(Three years later)

“Come on girls. We need to be quick. This order needs to leave this kitchen, right after two hours.” Marissa clapped loudly in the large kitchen while taking rounds and checking every chef busy with stoves.

‘Alexander’s Homestyle Catering’ got its boom two years back when Marissa grabbed a big order from a newly developed multinational office.

They even asked her to run an indoor canteen for their employees, but Marissa and the owner could not come up with a mutual cost agreement and Marissa dropped the idea.

Alexander was the name, once chosen by Rafael for his future son. Marissa loved it and thought to use it a long time back.

One thing she had learned in life the hard way was to never settle for anything less and she had been teaching the same to her kids.

In the last three years, Grandpa Flint and Sophia had been her great supporters. Sophia was still busy doing her freelance work for different pharmaceutical companies, but she kept turning down all of the perks they used to offer. Going on an annual trip was one of them.

Why?

Because she knew her friend needed her. Marissa couldn’t raise her babies alone.

“Marissa,” Akari who was one of her employees came to her carrying a bowl, “you need to taste this garlic chicken. Citra wants to pour some more sauce, but I thought to come to you first.”

Marissa took the bowl from her hands and took a spoonful of the sauce, “Umm…” she closed her eyes and moaned a bit, “this needs a little bit more salt…” She then frowned and shook her head, “And no more sauce please.”

Marissa got distracted with her business calls.

Akari nodded and was about to turn around when something bumped into her legs, “Aww … look at you.”

She got on her knees to come face to face with a beautiful three-year-old girl who had a lollipop in her mouth, “what are you doing here, Ariel? You do know you are not allowed to enter this kitchen.”

Marissa was quite strict about this rule. No entry for kids during cooking time.

“Akari! Can you cook me something sweet?”

“Aww. And what do you want Ariel?” Little Ariel shrugged her small shoulders and made a pout.

“Can I have strawberries?” Akari chuckled ruffling the girl’s hair with affection.

“Why not, sweetie?” She took out a big bowl of strawberries from the huge commercial refrigerator and picked up the girl on her other arm, “Let’s take you to your room before your mom sees you and gets a heart attack.”

However, the moment she was about to exit the kitchen, she heard a stern voice behind her, “Ariel Aaron. What are you doing here? Weren’t you supposed to take your nap at this hour along with your siblings?”

Akari closed her eyes. Marissa could be a very generous and understanding boss and a doting mom but when she would turn into a Momzilla, nobody could stop her.

“Mommy!” Little Ariel stirred herself a little in Akari’s arms and got down to run to Marissa.

“Why are you here, little lady?” Marissa wiped the nonexistent morsel from the child’s face before scooping her up.

“I wanted Akari to cook something sweet for me, Mommy… and look what she cooked!” She exclaimed delightedly.

Marissa frowned to have a look at the bowl Akari was holding.

“Strawberries?” And then understanding dawned on her face and she could not help the smile forming on her lips, “You cooked strawberries for them, Akari?”

Akari stifled her laughter and winked at the little girl, “Of course. Anything for these cuties!”

“Come on. Let me carry those. You go and keep an eye on them.” Marissa took the bowl from her employee’s hands and turned to leave.

She knew Ariel was innocent enough not to plan this all by herself. There was someone else behind this.

She started climbing the stairs balancing her daughter and the strawberry bowl, “Mommy I could carry it myself.”

“I know honey,” Marissa kissed her cheek, “I am more interested in meeting your crime partners.”

She went up and opened the door only to find Grandpa Flint hiding under the blanket along with three-year-old Alexander and Abigail.

“So, you sent your sister for the sweet treats?” She asked sternly. Flint started giggling along with the kids. All this time, he had been like a good friend to all of them.

He was Sophia’s grandfather but could become Marissa’s father and her mentor. He was also a friend and a crime partner for her kids.

If Sophia and Flint weren’t there, she didn’t know what she would have done without them.

“Mom! We just asked her to go to Aunt Akari and ask for some homemade dessert.” Abigail face palmed and looked sideways at Alexander who was busy reading some book.

“See? That’s why I brought these strawberries…” Ariel showed them in excitement making her siblings roll their eyes.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Marissa tried to suppress the smile at their innocent way of communication.

“Young man! What are you reading?”

“Grandpa Flint brought this encyclopedia from his mini library. My MacBook is still not fixed so I’m trying to kill my time.” He said in a serious tone and moved his focus back to the book.

Marisa curved down her lips and looked at her kids, “Now who wants to accompany me to the superstore? We need to shop for our catering orders.”

As expected, Alexander and Abigail did not show much enthusiasm, but Ariel was ready as always. She started jumping on the bed in excitement when Marissa had to pick her up from there and put her down, “Let’s go, young lady. We can’t afford to get late, we need to start this order the moment the current one leaves.”

Flint got on his feet to dip the strawberries in the chocolate concoction that he was about to prepare with Abigail.

Before leaving the room, Marissa went to her kids to plant a kiss on their foreheads, “Be good to your grandpa. OK?”

Alexander and Abigail both nodded and all Marissa wanted to do was clutch them to her chest. Three years back she was about to lose them.

But they proved to be so strong, that against all odds they made the doctors surprised and were off the machines in a few weeks. Though Abigail was still weak due to her heart problem, but Alexander and Ariel were doing just fine.

Abigail was not only the youngest among three but also the sweetest and most fragile child of her. Due to her heart problem, she was not allowed to run around or to use excessive stairs. Her siblings also knew it and used to keep an eye on her like two strict jailers.

***

Marissa was walking among the aisles looking for tomato sauce cans.

“I guess they have transferred most of their stuff…” she muttered to herself and looked at the guy wearing the superstore uniform, “Excuse me, Mister … did you people move some stuff around here? I can’t find the tomato cans,”

The man at once got to her for helping her out. Usually, Marissa preferred making her own sauces, but this specific order required a certain company’s sauce.

“Ma’am, we have a promotion on it that’s why we moved it near the exit gate,” his hand waved showing her the exit gate when Ariel requested her to let her down from the cart.

Her kids knew that if they wanted to visit a superstore, they were not allowed to roam around freely.

“No sweetheart. Just sit tight. Mom needs to get her things and can’t afford to let it slip off her mind.” She patted Aerial’s cheek and kept filling her cart.

“I just want lollipops, mom,”

“Let me know and I’ll buy it for you,” she said busily while choosing the mushroom cans from the aisle.

“But, mommy. I want to choose the flavors too. Alexander likes orange, Abigail likes guava flavor, and I want to try all of them,” Marissa inhaled a long breath while listening to her whining.

“Once you see them let me know, you can go and get them.” She said with a smile and Ariel was over the clouds.

After half an hour, Marissa, at last, allowed her daughter to go to the desired section that had kids’ sweets.

She stayed at some safe distance just to keep an eye. She needed to get to the cash counter as soon as possible. She only allowed Ariel because today it wasn’t that crowded.

She smiled when found Ariel hurriedly picking up different flavors of lollipops, trying to nestle all of them in her small hands. The little girl was about to turn around when bumped into someone.

The tall man looked down at the scattered lollipops before his eyes moved to Ariel, “I’m sorry, kid.”

He crouched down to help the little girl in picking them up and Marissa left her cart to join them.

“I’m so sorry. She was just too excited,” the man looked up and seemed to go still, “Ariel. Please say sorry to the gentleman.” Marissa didn’t seem to notice his changed body language at all.

The man shook his head with a small smile, “That’s ok, ma’am. It was my mistake.” After that Marissa didn’t give him much attention.

Usually, she stayed away from all the males because their presence used to give her anxiety.

The cash counter was thankfully empty, so she almost dragged the cart along with Ariel to get it charged and leave.

“Ma’am,” the same man stood behind her, “If you don’t mind me asking, do you live nearby?”

It didn’t take much time for Marissa to make a poker face.

“Hmm,” she picked up her parcels and headed outside without any response. The man also seemed hasty, and Marissa made it quickly to her car and drove away.

She had seen this man for the first time and felt uncomfortable when he asked about her whereabouts.

Joseph came out of the store and looked around. He punched a nearby wall and hastily pressed some numbers on his phone,

“Rafael! Bro! See? I had been asking you to come to Kanderton and you never listened. Guess who I just met? It was indeed Marissa. She had a little girl with her. Please come as soon as possible. Ok?”

After that, he slipped the phone in his pocket. Rafael once showed him a few pictures of Marissa and at first glance, he knew it was her.

It seemed like the hunt for Marissa was almost over.