14- Real Joaquin?

Editing in Progress

Chapter 14

Her brows furrowed at his question and she nodded. She wanted to know why, so she didn't care to hide it from him anymore.

"It was—" she began to say, but Joaquin suddenly slapped the hands that were on him and turned her around, pressing her back to his chest. Her eyes widened when she realized his hands had covered her mouth.

"Just stay quiet… don't say anything… I don't want to know anymore, In all honesty, I don't care about it" he whispered into her ears. He pulled away once he was done with what he wanted to say. Kehlani didn't turn back till she heard the class down slam shot.

She squeezed the hand of her bag tight.

"Sorry for being worried" she spoke out loud to no one in particular. Her phone rang, bringing her back to her senses.

[Hello?]

[Where are you?! Did you suddenly ditch me?] Xavier's voice rang through the phone.

[Ah… sorry… I am coming right now] she sang, rushing out of the classroom to meet them at the parking lot.

"Sorry, I am late… I was held back" She defended. Her eyes trailed to Joaquin before glancing away.

Lani rode with her brother like they did that morning, while the rest drove in the car they came with. The car was very awkward as it was clear that Quin was in a foul mood, so none of the boys spoke a word throughout the ride.

"Dude, your phone is ringing" Carlos whispered from behind the seat. Xavier looked at the contact, expecting it to be his parent, but it was his brother's school.

[Hello?]

[Hello Mr. Axford?]

[That's right. Is something wrong?]

[It is not it. It's just that the boys are still here, and we need to close]

[Huh? It is not even four yet? And don't you close by five?] Xavier questioned.

[Yes we do, it's just that today was deemed half day because the weather was getting colder and—]

[Why didn't you send a message?] Xavier yelled angrily.

[We did sir, and we called multiple numbers but no one picked up the call sir] Once he was told the reason. He got angry.

His parent forgot to pick his brothers up even after messages were sent.

"Problem?" Quin asked, looking at him with the side of his eyes.

"Yes… I need to pick my brothers." He muttered. Joaquin moved to the side of the road and parked there. Seeing the car park, Santi parked behind the car.

"What's up, why did you stop?" Santi asked. Quin stepped out of the car but was met with Lani's pair of eyes.

"We are going to my little brothers' school" he stated, giving her a closed eye smile.

"HUH?!"

"We are going to my little brothers' school" he repeated

"HUH?!" Lani's eyes turned wide as she came down from her brother's bike, "Why? Aren't they at home" Xavier just gave a pained smile.

"C'mon, let's go" He replied instead as he ignored her question, pulling her towards the bike. Seeing as he was taking his bike, Santi threw him the key.

"Thanks. And I will come by myself" Starting the bike immediately and without warning, Kehlani quickly held onto Xavier's waist in fear that she may fall off. Joaquin gritted his teeth when he saw her hold onto him. He glared at them till they were out of sight.

Finally, getting used to his pace and speed, she let go of his waist and sat up properly. She looked at Xavier's face through the bike mirror. He looked angry.

Furious.

Finally reaching the daycare school. They both came down from the bike and entered the school. They soon saw the twins sitting by the main office. Looking up, their little face lit you like fireworks once they saw their brother.

"Big Brother!!!" They screamed like they had received gifts from Santa Claus. Squatting to their size, he hugged them dearly. Looking behind him, they smiled again.

"Ms. Lani!!" Screaming again as they left their brother. Xavier smiled as he went to check them out.

Signing the IN/OUT form, he looked at the collector form and then at Kehlani. He did this a couple of times as he gripped the pen in hand.

"Hey Lani" He called out

"Yes?" Looking up from the coloring books the kids were showing her, she answered.

"Can I add you to their collector form?" He asked, not meeting her eyes. She was an outsider, a stranger, but he was begging for her to let him add her to the children's collector list. That was flatly telling her that 'my family is messed up, please help me'.

"At this rate just employ me and make me their nanny" Her response was light and calm, like she could hear what he was thinking. Xavier smiled at her lame attempt at a joke.

"Hmm… I guess so—" she answered in agreement "But call me when you need me or am I picking them up every day?" she inquired putting her fingers in between her chin in a thinking form, her back was away from Xavier as she continued thinking to herself. She suddenly felt arms around her, she jumped in surprise.

"Xavier?" she said, slowly turning her head backward to see his face.

"Thank you" he whispered to her neck, hugging her closer and tighter to his body. Her face heated up in embarrassment.

"I-It's a-alright" she whispered back to him as she softly placed her hands over his.

[Santi, what sort of sister do you have?] he asked himself. They stayed like that till the woman at the table cleared her throat, bringing them back to earth.

Putting her name, her phone number, and her signature, she became one of the people who were permitted to pick up the twins. Now they were just two people who were legally permitted to pick the twins as, right in front of Lani he canceled his parent's name from the list and added on them to the banned list.

"These people are never allowed to pick the kids" he commanded the desk woman. Stretching his hands to his brothers, he turned partly to finish his statement. "If they do, call the cops and then call the CPS". Lani's eyes widened at his command.

Getting outside the building, she turned to him. "Why did you prohibit your parent from picking the kids? And CPS?! Don't you think that's too much?" she aired out her perplexity. But her question was left ignored.

"Hey, don't ignore me!!" She yelled as she balanced one of the twins in between herself and Xavier, while the second one sat in front of him.

Holding onto Ricardo with one hand and holding their school bags and lunch boxes. It was much to carry, but at the speed he was going, they would soon reach their house.

As she predicted, they got home earlier than she had even expected. He must have something to do.

She gasped as she remembered what Xavier had told Joaquin.

'Thanks. And I will come myself.

She glanced at Xavier, who was opening the door to the house. Heading to do her job, she promptly began running the kid's bath water.

'Is it night bath or afternoon?' she thought to herself. Shrugging her shoulders, she was going to run with it. Soon she and the kids were in and out of the bathroom and were seated doing their homework or coloring for the kids.

"Ms. Lani I am hungry" Eduardo called out tugging on her sleeve.

"Alright!" she clapped her hands, making the kid smile. After asking Xavier if he was eating, she left to make dinner for everyone. Xavier had still not answered her question about why he removed his family's name from the collector's list. But she wasn't going to push it.

Serving the meals for them. She made sure to soften the children's meals to make it easy for them to eat. The sky darkened hours later, indicating night, she bathed the kids again and tucked them in for the night.

"You wanted to know why I removed them from the list?" A voice asked. Wiping her hands on her pants, she turned to face Xavier, who was leaning by the wall.

"Of course. It is weird if you think about it". With a shrug of her shoulder, she continued. "But it's a family thing, therefore I won't press on it," she said, walking over to him. Sighing at the sudden silence, he told her the reason.

"It's no point, They don't know their school"

"Huh? That doesn't make sense, weren't they the ones that enrolled them, why won't they know {pause} unless—"

"I was the one who enrolled them there. I pay their fees too".

"WHAT?!!" She yelled but slammed her hands to her mouth after she remembered that the kids were asleep.

"What?!!" she whispered and yelled.

"I gave them the school name and number, but they never cared or never cared to save it". He said, pulling at his hoodie as he got ready to leave. "So there is no difference in it. Whether they know or not".

"Are you leaving?"

"Ah, yes, the boys and I have something to do"

"Is that why Quinn was angry this afternoon?" she asked, looking at him for any reaction. And she got it, even though it was just a little. Xavier had paused in knotting his shoelace but continued quickly as if nothing happened, but Lani saw it.

"Tell me" she whispered.

'Why was she so worried?' This was the question that ran through both their minds.

"Don't wait up" He said. Before she could get a word in, the door slammed in her face.

"Quin" his name slipped out her lips.

*EDITED*