My Ex Next Door

In the kitchen.

After Brent put Leo and Ethan down on the floor, he pulled one chair and sat down ignoring all the commotion around; he took his phone out from his pocket and opened the Facebook application.

Mila sat down beside him and peep over, she rested her head on his shoulder and watched him scrolling the Facebook news feed.

In the other side, the triplets squatted on the floor by the end of the counter, chattering.

"Since Uncle Ken and mommy are fighting, we need to decide which sides we will take. I decided to go with Uncle Ken until his wedding. I already had a dress in my mind and Selena will take care of it, what about you Leo?"

Alexa asked her brother.

"I will go with mommy" Leo answered without hesitation.

Alexa nodded her chubby face while brushing her hands together, thrilled by the situation.

"I will go with daddy" Ethan lifted his hand to get his siblings attention.

Alexa shoved a hand in her sling white bag covered with pink glitters and took out a small purple notebook and pink pen with a unicorn silver pendant.

She wrote down her brother's name and the side they were taking.

"Does it mean we will need to leave and go back to the Villa?" Leo tilted his head in confusion.

Alexa chewed on a pen in anxiety, "I hope not,"

Ethan yawn, feeling tired with all the activities they did today.

Alexa stood up and held each of her brother's hand and rocked it back and forth.

"Promise me you will not yell at me as Uncle Ken did to mommy. If you do, I will not talk to you forever" She pouted her small lips.

The two boys move closer and embraced her, "Don't worry we will not hurt you" Ethan spoke and plant a small kiss in her cheeks.

Alexa bored her eyes to Leo when the boy didn't kiss her.

"I am waiting" she widened her eyes at him, waiting for him to move.

Leo clicked his tongue and dropped a quick peck in her cheeks.

Alexa smiled widely and wrapped each of her arms to her brother's arms.

"Ok, but what we did in the principal office caused a fight between Uncle Ken and Aunt Novie, I heard them," Alexa whispered to her brother while her eyes looked at Brent and Mila's direction checking if they are eavesdropping.

"What do you mean?" Leo asked and tried to remove her hand but Alexa wouldn't let go.

"Remember when Daddy's secretary stayed in his office for so long time and mommy gets angry?" her eyes switch between her brother as she tried to remind them of the past.

"What about it?" Ethan questioned.

"Aunt Novie also stayed in the principal office for a long time which made Uncle Ken angry" She continued.

"How did you know about this?" Leo asked he raised an eyebrow, suspicious by the information she's giving.

"Because I know everything and I know how we can help Uncle Ken to solve this problem," Alexa spoke in a cheered voice while her hips wiggled in triumph.

"Alex stop dancing" Leo complained after Alexa's hips bumped on his.

"What's your solution?" Ethan asked, he took off his glasses and grabbed the tissue he had in his pocket and clear the fog of the lens.

"I saw how mommy handled it. She eliminated daddy's secretary by firing her since we cannot fire the principal, we need to do something that will get him fired"

Alexa's positioned each of her hand around her brother's shoulder and pulled them closer. Her eyes flickered with enthusiasm.

Evan entered the kitchen, and the triplets rushed to him, the three acted so casually to not make their father suspicious.

"Let's go" Evan stretched his hand to Leo and Ethan after placing Alexa on his shoulder.

Ken lay Angelo's unconscious body on the sofa and asked Mary to call an ambulance, the woman rushed upstairs to get her phone.

Novie sat beside Ken, eyes wide and staring into space, overwhelmed by the situation.

"Are you ok?" she asked Ken, the man let out a heavy breathe and looks at her.

"Yes, I am" he replied in a dominant voice.

(Yeah, I can see that) Novie thought, her face went poker when she saw his knee shaking while sweat formed in his forehead in small fragments.

She crossed her arms and looked at him with her lips twitched in suspicion, thinking why Ken said that hurtful word to his sister.

(Something's bothering him) she said in her mind.

(What is it) her eyes narrowed while staring at her boyfriend who's looking at her father, fear painted in his face.

When she thought of one possible reason, her eyes went round in shock.

(Could it be?) she gasped quietly.

"Ken" she called his name in a low voice, the man looked at her, his forehead furrowed in confusion

"Are you scared of my father?" she asked in a weak voice, she doesn't want anyone to hear her.

Ken narrowed his eyes and exhaled, "Yes, but not because I am a coward, I fear he will not accept me because of my past"

Novie gulped, she was not expecting that Ken fears her father.

"Don't worry, I love you and he needs to accept that" she comforted him.

Ken held her hand and plant a small kiss around it, his eyes locked to her face in a soft expression.

"Where's my wife?" the romantic moment rising around interrupted by Evan's cold voice.

Novie looked at him and got up, "She left" one hand scratches the back of her ear while avoiding Evan's eyes.

"Is that so? We will leave then" Evan walks to the door when he noticed the broken window.

Novie followed Evan's eyes when the man looked at her, she faked a smile.

"I will send someone to fix the window tomorrow, I apologize for my wife's behavior"

Novie dismissively waves her head, "no… no… it's fine" she laughed and turned to the stairs after she saw her mother.

"We will go now" Evan gave Ken a nod, and the four left the house.

"Here, Novie call the ambulance" Mary handed the phone to Novie.

"Don't bother, I am all right" Angelo stated and groaned, he tried to get up but Novie stopped him.

"Just rest pa, We can talk tomorrow" The man wanted to protest but his wife glared at him.

"Let's go to bed" Mary lashed out to Angelo and helped him to walk upstairs.

Meanwhile, Ken tried to take Angelo's arm to help him but the man slapped his hand away.

"We will talk tomorrow Ken, we're not finished" Angelo spoke in a cold voice.

As they left, Ken and Novie could hear Mary scolding Angelo for his harsh behavior.

Novie encircled a hand around Ken's arm and walk him to the door.

When they reached Ander's house, she lifted her face and stared at her boyfriend with a smile on her face, glad that they don't need to hide their relationship.

"Good night Ken" She tiptoed to plant a small kiss on his cheeks, the smile on her lips faded when she saw Ken's disappointed face.

"What is it?" she asked, confused.

"I will talk to your father tomorrow, I don't know what he's planning, but I have this strong feeling that something bad is about to happen, so instead of giving me a friendly kiss, be generous and give me a long one" Ken expressed in tease and pout his lips, waiting for her to kiss him.

Novie chuckled and stab a finger on his broad chest, "stop being dramatic, you'll survive don't worry" she squinted and turned her back on him.

Novie was about to leave when she felt her hand being pulled back and his lips sealed hers.