13

Layla

Nathan slid into the living room upon hearing the doorbell. It was Christmas, and he had been expecting both Santa and Henry for a while now.

"Aha!"

"Santa is here, Santa is here! " He was jumping in delight.

"And I have brought gifts for little Nathaniel," then he looked at me. "And his beautiful mother." He said.

I chuckled. Henry was such a darling, wearing a costume and pretending to be Santa for Nathan.

"But where are Uncle Henry's gifts?" Nathan asked inquisitively.

"I haven't left him in the dark. It's all in here!" He relieved himself of the burden of carrying Santa's sack of presents.

"Mommy, we are going to have gifts." Nathan was giggling when I ambled inside the kitchen.

I was baking Durian pies and macarons. Nathan loved macarons, unlike Sofia. She would be joining us later in the day, since she had refused to spend Christmas with Georgina.

I felt Georgina was at fault in the entire situation, why her only child disliked her and couldn't bear the sight of her was entirely her fault. She should have embraced the little girl before the latter became corrupted by feelings of loneliness and want of affection.

Now, Sofia was just like any other bitter teenager out there.

Coming out of the kitchen, Nathan was fiddling with his gifts. Henry had gone out of his way to make Nathan's experience a beautiful one. There were so many gifts stacked around the Christmas tree.

"Merry Christmas, Layla." He smiled.

"Merry Christmas," I was still awed at the tree. It was so beautiful.

"You deserve a reward for this...this is beautiful...do you love Durian pies, I will make an entire sack for you..."

He chuckled.

"I have a better idea."

"What's that?"

He stepped closer and whispered into my ear. "A kiss."

Then he drew back, his eyes gleaming against the background.

What was he up to?

"What?"

"That's the only reward I'd accept..." He moved closer to me and I felt my breath about to choke me.

I blinked, perhaps he was already doing too much.

A kiss?

"Henry..." I started, swallowing the lump in my throat.

He stepped even closer, leaving us an inch apart, he tilted my chin and slowly brushed his lips against mine.

I froze.

"Are you kissing Uncle Henry, Mommy?" I jumped back with a startle.

We had forgotten Nathan was with us, and this made me frown at Henry.

"No, I was just..."

Henry gave me a peck on the cheek.

"Nathaniel, let me give you a hand..." Henry managed to escape my query even before I began.

He glanced at me before I disappeared into the kitchen, hiding my flustered face.

What was he thinking?

He was going in the direction I dreaded.

I had just finished speaking with Barr. Jenkins when Henry appeared at the entrance.

He walked in.

"Was that the barrister?" He asked.

"Yeah," I chuckled. "I feel so bad about him working during Christmas," I spoke, and a sigh escaped my lips.

"I'm sure he's more than welcome to." He smiled, his eyes lingering on me.

Suddenly, I remembered what he had done earlier, and a surge of tension rose in my body.

"Why are you here?" I was forced to ask, as he was just mute.

"Ah," he rubbed his forehead, then dropping his hand most casually, he said, "I like you, Layla."

I sucked in my breath, it had finally come to this.

"I like you a lot," he got closer to me. "And I want you to give me a chance in your life." His voice became warm and raspy.

It was tempting for the flesh, but my mind was determined, and lucky for me, my resolve was greater than any lustful desire my body might crave.

"Well," I moved away from him as fast as I could. "You are already in my life. What else--"

"I want to be your man, to care for you, to love you..." the last two words sounded so horny, like he wanted to make love to me on the spot.

I couldn't let that happen.

"No, no...Henry..."

"Layla..." He stepped closer to me again, now I was between him and the bed.

"Henry," my voice came in a whisper. "I cannot be the woman who deserves your love..." I wanted to be as understanding as possible.

"You don't have to be, you already are..." He blinks, his innocent eyes piercing through my soul.

"I am not, Henry. You're too good for me--"

"You bring out the best in me..." He brushed back the strands of hair that were flying about my face.

"No, we can't." I crossed to the other side of the room, my heart suddenly pounding crazily against my chest.

"Why?"

"Cause I don't feel the same about you...you are just a friend to me. A good one at that."

Disappointment showed on his fair face and he suddenly turned pale.

"I'm sorry," I said under my breath.

He stared at me for a moment and nodded.

"Yet." He twitched a wry smile.

"Sorry, what?" I arched a brow at him, questioning.

"You don't feel the same about me yet," he said. I gasped, he was quite relentless.

"Just give me the chance to be around you and Nathan,"

"I doubt I will ever feel the same about you," I said flatly.

"Can I be next to you until you do?" He closed the gap between us.

I shut my eyes. I was undecided.

"I'll take your silence as a yes." He smiled, stroking my shoulders.

"I want to kiss you." He breathed.

"You can't..."

"For now..." He corrected just as Nathan's excited voice shot through the air. Sofia had arrived.

"Merry Christmas, Aunt Layla." She drew me into an embrace when I came out of the kitchen.

"Merry Christmas, Sofia." I brushed away snowdrops from her hat.

"Merry Christmas Henry." She smiled at a quiet Henry.

"Merry Christmas." He reciprocated the smile.

"Come, come..." Nathan rushed towards us and dragged her to the Christmas tree.

"Santa's brought many gifts..." He chirped, but suddenly, a gloomy look overtook his delighted face.

"What's wrong Nathaniel?" I went to him.

"Mommy,"

"Yes, my boy..."

"Santa has not brought Daddy." He cried.

"Where is Daddy, Mommy?" By then, I could see that his eyes would soon begin to tear up. I felt sour. What was I supposed to do? But as usual, Henry saved me from answering the dreaded question my son never ceased to ask.

"Daddy is close by, he's fetching more gifts and giving them out to the children by Santa."

"Is he back from Hogwarts?" Nathan could still recollect what I had been telling him consistently in a row.

Henry glanced at me with amusement.

"Hogwarts is quite far from our house, Nathan. It will take some time before he comes back home," I said.

He gave a childish nod while Sofia sighed, knowing we had just lied to Nathan as she had lied to all her childhood. She must hate it.

"Are you and Henry together now?" She asked, out of the blue, when Henry had managed to distract Nathan.

"No." I headed to the kitchen. She followed behind me.

"Why?" She queried.

"Cause we are friends?" I made a face.

"That's not a reason, Aunt Layla. Aren't lovers meant to be friends too?" She frowned.

"Where do you learn these things from?"

Wasn't she just fourteen?

"Well, Charlene reads books on them." She replied.

"Charlene?" I reached for the jar of peanut butter, I wanted to make a sandwich for Nathan.

"Yeah...she has a boyfriend now." Sofia sounded down.

"A boyfriend? Is she straight?"

"Something of the sort..." she replied glumly.

I guessed she was then coming to terms with her natural sex.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Will you have a sandwich?"

"Sure."

"So you and Henry are never going to happen?" I thought she had forgotten about that, but she had not.

"No."

"I think Nathan could use a good stepfather if you do not need a husband, Aunt Layla." She sat at the counter.

"Well, it's not so easy to decide..."

"But Nathan needs a father figure as early as now. I am speaking from experience." She sighed.

I knew she was talking about Georgina and Chege. The latter had appeared in her life quite late, when she had already grown to be a bitter child.

"Maybe he could use his current father..."

"Is he around?" Her expression lit up.

"Not exactly."

She sighed.

"But Nathan might meet him soon...I hope."

"You hope?" She frowned.

"Listen, Sofia, there's a lot more to all that is going on." I went ahead to slice strawberries, just as Nathan loved to have them in his sandwich.

She scoffed.

"You sound just like Charlene."

"I hope you both are cool." I was sensing something was amiss.

"I'm tired of her thinking I understand her every action. She's no longer been my Charlene since that butter head showed up in our lives." She pouted.

"Have you spoken to her about this?"

"I thought she loved me." She cried.

"Are you lesbian?" I was curious to know.

She nodded in affirmation.

"Does she know of your true feelings for her? She wouldn't know if you hid it?" I advised.

"She's not ready to listen," she snapped.

"Try to sit her down for a talk in some place where there are no distractions."

"It doesn't matter anymore. Drake is the lucky one." She sniffed.

"Are you letting go of your best friend without a fight?" I questioned her.

She was mute.

"You shouldn't do that. I'd like you to talk to Charlene very soon. I totally can't bear to see you like this, all right?" I touched her hand.

"I love you, Aunt Layla." She squeezed my hand and jumped down from the counter to hug me.

"You are such a darling." I kissed her.

"Nathan's lucky to have you." She wept.

"And I am so lucky to have you,"

" I'm only your goddaughter..."

"But I love you as I would love my daughter, Sofia. Always remember that." I pinched her cheek.

"Ouch, you didn't have to pinch so hard. I hardly have cheeks." She bawled playfully, a teasing look on that pretty face of hers.

"I'm sorry." I chuckled. "Will you have coffee or tea?"

"I want neither...I yearn for something,"

"What is that?"

"Ice cream." She laughed.

"You can't have ice cream in winter." I gave her an 'Are you serious' kind of look.

"I know right, but I am bored always having coffee or tea." She rolled her eyes.

Sofia was impossible.

Leo

It took some time for us to realize that Grandpa had dozed off on his chair early on Christmas morning. Oliver, therefore, took the opportunity to whisk his bottle away, draining the entire stuff himself.

The Christmas fever didn't come until breakfast, and I was forced to eat in bed. Tony went inside the room.

"Hey, man...feeling better?" He jumped on the bed.

"A little."

"Back there, you were talking about your mysterious woman. I didn't know you to your dad already."

"Yeah, I did... it makes no difference. He thinks I'm crazy, just like you." I was already jaded.

Tony laughed.

"Well, we are going into a new year--"

"So..."

"So?" He frowned.

"Get laid." He tapped my leg and left the room.

"Asshole." I cursed under my breath. No one was helping in any way. A knock came on my door and Ariadne walked in with a tray.

"It's ginseng tea. Very rare." She handed the mug over to me.

"Hmm."

"Drink it while it's still hot." She smiled.

"Thank you." I sipped.

She sat at the edge of the bed. Her scalded wrist was still bandaged.

"I am hoping that we could spend New Year together on a getaway somewhere..." She began.

"It is not a bad idea, but my schedule for the week has already been fixed," I answered indifferently.

"It can't be changed? A bit?" Her eyes were searching mine for answers.

"No," I said bluntly.

"Wouldn't you consider that I asked?"

"I want to, but I can't."

"Not for me?"

"Ariande..."

"It's fine." She sniffed, upped, and left.

I hated to break her heart or any women for that, but I couldn't help it. Whenever I was with Ariadne, I felt a sour feeling within me.

I couldn't possibly be with her when I loved another woman. Moreover, I knew Ariadne wouldn't stop at merely sightseeing and trying out all sorts of food and recreational activities.

I had known her for more than two years now, and she had persisted in asking me for sex. So I would rather not get into a situation I would regret.