Violetta's POV

It's been two months since the party I went to with Mike. Our relationship is much better now and we're starting to become good friends, plus, he's much nicer and less bossy as I requested.

Today is my day off, so I decided to have some fun with my kids and take them out. Paul decided to come along so he could help me take care of them because as we all know, they're very jumpy and I don't want to lose a child in an amusement park.

"Nora, hurry up if you want me to style your hair", I said, sitting down on the chair in the parlor. Nora opened her room door and ran out with the hair clips I had bought for her. "Mommy, I want two paonytails please", she exclaimed in a cute voice. "It's a ponytail, not paonytail. Make sure to correct that."

I picked her up and placed her on the dining chair, then got to work on her hair. I divided the full curly hair into two, wet both sides, and put aloe vera oil on it, which made her curls pop. I put some eco gel on the hair to keep it in place. "Do you want a high or low ponytail?" I asked. "Hmmm, I don't know, you pick. But can you add to braids at the front?" she asked. "Sure", I said, then put her hair up in two high ponytails, so her curls would be more noticeable.

I finished up her hair with two braids in front, then I used the gel and designed her edges in waves. I love my African roots, majorly because of how beautiful it makes our hair. Because of my Nigerian grandfather, I have curly hair that I passed to my children, and who doesn't like to play with and style curly hair. I made sure to put two of the hair clips she had brought to me earlier.

Naomi came to do her hair as well. She said she wanted French braids, so I divided her hair in two, wet it, and did the same process that I did for Nora. Naomi's hair is straighter than Nora's, but she still has big curls. I finished off her hair with edges, similar to Nora's, and put colored hair clips on her hair. "Nickolas! Do you want to do your hair too?" I asked, teasing him.

"No" he asserted, offended. "I want a brother", he said pouting and crossing his arms. "When you start taking care of yourself properly without my help, then, I'll consider," I told, patting him on his shoulder. I went into my room, then to my walk-in closet, and picked out an outfit for the day.

It consisted of a white off-shoulder top and high-waisted blue jeans. I put on white sneakers and silver jewelry, along with a black fanny pack as accessories.

Nora, Naomi, and Nickolas wore the new outfits I had bought them. We got everything set and then, I put my wallet in my fanny pack and waited for Paul to arrive.

He came about twenty minutes after we were ready and entered the apartment. "Who's ready to have fun?" Said Paul, as he jumped into the apartment with a bright smile plastered on his face. "Popsy!" screamed Naomi as she ran into Paul's arms, followed by the other two.

"Hi, Paul" I greeted, walking over to him. He let go of my children and hugged me tightly. His green eyes met my grey ones and holding eye contact, he said "Let's go then". We left the building and got into Paul's car, then he drove off to find out his destination.

After a thirty-minute drive, we arrived at the amusement park. The sun brightened the environment, and people's laughter filled my ears, giving me joy. "Ok, so what do we want to do first?" Paul asked, directing the question to the three lovely children in front of him. "Rides!" Naomi and Nora screamed, while Nickolas just went along with it.

"Nickolas, what do you want to do?", I questioned. "I wanna eat ice cream", he said, looking up at me with his blue eyes that shone under the sun. "Sure, how about we go on a nice ride and well get ice cream after?", I said, explaining the plan to everyone. "Ok", they all replied consecutively.

Nora, Nickolas, and Naomi went on a children's roller coaster, leaving I and Paul alone to watch them. The ride began and my heart filled with joy as I watched them smile. I spotted Nickolas holding the hand of a young girl on the ride with him, while Naomi and Nora laughed with one another. Ah, that's my boy.

"This is fun", Paul said, bringing me back from my thoughts. "Yeah, I just love seeing them all happy. It makes me feel good, glad that I didn't kill myself" I explained, pushing back my warm tears successfully. "I love seeing you all smile. It makes me love my decision to bring you home with me," he said as he sent a smile my way, causing one to rise on my face.

We waited patiently for the ride to end and then went to get ice cream. As we sat in the chair, licking the delicious cold sweet, we talked and chatted. "You know, I didn't come all the way here for us to go on one ride and eat ice cream", I said, raising an eyebrow. "How about we all go on that new family ride?"Paul asked. "Uhm, sure ok" I answered.

We went on about fifteen different rides, moving from one to another. Nicholas asked if he could go on the Easter egg hunt with Nora and Naomi. I wasn't quite sure why there was an Easter egg hunt when it's May and easter is long gone but I agreed. The three of them ran into the enclosed field with fake greenery and began to play, looking for the eggs as I looked for happiness. Never found it by the way.

The Easter egg hunt was secured and would go on for about ten minutes, so Paul and I went on a rollercoaster. "Paul, you'll be fine", I assured, as Paul panicked. "I'm not good with these things V", he said, shaking. "You'll be fine, but we can get off if you want to." I clarified as I looked at him. "No, no. Let's do this", he said laughing, holding tightly onto my hand.

.

.

The roller coaster was... Great. Paul was cussing and screaming all through the ride, while I sat and waited for my ear drum to burst. "Haha, you looked like you wanted to cry", I laughed, mocking him. "Argh shut up. This never happened ok", he said, as we sat on a bench, waiting for the Easter hunt to finish.

Paul looked at me with loving eyes and smiled, leaving me curious about what he was thinking. "What?" I asked but got no reply. Instead, Paul smashed his lips into mine as he slid his hand to my back, not caring that we were in public. "Paul!" I yelled, pushing him away.

"I-I'm sorry," I said, bowing my head. "I've told you to stop saying sorry all the time," he said as he looked at me with a frown. "I'll go see if the hunt is done", I told before I left to find my children.

I waited for about three more minutes before we were allowed to enter and pick up our kids. I gave the man who was coordinating my pick-up card to be granted access to take the children away. He got them and checked if their numbers were the same as the ones on their card, which it was so he let me take them.

We all locked hands, made a line, and walked together back to Paul, who was still sitting on the bench. I couldn't help but notice the hurt facial expression he had as he started into thin air. "Mommy, I and Nickolas found three eggs", said Nora. "And I found four ha," Nora said, as she mocked her siblings. "You all did well, ok. Now, let's grab some food so we can go shopping." I announced.

We went to Domino Pizza, ordered an extra large chicken suya pizza, and ate. After a while, we left the amusement park and got back on the road. Paul stopped at a shopping mall called 'The Plaza', then we all got out of the car and into the building. It was a beautiful sight with many shops and stores, some for food, some for furniture, some for clothing, and many more. We went into the first children's store we found and looked around for anything we could buy.

"Guys, I have one thousand dollars for each of you to spend, so pick as much as you want. Whether it's toys, clothes, accessories, or anything at all." I told. The store was massive and I didn't want any of them to get lost, so I came up with a plan. "We'll walk through each aisle together and carry two big carts, so anything you want to buy, you pick", I explained.

We all agreed and the walking began. We went through each aisle and all three of them were picking many items. Everything Naomi picked, Nora would take vice verse. The first cart I was pushing was already full, so they began to put their stuff in Paul's cart. The walk through each section was dreadful and silent because Paul and I were still awkward with each other after the kiss. Well, more like I refused to talk to Paul.

I noticed Nickolas wasn't picking as much as his sisters, so I went over and asked him. "Hey buddy, you've only picked out like seven items, do you not like what's in this store?" I asked as I held his small hands. "But... The things cost a lot of money. We won't have enough left to eat" he said, making me feel bad.

Out of the three of them, Nickolas still finds it hard to understand that things have changed. It makes me feel terrible knowing his mentality is still like that. It makes me wonder if I damaged him. "Love, I need you to understand that things are different now. Don't worry about the money ok, leave that to me. How about you go with Paul to the other aisles so you can pick what you want." I offered, staring into his blue eyes. "Ok"

Paul and Nickolas went over to the previous aisle, while I continued moving on with Nora and Naomi. In the end, we bought a bunch of things and they cost about $2,359. It wasn't up to the three grand I thought I would spend. We got back in the car after paying and packing all the bought goods, then Paul drove us back home. "Okay guys, let's carry these things up", Paul instructed, as he turned off the engine.

It was 6:24 pm by the time we had packed everything from the car to the apartment, so we decided to call it a day and have an early dinner. "Poppy, are you eating dinner with us?" Nora asked, sending puppy dog eyes in Paul's direction. "Well, I couldn't say no. Could I?" he consulted rhetorically.

We went down to the building's cafeteria and then ordered. "The kids will have mac and cheese, and we will have the lasagna", Paul mumbled to the tall waitress. We waited for our meal in awkward silence and the only talking on the table was the banking of my children. "So" Paul began. "Did you have a nice day".

"Yeah, thanks for taking us," I said. "No problem. I had fun too and I might've overcome my fear of roller coasters", he joked, earning a giggle from me. "About the kiss", Paul started.

"No - no, it's ok. Let's just pretend it didn't happen", I suggested. "That's not what I had in mind", he said with an uncomfortable expression, giving rise to guilt. Our meals came before we could say any other thing, protecting me from the unwanted conversation.

We ate and when we had all finished, Paul escorted us back to our apartment, where he said his goodbyes and left. I tucked my kids into bed and had a bath.

While trying to fall asleep, I thought long and hard about our kiss. I hope it didn't change things between us.

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Thank you to everyone who made it this far. I appreciate your consistency.

What did you all do today?