Love Over Everything — Chapter 26

Four Years Later.

“I missed you so much, my twinkle man. Did you miss mummy too?” She asked as she showered his cute face with kisses.

“I missed mama too.” He giggled.

Naomi placed a long kiss on his forehead before pulling him into a motherly hug. She missed him terribly, She had never been away from him for this long.

Because of him, she hardly accepted international deals because it would require her to travel and in that situation, she couldn’t take her son along because it was just not possible.

There was a time she had to go to Spain for work. It was only then she took her son and his nanny along with her and that only happened because the people she went to work for in Spain agreed for her to bring him along. They wanted Naomi so bad for that project so they had no choice.

Naomi had to go to Italy to get a few things done and unfortunately her son couldn’t go with her. He stayed back at his grandparents’ place. Naomi disturbed her parents with calls, wanting to talk to her son almost every time. She was meant to spend seven days in Rome, Italy but she ended up spending five days.

“Grandma told me you attended a short summer camp, how was it?” She asked her little boy who was seated on her lap with his head rested on her chest.

Tyler removed his head from Naomi’s chest and answered with a smile. “It was fun mama but I miss Zowi.”

Naomi was beyond mad when she called her mom one day and her mom told her she had taken Tyler to a nearby summer camp. Anna assured her it was a safe camp and Tyler was going to have fun there. It was a seven days fair but Tyler only got enrolled for the last four days.

Anna, Naomi’s mother had to forward one of the tutors’ numbers to Naomi. Naomi called the number and she was able to speak to Tyler, he sounded really happy over the phone and that calmed her down.

“I’m glad you had fun, honey. May I know who Zowi is?” She asked even though she had an idea of who Zowi was. She knew she would be one of the new friends he made at the camp.”

“Zowi is my friend mama. She’s Four years old and she is very pretty.” Tyler said proudly and his mom nodded.

“So did you make other friends or was it only zowi?” She asked.

“I made many friends but I don’t remember their names. I only remember Zowi.” He replied and Naomi chuckled.

Naomi kissed his cheek and stood up with him, she made him balance on her hip and made her way to the kitchen barefoot.

“What do you want for dinner, Ty?”

“Nothing mama, I’m okay.”

Naomi placed him on the counter and pouted. “You have to eat something, just tell me what you want and I will make it for you. I don’t mind feeding you.” She said, hoping he will heed to her plea.

Eating was not Tyler’s hobby and when he decided to eat, he either went for cereal or some other junk food. Naomi had to force him to eat most of the time and she did that by promising him one reward or the other if he finished his food. But she still couldn’t get him to eat his vegetables no matter how big the reward she promised.

Funny enough he ate well during this short camp. There was a time she called one of the tutors, wanting to speak to him and her reply was that he was having lunch with the other kids. She was shocked to know that because Tyler would always refuse lunch except it is pizza but he never misses his snack time.

She was informed he had a new friend who loved food more than anything so she used to make sure he finishes everything on his plate. Naomi was sure the new friend was Zowi.

“Okay, I will have cereal.” He replied reluctantly, giving in to his mommy’s puppy dog face.

Because of his love for cereal, Naomi made sure she stocked the house with healthy cereal.

“You can’t have Cereal tonight, Ty. Should I make some sweet potatoes with just a little vegetable for you and mommy?” She asked, hoping he would say yes because he preferred sweet potatoes to other food.

“But Tyler does not like vegetables.” He frowned.

“Just a little Tyler, please??”

He heaved a sigh and gave in to his mother’s plea “Okay mama, I’ll have little.”

“But just a little okay!” He emphasized.

Naomi smiled, then kissed him on his forehead. She loved him so much that she couldn’t imagine her life without him in it.

She handed over Tyler’s pad to him to keep him busy while she made dinner. She was done in no time and she served the food. She dished the food in a single plate, placed it on the counter and reached for a bottle of water in the fridge. She took Tyler’s cup, filled it with warm water and placed it beside the food.

Naomi placed Tyler on a stool beside her and then they dug in. Tyler continued to watch his cartoon on the pad while Naomi fed him and herself. Dishing her food with his, in a plate was something she recently adopted, that way Tyler eats more without him knowing.

As soon as they were done, Naomi cleaned up and she and Tyler made their way to Tyler’s room. She cleaned him up, brushed his teeth and helped him into his pyjamas.

“Mama?” Tyler called. He was standing beside his bed holding one of his stuffed animals.

“Yes, love.” Naomi replied, she was going through his bedtime stories to see which one she was going to read to him.

He whispered, “Can I sleep in your room?”

She turned to him and replied with a smile. “Of course, my love.” She finally found the bedtime story she was looking for and walked towards Tyler. She squatted before him. “You can sleep with mama tonight because mama misses her hunny bun.” He nodded while she adjusted a few strands of hair that covered his face. Heaven knows she was obsessed with her son and she wouldn't hesitate to do anything for him.

Naomi helped Tyler climb on her Queen size bed after which she switched on the TV to his favourite channel to keep him busy while she took her bath.

By the time she was done and all prepared for bed, Tyler had fallen asleep. Naomi’s lips curved into a sad smile. Her little boy was so tired that he fell asleep before she could read him his bedtime story. She switched off the TV and then tucked Tyler in properly.

She was about to cuddle with Tyler when her phone buzzed on the nightstand. She reached for it and smiled as soon as she saw the caller ID.

“Aren’t you meant to be taking care of my brother?” Naomi teased.

“Well good evening to you too ma’am” Linda replied.

Naomi chuckled, “I miss you Boo.”

“Are you sure you missed me because as far as I can remember, I’ve always been the one checking up on you even when you were in Rome.”

“Linda!!!!” Naomi groaned. “Don’t make me feel bad, I called you twice when I was in Rome.”

Linda laughed out loud. “Anyway, how’s my little prince?”

Naomi smiled as she stared at her son who was sleeping soundly beside her. She rested her back against the headboard and ran her fingers through his soft hair.

“Your little prince is fine, he’s sleeping.”

“I miss him so much. I’ll be coming over tomorrow with the new stuff I bought for him.”

“But I told you not to buy anything for him again. He hasn’t even started playing with some of the toys you bought for him the last time you came to visit.”

“I can’t help it, Naomi. You know how much I love to spoil him.”

Naomi rolled her eyes at Linda’s reply. Linda had offered to take care of Tyler while She went on her trip but she refused because Tyler was her greatest weakness, she would say YES to whatever he asked for and she didn’t want her son to be spoiled rotten before she came back.

“I’ll be expecting you tomorrow then. Make sure you come with something for me too.”

“Yeah, I’ll grab a cup of coffee for you on my way.” Linda teased.

“You wouldn’t dare!” She threatened.

“Have you thought about what we discussed last time?” Linda asked in a serious tone.

Naomi sighed before she replied, “Honestly, I haven’t given it a thought because I do not want him to know. Tyler is fine without him in our lives. Besides, there’s no way all of this would work; we live in different cities and I don’t want to raise Tyler’s hope for him to end up with a broken heart.”

“Naomi, Tyler is almost Four and Christopher does not even know he has a son somewhere.”

“He doesn’t need to know, Linda.”

“What If Tyler asks about his Dad?” Tears slightly welled up in Naomi’s eyes. She knew that question was inevitable and that one day Tyler would ask her that question and she still had no idea of what she was going to tell him.

Despite her busy schedule, her son was the number one priority in her life, she made time to do all the fun stuff with him; played ball with him, taught him how to ride a bike, how to swim and all other fun stuff fathers do with their kids so that he would not feel the absence of a male figure in his life.

“I know I’ve said this like a million times but I will still remind you. You know what happened was not Christopher’s fault?”

Naomi swallowed painfully before she whispered. “I’m aware.”

“Just act on it, hun. He has missed a lot already. Tyler is a great kid. Give Chris the chance to build amazing childhood memories with him.”

The two best friends talked some more before ending the conversation.

As soon as Naomi’s head hit her pillow, Tyler snuggled closer to her. She smiled and wrapped her arms around him. He looked so much like Christopher, a mini version of him to be exact. They had the same eyes which often reminded her of him, same hair colour and same smile. She couldn’t believe she and Chris made a beautiful human. She’ll forever be grateful to herself for keeping him, it was really a tough decision and her pregnancy was not an easy journey. But she wouldn’t mind going through all of that again just to have her precious Tyler.

As soon as the nurse placed him on her chest the moment he was born, she knew all the pain she went through was all worth it. There and then, she made a promise to do all it took to make him happy.

…………………...

The Next Morning:

Naomi woke up first; after doing a couple of lazy stretches, she said a quiet prayer, kissed Tyler’s forehead- the little boy was still fast asleep and then she reached for her laptop to do some work for thirty minutes.

Tyler was still sleeping soundly beside her when she finished her work so She guided the edges of the bed with pillows before stepping into the bathroom to do her morning rituals. She changed into knee-length shorts and a tank top and then put her hair in a messy bun.

She reached for the laundry basket which had all her dirty clothes from her trip in it and made her way to the laundry room. She made a stop at Tyler’s room to pick up his dirty clothes.

Naomi was able to do a lot of cleaning around the house before going back to her room to check up on Tyler. She found him seated in the middle of her bed, rubbing his eyes with the back of his palm.

“Good morning Mama.” He greeted Naomi as soon as he sighted her.

Naomi sat on the edge of the bed and Tyler crawled towards his mom to hug her. Naomi cuddled him like a newborn and showered his face with kisses.

“Did you sleep well?“She asked. He nodded.

“Any idea of the dreams you had?” She asked and watched him think for a while before he spoke.

“Good ones, no monsters. I think I had a beautiful dream.” He smiled.

“Linda called yesterday while you were asleep.”

Tyler’s eyes lit up. “Aunt Linda?”

“Yes, she said she misses you so she will be coming later on today to visit you.”

“I miss aunt Linda too. I will tell her about my new friend, Zowi. Will uncle Luis come too?”

“I think so, honey.”

“You’re growing up so fast, Ty. You’ll soon be four years old.”

“I know mama.” he giggled. “Uncle Luis said I’m almost a big boy.”

“Don’t mind Luis, you will forever be my baby boy.”

“Will I have a party mama? Just like last time.” He asked hopefully, looking at Naomi with his best puppy dog eyes.

She smiled, “Of course, my love. We will start planning your party as soon as Linda gets here.

“Cool, I’m going to invite all my friends at school and Zowi too.”

Naomi chuckled, “I don’t know how we can contact Zowi, honey.”

“Miss Jenny wrote Zowi’s number on a paper; it’s in my backpack mama.” Tyler said.

Naomi was surprised at what her son said. She was able to come to a reasonable conclusion that the number Miss Jenny wrote for him must be Zowi’s parents’ number.

She could tell her son was very particular about this zowi. He has never been so passionate about any of his friends.

“Okay baby I’ll check out the number in your backpack and invite Zowi to your party. Let’s get you cleaned up so you can have breakfast.”