The Emancipation of a Fuckboy - Chapter 55: Chapter 55

Valentine
"Valentine is that you?" My mom asked as soon as she laid her sight on me.
I stared at her and I was frozen for a moment. I don't even know exactly how to feel. Seeing my mother for the first time since the last time I cursed her and drove her away from the house gave me mixed feelings. There's a lot of emotion stirring up inside my fickle heart and I'm not sure how to handle it. I don't think I can face this fiasco that I just purposely dove into at all. I'm going to say it's pretty clear that I'm not angry anymore however, there are still some needles stuck in my chest.
Looking at my birth mother now, she most definitely aged three times than my father did. I'm not trying to judge her for that but the changes on her were strikingly evident that even a youngster could notice at first sight. I stood frozen in front of her for a while longer than I thought until I felt Dominic reached out for my hands. That gesture somehow sent me the right amount of energy and bravery that I needed.
"M..." I was about to call her mom when I heard the little girl talk. I looked down at her and she's nothing but an adorable child.
"Is that a cake?" The little girl asked pointing at the box of cake that I just bought outside while we were following them.
"Oh yes, I bought this for you and your sister." I smiled at her and went down on my knees. "Here take it!" I handed the box and she gladly took it with a crooked smile painted on her face.
"Yehey! CAKE! CAKE CAKE!" The little girl blabbered out as she staggered with the box of cake. To be honest, my heart jumped out of happiness when I saw how she smiled out of a simple thing.
"Hold up, Violet!" My mom said halting the kid. "What do we say to him?"
"Thank you, mister," Violet turned around and looked at me with a little bit of shyness in her disposition.
"Okay, move along now." My mom uttered and turned her attention back to me.
Just keep yourself calm, I mentally told myself.
"Wha- what are you doing here? I... I sh..." My mom seemed to be out of words and I completely understand that. Much like her, I'm out of words too. I'm carefully assessing my actions so I won't create unnecessary conflicts.
"I... We followed you from the restaurant." I spat trying to act as relaxed as I could. I feel like my anxiety is quickly escalating right now.
"Oh, come on in!" My mom offered completely ignoring what I just said.
"I don't thi..." I was about to deny her offer but I felt Dominic squeeze my hand. "Uhm, sure." I nodded giving Dominic a nervous side-eye.
My mom let us in inside her noticeably unkempt apartment. Dominic followed behind and had to let go of my hand for a while. He was mostly keeping himself quiet yet supportive in this situation. His mere presence gives me the right amount of strength that I needed to face my mom. He knows that I hated my mom for the longest of time. I'm sure he can still remember everything that I shared with him about my mother. The hate, the disgust, and all of the loathing that I've relinquished aren't easy to forget.
"There's a lot of fabric here," I spat as my eyes deliberately roamed around the small room. I noticed there were a lot of fabrics draped in almost every spot. There's also a sewing machine and some mannequins with unfinished garments.
"That's because I'm a seamstress now." My mom admits as she was removing rolls of fabric from what I think to be a dining table. I'm sure it's a dining table since it's just a few meters near the kitchen.
"Let me help," Dominic quickly offered and he helped my mom carry a few rolls transferring them to another table filled with some patterns and cutouts.
"Oh thank you kindly," My mom said as she finally cleared the table and quickly prepared some chairs for us. "What would you like to drink? Uhm, Coffee? Tea?" My mom hurried towards the cupboard. That's when I realize the room was just small enough that the kitchen is in the same room as the living den.
"It's okay. We are okay." I uttered not wanting to further bother her. I'm sure we won't be staying that long.
"Hold on," My mom squealed right after preparing some cups. "Velvet, that's not how you eat the cake." She quickly leaped to where the little girls are. They were about to eat the cake with their bare hands but my mom reached to them on time. "We're going to slice this." She grabbed the box of cake and quickly brought it to the kitchen.
"But mo..." The girls were about to protest but my mom was quick to shush them.
"I'm so sorry about this whole mess," She apologized and.
"It's okay,"
"I didn't know you were coming and the whole place is a mess. I'm so sorry." She continued talking and I can hear how humiliated she is at the tone of her voice. The trembling is so evident that even she tried hiding it from her face, it's still there. "My client is rushing me to finish all fifteen garments that she ordered." She quickly sliced the cake, put two thick slices on a plate, and brought it back to the girls. "And these girls are really trying my patience and trust me, it's not really that easy."
"Are they?" I began referring to the twins Velvet and Violet. I'm pretty sure they are my half-sisters but I really want to hear the words come out of my mother's mouth.
"Yes," My mom answered almost instantly and didn't even bother to let me finish my sentence. "Yes, they are my kids." At this point, it became clear that my mom is embarrassed but much like me, she's trying her best to face this situation.
Silence quickly whipped almost viciously throughout the small room and my heart just skipped a beat. I wanted to ask her a lot of questions and when I say lots of questions, I'm expecting a quiz bee. However, the pressure of keeping this unplanned meeting decent is getting into my spine.
"How long have you been living here?" I asked finally breaking the silence. I tried not to sound like a condescending person but I don't even know if I did a good job.
"I..." My mom was about to start talking but then stopped for a while. She looked at the girls and eventually decided to walk towards where they are. "Girls, I'm going to have to ask you to eat your cakes inside our room."
"But you told us not to eat inside our room." One of the girls said. I don't know if it is Velvet or Violet since they are both identical and they were even wearing the same dress that's making things even more confusing.
"You said we'll make a mess." The other girl followed up.
"Well, for now, I'm allowing you to eat that inside our room." My mom took a deep breath filled with patience.
"Okay," They both said in unison and carried their plates inside the room.
My mom took a heavy sigh and went back to our service. She quickly poured coffee for us and we all settled as if we are going to have a meeting or something.
"Who's this guy by the way?" My mom asked. I truly forgot to introduce Dominic to her but I'm more convinced that my mom is finding a good timing to talk to me.
"Uhm, he's my boyfriend." I lied glaring at Dominic who had no other choice but to nod in agreement.
"Oh, sweet. How long have you been together?" My mom spat and shoot, I completely forgot about that part.
"A year. We've been together for over a year now," I said almost uncertain. I didn't know what to say so I just spat the first thing that came to my mind. I noticed Dominic was surprised by it but he just smiled awkwardly.
"I can see you've been taking good care of my son," My mom said to Dominic.
"I...I am taking care of your son. He's been really naughty sometimes but..."
"Naughty huh?" I might have stepped on Dominic's foot under the table.
"Honestly, I've been waiting for this day to come." My mom began. "Remember the last time we saw each other?" She asked casually avoiding eye contact with me.
"I do," It took a while for me to say yes. I just know that that memory was full of anger and hatred and the Valentine that I am today doesn't want to recall what happened several years ago. I believe that I'm a better Valentine now.
"I don't want to admit this because you might think of me as something like a leech but the reason why I went there was to borrow money from your father." She said breathing nervously. My tongue seemed to disappear from my mouth that I wasn't able to respond as quickly as I would've wanted to. I just looked at her with a blank expression as she continued telling her side of the story. "But it was because I needed it. I was in a very murky situation back then. My husband just died from a car accident and that's when everything went downhill for me. I thought his insurance got him covered but the company was a blatant scam and I had to pay for everything."
"I'm so sorry to hear that," I heard Dominic trying to share his sympathies. I'm speechless.
"I thought I'd be okay after the funeral. I still have my savings to start a new life and I was ready to have a new life but then it came to my knowledge that my late husband had a lot of unpaid debts. He got me broke and it devastated me. I worked in a drive-thru for a while until I found out that I'm pregnant. Several years later, here I am with my lovely twins in this small apartment. This is the only place that I could afford."
"Why didn't you called us?" I spat out of the blue. I was carefully listening to her and whatever anger and hatred that's left inside me popped to nothingness.
"I was ashamed of myself. Until now I haven't paid the money that I borrowed from your dad." She said still trying to avoid eye contact with me.
"But..."
"I did a lot of mistakes in my life before and leaving your father, Vincent and you was the greatest of them all. I don't know how can I can make up for that. I don't think I will ever...."
"M...I..." I cut her off but I suddenly felt a slight sting from my eyes and I didn't want to cry in front of the person who abandoned us. I didn't want to show signs of weakness or whatever. Dominic tapped my leg under the table hoping that it would help me calm down a bit but it did not.
The old Valentine just took over me once again. I didn't know I left the room by the time I realized I was already outside of the building. I was already tearing up and I ended up punching a wall.