BROKEN ALPHA'S WITCH MATE

Chapter 24: You're not alone

Lynn

When we alighted from the vehicle, a red carpet was laid for us, beautiful young girls and boys between the age of six and eighteen with flowers in small reed baskets were standing along it, spreading the petals of flowers as we walked with Kai holding hands, it was a surprise to me too. He seemed relaxed following the script, a smile on his face and waving to the small crowd. One would have thought it was our wedding day.

"Welcome Mr. Watson and..." The manager looked at Mona for clarification.

"Lynn!" I said shyly extending my arm.

She was a nun, in her early fifties dressed in a white and faint blue nun uniform with a pair of round framed glasses tied on a string around her neck and a long silvery chain hanging down to her belly with a cross. White rubber shoes on her feet and behind her a group of children.

"And Lynn my daughter, my name is Sister Ann, please feel at home" She said shaking Kai's arm.

"Thank you"

One of the children brought a banquet of flowers and handed it to Kai. She was tiny, brown skinned and pretty like a button, with her luscious blonde hair in two pigtails, wearing a cute little blue dress, barefoot but still smart and innocent and I just wanted to pluck her from the ground and carry her.

"Say a few words Catherine!" Sister Ann said.

The girl went shy and hid her face. Then I saw Kai kneel down holding her tiny arms into his and all of a sudden she felt relaxed and confident. I was yet to ask him how he did that.

"We welcome you our guests, thank you for visiting us" She said amid claps and cheers from the rest of the children and the staff with Mona looking on.

Kai might have read my mind, he carried her. All the way to the small tent they had prepared in the playground. There were some plastic chairs on a dais and benches on the other side where the children went to sit while Mona led us to the dais. Kai was still carrying little Catherine on his lap. Sister Ann took the stage.

"Mona, is a regular here. Kai and Lynn are the guests so once again I welcome you. Thank you for being with us today"

Sister Ann went ahead to introduce all the staff and gave us a small history of the children's home. The ups and downs of setting up and a rough history of how some of the children were rescued. All this while I was staring at Kai and I had never seen him concentrating that hard. He seemed sad and touched by the stories of those children, exactly what I wanted him to see and feel. That some of us have very tough and some extent horrific upbringings but we still managed a smile and we don’t let the cruelty of this messed up world rid us of kindness.

"Catherine is our youngest, she is four" Sister Ann said turning her attention back on the dais, "We rescued her a couple of months back, the mother just abandoned her at the train station. One of our social workers found little Catherine with her bag of clothes and her mother's note to whoever was going to rescue her"

I felt Kai hold my hand. He seemed like he needed me to calm him down and I held it. It was sweaty, hot and his blood was bulging in his muscles.

"When you visit these children see you here they have hope that the world out there cares for them, we are human beings, social creatures, to function optimally we have to know that those around us value and appreciate us. So thank you Mr. Watson...I can already see a truck coming in"

All the attention shifted to the gate. The mall had delivered our orders and the excitement on the little faces of those kids made me shed a tear. The sister was right, all they needed was to feel valued, even though they had no parents...some like Catherine were abandoned_ they were still children and all they needed was that feeling of having someone around. A feeling that Kai had missed and it had messed him up.

"Thank you Kai, clap for Mr. Watson everyone!"

The kids gave him a round of applause. The speeches were underway when Kai asked for permission to talk to me in private. He smiled and waved dragging me with him far from the rest of the group. We got behind a building and all he did was pace up and down like a caged lion covering his eyes with his palm. I had gotten used to him being like that due to the headaches he alleged came from his insomnia so I gave him time to calm down. He hugged me and I could feel his heart pound in his chest for some time then it went to normal.

"That's the longest hug I've had, tell me what's going on?"

"You should have told me to do more Lynn" he said breaking free.

"More of what?"

"The toys and whatever we were buying for them. This kids are suffering, with nothing and they remind me of...."

"You" I said holding his hands, "They don't need the entire mall. The little that's available makes a difference for them besides it's your first visit"

"You’re right, we should make this a thing a tradition. I feel like I can do much than just getting them gifts"

"Now you talking, am sorry about reminding you of your childhood. But you were not neglected, your mum died and you had your father. Those kids have nothing. If they can manage to be happy so can you!"

"Guys! Am I interrupting something here?" Mona asked coming from behind.

"No, we took long?"

"So long, that the hosts thought maybe you have run away"

"Let's go back then"

We found the staff distributing the toys to the kids. Luckily they were enough for the young ones, all of them. When they saw Kai they all ran to hug him while Mona and I just watched. He looked at me and mumbled thank you with his lips. Anna led us to the kitchen, we washed our hands and dressed up ready to cook.

"You're a superhero" Mona said chopping the tomatoes in a large bowl.

"Last time I checked I don't fly and shoot lasers from my eyes"

"Silly, he looks different from what I last saw and read about. No ripples of bad energy around him, he looks relaxed and just anyone can get around him I still can't believe he was carrying that little girl"

"Am no superhero"

"You're good with people, you see some good in other people even those the world has given up on...that, my girl is being a superhero"

"Whatever you say, you see Kai had a strained childhood. He felt alone for a long time when his mom died and his father was busy being a billionaire many people do not know that bringing him here was to show him that he is not alone. There are those who don't have anything but still manage to be happy"

"Never judge a book by its cover"

"Exactly"

Roughly two minutes Kai came from behind us flunked by Arthur, without the shades, he was even more scary but yet cool and friendly. Mona and I almost jumped out of our skins. Speak of the devil and it appears.

"You girls need some help?" He asked looking lively.

"Not happening" I said working on the rice, the resident cook was on chicken stew while Mona was washing and dicing the fruits and mixing the juice.

"Let him help with setting up the dining, can you do that sir?" The cook asked.

"Of course show us what to do, you can call me Kai. And what are you called?"

"Rhonda"

"Thank you Rhonda show us the dining and what to set up"

Rhonda left with Kai and Arthur while we put final touches on the food. The two would carry the plates and all the necessary cutlery to the dining. They finalized by carrying the food to the dining and serving it before we called the children for lunch. We ate with them after which we helped clear the table, wash utensils and it was time for games. Kai and Arthur would be on different teams playing soccer with the boys. He send Arthur to get them new soccer balls and kits with some sports shoes. Mona was playing hopscotch with the old girls while I being the active one was doing tag with the young ones.

It was a beehive of activities, controlled chaos and necessary noise. Lively and entertaining mood in the air. Sister Ann was seated with young ones on a mat playing marbles while others just dragged their toys there cheering the others. Those playing would stop by the cooler box to grab a bottle of cold water and go back to having fun.

But all great things have to come to an end. It was five in the evening, time for the kids to take a shower, some bible study and prepare for dinner, some entertainment and then bed. They didn't want us to go. Others even broke down into tears. It was not easy to watch them devastated. Only the elder ones understood and Kai asked them to let their siblings know we were going to stop by sometime, it was not the final goodbye. Before we left we met with Sister Anna in the office.

"We really appreciate you guys stopping by. The books the toys everything. I didn't know Kai can serve. Am sorry son but we out here have a bad image of you painted by the media and word of mouth but today you let your actions defend you"

"Thank you sister, after today I really feel like I should do much. Anything you guys need just tell me"

"Seems like you got touched today"

"I was once like those kids, forgotten, alone and it messed me up socially. But now learning to let people in slowly, am not alone"

"You're not alone" the sister said leaving his seat, we also stood up for a word of prayer. Arthur left Kai's card and we signed in the visitor’s record book before we left.

Inside the car on our return journey it was quiet. Although kai was seated there next to me he seemed so far away emotionally. I didn't want to bother him with all "are you okay" questions. All I did was hold his hand.

"Thank you" he said looking at me and back outside through the window.

"Welcome" I mumbled.

In the next few days the stories would be told about this new version of Kai. His public image, though still a long way to go, would not be in the ICU anymore. Those who said he was broken beyond repair would be forced to swallow their words. Kai was not alone. And I should have known, we were not always going to be that happy together. Soon we would face a blow.

#Authors note

Hey, I hope you’re enjoying the development of this two lovebirds. Just a reminder, am glad to have you as my reader. Your feedback is much appreciated in the comment section, lets chat, give me the hits and misses so I can make your reading experience close to perfect. Don’t forget to read: My one night-stand soccer Boyfriend!