Bella named her children Nicole and Nikolai, she decided to name them after their father, after all, they were all she had left of him.
Nikolai was so much like his father and anytime she looked at him, she always thought of Daniel, these little pieces of him that were with her would not let her to forget him easily
Nicole was petite and did fall sick from time to time, hence, making Bella to give her a special kind of attention.
Jason proved to be a true friend when she put to bed, he bought a lot of gifts for her babies. Shoes, diapers, milk, clothes, one would think that he was their father.
Although Bella told him to stop buying so much for them, he would always insist as he had gotten fond of her kids.
Since the day that she had turned him down, he had not insisted on having a relationship with her again, they were cool to be just casual friends.
Bella kept selling her fish and always worked hard to provide for her babies.
One day, she was playing with her babies just outside her house when she sensed someone's presence, she looked up to see Vivian and she still
They both stood and stared at each other for a moment, neither of them saying anything, Bella hugged Nicole and Nikolai to herself and Vivian's eyes fell on her kids
"Congratulations, can I hold them?" Vivian asked and Bella hesitated, she and Vivian hadn't seen since the death of Mr Fedor and then, Vivian had been very angry with her, what if she had the intention of hurting her babies
"Can I at least come inside?" Vivian asked and Bella nodded.
"I came to apologize, I blamed you for being responsible for my father's death, it was because I was so angry and wasn't thinking clearly. That day, he chose to go after you and I cannot blame you for his decision"
Tears filled Bella's eyes, she missed Vivian so much, she was the only friend she had before Jason came into the picture,
"I'm so sorry, I should have listened to him" Bella hugged Vivian tight
"So, am I allowed now to hold your kids?"
"Of course," laughing, Bella handed her kids over to Vivian.
*
*
[Five years later]
"Uncle Jason, Uncle Jason" Nikolai screamed as soon as he saw Jason, his excitement was topnotch,
"hello there, my little champ," Jason said, catching Nickolas as he jumped on him,
"oh well, this boy is so handful," Bella said, rolling her eyes and ruffling her son's hair,
"I miss you, Uncle Jason," Nicole said as she ran toward Jason and he had no qualms about carrying both of them in both arms
"I missed you too my princess"
"They have been demanding to see you, I can't even think about resting until I bring them to see you, is your shift over?"
"Of course, you have to bring them more often, I did miss them too, I'm sorry that I have been super busy to come over" Jason replied and placed a kiss on both Nikolai and Nicole's forehead,
"Can we go somewhere and sit down?" Jason suggested and they all turned to go to a coffee shop that was close
Bella almost bumped into a woman, heavily pregnant and being led by her husband into the hospital
"Hello Nikolai, hello Nicole" A boy that is about Nikolai's age and seems to be the son of the couple called out to them, he must be someone her kids knew in school because Bella had no idea who he was.
"Hello Max" Nikolai replied, his tone was cool and Bella wondered why, her son suddenly looked defensive
"My momma is going to have a baby with my daddy," Max said joyfully, "what about you? Is he your Daddy?" The boy asked pointing toward Jason
"No, he is not" Nicole shot up
"You don't have a daddy then, my daddy always gives my mum babies"
Bella looked at the kids in confusion, why are they discussing babies?"
"I have a sister" Nikolai replied
"But she is not a baby anymore, you both need babies" Max replied and skidded away when his father hollered his name
Bella and Jason stared at each other pensively and Nikolai walked away from Jason and moved closer to her
"Mum, when are you going to have another baby with my daddy? When will he come and give you a baby?" Bella paled at this unexpected question, shakily, she bent so that she was of the same height as him
"Yes, I want a daddy too so that Nikolai and I can have plenty of babies" Nicole chipped in
"Well, you see kids, having a baby is not that simple and of course, you have a daddy but..."
"Where is my dad, mother? I want to meet him"
"I want to meet him too" Bella licked her suddenly dried lips,
"Come kids, let's go and have something to eat. Do you both want ice cream?" Jason cuts in, trying to distract them
"Yeah" Nicole screamed but Nikolai was not ready to be placated, he stomped his feet angrily,
"No, I want to see my daddy, everyone has a daddy except I and Nicole, even Max has a daddy, I want to see my daddy",
"Nikolai!!!" Bella screamed and regretted it immediately she saw the tears that filled his eyes,
"Nikolai," she said, more gently but before she could say another word, he ran off.
"Give me a minute," she told Jason before taking off after him
******************************************
Bella quickly went after Nickolas, she saw him hurdle into a side of the building, sniffing, and tears ran down his cheeks, Bella heart broke at the sight of the tears on her son's cheek,
"Oh, honey, please don't cry," she said, squatting so that she was staring straight at his face, she swiped off his tears with her thumbs,
"My darling, I am so sorry, I didn't mean to shout at you, will you forgive me?"
Nikolai stared at his mum, no doubt, he loved his mum and he didn't want to hurt her but he couldn't help but feel hurt himself, each time he asked about his daddy, she just avoided the topic, and today when he had insisted, she had screamed at him, he does not understand why she was acting that way, everyone in his school has their daddy except and Nicole and what his mum didn't know was that sometimes, his school mates often tease him about it,
He knew he had Uncle Jason but that wasn't his dad, right? He could not attend Father and Son's Day in school with him neither could he attend Father and Daughter's Day with Nicole and that was because he was just an uncle
"Why don't you want Nicole and I to see our daddy?" He asked soberly,
"My darling, you both are too young to understand it, I promise you will understand everything when you are both grown up" Bella tried to placate him but instead, his face filled up with more confusion and Bella sighed,
She hadn't dreamt of being a single mother, she had thought she would bring her kids up in a proper home with both parents and with lots of love but since fate had other plans for her, there was nothing she could do about that.
"Am I not enough? Don't you love momma anymore? Why do you want a daddy when momma is here to give you both all that you want?" Bella asked, her heart breaking and tears slipped from her eyes,
"Don't cry momma, of course, we both love you very much. I love you, please don't cry"
"I won't cry but only if you stop crying, you know I love you so very much and it hurts my heart when I see you cry," Bella replied softly and Nikolai had to give in, he could never ever bear to see his mother cry, he dried her tears with his palms and wrapped his tiny arms around her, although, he was just five, his acts very mature for his age, although, he longs for a father, he was not going to hurt his mother because of that, he only wished to his mother fulfill his wish and bring his dad to him but from all indication, that wasn't going to happen,
He and Nicole will just have to deal with having just a mum and not a father but then a thought occurred to him, if his mom does not want to be with his father, she might as well make Uncle Jason his father.
After all, he has seen his mom very happy with Uncle Jason and he treats him and Nicole nice. He likes him and Nicole likes him too.
"Would you marry Uncle Jason and make him our father instead?" He asked innocently and Bella stilled at his words but she did not have the heart to break his heart the second time, so she just smiled
"I don't know my love but I promise that I'll think about it"
"Will you really do that?" Nikolai's eyes were bewildered as he stared at his mom and Bella nodded
"I love you momma"
Before Bella could tell what he was about to do next, he sprinted away
"Uncle Jason! Uncle Jason! Will you get married to my mother?" He yelled as he ran toward Jason
Bella's face colored as Jason stared at her
"I told you that I'll think about it" Bella berated softly
"You want to get married to my mom?" Nicole asked, "No way, I want my real dad"
"We don't have a real dad" Nikolai argued
"Of course we do, I only want my real dad" Nicole pouted
"Mom does not want him and Uncle Jason is nice"
"Alright kids, it's okay" she interrupted just as Nicole opened her mouth to argue, she stared at Jason apologetically
"I need to take them home," she told him. and he nodded his understanding, Bella said her goodbyes and went home with her kids.
That night, Bella tucked her kids into sleep and kissed them on the forehead, she wondered how long her kids would keep asking of their father, tears gathered in her eyes, she was trying her best with them, yet they kept asking for their father.
Nikolai even suggested that she get married to Jason, that alone shows how desperate he was to have a father
"I am sorry Nico and Nikky," she murmured, calling them in the way that she had always preferred, "I didn't mean to keep your dad away from you both but trust me when I say, it's for the best" she whispered, running her finger through Niko's silky hair that is so much like Daniel, it was no secret that Nikolai took after his father while Nicole took more of her, they shared their resemblance between she and Daniel.
Her phone chose that moment to ring and she went to answer it,
"Yes, Jason, they are fine now, thank you and goodnight" she replied to Jason who had been worried and concerned about whether Niko brought up the topic of marriage again. Perhaps, it was her fault, if she hadn't gotten too close to Jason, her son would not have asked her to marry him. She placed a kiss on their forehead, she turned off the light, and quietly closed the door behind her.
Niko opened his eyes as a lone tear dropped from his eyes, he wasn't actually sleeping but rather, pretending to be asleep.
*
*
The next day, at children's day school, in nursery class, Nickolas was listening to his favorite teacher, Ms. Matilda, she was teaching them about Father's Day and the importance of a father,
"So kids, you now know why our fathers should be celebrated, I want each and every one of you to come with your dad for a father-child relationship bonding, you will have to think of what you want to do with your father, then come to school and do whatever it is with him, is that clear?"
Both Niko and Nikky stared at each other from where they were seated, they were both in the same school and the same class
"Yes, teacher Matilda" they all echoed in unison
"I and my father will be the best" one of their classmates bragged, both Nikolai and Nicole were silent, they don't have a father and they do not have a father and they could do anything about it, they could not even tell their mother because she might get sad or get mad at them again.
"Nikky, will your dad come this time?" Amanda, one of their classmates asked her but before he could reply, Warren answered for him,
"Nikky and Nico do not have a dad, their dad never ever came to school, they must have been bad children, hence, their dad abandoned them"
The whole class started laughing at Warren's jest and Nico felt like scratching Warren's face off,
"That's not true, you're lying, I am not a bad girl and my brother is not bad either and my mother said that we have a father" The class stopped laughing at her words
"Really? Where is he then? Just admit it, your dad ran away, he left your momma"
"That's a lie" Nikky cried
"Take that back" Niko fumed and glared at Warren
He patted Nikky's shoulder in a comforting gesture
"I won't take it back"
Niko was furious and he landed a blow on Warren's nose.