Feign Ignorance

Pete must have kissed a fairy in his dream to be blessed with the sight before him. He must have unknowingly sown some good karma he had no idea about because why else was he staring at the woman he had spent many hours of his night searching for, all to no avail?

But there she was, crouched in front of a little girl, looking no older than four, and who he confirmed, without doubt, was her daughter.

The girl was a splitting image of the lady before her. Similar honey-brown hair and hazel eyes that matched. Pete was certain she was hers as he watched from the confine of his car, a few feet away from where they were.

How lucky could he be? But why was he feeling lucky?

Pete had his eyes and attention fixed on her so intensely the pair of siblings strapped to the rear seat of his car eluded his mind.

Madeline and Max shared a silent look as they observed their uncle, who seemed lost in a daze.

Unstrapping her seatbelt, Madeline looked past the passenger's seat and followed her uncle's gaze toward the face he was intensely staring at.

"You know her?" Madeline turned to face Pete, who was surprised to find her head by his shoulder. When had she gotten there?

He looked toward Max, who was eagerly trying to unstrap his seat belt.

"Who?" Pete attempted to feign ignorance, but he only got Madeline's judgemental and knowing eyes. She tipped her chin in the direction he had just been focused on.

"The lady from yesterday." She said, and Pete's brows shut up with surprise.

"You saw her yesterday?"

He was taken aback when she shrugged non-committally. But should he even be surprised? Of course, not! This was Madeline.

Pete glanced at Lina, who was pelting her daughter's face with kisses, a smile splitting her face till it touched her eyes while the little girl giggled. That was the first smile he saw a smile on that face, and he must say it was beautiful.

"Is that her child?" Madeline curiously inquired, even though she was sure she was. The lady was kissing the little girl's face like her mama always did to Max when she sent them off to school. She'd want to do the same to her, but she wasn't three anymore. Max was three, so he could have all the kisses.

"Madeline, I want to see too." Max tried shoving himself between Madeline and Pete. His words sounded like, 'madween, Iwanshueetoo.'

"I was here first. Go the other way." She ordered, but Max stubbornly shook his head as he squeezed in more.

Recognizing an incoming battle, Pete lifted Max to the passenger's seat to save himself another round of bickering and drama, but too keen to stir up trouble, Max stuck out his tongue to Madeline.

Ready to pull them apart, Pete was relieved when Madeline eyed her brother and ignored his taunt.

Having these kids under his care, especially on school mornings, always had him on a desperate search for sanity, but despite how troublesome it could be, he loved having them.

"Where did you meet her?" Madeline's inquisitive voice came asking, and knowing he had no other option, Pete knew he had to answer.

"I met her a few weeks ago at a party."

"A birthday party? Carl's mummy is having a birthday for Carl. Can we go?" Max's shrilly voice boomed across the car, his eyes gleaming with expectation as he looked at Pete for a favorable answer.

"Who's Carl?" Pete curiously inquired. He had no idea who the celebrant was.

He glanced at Madeline when she hissed. "Some fat kid in his class who stuffs himself with cake, and I'm not going. Toddlers are noisy." She irritably hissed.

Pete looked at her, not sure of what to say. Wasn't she just six? He held back a chuckle.

"Maddy, it's rude to call someone fat. It can make them feel bad, and I've always told you to say nice things about people. Or have you forgotten?" He raised a brow, and she slowly shook her head.

"No." She calmly replied.

"Good, then don't say that again." He told her, and she nodded.

"Uncle Pete, can we go?" Max asked again.

Pete smiled as he gave the boy's hair a light ruffle. "I'm sorry, champ, but I can't decide that. We'll ask your mum when she gets back, okay?" He asked, and the boy readily nodded. With Uncle Pete asking, he was definitely going.

"I guess you want to go say hi to her. We'll go now. Goodbye, Uncle Pete." Madeline said, and Pete dumbfoundedly looked at her. He watched as she picked up her bag and her brother's.

"Max, say goodbye to Uncle Pete." She instructed her brother, who seemed unprepared to part with his uncle.

"Uncle Pete, can I not go to school today?" He crawled over from his seat to Pete. His tiny three-year-old voice asked sadly as his eyes gleamed with sadness.

"Not a chance, buddy. School is important, so I can't have you miss it." Pete fixed the hair that he had ruffled.

"Then will you come to pick us up?" Max inquired, his eyes begging him to, and his pouted lips made him too cute to ignore.

Pete couldn't help but laugh at his charms. "I won't promise you anything, but if your mum isn't back, I'll come to pick you up." He told him, and the boy's face lit up with a smile, which reflected on his.

"I love you, Kiddos."

"I love you too, Uncle Pete," Max cheerfully declared, kissing his cheek before coming down to follow Madeline.

Pete gazed at her in wait for his kiss. "That's cringy, Uncle Pete."

"And what's cringy, little lady?" Pete asked after her as she closed the door. He chuckled amusedly. Where on earth was she even learning the things she says? He really had no idea.

He stepped out of the car and followed them as a school teacher received them at the gate. He waved back at Max but trust Madeline to act aloof.

Pete turned towards Lina, who was also waving off at her daughter being walked in. The little girl was pretty, just like her.

His eyes fell on a keychain by her feet, which she seemed oblivious to.

Pete walked over with his eyes fixed on it. He crouched down and picked it up.

"I believe this is yours." He said, holding out the keychain to her.

"Oh my, thanks," Lina said, reaching out for it. "I didn't know it fell—" Her voice trailed off, and her hand paused midway when she raised her head and met familiar gray pair of eyes looking at her. Her heart skipped in an instant, and her body instinctively stilled.

Pete's lips twitched in recognition of how startled she was.

He observed those eyes that had left quite an impression on him, and there it was, thoughts moving in a flash and conflict.

What was she thinking about now? He mused.

"Your key," He said, pulling her out of her daze. He observed how quickly she collected herself and reached for it.

"Thank you." She casually said, her voice holding no tone of recognition. She was going to feign ignorance, wasn't she? How typical. He almost chuckled at that.

"You really should stop dropping things like this, don't you think?" He raised a brow, and Lina puckered hers.

"I'm not sure we've met before for you to make such a statement." Of course, they have, and while this would have seemed like Deja Vu, she knew it wasn't.

So she was truly going to feign ignorance. Pete tried to hold back the twitch on his lips, but he couldn't. She was an interesting one, wasn't she?

"Haven't met before?" He muttered. "I seem to remember a whole scene of us dancing and you in a black dress when you—"

"What do you want?" Lina abruptly cut him off while she tried to calm her thumping heart. Thoughts and warning bells were ringing in her head, the ones she had heard and ignored when she foolishly let herself indulge in affairs she shouldn't have.

Her brain had warned her, but she had been too stupid to listen. She had been so foolish. How was he even standing in front of her at the moment?