Forgive Me- Part 3

Amelia's POV

Getting the kids ready for preschool was always a hassle and I think so far it has been the biggest struggle for me as a single parent. Neither one of them ever cooperated completely. Cale for instance hated getting out of bed in the mornings-so much like his mother- and Casey just hated getting ready in general. Then having to get both of them up, groomed, dressed with their bags and lunches packed; I was always running late dropping them off at school. A lot of the time I wished I had someone here with me, anyone really, who could just help out a little. Even if it was just to keep an eye on them for a while... That’s a lie. I wouldn’t be happy with just anybody. If that were the case there would be someone else here with me right now. Both Jase and Eliza offered to move over and help me out but I wouldn’t let them. No way in hell I was going to ruin their lives. Not when I can do this on my own. It’s just- I just don’t want to. I want him here; I want to have Jaime here with me to help raise our children.

"Casey! Don't swallow the toothpaste!" I whine as I see her swallow, I swear she does this every time I look away. She knows that she isn’t supposed to so she only does it while I’m busy and currently I am busy brushing through Cale's mess of hair while he did up his buttons. His hair may be my colour but I swear my hair was never this unmanageable. Casey looked at me looking shocked at getting caught then spat out what little she had left in her mouth, pretending to be the perfect little princess she believes she is then rinsed before walking over to me.

"My turn?" She asked pretending that she never did anything wrong. She shook her hair out to me indicating that she wanted me to do her hair now as well.

"One second Hun... Okay, Cale, teeth go" I said nudging him towards the sink and holding my hand out to Casey. "Case"

She quickly came into my reach and turned around so I had full access to her hair. “Can you make it pretty like yours?” She asked automatically bringing a smile to my face. Casey has always loved my hair and the way I braided it as well as being fascinated by the fact that it was blue. She hasn’t quite grasped the concept of hair dye and hopefully she won’t until she’s at least 17. This colour suits both her and Cale perfectly.

“Of course I can” I quickly brushed her hair which was growing at a ridiculously fast pace and was now , braided it and checked that she had put her dress on properly then sent both of them to go grab their school bags and meet me at the front door.

"Got everything?" I asked as they walk up with their oversized bags on their backs.

"Yes" they reply in unison.

"Hats, drink bottle, lunch?"

"Yes" Casey answers while Cale just looks down.

"What'd you forget?" I ask him.

"My class has family week..." he mumbles not looking up to meet my eyes.

"Yes?" I crouch down to his level forcing him to look at me.

"Can I take my photo of you and Daddy?" He asks shyly. I was more than a little shocked but honestly I couldn't see a reason for him not to. For every other family thing that their preschool holds, Cale always feels like he’s missing out because everyone else brags about their dads and he doesn’t know his... Maybe this will make it a bit better for him.

"Okay Hun, but you need to take good care of it okay? Mummy loves that photo so I don't want it lost or broken." His face immediately lit up as I spoke.

"I'll take good care of it. I promise!" He called as he ran back to his room to grab his photo. He came running back in with his arms wrapped protectively around the frame practically bouncing. That was another trait both Casey and Cale had inherited from their father, the inability to sit still...

I drove the kids to their preschool, resisting the urge to speed to get there on time then rushed them inside because we were running very late this morning. I take Casey to class first because her teacher is a monster about tardiness, I swear if we’re even a minute late I get my throat ripped out... Once I check her, take the yelling at how I’m a terrible mother and I have no regard for my children’s future I rush Cale over to his class. Cale's teacher, Tess, was a much nicer lady.

"I am so sorry about being late!" I say as I check him in.

"It's fine, are only just getting started. Cale why don't you go sit with the others?" Cale just smiled and joined the class leaving his bag with me. "I don't know if he told you but this week is family week?"

"Yea he mentioned it at the last minute this morning"

"Oh, well, it's just because of the situation with his father and I don't know how much he knows and-"

"It's okay, he knows basically what happened."

"I was wondering if he had anything of his father to bring in. Just because after last time I don’t think he would be able to handle it if he had to sit through the whole day of people talking about how he doesn’t have a dad...” She trailed off.

"Yea he didn't understand why he didn't have one... But yea I've talked to him, he understands and begged me to let him bring this, his special photo of his Mummy and Daddy" I say handing her the photo of Jaime and I.

"Gorgeous photo" she said with a smile.

"Thanks, it's one of my favourites" I smile back. She looks at it again and something crosses her face, recognition maybe?

"You didn't mention that Cale had relatives in the class"

"What?" I ask confused. She looks at me for a long moment looking about as confused as I felt, before walking over and grabbing another photo from a table and studying it very carefully before bringing it over and handing it to me to study. It was definitely not what I expected

"One of the girls brought this in.” Tess explained “That's her dad Jaxin,” she indicated “And these are her uncle’s; Tony, Mike, Vic and Jaime..."

Notes

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