Chapter 2: Book One: surviving

Lavender's viewpoint

I scrubbed the top of the table as I hummed, scrubbing it hard to get the stains out. Some people can eat like pigs, horrible pigs. And unfortunately, it was my job to clean it. Okay, not exactly my job, but the person doing it before got sick, so I was to clean it and take her salary, until she is back on her feet. I accepted the offer with open arms.

More money for me.

I work in a hotel as a bartender. Used to be a hotel porter, but after I complained of the male guest always finding a way to smack my ass, I was placed at the bar. The manager liked me, didn't want me to go, and that is the most lucky I had ever been.

"Jamila, are you still here?" Speak of the devil. I gave the table the last finishing scrub before I stood up and place my hands on my hips.

"People can eat like pigs, no, in fact, people are pigs." I sneered. He laughed from behind me before I felt his hand on my shoulder.

"Jami, the real problem is you, not the table," I turned my sneer to him, "you are a clean freak,"

"No, I'm not,"

"Have you cleaned that table yet?" He asked, pointing at the last table, the one I hadn't clean.

"No, but I'm about to. I'll just…" He pulled me back before I took a step. "What gives?"

"Jamie, that table is clean enough, leave it alone. I don't see what's wrong with it," I rolled my eyes, he knew I would never listen. You know, when I first applied to work in the hotel, I was made a cleaner. He promoted me because he got too much complaint from the customers. Apparently, I chased them out of their own room and nag about how dirty they are.

I do not.

"Just let me clean it,"

"What am I going to do with you, Jamila? Especially now that I'll be going on vacation? My replacement will blow a fuss with you," he said with a chuckle. I pouted because it was true. Mr. Miller was a good man, been working as a manager for years and he did an outstanding job. He barely took vacations or did anything with his family until I came along and convinced him to remember his family.

Finally! He was going to be getting the vacation for his wedding anniversary.

"I'm not doing anything bad,"

"Jamie, don't you have kids to return home to?" The only thing he knew could stop me. I gasped and slipped away from him immediately. They'll be waiting for me. They don't have a babysitter, I couldn't afford one. Luckily, I risk leaving them with my neighbor, who loves children. But since her daughter gave birth, she seemed to visit her daughter and forget my children more often.

"Gotta go, bye, Mr. Miller!" I shouted.

"Say hi to the boys for me," he shouted back. Always the boys.

I took a cab home but made sure I got bribery ice cream and pizza for the kids. I stared out of the window with a smile, enjoying the view of the beautiful city of Las Vegas. Since my savior helped me move here after erasing my existence as requested from me, I had live in Las Vegas with my children.

I can never stop being grateful to that man, even if he ended up forgetting I exist. At least, he helped me find a home and gave me money to begin my life. Lavender was dead, I went by my middle name and mother's maiden name, and since everyone who cared to check on me thought I committed suicide, they didn't bother searching and I liked it that way. I didn't want my past coming for me or my children.

Especially him.

The car dropped me at my apartment, the block of flat I live in. The building was poor, very poorly built and not a good place to grow kids, but it was better than being homeless. I had too much to deal with, especially with five extra mouths to feed. Okay, six extra mouths to feed.

I made my way into the building with my bags, swinging my house key in my finger as I whistled. I lived in the second floor, so it wasn't that difficult to climb. The elevator of the gray building no longer worked. It was better it didn't work before it killed someone or some people, like my stubborn daredevil children.

I took in a deep breath, straighten my smile. Seeing them always made me sad because I knew this wasn't the life they ought to live. They should be living in a mansion with people at their beck and call, toys they won't be able to play with, proper medication, feeding and clothing. They ought to be going to a good school, not sitting at home and waiting for me to get enough money to send them back to school. Their father was a billionaire or even more, but they were stuck in poverty with me. Eating from hand to mouth, scavenging for toys in dumpsters, wearing unsuitable clothes and battling with their health. Because of my lack of money and procrastination, their lives were being endangered. And it hurt more that they were contended with what they had and living with me like that.

And the most painful thing is how much they look like their father.

I opened the door to see the second youngest, standing behind the door with wide eyes and hugging her big doll like she would always do. Every day, she would stand behind the door with her doll and wait for me. She barely blinks, and would never move out of the way until she sees me.

I almost died from shock and cried my eyes out for nights after I gave birth to them. I thought I was having twins, I didn't plan for quintuplets. It took me by surprise. I couldn't afford to care for five children on my own and I almost gave in to adoption, to selling them out, but I couldn't, I couldn't bear to do it. When I remembered the hours I spend pushing them, the months I spend tolerating the pains and complications that came with carrying five offsprings, the sleepless nights I had and the money I spend, I couldn't give them out.

So, there I was, parenting them myself.

"Serene, I've told you to stop waiting at the door like a dog for me," I chuckled.

"But if I don't wait, who will?" She asked, bouncing on her feet so I can carry her. The other one, the youngest, would always sit on the couch and wait for me.

"Mother!" The third shouted, "guys, mom's back!" The youngest woke up with a jump and in a matter of three minutes, they took my bags to get the tricks while I had Serenity in my arms.

The eldest was Serafina, My darling, smart baby girl that acted like a mother. She cared for her younger siblings when I wasn't around and when I was. She was smart and intelligent, just like her father. Mature, responsible, sarcastic but caring. She would always take my bag inside, boil the water for me to bathe and heat up the food in the microwave. Yes, she knew how to cook, and she knew how to do it very safely, even better than my stepmother. Unfortunately, she looked exactly like her father, though she had my gemstone green eyes and sandy brown hair, but her father's skin tone.

The second, Zachary, was every bit as mature as Serafina, but extremely clever and witted like his father. In fact, everything about him was his father. The gentle way he speaks, walks, eats, stares, and work. Since they were all identical, they all had their father's face, but he looked more like his father than the rest of them. He had that bastard's creamy blonde hair, winter gray eyes and bisque skin. Zachary had a very high IQ and at his age, he was already inventing. If he hadn't stopped school or if he had all the materials he needed, he would have built greater things.

Just like his father.

The third, Zyaire, quiet, intelligent and just himself. Sometimes he acted mature, sometimes he did not… Most times he did not. He loved videogames, skating, robots and shooting people. He was a character, something I was yet to figure out. He had my eyes, but the rest was from his father.

Serenity, the last daughter but fourth of the quin, the sweetest and most caring one. She was everything a last daughter should be, everything I wanted her to be. She was kind and loved sharing, would always hold me and wait for me as you can see. She acted her age, eight years old. Had my hair and golden tan skin, but her father's eyes was what I didn't like in her.

I wish they just look like me.

The youngest, my sweet little sleep loving muffin, Zayne–like I mentioned. He loves sleeping, food and cartoons. He would always wait for me to eat whatever I buy before hugging me. Plus, himself and Serenity couldn't go to bed without me beside them. Zayne mostly acted like a mindless kid, but he was intelligent, almost as intelligent as Zachary but not when it comes to computers. He had my hair but the rest was his father.

Unfortunately.

"Mom, I heat a bath for you," Sera smiled. I nodded, " don't worry, the others have all taken their bath but haven't brushed their teeth because as you can see," she looked at her younger siblings stuffing their faces with ice cream and pizza.

Wait, where's Zachary?

"Zachary is trying to figure out an algorithm to… What he said. I would bring him some ice cream, mom?"

"Sure,"

"How was work today?" She asked, following me as I walked to my bedroom.

"It was good, very…" I stopped at their bedroom door, opened the door partly and smiled, "good evening, sir," Zach flinched from his seat. He was really immensely studying.

"Mom!" He dropped his pen and ran over to me. I'm not allowed to carry him, so I just let him hug my body. "Welcome home, how was work?"

"Work is as it always is, stressful. How did online classes go today?"

"As you can see, homework," I could never be more grateful to God for giving them to me. Instead of giving up when they stopped school, they used their old laptops and surf the internet for daily educational videos. Zachary, Zayne and Serafina did the learning and then Sera would teach the remaining two. It was the only way they could learn for now.

"Do you want pizza, Zach? Mom bought pizza and ice cream,"

"And you didn't tell me earlier! Zayne would eat it all!" And with that, he ran to the small living room to fight for his share.

"Boys," we said simultaneously and shook our heads. Sera did everything like me, even took over my cleaning obsession… Ur, I mean, ability to know when something needs to be clean because dirtiness is bad. Yes, that's it.

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