This chapter is dedicated to adukybabe ___

________________________________ Annabelle squatted to pull her daughter into a tight hug, while her eyes involuntarily strayed to David again. He was looking at the both of them in confusion. She wondered what was going his mind at that moment.

She looked away from him and focused on her daughter.

"How are you baby? Are you alright?"

Sandra nodded. "Yes mummy."

"Why did you disappear like that?" She asked with shaky voice, still trying to calm her racing heart.

"I'm sowwy mummy," Sandra pouted. "I was chasing the butterfwy and lost my way. I was so scared mummy, it was lonely and weally scawy."

"It's okay baby, you're with mummy now, you're safe." She said and embraced her again.

"Thought I'd never see you and Sammie again."

Then she turned to look up at him. "But this kind uncle rescued me. He's my hewo mummy."

***

David still couldn't get his head around what was happening. His eyes kept on moving from Annabelle to the child. He could see the striking resemblance between the two and couldn't believe his eyes and ears.

Her daughter. Her biological child. Her blood.

How the hell did it come to this?

Then his eyes narrowed into angry slits when they found Dominic's and the bastard was smirking.

Then it hit him.

The girl was his child with Annabelle. Hot fury ran through his veins as his head concocted images of the bastard touching his ex wife and even making a baby with her. He knew he had no right to feel that way but he couldn't help it.

The child was around five or six years old, which meant that the bloody tout had probably gotten her pregnant when he caught them both.

His anger grew as the seconds passed by and he found it difficult to control himself. He didn't even know why he felt that way when he wasn't supposed to. Annabelle was his ex wife and she no longer meant anything to him. She was nothing more than a part of his past and he had to let her and the love of her life be.

She had always chosen Dominic over him though.

He was about to leave when the little girl turned to look up at him. She was so adorable.

"But this kind uncle rescued me. He's my hewo mummy."

She smiled up at him and he couldn't help but smile back at her.

Annabelle watched the exchange as tears threatened to fill her eyes. Though they didn't know each other but she could sense the father daughter connection they had and it tore at her heart. If only things were different.

"Thank you for helping my daughter." She said and pulled Sandra closer to her.

His jaw tensed in anger but he nodded stiffly and turned to leave when the little girl's voice stopped him again.

"I'd like you to meet my bwother Sammy." She said with a cute grin.

David's eyes widened. Brother? Two children?

"What?" Annabelle jerked. "No Sandie, uncle Dave is a busy man and has lots of things to attend to right now."

"Uncle Dave?" Sandra asked and turned to him. "Is that your name hewo?"

He recovered quickly from the second shock, gave a genuine smile and nodded again.

"Pwease come meet my bwother."

"Sandra!"

"Pwease mummy pwease!"

"Some other time angel." David gently cut in.

"But I might not see you again and I want my twin bwother to meet my hewo too." She did her puppy dog eyes on him. "Pweasssse."

He didn't even know when he agreed. The little girl seemed to have a hold on him and he couldn't refuse her request.

"If it's okay with your parents." He said, noticing that the smirk had been wiped off Dominic's face and replaced with a scowl.

She looked up at her mother. "Mummy?"

Annabelle hesitated but finally nodded.

"Yes!" Sandra screamed excitedly. "It's settled then."

He thought she was going to ask her father too but to his surprise, she didn't. And to his greater surprise, she ran over to him and grabbed his finger, pulling him as much as her little self could.

"Let's go, let's go."

"Sandra!"

"Come on mummy, let's go."

❤️💎❤️

The boy was a very handsome boy and bubbly like his sister but didn't talk as much as she did . Though he was really intrigued when Sandra narrated to him what happened and kept calling him her hero.

"Thank you so much hero for saving my sister." He said with a wide toothy grin.

He smiled back at both kids. Then a painful pang cut across his chest. These adorable children were Annabelle's, but they were kids she didn't have with him. That Dominic must have good genes in him. The twins were perfect.

Though he wondered whether he would have had such kids with Annabelle if their marriage had worked.

She just had to spoil everything for that...that...

"It was a pleasure meeting you both." He squatted to be on eye level with them. He knew they were Dominic's children but they were innocent and he could never bear any grudge against any child just because of it's parents.

"We too." The twins chorused with an excited grin.

"When are we going to see you again uncle Dave?" Sandra asked.

His eyes involuntarily found Annabelle's and she looked away.

"Soon." He smiled at them.

He bade the kids goodbye and without another word or glance at Annabelle or Dominic, he left them, not looking back for once, scared that if he did, he would only get jealous, no not jealous, angry at the perfect family they made standing by each other.

**

She watched him leave, torn between telling him that the kids he just met were his. Where would she even start from? He wouldn't even believe her. Only God knew what he thought of her now. Not that she cared anyway.

"You and the kids do not need him Anna," Dominic murmured from behind her. "You all have been fine without him."

Dominic was right. They were fine without him. He wasn't there for her during her pregnancy phases. He wasn't there for her when she went through the sweet pain of giving birth to the twins. He wasn't there for her when she needed her children's father to look after them while she did the house chores or cooked. He wasn't there for her all the times that the twins had fallen sick.

He wasn't there for them when they needed a husband and a father.

"Let's go home," She said. "It's been a long day."

❤️💡