Not Long Enough
Mrs. Olivia evacuated the living room for her room. Having taken out her frustration on the young lady, she was now feeling a lot better.
She took a shower and laid down on her bed and took a nap.
When she woke up she saw her children were still out, she patiently waited for her kids.
In the evening, Simon drove in with his sister, just when they were about to enter, they met their mother at the house entrance giving them a deadly glare that forced them to lower their gaze in shame.
Mrs. Olivia walked towards them and said, "And what took you both so long?" she paused for some seconds before continuing "anyway, that doesn't matter but this should be the last time such a thing would ever happen because I won't be this considerate next time and I will make sure that you both get the punishment you deserve. Consider today to be your lucky day."
Earlier that day, Mrs. Olivia wanted to discuss how they would make ends meet since her late husband didn't leave enough resources for them and Annabel's income was insufficient.
They were a family of four including late Mr. Fazer, who died a few years ago. Mr. Fazer was a small-town businessman, he had a restaurant which his daughters were helping him to run.
With his small business, he was able to provide for his family all these years while Mrs. Olivia was a civil servant, she receives monthly income but seldom helps her family.
She can spend money for her kids and ensure that they get the best of everything but when it comes to Annabel she becomes a stingy stepmother.
When she was married into the family, after Annabel lost her mother, she was the best thing that ever happened to her.
She was so kind and loving towards Annabel, she doesn't let her lack anything. She even tucks her into bed and sings a lullaby to lull her to sleep and as well help in the family's business.
She gained appraisal from people always for that every day due to her kindness and humility. But things started to change a few years later when she gave birth to her twins, Sophia and Simon.
It was a joyous day in the family, Annabel was so excited to see her baby sister and brother, after all, she now has siblings to play with. Anyone could tell how happy she was because it was written all over her face.
She assisted Mrs. Olivia to take care of the babies, she often sleeps beside the cradle to attend to the babies when they would wake up at night.
As young as she is, it was very difficult for her to keep late at night, most nights, she would be carried to her room, sometimes by Mr. Fazer and other times by Mrs. Olivia. She was seriously fulfilling her responsibility as a big sister in her little way.
The twins are now a few years older and have started schooling with their big sister. On one faithful morning, Olivia, woke up early to prepare the kids for school, as usual, she went to the kid's room which was not too far from her room.
She slightly opened the door to the kid's room, walked in, closed the door behind her, ambled to the bed. She sat by the bedside, lowered her head, and woke them up with a loving kiss.
The kids were graced with a mother's warm smile, they groggily greeted their mother and left for the bathroom. Half an hour later, they were downstairs in the dining room in their school uniform.
Olivia left the twins in Annabel's care at the dining room and made her way to the kitchen, to prepare breakfast and the kid's lunchbox.
Some minutes after she left for the kitchen, a step sound was heard in the living room, it was Mr. Fazer coming downstairs, he was ready to start his day.
He saw Annabel and the twins at the dining waiting for breakfast to be served, he walked towards them, slightly pulled one of the dining chairs, sat down, and joined them.
Not long enough, Mrs. Olivia arrived with a bowl of soup and a variety of dishes to serve breakfast.
The loving family ate heartily when they finished their breakfast, it's now time to take the kids to school, on their way to the school they stopped by the roadside, Mr. Fazer opened the driver's seat and stepped out of the car, rushed into one of the roadside stores to get fancy cookies for the kids.
As soon as he got them, he trod back to the car and drives straight to the school. When they reached, he dropped the kids at the school premises and left with his wife. He was going to drop his wife off at work before going to the restaurant just as a good husband would do.
Inside the car, Mrs. Olivia, who has been observant for the past months turned to look at her husband who was busy driving, and asked, "Honey, don't you think you're being unfair to the kids? you've been discriminating between the twins and Annabel for the past few months." There was a conflicted look on Mr. Fazer's face, he stopped the car by the roadside, turned to his wife, and asked, "why would you think like that? I don't even have such a thing in mind let alone doing it. Why would you think that of me?"
"You kept giving me reasons to doubt you, now look at the most recent incident, on our way to the kid's school, you bought cookies and shared it for the kids, still gave Annabel an extra pack.
The last time we went to a mall to buy items for the kids, you almost emptied your pocket just because you want to get a particular dress that caught your attention as soon as we sauntered into the Mall, you knew the dress was out of our reach, yet you went out of your way to get it for your loving daughter Annabel.
These are just a few events I could still remember, there were several of them though."