THE FORGOTTEN HEIRESS

"Where’s Mom?" Eleanor’s eyes wandered around the room in search of their mother.

"She is probably still in the bathroom," Elvis said as he saw the closed bathroom door.

"It must be a long bath. But she doesn’t usually spend this much time bathing," observed Eleanor.

"Mom,"

"Madam," they all called simultaneously.

"Do you think something is wrong?" asked the impatient Eleanor as she approached

the bathroom door, her brow furrowing.

"Mom, are you okay in there?" She asked, her voice tinged with worry.

There was no response, just the soft sound of water and the faint, rhythmic breathing of someone who appeared to have fallen asleep.

"Mom?" Elvis joined his sister in knocking.

Mrs Carr asked them to move aside, turned the door knob and peered into the bathroom.

"There is nothing to worry about?" She told the two anxious children, straightening up.

Eleanor was far from convinced by her statement. "But she is not answering."

Mrs Carr smiled faintly, "Maybe you should have a look, yourselves."

She moved from the door and the two children both peered into the bathroom.

Their expressions shifted from concern to bemusement as they saw their mother, fast asleep in the warm bath, an inexplicable look on her face.

"I think Mom was really tired this time around," Elvis said, amused.

"Looks like it. We should wake her up gently before she catches a cold," Eleanor said with a grin.

They shared a chuckle as they gently tapped their mother’s shoulder.

Kathleen stirred from her slumber when she felt something soft and at the same time urgent on her shoulders.

Her eyes open groggily to stare into two pairs of large eyes staring at her like two "forget me nots."

"Mom," Eleanor’s cheery voice brought her fully awake. "You slept off while having your bath. Hurry up and clean up before you catch a cold."

"We will be waiting for you in your bedroom," Elvis added.

Taking his sister’s hand, he led her out of the bathroom to give their mother some privacy to finish her bath.

Not long after, Kathleen came out in her bathrobe and joined them in her bedroom.

She sat on her dressing table and Eleanor helped her to dry her hair with a towel while Elvis got the hand dryer from the drawer.

Their little hands on her hair seemed to work magic on her as Kathleen was caught several times drifting off to sleep.

When they were done, with the help of Mrs Carr, they laid the dinner on the little table in her room and ensured she ate most of it before starting a conversation with her.

Kathleen’s heart almost exploded with love at their considerate actions.

She was strangely grateful to the scumbug for giving her such adorable and sensible children. If only his heart was as simple as that of the children, what a happy family they would be together.

But unfortunately that was like building castles in the air.

With the back of her hand she wiped the tears which she had no idea had gathered in her eyes until her vision became blurry.

"Mom, are you crying?" the observant Elvis asked.

Eleanor looked up and say a little mist around her mother’s eyes and was worried.

"What’s wrong mom?"

"Nothing my sweethearts. Mom was only moved by your unimaginable love and kindness. It is called tears of joy," she explained with a smile that came from the depth of her heart.

The children breathed in relief. "We love you mom and only want you to be happy," they chorused as if they had rehearsed it.

"And I love you too." Kathleen dropped her cutleries, pushed the little table further away and opened her arms wide which they happily scrambled into. She cuddled the two children, her tears flowing freely.

Mrs Carr saw such a warm scene and couldn’t help shedding a few tears of her own. She cleared the table and left with an inexplicable feeling. "If only there was a man beside her," she thought.

For some weeks now, she had been disappointed with herself when she failed in bringing her together with the handsome doctor she had seen at the kindergarten.

She tried all she could to set them together but failed miserably. She even received a stern warning from her boss not to try something of that nature in the future ever again.

With that she was forced to dodge the gentleman who started trailing them after not hearing from her.

So when she saw the news earlier today which looked like almost all the TV stations were airing, she was shocked.

She took note of the love Kathleen had in her eyes when she stared at that man that bore a striking resemblance to Master Elvis and felt she had seen the reason why her boss had constantly rejected all the men that came her way.

From her years of experience, she didn’t need a soothsayer or a DNA test to know that that was the father of the two children.

Seeing the love emanating from that picture they were caught in, she couldn’t help but wonder about what exactly happened between them that made them separate from each other at such a critical stage in her life.

If not for Ms Elizabeth, her former boss, she wondered how Kathleen would have survived the pregnancy.

Since she became her nanny, and eventually the children’s nanny after they were born, she had followed her every progress and what she had to go through to make herself the strong woman she is today.

She had also seen that despite her success, there was a vacuum which no one had been able to fill until she saw her in the embrace of that extremely handsome gentleman and knew without a doubt that he was the missing piece.

But what can a mere Nanny like her do when it comes to the matters of the heart? She could only hope and pray for the best for her and the children.