This was what Della had been dreading the whole week ;sitting on a table across her ex-husband and son. Leondre seemed excited. This was all for him, only for him. Andre wanted to talk to Della about their son in fact he wanted to talk about more than just that with her. As for Della she just wanted to discuss only about her son and co-parenting.
Della looked at the mansion she once stayed in, nothing had changed much. The same way she had her flowers around the yard is the same way it was, still well maintained. She always thought maybe Andre would rip them out judging by the way he was so angry even hearing her name or even seeing her at the time. The same anger made him lay a hand on his woman when she tried to tell him about their baby.
"Woah! Is this Mister Andre's house?" Leo said in awe.
"Yes, that's your father's house now if you follow me. He is expecting you inside.." Albane Gauthier the Butler spoke in a professional tone.
"That's so cool, like super cool!" Leo was amazed by how huge the house was. As for Della she felt like she was visiting her haunted past that she never wanted to remember but she had to do it for her son. They followed Albane up to the front door. The garden was surrounded with Roman and Greek Statues. Andre and Della had many things in common and aesthetic art was one of them. The difference was Andre bought everything he thought was beautiful and Della captured it in her heart as it made her feel what hidden meaning was behind it.
"Ma'am, I will leave you with Marta." Albane said giving them a brief nod. Marta's eyes were suddenly glossy from tears, she was in forties and was very much close to Della once upon a time.
"Della is that you?" She asked clearly shocked and but more so happy.
"Uhm yes." Della returned the gesture, Leo looked at both of them weirdly as they hugged each other tightly.
"And who is this young man?" Marta asked after pulling away from their embrace.
"That's Leondre... my son." Della let out a proud smile.
"Oh my goodness. Is he?" Marta asked with her hand on her mouth.
"Yes, he is." Andre's son. Della said not proud of that fact in anyway.
"He is so handsome like his father. Oh Della, I missed you so much and I'm glad you are coming back home. Andre has been miserable and—" Marta rumbled on and on in Spanish but Della cut her off with a smile.
"No no no, I'm not here for that." She let out a sigh. Leo was looking around the mansion with the huge ceilings and large glass doors. The two women talking didn't even realize that he had went out of site.
__
Andre was making his way downstairs because he heard the most mesmerizing voice and her laugh made him flutter inside. He never thought that he would have her again in their safe haven. Not after everything he had put her through. When she agreed to bring Leo, he knew that this was his opportunity to make things right. By things right... everything right.
"Mister Andre— i mean dad." Leo sidled awkwardly. He had been touching things near the fire place and he knew his mom would scold him for doing that in someone's house.
"Hey little man." Andre smiled broadly and Leo ran to hug him. Andre lifted him up and higher with his height.
Leo giggled.
"Where is your mom ?" Andre asked putting him down.
"She is talking to that lady. You know when mama starts speaking in Spanish she never finishes." Leo said making his father look at him in awe.
"I know that very well, buddy." He said reminiscing the many times that Della would be so mad at him she couldn't speak English anymore, she would start chattering none stop in Spanish and he would simply kiss her until she was quiet, it worked like a charm.
Andre walked to the kitchen where Della was laughing about something with Marta. There had never been any laughter in this mansion ever since she left.
Della was listening to Marta ramble on about how Donald Trump was now president and how much she disliked him. She felt someone's gaze on her so she shifted her eyes to the left only to see Andre and Leo. Andre was dressed casually, his muscularly fit body made him very attractive but she knew some people were just attractive to the eye but horrible at heart. Looks could be deceiving.
"Oh?Se?or,?Breakfast is ready." Marta cleared her throat when she realized her boss was standing behind her.
"Thank you Marta." Andre said in a low tone then she immediately excused herself.
"Morning." Della said awkwardly she didn't know how to act in front of him. She didn't even know why she felt awkward around him. Maybe because for a long time they didn't just say morning to each other... they made out, showered together and did many other things more than just muttering 'morning'
"Morning Della, I'm glad you decided to come." Andre said genuinely.
"About that, I'm only here for an hour, i have an early shift." She said as they sat around the table that looked like it was a feast. Leo was sat in the middle. Andre and Della across each other making eye contact unavoidable.
"But—"
"I had plans for us." Andre said looking at her sadly.
"You mean with your son right? So you can get know him?" She asked humorlessly.
"Yes, of course." Andre said clearing his throat. He was caught up in her beauty. Even if she wore rags she would still look beautiful. He just wanted to run his hands through her silky long hair. He hated the distance between them, he wanted her to be close to him. He just hated this formality, they never had to do this before—
"Where did you meet my mom?" Leo asked anxiously eating. "Were you like in love?" Della almost chocked on her saliva, she hated when Leo started asking these sort of questions like how he once asked a disabled man at the mall if and how he went to the toilet. Leo just had his ways of making everything awkward without realizing it.
"Uhm-" Andre briefly looked at Della who looked away.
"Good question Leo. See I met your mother at Starbucks. The first time I saw her, I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. I would buy coffee that I didn't even drink just to see her." Andre said looking at Della who felt like she could just erase her whole memory that had?featuring Andre?written on it.
"Really?" Leo grinned. "Then what?"
"I kept on going to Starbucks everyday. She didn't notice me in fact she didn't want anything to do with me." Andre smiled remembering every single memory. Della sat there feeling awkward and stiff in her place. She hated visiting the past and would be doing more of that with Andre back in her life.
'For Leo, do it for Leo. You can do it without anything going on with Andre. Just set your boundaries between each other. It will be fine. Many parent co-parent all the time.'?She constantly needed to remind herself.
"Was it because you are like super famous like my grandpa?" Leo asked sipping on his apple juice and engulfing waffles.
Della remembered that the time when she worked at Starbucks, she was saving for college and she didn't have time for boyfriends. She was also having problems with her mother who had became a heroin addict at the time. It really wasn't the best of memories for her.
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