She's My Sleeping Pill

822 CHRISTMAS EVE I

One week later, 24th of December, Cayenne’s family was preparing a huge Christmas celebration for all those who couldn’t go home to celebrate it with their family. Since Stefan was very meticulous when it comes to Cayenne’s safety, he made a compromise to let the bodyguards have days off on Christmas and New Year with a little tweak on their schedules. As for the house helpers, those who wanted to stay – can stay and have Christmas with them. For those who wanted to go home, Stefan already told the bodyguards to send them home after giving them their Christmas bonus, 13th-month pay, and their holiday packages.

“Yen! Can I get Clarisse and let her spend the holiday with us? We thought her dad will be back from working on a project overseas, but he got held up and would be back tentatively on – ”

“You don’t have to explain,” Cayenne told Luiz to cut her brother’s long-winded explanation. “Go and ask Martin to come with you.”

“Great! Thanks, sis. Mwah!” Luiz exclaimed as he ran out of the house to find the bodyguard. At the door, he met Dominic and only gave him a high-five without saying anything. There was no need for words because Dominic could see that his friend was excited to see his girlfriend.

“Good evening, grandpa. Good evening, grandma,” Stefan greeted his grandparents as soon as he saw them.

This time, only his uncle was missing since he wanted to spend Christmas with his girlfriend’s family. Another reason why he was missing was Latticia. He couldn’t promise himself to behave when she was there. Thus, it was best to avoid his sister, or else, the secret will be exposed.

Cayenne greeted them as well but with her big belly, the elders told her not to get up and move around so much.

One after another, their guests came and Kyle entertained them since his sister couldn’t move a lot and his brother-in-law was nauseous every once in a while. You can’t depend on them to be a proper host at this time. In any case, there was no need to be formal since this was just a family gathering with some of the helpers around.

Around 10.00 PM, Dr. Albert and Latticia came out of the cabin and joined everyone. To make sure that no one would recognize her, especially with her resemblance to her son, Stefan, they asked someone from the helpers who knew how to make up. Latticia looked a lot younger than her age and she didn’t look frail as well. She wasn’t even using the wheelchair. Though, her steps were languid.

.....

Magnus saw the doctor once again and his blood boiled in anger. He wanted to give the man another punch. Stefan lightly tapped his father’s shoulder, a signal to calm down since this was a party and he didn’t want trouble with his wife around.

Latticia walked to the couch where Cayenne was talking to another woman but as she moved closer, her hands trembled and Dr. Albert felt the light tremor since he was holding her. “You have to remain calm. I know you are happy to see your mom but you cannot agitate yourself or let them know about your existence. They’re very old and it would be fatal to their health if they received some shocking news.”

Latticia nodded her head and when her eyes met Cayenne’s, she only smiled faintly. Cayenne’s expression turned mellow when she saw her mother-in-law look at Cory. She couldn’t imagine the terrible sadness that Stefan’s mom was going through right now.

Just think about it, you have been separated for so long and now that you’ve got the chance to see them, you cannot even tell them your identity. You can only long for your loved ones in secret.

“Good evening, ma.” Cayenne greeted which stunned Stefan’s mom. Even Stefan who had been observing the turn of events stiffened from what his wife did. “Come here. I’ll introduce you to Stefan’s grandparents and cousin.”

“Who is this pretty woman?” Cory asked with her gaze stuck on Latticia’s face. “Pardon me, Yen but, isn’t your mom dead?”

“Oh! She’s not really my mom.” Cayenne explained at once. “She’s Dr. Albert’s wife. Her name is Alice. As you can see, Stefan and I have no mothers now. Since she’s like a mother figure to us, we started calling her Mama.”

“Nice to meet you,” Jose said with no qualms about it. He didn’t recognize the woman in front of him at all.

“Thank you for taking care of Yenyen and Stefan,” Cory commented and gestured for the woman to take a seat.

Latticia wanted to say something but she was afraid that her voice would betray her emotions. She was really about to cry and had a hard time controlling herself.

“Ah! She’s a bit shy around strangers.” Cayenne spoke in a timely manner when she noticed that Latticia’s eyes turned red. She, then, introduced Dr. Albert to them and this time, he said the words that Latticia wanted to say. Everyone was happy except for the woman who couldn’t say a single word to her parents.

Stefan felt sad for his mother but he couldn’t do anything more than this. He didn’t know what would happen if he tells his grandparents about their daughter’s existence and with their old age, they might die from the shock. He couldn’t afford to risk their lives.

Thankfully, Luiz came back with Clarisse, and with his personality, the lively atmosphere turned even more cheerful as he shared jokes with everyone. He even started playing games with the bodyguard and helpers with some prizes at stake. Latticia’s attention was also shifted since Luiz included her in a game.

“Auntie, you have to do your best so that they won’t guess the words.” Luiz cheered which made Latticia smile and the players frowned.

“How can we win if you want her to make things difficult?” The helpers complained but Luiz only grinned. “Sir Luiz, you are being stingy.”

“Hephephep! I am not being stingy. There is a twist to this game. If you can guess the word or the words, you can get the prize but if you won’t, Auntie will get the prize. Good luck!”

Latticia played charades with the helpers and bodyguards happily. Even though Luiz told her to make it hard, she tried her best to make things easier for the players to guess. She wasn’t in need of money. She didn’t know what to use them for as well. However, the people who played games with her have families and they could use the prizes for their spouses or kids.

Soon, even the elders started watching their game because of the players’ funny answers and they even heard Latticia laugh because of them. Seeing his mother having fun, Stefan pulled out more cash and handed them to Luiz. “Spice things up a little more. Make her smile and laugh.”

“Yay! We have more prizes, everyone!” Luiz exclaimed and raised the bills. “Let’s play more!”