14 A SIGN IS A SIGN

"Achoo... Achoo...Achoo...Hack," Lucas sneezed and coughed.

It was still early, and the sun had not risen. Ally immediately opened her eyes, she straightened up on the bed and looked at the still drowsy little guy. She touched his forehead, no fever, but he just sneezed and coughed every few minutes. She rubbed his cheeks and decided to keep an eye on him throughout the day.

She fixed his blanket and continued to look at his plumped face. She pecked him on his cheek and got up and barricade him with her pillows. She quickly freshened up, then crouched on the scuncheon with her knees to her chest, and looked at the beautiful livid sky. She is an appreciator of peaceful and breathtaking natural sceneries. 

The door opened and pulled her eyes away from the view. Ally glanced to the door and wondered, 'Who would open without knocking.' She saw Eva entered the room.

Startled when she saw Ally sitting at the window, "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were up, Miss Alyssa," Eva apologized.

Ally woke up late yesterday and Lucas had already left the room. She didn't know that Eva was the one that came into the room for him; she thought it was probably her aunt or Lexi that collected him. She was so used to her privacy and figured this will take some adjusting on her part.

"It's fine, he's still asleep. I will bring him down when he wakes," she informed the nanny.

"Okay, miss." Eva turned her back and walked out of the room quietly.

Ally's mind was like a bullet train thinking of a solution for this situation. Lucas is getting older, and it was time to end co-sleeping. However, she did not want to ask for another room and on the other hand, she couldn't bear to sleep alone, without him.

"Achoo…" 

Lucas rolled onto his stomach, pushed his body up with his chubby arms, and sat on the bed looking around the room. His eyes connected with another pair of the same color eyes, his face lit up with a smile and his eight pearly-whites showed. He started bouncing on the bed with excitement until she got closer to him.

Ally knelt on the carpet and clasped his hands in hers and whispered, "Let's say our prayers, peanut."

She closed her eyes and said the prayers loud and unhurriedly for him to understand and grasp it, eventually. Lucas admired his mother's face with bright eyes and anticipating for her to open her eyes. This was customary for them since he was born. She read a lot of parenting books and just hoped to raise a happy and healthy baby.

"Amen," Ally smiled with her eyes and put in, "Good morning Lucas. Say, Good morning Mummy."

"Mum...Mummy," He giggled.

Ally stood up and stretched her hands to which he threw his body. She picked him up and showered him with kisses as they headed out of the room, "Let's go have some a tummy nosh, eh." On their way, they passed by Lexi's room and her mind flashed back to last night's mood and hoped that her cousin's mental state was okay now.

The mother and son were both in their pajamas as they headed down the stairs and into the living room. Ally's eyes were searching for Eva, but the room was empty. They proceeded to the kitchen and eventually saw her preparing a bottle of formula. When Lucas spotted his possession, he waved his hands in the air and talked incoherently. 

"Good morning, Mr. Lucas," Eva said and walked over to Lucas with the bottle. She chuckled and added, "Hungry, Hungry baby"

Ally laughed, "He's honestly a little glutton."

"It's good that he has a big appetite. Most children these days need supplements to eat." Eva collected Lucas and walked with him to the dining room and put him in his high chair. Ally followed and noticed that everyone was already up having breakfast.

"Good morning, I'm sorry I didn't get to change my clothes," Ally greeted.

Everyone met her with warm smiles and responded, "Morning."

"It's fine. We are not old-fashioned. We learned to slack off for those two," Pamela pointed her lips to Lexi and Alex.

Ally sat down next to Lexi and drank a glass of milk with the buns. Everyone quietly ate their breakfast while she was making mental notes in her head and planning her day.

"Um... Can you recommend a pediatrician at your hospital?" Ally asked staring at her Damian.

"Is something wrong with…"

"Achoo!!"

Lucas sneezed before Damian could ask about the problem. Everyone looked at the young fellow in the high chair. 

"I just want to take him for a checkup and register him in the clinic for the upcoming vaccinations. He looks like he's caught a cold too," Ally explained.

Senior Chen glanced at Lucas, "Haiya, it must be the weather. Tell Ron to send someone over to check My boy."

"No, it's okay. I'll take him and it will allow me to get familiar with the city," Ally said.

"Okay, I will make the appointment,"

They finished up their meals, and everyone went about their own business. Damian, Lexi, and Alexander went to work. Grandpa disappeared into his study and Pamela went into the living room.

Ally wanted to get Lucas ready but realized earlier that none of his belongings were in her room. She left him with his nanny and went up to get ready and hurried back down the stairs.

"The car is parked in the driveway, sweetie," Pamela shouted.

Ally walked into the living room and saw her aunt watching the television. Lucas was dressed, sitting on Senior Chen's legs, playing with his phone. "Okay, thank you."

Ally glanced at her grandfather and saw he was well dressed. He looked debonair with his silver hair parted to the side and blue silk suit. 

"Grandpa, you look dapper, a total catch. Are you going on a date?" Ally asked.

Grandpa laughed, "Date? I'll leave that for you young folks," then added, sanguine, "I need to shoo some flies in their place."

 

"Ah...Okay," she said and collected Lucas from him.

Eva went ahead and assisted with the diaper bag to the car. A black Audi was parked at the front as Ally walked to it with Lucas. She secured him in the child's seat. She sat in the driver's seat, said a quick prayer, and drove away.

*********

Lexi was in her office, finishing up the last set of files for the morning when her stomach felt uncomfortable. She rushed to the washroom in her office and threw up all of the breakfast. She rinsed her mouth, stood in front of the mirror, and all the memories flashed before her eyes.

The times when she would practically coil up on the bathroom floor, too weak to go back and forth from the bed to the toilet. A pale face and a shaved-headed younger version of herself reflected in the mirror, repeating, "Surrendering is for cowards. You have reasons to live and no reason to die right now." She has gotten through the worst part of that and now ready to live the life the heavens have granted. 

She touched her abdomen softly-softly and beautiful white teeth broke through her lips. She couldn't wait to share the joyful news with the man she loves. She walked back to her desk and signed off all the urgent files. She called her secretary and handed it to him.

"Do I have any important matters today?" she asked.

"No, Miss Chen," the secretary answered.

Lexi looked up from the papers on her desk, "Kirk, please call the hospital and make an appointment with the director for the next hour."

"Ok sure," Kirk said and headed out of the office.

Lexi picked up her phone and scrolled through Instagram and saw Toby uploaded a picture in the ghost hours. He rarely uses social media, but he had a verified public account. He was one of the youngest wealthy men in the Phazing city, so a lot of women are his fans. She was not a jealous fiance but she couldn't help feeling territorial. 

His post was a picture of the full moon last night and he stated under it, "Relationships are like the moon, it goes through different phases but always circles back to its fullest form."

Lexi could only imagine what his day was like yesterday after she sent him that message. He must have thought of the worst possible scenarios in his colossal head. She did not intend to make him feel devastated, but she just needed time to think and sort her emotions with the new reality ahead of them. She couldn't just abruptly tell him her period was late because at that moment they both would have had different reactions to the situation. His excitement and her fear would have made things awkward for their relationship. Maybe he would have compromised and settled for whatever decision she made like he always does, or maybe he would have challenged her to keep the baby. But what she knew, was that either decision would have torn them apart had she told him before she had filtered her feelings first.

Last night Ally shed new light on her, and she perceived she had never planned for the future. Never in her twenty-six years of living had she had a long-term plan. From the age of nine, she was practically a resident in the hospital. She watched other children come in and never left alive. Few nurses would ask her what she wanted to be when she grew older and she would always tell them, "There is no sense in wanting what you can not have." To most people wanting something they can't have gives them the motivation to get it, but she learned to live knowing that what was for her will never pass.

She knew she was not an easy person to be with and there is a limit to everyone's kindness, Toby included. He has compromised the most in their relationship. No matter if she was wrong, he would apologize and spoil her to no end. She knew now it was her turn to return the favor to him, but it doesn't feel much like a compromise because this is her goal too. She wanted to have a family with the man she loves, no matter what the future has in store for them. This was her sign for living.

She exited the application and dialed his number, but it rang out. She called again and there was a busy tone. She refocused her attention to the documents on her desk and she lost track of time. 

Her secretary came in and reminded her of the appointment. She put down her pen and sighed heavily. She picked up her belongings and headed down the elevator to the parking lot. 

It took her five minutes to drive to the hospital with minimum traffic. She sat in the car in the hospital parking lot for a while, chewing on the inner part of her cheeks, her palms wet and intent eyes staring at the entrance. She let out a deep breath and calmed her nerves. She called Toby again, and the phone rang out again.

"Seriously, come on babe. Please pick up. Is he mad at me?" Lexi muttered. She called him once again and just like before, he didn't pick up. He was certainly ignoring her calls because earlier she got a busy tone and that means he would see the missed calls. He's never reacted like that before. 

'I will deal with his mood later.' She turned off the engine and locked the car. She stood in front of the Director's office and with a knock she let out a deep sigh, 'Here we go.'

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