

"Mum, I have a lot of important things waiting for me at the office. I don't want to be late for work either." Nicolas declined plainly.

"Oh, Mr Workaholic! You think more of your company than your mother. It will make me sad if you turned down my little request." Patricia said childishly.

"Fine!" Nicolas said flatly and rolled his eyes.

"Yay! I won! I knew you couldn't say no to me?" Patricia said happily.

Nicolas pulled up the chair and sat down.

"Do you want me to serve you?" Patricia asked as she cut the bacon on her plate with her knife.

She picked it up with her fork and ate.

"No, I can serve myself! I'm not a child anymore." Nicolas replied coolly, without making eye contact.

"Oh, I forgot! My son is a grown man." She said.

Nicolas served himself and ate what was in his plate. Patricia watched him as he ate; pretending to cut the bacon on her plate and glanced at Ivan. She carefully kept her cutlery on her plate and cleared her throat. Nicolas glanced at her and continued eating.

"I heard you've a girlfriend." Patricia said curiously,

"Is that true?"

Nicolas heaved and kept the cutlery he was holding. He kept a straight face and didn't look bothered by her question. He had his gaze on her. 

"I'm not surprised you know." Nicolas said, less concerned about the topic,

"I knew Camilo couldn't keep his mouth shut."

He said disappointingly in his thoughts. 

"So, it's true. I couldn't believe my ears when Cam-," Patricia said, almost revealing the name of her source,

"I mean when I heard it. I was so worried that you would spend the rest of your life alone. I feared you might turn down all the women I was going to introduce you to." 

"Wait? They were more?" Nicolas said doubtfully, in his head.

"I'm so happy my son won't be alone. And my grandson will have a mother." She said happily and looked at Ivan with a smile on her face.

"Not this again!" Nicolas muttered and shook his head.

He picked up his cutlery and continued eating.

"So when are you going to introduce her to me?" She asked eagerly.

"Soon. When the time is right." Nicolas replied airily with his gaze on his food.

"Can't you just bring her home tomorrow? Will she stay with us for the weekend or something?" Patricia said, a bit impatient to see Alejandra.

"Mum, don't rush me. When the time is right, I'll introduce you two." Nicolas replied sneeringly.

Patricia stopped asking any further questions. Nicolas had the fork close to his mouth and paused when his son spoke up.

"Does that mean I'll have a new mummy?" Ivan asked ruefully, wishing it wasn't true.

"Yes! Aren't you excited?" Patricia replied cheerfully.

Ivan did his best to hold his tears but his emotions got the best of him.

"No!" Ivan said tearfully,

"I don't want a new mummy. I want Mummy."

Ivan stood up from his chair quickly and ran out of the room. The only things Nicolas hated was seeing his son sad and hurt.

"Ivan!" Nicolas called but got no response.

Nicolas dropped the cutlery angrily on the table and removed the serviette on his lap. He stood up from his chair and glared at Patricia.

"Thanks a lot!" Nicolas said sarcastically. 

Nicolas left the dining room and went to the living room. He was about to climb up the stairs when he heard sniffs in the living room. 

"Ivan?" Nicolas called as he came in further.

Ivan didn't respond and kept on blubbing. Nicolas followed the direction the sound was coming from and found Ivan. He was hiding behind the sofa next to the window.

"Hey," Nicolas said softly, squatting down beside him.

Ivan heard his voice and wiped the tears on his face with his palm. He kept on sniffing. The tears seized for a moment. He was sitting on the hardwood floor with his knees touching his chest and head, bent low.

"Daddy, I don't want a new mummy. I want my mummy back." Ivan said sadly and looked at him.

Nicolas heaved and sat beside him. 

"Ivan, we both know that your mummy isn't coming back." Nicolas started off calmly,

This made Ivan start blubbing again. 

"She is in a better place and is watching over us. I know it's hard but we have to compromise. I still miss your mum. I loved her very much and I still do. I wish she was still here with us. But she is gone and we have to accept reality."

"Try and understand why I'm doing all this. It's not easy, even for me. It's going to be difficult and we have accepted the outcome." Nicolas continued.

Nicolas leant his back against the back of the sofa. I looked at his son and could still see the sadness written on his face. He thought of a way to cheer him up.

"If Mummy was still alive, she would've definitely thought of something. Don't you think? Maybe she would've baked your favourite pie. Or told you a funny joke. Or, tickle you until the bad mood leaves." Nicolas said and tickled him.

Ivan didn't respond to the tickling immediately but did minutes later. He giggled until he couldn't control the laughter any more. His sadness disappeared and he had a grin on his face. Nicolas had a smile on his face but soon faded when he felt his phone vibrate in the pocket of his jacket. He took it out.

"REMINDER: MEETING WITH THE CLIENTS AT 9." Nicolas read inwardly.

Nicolas pressed the power button and activated the screen time-out. He kept his phone back in his pocket. He looked at Ivan, who was calmer now.

"Come on! I've to drive you to school. I don't want you to be late for school nor do I want to be late for work. But first! Let me get you something to blow your nose with." Nicolas said and stood up.

Nicolas searched the living room and found a box of tissues underneath one of the stools. He took out one from the box and walked to Ivan, who was standing in front of the sofa.

"Here! Use this!" Nicolas said and gave it to him.

Ivan blew his nose and gave the used tissue back to Nicolas. Nicolas walked to the wastepaper basket in the corner of the living room and threw it in there. He went to where he had kept his briefcase and picked it up.

"Go and get your school bag." Nicolas said flatly.

Ivan nodded and climbed up the stairs. He went to his room. Nicolas waited for him. He quickly remembered something and brought out his phone. He tapped the message icon on his screen and scrolled down. He tapped on Alejandra's caller ID and typed,

"Are you at home or at work?"

As soon as he tapped the send option, Ivan came down the stairs with his backpack on.

"Got everything you need?" Nicolas asked and Ivan nodded.

"Okay, let's go!" 

They were walking to the door when Nicolas got a reply from Alejandra. He looked at the notification bar on his homescreen.

"I'm at work."

"Go on, Ivan! I'll be with you in a minute." Nicolas said to him.

Ivan opened the door and went outside. Nicolas quickly typed a message and sent it to her,

"Okay. I'll drop your office before I go to mine."

Within a minute he had sent it he got an instant reply.

"No, don't come by the office."

"Why?" Nicolas asked flatly.

"Um, I'll be busy today. I've a lot to do today."

"Fine! I'll drop by the flat. Send me a text message when you get back from work." Nicolas typed as he walked out of the house, through the open door.

Nicolas tapped send and kept his phone in his pocket. He walked to the garden's entrance, where he parked his car the other night. Ivan leant against the backseat door; tapped his feet to the rhythm of the running fountain which was at the centre of the compound and waited for Nicolas. 

Nicolas had his car key in his hand and pressed a button on it which unlocked it. Ivan opened the door and got in first and Nicolas, last. He strapped himself and drove out of the gate. He pulled up at Ivan's school and dropped him off. He drove straight to the company.

<>

Alejandra was at a corner in the kitchen texting Nicolas. She had a white apron worn over her clothes and tied straps at her back. 

"Phew! That was close!" Alejandra said and let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, you've got an order from table five." Irene said when she saw her in the kitchen.

She gave Alejandra the order written down on the piece of paper she had torn from her notebook.

"Okay!" Alejandra said and kept her phone in the front pocket of her trousers.

Irene left as soon as she gave the paper. Alejandra quickly made what the customers had ordered and left the kitchen with a circular tray. She went over to the table and served the customers.

"Would you like anything else?" Alejandra asked politely but they shook their heads. 

She smiled at them and went back to the kitchen. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and rang. She brought it out and muted the ringtone. 

"Maurice!" Alejandra read the caller ID inwardly.

"Should I answer or ignore?" 

She didn't know if she should answer or end the call.

"Hey, no phones while working! We've got a lot of customers." Prudence said when she came in with a tray filled with empty cups.

"Oh, sorry!" Alejandra said and declined the call.

"Hurry up and take those orders. We have lunch hour ahead." Prudence said as she turned on the coffee maker.

Alejandra nodded and left the kitchen.