Chapter 62: Lost In Thoughts

Chapter 62: Lost In Thoughts "Mom, we are back." Kathleen and Nathaniel announced as they stepped into the living room with Aiden and Kendra, donning red hats and red clothes, with red masks in their hands. But Athena said nothing. She didn’t even realize she was being spoken to. She was lost in her thoughts. Has been since the occasion where she had been stuck with Ewan in a malfunctioning elevator. It wasn’t the situation that bothered her really, but her shameful body reactions in the elevator. Being science inclined, she was prone to analyzing situations from ground up. And she was sure her stupid reactions had started manifesting since Zane’s truth about Ewan. Without knowing, she had started making excuses for the male! Each truth had brought a wall crumbling down, and now she had almost disintegrated her hard labor of six years! She stared at her body in disgust. Was there no way to tame the body? Her mind knew what to do, knew that Ewan wasn’t worth it, but her body, which has only been ravished thoroughly by one man in her entire life, just knew how to respond to that particular man alone. She weighed Ewan’s actions, and shook her head. His ignorance didn’t excuse his wicked actions of six years ago, and she was going to make sure her body understood that, whether it liked it or not. Was it not her own body after all? She will subdue it! "Mom!" Athena jerked, at the piercing scream that had been delivered into her ears. What the hell! Angrily, she turned aside, coming face to face with Kathleen. "Do you want to kill my ear drums?!" Kathleen pouted in response. When Athena continued glaring at her, waiting for an answer, she crossed her small arms across her chest and sulked. Nathaniel came up, sat beside her and threw his hand across her shoulders. Yet, she shrugged it off. Athena knew what her daughter wanted, but she wasn’t ready to give it to the little one yet. Rather, she switched her attention to Aiden. "You knew what she was about to do, and you couldn’t stop her?" Aiden smiled, and crossed his legs on the sofa he had been sitting on since their arrival. "You can’t blame them, Athena. We have been trying to grab your attention for a while, yet to no avail. What’s the matter?" Athena sighed at Aiden’s question. What was the matter? Her body’s resolve crumbling was the matter. "Nothing. I’m just tired..." It was then she took in their outfits. "Where are you people coming from, dressed like that?" Her nose scrunched, as she appraised her children and Kendra, who were looking too reddy , with the touch of red everywhere. Red socks too? She couldn’t believe her eyes. She glared at Aiden for the wardrobe malfunctions. Aiden threw up his hands to plead his case. "Athena, you know how curious they can be, when you aren’t around to monitor them. They wanted to check out a few places on a Sunday, including the church... I had no choice but to let them have a fill of their wants..." Athena was befuddled. She looked at Nathaniel for an explanation. Nathaniel didn’t waste any second, knowing how temperamental his mother could be, especially now that no one knew why she was distracted. "Well, mom, you know we are in the Christmas season. And even though you aren’t fond of the season, our school is; and the three of us were casted for the school play. So, since the church is the source of that play, we decided to check out their designs and stories. We saw a few of our classmates there..." Athena’s mouth dropped open in shock. Her children could be so random! "So, what do you think?" She finally decided to entertain their interests. Kendra beamed a smile. Kathleen and her brother looked up, with their hands folded beneath their jaws. "Overall, it was a pleasant experience." Athena nodded, and thanked Aiden for keeping an eye on them. "You’re welcome. I’m surprised you were hungover. Or at least, you looked like that when I stepped in earlier..." Athena scoffed. As if she could ever be hungover. Gianna though, was a different case altogether. The latter was still sleeping. "Well, there’s food that can be microwaved, in case you’re hungry. Also, I’ll be traveling soon. My daughter wants me to spend Christmas with her..." Athena smiled then. "How’s she doing?" "Great!" Aiden chirped, showing his entire teeth. Athena laughed and waved him off. "You can go anytime you want, Aiden. I’ll be okay. Thanks for the food." Aiden nodded, stood up, and took a bow. "Compliments of the season." He laughed when Athena scrunched her face and muttered: "So what? It’s just the first week of December..." After Aiden left, Athena sat down and listened as the children regaled her with stories of their adventure. They had visited many places; they were also very hyperactive. Aiden must have fed them plenty of sweets. She thought, looking at the time. One p.m. "Mom, did we have a visitor last night?" Nathaniel asked, bringing Athena up short. "Not really. Why do you ask?" "I overheard the doormen talking about it earlier. They also mentioned the elevator malfunctioning or stopping..." Athena wondered if she could pull off the lie. Her children were too curious. Have they checked in their system? "As you know, your Aunt Gianna and I went out for fun yesternight. So, someone had dropped us off after the night out. The friend had also helped me bring Aunt Gianna into the house. She was... asleep." "Do we know this friend?" Athena shrugged her shoulders. "I’m not sure. Are you three hungry?" Kendra nodded first. Athena laughed and got to her feet. At least Kendra was putting a mild stop to her children’s bickering. As she walked into the kitchen to warm the food, she heard the doorbell ring. Thinking it was Aiden, coming back to get something he forgot, she told Nathaniel to get the door. She furrowed her eyebrows, however, when she heard nothing, after hearing the door open and shut. Putting a jar of juice on the tray with some cakes—something to serve as an appetizer before the main meal—she carried the treat to the living room. Athena almost dropped the tray in shock, when she walked in and saw the visitor. Ewan?