"Mommy!" Isla screamed the moment Lucy stepped into the room.
The little girl ran across the room, with her pigtails bouncing as she ran. She flung herself into Lucy's arms with so much force that Lucy stumbled.
"Hey, sweetheart," Lucy whispered as she held her baby tightly. "How are you?"
"I'm fine," Isla grinned.
Lucy looked up at Isla's daycare teacher.
"I hope you don't mind me picking her up earlier than usual," Lucy said.
The daycare teacher shook her head, Lucy's current dilemma wasn't exactly a secret to anyone.
"You're free to come pick her up anytime you like," the daycare teacher said.
"Why does Mateo look funny?" Isla asked as she reached up to play with the collar of Lucy's jacket.
Mateo grabbed onto Lucy's pants and buried his face in them. He didn't want his younger sister to see him, he didn't want her to know that he'd been crying. He didn't want her to cry.
Lucy slowly crouched down as she held Isla with one arm and wrapped her other arm around Mateo.
"He's just tired, baby," Lucy said as she gently stroked Mateo's hair. "It's been a long day. Let's go home, shall we?"
As they walked out of the daycare with Lucy holding one child in each hand, she felt the weight of the world pressing down on her. She needed to be strong, for the sake of her children.
They got to the car and Lucy drove off. Mateo had gotten a bit better after seeing his sister, the two children played the whole ride home.
When Lucy pulled up to the driveway of her house, she couldn't help but feel off. There were two cars parked beside her husband's car. A silver Mercedes and a Peugeot. Those cars weren't there this morning, she recognized the Mercedes, it was Xander's car.
Her stomach sank. She didn't want to see them, not now, not after they'd planned to take her babies from her just a few hours ago.
She parked and helped Isla and Mateo down from the car. She took both of them in each hand and walked to the house. The front door, which was always locked whenever the nanny wasn't home with the children was opened slightly. She had locked it this morning, and neither Eleanor nor Xander had a key. So how?
She opened the door fully and walked in. Two large designer suitcases sat near the door, Lucy blinked.
Eleanor Whitmore was seated on the living room sofa. She was sipping tea from one of Lucy's porcelain cups, a brand new silk scarf was tied around her neck. Xander sat in the single chair with his legs spread as he scrolled through his phone.
"What the h…?" Lucy paused and looked down at her children. She sighed and restructured her words.
"What is going on here?"
Eleanor took another sip of her tea before looking up at Lucy with a scowl.
"Ah, there you are," Eleanor said. "We took the liberty of letting ourselves in. You might need another lock for the front door."
Lucy clutched her keys in her hand. "Get out."
Xander chuckled. "You're so dramatic."
"This is my home," Lucy snapped. "Get out."
Eleanor stood and looked at the two children who clutched to each side of their mother's legs. Lucy followed Eleanor's line of sight and sighed.
"Mateo," she said in a calm voice. "Take your sister upstairs. Don't come out until I tell you."
Mateo looked up at his mother. Despite his age, he was no fool, he knew exactly what was happening.
"Come on," he whispered to his sister and together, the two children disappeared up the stairs.
Once they were out of sight, Lucy turned back to Eleanor.
"You broke into my house," she said.
Eleanor let out a soft scoff. "It's our house…"
"It's my house," Lucy snapped. "You have no right."
"I have every right," Eleanor snapped. "This house was purchased under the Whitmore family trust. I checked the documents myself, girl. Until the estate is fully settled, this property legally belongs to the trust, and I am the executor of that trust."
"You invaded my home," Lucy said as she clenched her teeth. "Without consent."
Xander stood up and stretched. "Look, all these would be avoided if you just accept my offer and marry me. I'll make sure the kids are…"
"They're my children," Lucy said in a cold voice.
Eleanor rolled her eyes. "Yes, and their father is gone. Which means decisions would have to be made."
"You mean decisions like trying to take them away from me," Lucy scoffed.
"You're grieving, which makes you unstable." Eleanor said. "Those children need a stable environment, and you don't even have full control over the company your husband left behind. What makes you think you can manage a household?"
Lucy let out a bitter laugh. They sure kept their true selves hidden while Damien was alive. "You want to question my stability and ability to raise my own children? Then let's take it back to court. Because last I checked, the judge made it very clear that they belong with me."
"And we're not disputing that," Eleanor smiled. "We believe you would need help taking care of them. So we're moving in."
"You're not staying here," Lucy said in a low voice. "You want to see the kids? You call me, arrange it like everyone else. But if you think you can just waltz here and claim rights over my life, you've got the wrong woman."
"Lucia," Eleanor started.
"Get out!" Lucy screamed but was shut up by a slap to her cheek.
The sound of the slap echoed into silence and for a moment, the entire room was quiet.
Lucy was in disbelief, her cheek stung, her eyes hurt, she wanted to break down and cry but she knew there would be no one to receive her tears.
Lucy slowly turned her face and pointed to the cctv camera that was staring at them. Eleanor and Xander followed the direction of her finger and saw the camera.
"Get out if you don't want me to call the police and show them the footage."