Chapter 34 - I Wanted Her Attention

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⚠️ Warning - This chapter mentions domestic abuse ⚠️

~ Madison's POV ~

The following day after Santiago got his business with those really nice mafia men sorted, we finally had our first appointment with my doctor.

It had only been a few days since I found out, but I thought it was important to go and find out exactly how far along I was. Especially considering my symptoms were a lot more intense than I ever remembered.

So far I was peeing every chance I got, I was more exhausted than ever before and I had intense headaches.

The nausea and morning sickness hadn't been as bad, only a little here and there which is what confirmed to me that I was pregnant. But, I'm sure it'll hit me at full force soon.

It turns out that Santiago and I once again conceived the first time we tried, this means this little one was conceived the morning after we went to dinner with Arturo and Lucia just about seven weeks ago.

I was just starting my seventh week of pregnancy when we went to see the doctor.

As she so kindly put it, 'only 33 more weeks to go...yay.'

Her 'yay' was very unenthusiastic and after that I told Santiago we were changing doctors. I didn't need a moody doctor being the first thing my baby saw when they came out of the womb.

"So...what shall we do for the next hour?" I glanced over at Santiago who was sitting next to me in the drivers seat when we stopped at a red light.

We still had an hour until we had to pick the twins up from preschool and this time we decided to surprise them by going together. It was rare that they ever got more than one parent coming to pick them up.

"You hungry?" He gave me a small smirk before nodding his head towards the McDonald's across the street from us.

Believe it or not Santiago and I hadn't been to McDonald's together since I was 17 years old. That was also the first and only time I ever got kicked out of McDonald's because I happened to be very, very drunk.

A laugh escaped my lips at the memory and I nodded my head as he began driving towards it.

There was no way I was going to refuse food.

It didn't take us long to park the car and as soon as we walked in the aroma of McDonald's food invaded my senses causing my stomach to rumble. Bedside me, Santi let out a laugh as we stepped up to the back of the huge line.

"I need to pee, I'll be back."

"You just went like ten minutes ago at the clinic."

"So? I'm pregnant." He rolled his eyes at my excuse before nodding his head, taking out his phone. "Don't forget, I want a Big Mac, large fries, some chicken nuggets and a large coke."

He glanced up from his phone to give me an amused smile but just as I turned around, I added one last thing.

"Oh and those mozzeralla dippers that we used to get." With one last smile, I left to go to the bathroom, ignoring the looks I was receiving from the people around us in the line.

Once again, I have to reiterate that I'm pregnant.

Since the sickness hadn't come in properly yet, I was taking this time to eat as much as I could before I was reduced to just plain foods, soups and water again.

By the time I'd come back from completing the worlds longest pee, Santiago had gotten us a booth at the back of the restaurant and was still busy on his phone like he was when I left.

"Who are you busy texting? Your piece on the side?" When he heard my voice, Santiago lifted his head before letting a scoff, tossing his phone down on the table.

"Yep, she's coming over tonight. Fancy a threesome?"

"Very funny." He smirked at my response before he got to opening up all the food we'd ordered. Honestly it either looked like we'd ordered for four people or, like the two of us hadn't eaten in a month.

"There's no way we're going to be able to finish all this."

I nodded my head in agreement as I looked at all the heavenly food on our table.

"We'll get the twins happy meals before we leave and we can just give them any of the food we have left over." I just shrugged my shoulders, thankful that I'd added that extra chicken nuggets in for no reason. They sounded good at the time. "At least it saves me from having to cook."

Santiago let out a small laugh at this while nodding his head before we got to eating. A comfortable silence fell around us as we ate, making small talk here and there.

"I have something I need to tell you."

I rose an eyebrow at him as I took a bite of my burger. He obviously took this as his cue to continue since I obviously couldn't reply with food in my mouth.

Well I could, but my mother told me that wasn't 'lady like'.

The fact things are still classed as 'unladylike' instead of just 'ill mannered' shows were still leaving in the Middle Ages, in my very humble, feminist opinion.

"Arturo and I got a lead on Stevie's whereabouts this morning."

As soon as he mentioned her name, I slowly put my burger down, surprised by his words.

I'd done my best to try not to think about her. She really was my bestfriend throughout college and afterwards, especially during my pregnancy with the twins.

I may have not seen her much since Santiago came back into my life but that didn't matter. I still could never imagine her being the one behind these disgusting threats and attacks on our family, or even just being a participant in it.

"Where is she?"

"We don't know exactly yet. There's a lot of evidence to suggest she's been having a sexual relationship with Asher and we found him. As we speak, Arturo is sending out a team of our best men to catch him."

"Wait, Asher? As in Asher who used to be your friend in highschool until he talked about me to his friends and then tried to add me to his line of prostitutes, that Asher?"

At my response Santi just rolled his eyes, clearly not appreciating my little trip down memory lane.

"We only know one Asher, don't we?"

Someone clearly doesn't like the one Asher that we know.

"Well how would she know him?" This time he just let out a sigh, scrunching up the empty wrapper for his burger.

I knew this topic was one that got under his skin. He hated the fact Stevie could have been involved and he also hated Asher with every fibre of his being, especially after what he did to Sienna.

"That's what I intend to find out. Finish your food, I'll go and get something for the twins." Sensing a sudden shift in his mood, I just nodded my head, looking back down at my unfinished food.

It was silent for a moment while I refused to look at Santiago until he spoke again.

"You want anything else baby?" When I looked up at him, he gave me a soft smile which instantly lightened that tension that suddenly settled around us.

"A McFlurry please." He let out a laugh as he nodded, getting up to go and get the rest of the food.

By the time he was back I'd finished whatever I could manage to eat and we packed the rest up into the bag before heading back to the car.

"You better finish that before we get to the preschool. I'm not going back if they want ice cream too."

I rolled my eyes as I took another bite of the creamy goodness before putting some more on the spoon, holding it out for him to eat.

We continued like that as he drove, me feeding him some ice cream in between my own bites until it was sadly all finished.

"You're rich, right?" He gave me a weird look as we got out the car and he came around to me, throwing his arm around my shoulders as we walked towards the preschool.

"Clearly."

"So, you can buy something really expensive, yes?" As we came to a stop by a trash can, I threw the McFlurry pot away before turning to him.

"That depends if it's worth it. Why, what do you want?"

"Oh Santiago this would be so worth it. All of us would benefit from it and we'd never be sad again. You said you don't like it when I cry, right? Well I would never cry again."

He gave me an amused smile, pulling me in closer to his as we continued the walk to the doors where the twins would come out very soon.

"What is it?"

"Are you ready for this?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Freaking hell! Yes, just say it already." As soon as Santiago snapped at me, I heard a gasp come from a woman next to us who instantly moved away with a horrified expression on her face.

I mean, Karen, honey, I know we were outside a preschool but that reaction right there was just unnecessary. There was not one child in sight yet and it wasn't even a swear word.

"A McFlurry machine!"

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

"Santi?"

"Hello?"

Letting out a huff I just wrapped my arms around his waist, causing him to look down at me, now wrapping both of his arms around my shoulders in a hug.

"You'll come around to the idea."

He let out a laugh before kissing the top of my head, just as the doors opened and the children started coming out one by one. Letting go of Santiago, I turned around when I heard Cameron call out to me, but the second I saw Mackenzie holding onto his hand, my heart felt like it stopped in my chest.

I didn't waste any time in running over to her, dropping down to her level.

"Baby, why are you crying?" I pulled her into my arms and when she didn't answer, I lifted her in my arms as I stood up while Santiago picked Cameron up.

"Mackenzie baby, talk to me." Instead of replying, she just continued to sob while Cameron reached out from Santiago's arms to occasionally wipe away her tears.

"Mi princesita, ¿qué te pasa? ¿Por qué estás llorando?" (My little princess, what's the matter? Why are you crying?)

When she heard Santiago's soft voice she turned her attention to him, letting out a sniffle and a hiccup through her tears.

"Milo McCarthy kept pulling my braids." As she said this she lifted up one of her braids that I'd done for her this morning to show Santiago.

As soon as she said this, images of the five year old boy tugging on my braids 21 years ago came back to me and it seemed Santiago was thinking the exact same thing when I caught him looking over at me.

Breaking eye contact with me, he took a step closer to me, shifting Cameron in his arms so that he could lean down and place a kiss on Kenzie's cheek.

"Shall I tell you a secret Kenzie?" When he said this, she looked at him curiously, her tears slowing down for the moment as she waited for him to speak.

"When I was five, I did the exact same thing to a girl at school. I tugged on her braids until she got upset with me too."

"But thats mean Daddy." He nodded her head in agreement with her words, before using his thumb in his free hand to wipe away the tears on her little chubby cheeks.

"I know, it's very mean, so I said sorry to her."

"Really?" Santiago nodded his head as he stroked her cheek gently.

"I did it because I wanted her attention. I wanted her to be my friend and I didn't know any other way."

"And she did be your friend?" Santiago nodded his head, a smile forming on his lips as he did.

"She did. Apart from you and Cameron, she's the person I love the most in this word, with all my heart."

"What about mama?" When Cameron spoke up, giving Santiago his best glare, I wanted so bad to laugh although I couldn't bring a sound to leave my lips.

"That little girl was mama. She's been my bestfriend ever since that day, and she will be, for the rest of my life."

Finally, he shifted his eyes away from our daughter and over to me while I just stood there with tears in my eyes. Too stunned to even say a word, I just held Kenzie in my arms, thankful that she spoke so that I didn't have to.

"It was? Mama that was you?" I nodded my head, using my hand to wipe away my tears that fell from my eyes. While the twins just seemed extremely confused when I started crying.

"Don't cry mama." As soon as she saw my tears, Kenzie's lip began to wobble causing me to force a smile onto my lips almost instantly.

"I'm not, don't worry baby. Come on, we got you happy meals as a treat. Maybe it will cheer you up?"

As soon as we mentioned their food, the twins forgot all about the previous conversation for a moment and we both put them down, allowing them to walk just ahead of us towards the car.

Santiago and I didn't say a word to each other as we walked to the car and he took Kenzie, buckling her into her car seat while I put Cameron in his.

"Daddy does this mean I'm going to marry Milo McCarthy?"

"No."
"No."

I couldn't help but smile when both Santiago and Cameron spoke in unison causing Kenzie to pout.

"I don't want you going anywhere near that boy ever again, do you understand me Kenzie?"

Oh the hypocrisy.

"But you married mama!" As soon as she said this I just glanced over at Santiago who was already looking at me.

"We're not married Mackenzie."

"You're not?" This time it was Cameron who looked at the two of us with wide eyes. "That is why daddy called you Miss Spark!"

"Clarke baby, it's Clarke." I let out a small laugh as I stroked his hair before closing the door. Santiago and I ended up meeting behind the car when he went to walk around to the drivers seat and I went to the passenger seat.

"Maddie-"

Before he could say anything, I stood up on my tippy toes, pressing my lips to his in a kiss.

His hands instantly went to my waist as I kissed him, trying to pour as much love into the kiss as I could.

No amount of kisses or I love you's could ever tell this man just how much I loved him.

But I guess I could try.

"I love you Santiago. More than you'll ever know."

He gave me a smile of his own before pecking my lips one more time. "I love you too baby."

Once we got back in the car, the twins were busy having their own conversation about something as we drove back home.

Thankfully there were no more tears for the rest of the afternoon.

Since I was feeling extremely tired, Santiago kindly allowed me to go and take a nap while he looked after the twins for me.

The twins ate their dinner while Santiago sat with them to watch them and then he decided to watch a movie with them.

"Babe?"

I lifted my head from the pillow when Santiago opened the door to our room, causing a stream of light to enter into the dark room.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to take the twins for a walk with Pancake. We'll be back in half an hour or something."

As I nodded my head I sat up a little and checked the time on my phone to see it was a little past 7pm.

"You should probably get up now Maddie, you won't be able to sleep later otherwise."

"Yeah, I'm gonna take a shower while you're gone." He nodded his head, coming over to the bed to press a kiss to my cheek.

"I'll see you soon baby." I gave him a tired smile watching as he left the room before I got up and headed into the bathroom. For the first time in a while I managed to take an uninterrupted evening shower.

Usually I would have to take all my showers while the twins were at preschool or busy with Santiago. It's harder than it sounds to have an evening to yourself when you're a mother of two.

Once I'd managed to force myself out of the steamy confines of the shower, I dried off and changed into my pyjama shorts and a T-shirt, ready for bed soon.

Of course, I decided to go braless, because everyone knows you don't wear bras in the evening.

Ever.

By the time the half an hour was up, I knew they would be coming home any minute so I went downstairs, as expected finding the living room covered in toys.

Just as I started picking them up, the front door bell rang causing me to groan. Dropping the toys again, I went to open the door.

Maybe I expected Santiago and the twins, or even Arturo and Lucia, but who I saw definitely caught me by surprise.

Actually that was an understatement.

"Madison?"

"Uh...Mr and Mrs Hernández...what are you doing here?"

I took in Santiago's parents and his sister standing behind them, trying to think as clearly as I could in my state of shock.

They didn't even know that Santiago had children, never mind where he lived.

"Can we come in please?"

Although I was extremely tempted to say no and to ask them to leave, the look Santiago's father gave me instantly rid me of that temptation.

I let out a breath as I stepped aside, hoping that I could some how get rid of them before Santiago came back with the twins.

When they turned to look at me, I gestured for them to go into the formal sitting room instead of the living room, hoping that I could hide the fact that there were any children living in the house as best as I could.

We saved this room for important guests but I guess Santiago's uninvited family would have to do.

"Where is Santiago?" Santiago's father, Gonzalo, gave me a cold glare, refusing to sit down next to Santiago's sister Isabel and his mother Nora.

The longer I stared at his father, reminders of the story Santiago told me of how his father forced him to do all those horrible things came to my mind.

He wanted Santiago to rape me.

He really was a screwed up man.

Then I turned my attention to his sister who I knew was a drug addict who refused Santiago's help and then kept asking for his money.

In her defence she did look a lot better than the last time I saw her. If Santiago hadn't told me her past, I would never be able to tell just by looking at her.

"He's out."

"Out?"

When I nodded my head, Gonzalo shook his head before taking something out of his inside jacket pocket. First he pulled out a piece of paper and then a red ball, with the number six on.

Oh dear Lord.

"This was delivered to me today."

He handed me the note and the ball which I took with shaky hands.

''#6 - Dear Mr Hernández, I send you my deepest sympathies for the unfortunate event that took place 27 years ago when your son was born. Fortunately for you, very soon I intend to rectify the mistake you made when not using protection.

If you would like to see your son one last time you and find out what he's been up to, please head to the following address in LA this evening.'

At the end of the note our address was written.

It was so clear to me this was all just to reveal to Santiago's parents and his sister that we'd had two children almost four and a half years ago.

"Would you like to explain what this is? I'm sure my son was foolish enough to tell you about his business."

I had to resist the urge to scoff and to tell him that it's okay for a man to tell his girlfriend things to do with his business and his life.

Instead, I put the note and the ball down on a coffee table near me before glaring at Gonzalo.

"I think you should leave."

"I'm not going anywhere until I see my son or until I get some answers. This is a threat to his life Madison, I'm sure you're clever enough to know that."

"I do know what it is, but if Santi hasn't told you then I don't-"

"His name is Santiago." When she spoke, I shifted my attention away from Gonzalo and towards Santiago's mother Nora. "And his business with the cartel has nothing to do with you."

"And it's has nothing to do with you either. Santiago built this cartel on his own, it belongs to him

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