Touching the Heart of Ace novel Chapter 52

Robbie kicked Janice out of our home.

She came out of nowhere, taking me by surprise, because he was at office and I had never been alone with Janice ever. Robbie never gave a chance to.

She had come in screaming for him and I told her he was not here. She started shouting at me then. She asked me to call him and beg if I had to, for him to come home. I plucked my baby girl out of her swing and frantically called Robbie that Janice was here and demanding his presence.

I walked into the living room to see her angrily throwing Lia??s toy telephone to the wall, breaking it to pieces. I could not be sure if it was the sound of her favourite toy breaking to pieces, made Lia cry or her angry screaming mom.

Robbie came a few minutes later, running and went berserk. I heard him if she tried to pull this stunt again, she did not have to worry about the investors because he would be enough to knock her teeth out. I heard him asking her never to set her foot inside here without his permission.

Lia and I escaped to the greenhouse. It was a mini jungle to be precise. We might have gone a bit overboard with this project, but it was our favourite place in this whole house.

There was a marble bench in the middle and it was now literally our escape room. But my girl was crying her little heart out.

??Shhh... it is okay sweetheart. Daddy is here. He will come soon and make everything perfect. Hey, look is that a daisy flower waving at you? Let us wave back... Ahh... no... no... we are not going wave, it is fine then. Sorry Miss Daisy, baby is busy right now. Bye bye.??

Robbie found her crying to my chest and his eyes widened with fear. ??Why is she crying???

He patted her body to check for injuries.

??All the sound and her favourite toy broke.??

??That bi...??

??Shhh... we are fine, Robbie. What did she want??? He was angry and I knew he was trying his best not to lose it in front of us. The more Lia refused to calm down, angrier Robbie got.

??Don??t worry about it. Never open the door for her. Never.??

He visibly shook. Lia started hiccupping and Robbie fisted his palms. ??It is just her telephone broke and she can??t pretend to talk anymore without it.?? Robbie fell on my chest, sighing, his baby trapped between us. He stood up sooner than I liked.

He picked up her baby girl. ??I will bring you all the toys you want. Please stop crying.??

I chuckled, standing and leaning to his shoulder. ??Daddy, we want a telephone like we had. May be with sounds of animals and birds this time???

He stared at my eyes, looking like I was some kind of God, and I flustered. ??What???

He did not even hear my question and I squirmed under his gaze. ??What??? I punched his shoulder, making him smile.

??I will be back. I am locking the door; don??t open for anyone except me.??

??Robbie, she can wait, she is just tired and got scared by the sound. It is okay. Stay here.??

He looked at the baby who was still crying and licking his shirt button. He pressed a kiss to her sweaty forehead. ??Daddy will be quick, okay, Baby Angel? Stay with my Angel and drink some wat... milk.??

He handed the baby back and pressed a quick kiss to my lips as well. ??Be here.??

I smiled at his demand.

When Robbie left I tried to squish down the happiness bubbled up in my chest when he asked Janice to stay away from this house. I was not supposed to feel happiness for that. She was my baby??s mother. They needed a healthy bond no matter what my role was in this family.

As Dr. Phil said, alienating a parent was never a good strategy.

But Robbie was super angry and it was going to last a few days and I thought Janice also needed a breather.

Robbie came back later than I expected, holding tonnes of toys. It took him three walks to get all of them inside. I shook my head. ??I thought you went out for one telephone toy???

??Yeah! But... you know.?? He shrugged and cuddled with Lia on the living room floor.

Lia ignored all the toys and went to suck on his collar tail. He did not mind, I lied on the floor and watched Robbie playing with all her toys trying to make her happy. When Robbie picked up a yellow telephone similar like the broken one, she frowned, looking back and forth between the toy and her daddy.

??Wanna see a magic??? Robbie asked her and she popped her fingers inside her mouth and hummed. He pressed a button on it and a soft voice of a bird singing was heard. Her mouth also looked like a baby bird??s mouth as she puckered it in surprise. She giggled when a dog woofed and barked when Robbie pressed another one.

I had told Robbie that she only needed that one toy; now look what happened. She was ignoring everything else and playing with her telephone. ??Did she cry for long??? Robbie lied on the floor as well his head on my waist. ??A little longer after you left. She is all fine now.??

??Are you???

??Mmm???

??Are you fine???

I nodded, I was fine... I was more than fine.

My watch notified an incoming call; it was mom. ??Hi mommy. Wait a sec, let me connect to monitor.??

Again with the same questions, I smiled at her worry. I showed her the real baby of the house as she tried to eat her toy. ??Sweetheart, show the toy to grandma Claire, sweet baby.?? She cooed and smiled at mom and waved. She almost threw the whole thing at the monitor in her excitement.

??Was she crying???

??Yeah... we had a situation that broke her toy and now she is all happy.??

??What situation???

??It is fine, mama. Look now she is all happy and giggling.??

??Robert, to your office, now.?? I turned around and saw Robbie standing behind me with crossed hands on his chest.

??Yes, Madam.?? He went obediently without looking at me. What was going on?

Baby and I stared at each other confused. The monitor went blank and I pouted. Why couldn??t they talk in front of me?

??How about we call Grandma Marie, sweetheart??? I called her and she showed up smiling and holding a cup of tea. ??Hi, Grandma Marie, look what we got here.??

Aunt was looking so much better, smiling happy and playful. ??I miss you so much sometimes, sexy mama.??

??Only sometimes??? She asked laughing playing peek-a-boo and making Lia giggle hysterically.

??You know, when Lia is being extremely difficult, I think of the times when I tried to make you run for the hills but you stayed.??

Aunt laughed throwing her head back. ??You pretty much succeeded a few times. I had to spank you that one time, remember???

??I don??t want to remember, you big meanie.?? That was the most embarrassing thing ever happened to me. I used to hold my pee pee and walk around when I was young, and it was nowhere close to this incident.

Aunt snorted. ??Oh, I miss you baby boy.??

??When are you coming here to stay a few days???

She smiled and I knew she had no intention to come. ??Someday.??

??Oh, mom is calling, let us have a video conference.?? Mom was looking a bit down but Aunt and I managed to lift up her spirits.

??You being there is good.?? Mom announced and we went quiet. Aunt Marie played with the rim of the tea cup without saying anything. ??Marie, you are right. I should stop enabling her. I thought I was helping her.??

??You were and you are. But what she needs is not help and it is time, we stop trying to turn her our way.?? Aunt smiled a bit sad.

??What is going on???

??Janice is trying to make easy money as always, but this time, she might have messed it up bad. Her investors are behind her back.??

??How much???

??A little over a million.?? Mom said worriedly. ??I am worried about her.??

??I am more worried about where that money went. So please, Claire, don??t fall for her fake tears anymore. She is just using you.?? Aunt Marie scolded my mom.

??I promise I will not.??

??Take the baby to her cradle, David, she has fallen asleep.?? I looked down and she was clutching the toy phone closer to her heart, snoring. I kissed her forehead, both of her Grandmas melting.

??Bye-bye. We go sleepy-sleepy.?? I waved her tiny arm to the monitor and ended the call.

We were back to being calm and normal by dinner time, as I served Robbie his stir-fry. ??Mom said Janice is in trouble.??

Robbie shrugged and took a bite of roasted lamb.

??Are you going to do something about that???

??Hell no.??

??Are they pressing charges??? I prodded.

??Unlikely. They were planning to sell plain celery juice under the guise of health drink. They might want to keep that under wraps. Investors just want their money back.??

I served him some more.

??Even if they pressed charges I am not going to do anything.?? Robbie was adamant.

I finally asked him the question that was really troubling me. ??Do you think they will come for you??? I knew she threw his name and her marriage to him around to get investors. She was the wife of Great Robert Brantley; why would anyone hesitate to invest? He was a multi-billionaire. Even if everything sank down to the sea bed, he would take care of their losses.

But he was not going to.

He smiled. ??What are they going to do???

He was right. They could do nothing about it except beg to his wife, or threaten her even.

I was expecting Janice to come back in a few days; because she was desperate. At least she called him before coming here and I watched them discussing, her face wet with tears. Robbie was trying hard to keep his voice down with his daughter napping upstairs. They finally agreed to set up a meeting, a few days later and I could not sit still.

Where were they going?

What about us?

I did not want her to be alone with her husband and that was as pathetic as I could get. But I did not care. I did not want them to be alone together.

I expected Janice to come for her daughter; at least ask me how she was. But she went without even asking her husband about her child!

What should we do when the parent alienated herself? God! The child psychology books were not clear on many dilemmas.

The day of the meeting, we had a party to attend to. One of Robbie??s investors had his kid??s third birthday on the same day. They were having a kid??s party and that man along with this his wife had come to our home and personally invited Lia and I. This was Lia??s first official party invite and I wanted her to go. Robbie could not care less but I insisted.

There would be other kids and she needed to mingle with them to grow healthy. She was her daddy??s daughter; she was going to steal the whole show.

I heard Robbie talking to Janice in the morning. He was going to leave us, after a few minutes of cutting cake. I did not like that, but I was not going to ask him to stay. It was his choice.

I hinted several times that his baby would need him with so many strangers around but he was adamant that she would be okay with me by her side.

I scowled when he nibbled my lips and went to office, asking me to be ready by two p.m.

I did not want him to go with her. He was supposed to be with us. Why was he going?

I was going out of my freaking mind.

But fine! If he wanted to go, he should go. Who was I to stop him?

I picked up a simple but classic attire for the event. An oversized white shirt tucked inside blue jeans. I was not going there as Robbie??s plus one. I was more of a care taker to Lia. I packed a small bag with baby essentials, before getting my baby ready.

She was going as a fairy princess with cute velvet wings. I put her a small bangle made of cloth which resembled a wand. She was so precious and beautiful.

I stared at the mirror looking at my reflection, twirling my eyeliner between my fingers. When was the last went to a party? I wanted to dress up to the occasion.