CHAPTER 31
Adriana finished clearing the living room and the dishes and went to the kids' room. Noah had come home exhausted after his two-week travel and was up with them. She was exhausted herself, too, from the office stress and the workload at home. Guilt didn't make her put Noah up for it. She would have dodged the chores.
But he did look exhausted, so she had asked that he put them to bed while she cleared the place. But that was half an hour ago. He wasn't back. She had tried to be casual around him despite the doubts she had. Mother's discovery had been weighing her down lately. Since he got back, she had been putting a few distances between them. Sure, she kissed him when he came in. But it wasn't easy kissing Noah, not getting swooned by his exotic kisses. Still, she had been able to pull back.
"I need to turn off the gas." She lied and bolted. The twins kept him distracted after that. Dinner had been loud and noisy as usual. The kids bombarded him with questions. An occasional 'table manner' from the parents, only keeping them quiet for few minutes before someone would remember something he or she had to say. Which meant the parents barely had any chance of speaking to each other. 'It was good in maintaining the status quo', Adriana thought gloomily. Better to keep him at bay for a while. So, when she suggested he put them to bed, it was so she could put a distance between them.
She had a quick shower and then went to the kids' room to kiss them goodnight. As she turned the doorknob, she heard Elizabeth giggling and stayed hidden behind the door. Their dad was telling them a bedtime story. "Bedtime stories don't make you giggle." Elizabeth said, then laughed at her father. Noah patted her hair and kissed her forehead. Adriana watched as he pulled Ethan closer too. For a seven-year-old, Elizabeth acted more mature and too smart for her age. "Bedtime stories are lullabies. Tell us something to make us fall asleep." She insisted.
"But I just did. You chose not to fall asleep." Noah feigned ignorance.
"Dad, you told us about a giant rat nibbling a boy's shoe and mistakenly swallowed the rattle. When the boy came, he couldn't run fast enough." Ethan chuckled, lifting himself off the bed.
"Nice recap there, Champ." Noah ruffled the little boy's hair while he, in turn, hopped into his dad's laps. He intentionally pushed his sister aside, looking for her trouble.
"Hey." Elizabeth yelled, her hands instantly on her brother's hair. Noah pulled the two apart and placed himself between them. The two glared at each other.
'Behave or no story." He threatened. The twins smiled at each other in mocking sweetness and turned to their dad with innocent eyes.
Adriana chuckled, "who taught them that?" She whispered and quickly covered her mouth. Thankfully, the three occupants of the room did catch that.
"Another story, please." The twins pleaded with their dad
Noah stretched, before saying "Promise you'd sleep after this story."
"If you sing as mom does, we will." Elizabeth replied smartly.
"I won't sing. But I can call your mom to come over so she could sing?"
"No. Mom's been stressed all day. You tell us." Ethan replied.
Adriana pressed her two hands towards her chest, so happy her kids are so understanding. It always amazes her how they can be so smart for their age even though they can be naughty. She waited a while, interested in the story their dad would tell them.
"Well, move closer." He said. They moved closer, and he pulled the duvet higher, then moved down himself. This way, all three were tucked in bed and covered to the neck. "Did I tell you the story of the Owl that sleeps at night?"
"No." Ethan said, shaking his head vigorously. "I don't think so." Said Elizabeth, too.
"Then, I'll tell you that one." He gently eased into the bedtime story by changing his voice tone, "A long time ago." He began. The kids chuckled but still, he went on with the story. "An owl...."
"Wait a minute, dad. Do owls sleep at night?" Ethan asked curiously. "I was wondering too. Mom once told us a story about Owls and Bunny. The owl slept during the day leaving his friend, Bunny sad and bored." Elizabeth added.
Expecting that already, their dad smiled at them and replied, "Yes. Owls are strange creatures. They sleep all day and wake up in the night when the world is just about going for its nap."
"So did this one...?" Elizabeth asked, and Ethan quickly butts in. "Let's listen to the story, Liz." he scolded his twin and inched closer to his dad.
"Okay, so no more interruption, kids." And he continued the story. "Owls always sleep all day only to wake up in the night. They saw nothing strange in this. After all, everywhere would be silent and every other creature asleep. The world, as it were, big and beautiful, was all theirs to play with. It was fun that way until one particular owl became too curious."
"Oooh." The twins chorused.
Their dad smiled and continued the story. From behind the door, Adriana stooped down to listen to the story too. "This owl was sick and couldn't sleep all day while his family slept. He was given every available drug.
Eventually, when night came, he slept." Noah adjusted himself in the bed. Ethan was almost sleeping now. He tickled the little boy, "So when he slept, he was awake the following day and a little better. His family went to bed, as usual, leaving him. The poor owl was bored. He had nothing to do. So, he stepped out to play, thinking he wouldn't have anything to do. To his surprise, he was greeted by a beautiful world that was bright and beautiful. The world shines brighter. The moon was hidden behind a bigger, brighter light, the sun. The water seemed to have changed in intensity. It wasn't a deeper shade of blue anymore. It was a lighter shade. For the first time, he could tell the color of the tree. They were green with freshness..."
A gentle snore beside him made Noah stop the story. He had been stalling intentionally, hoping the kids would be bored and doze off. He looked at the kids. They were both sound asleep. Stretching quietly, he got down from the bed and lifted Elizabeth off the bed. He moved her to her bed.
Adriana seeing that he was almost done and would be headed to the room tiptoed back to their room. She got into bed and pretended to be asleep. A few minutes later, Noah came in, saw his sleeping wife and went for a shower. When he came back, he slides into bed tiredly. He was already snoring by the time Adriana finished counting to fifty. Then she turned slightly and wondered as she drifted off to sleep what had brought their father back after many years of silence.
She had intentionally kept that little bit of information from her husband too. It would appear there's a lot of that between them now. She hated going through this to him. But she was torn between finding the truth and the shreds of evidence staring at her. The PI whose contact Evan had shared was yet to get back. She desperately hopes her mother was wrong about it.
