"Levi, I thought I told you to put those back." Amelia said, gesturing to the bags of potato chips the four-year-old boy was holding.

Amelia and Levi is in Byer's Buy, a local grocery store to buy some supplies for the shop and home. The boy looked in Amelia's eyes as if he's about to cry. "B-but..."

'Dear Lord, have mercy on me. How can I refuse this cute little angel in front of me?' she thought.

"But what?" I asked, trying to keep a straight face as she stoop down in Levi's level.

He sighed. "It's for Luke, mom."

'Such an angel.' Amelia commented.

Luke is his younger twin. He is currently at the pastry shop "helping" his Uncle Zeke. "Alright. But on one condition, you and Luke have to finish your veggies."

Levi smiled and hugs his mother. "Easy-peasy. I promise, mom."

"My baby's growing up too fast. Come on, let's pay for this and head back home."

She looked around the cashier section to see if the self-check out counter is open. She found one and pushed her cart there.

"Want to help me check out our groceries?" Amelia asked. Levi nodded enthusiastically.

They were on their last few items when someone greeted her.

"Oh, it's our dear Amy and little Luke or Levi? I can't seem to remember who's who." Mrs. Harrette Johnson said.

Amelia smiled back at the old lady. "I'm with Levi today, Mrs. Johnson. How are you?"

Mrs. Johnson is one of the elders in Haven. At 73, she is still fit and healthy. She's like the local Meryl Streep of their town. "I'm doing great! We're starting to plan the Midsummer Festival," the old woman answered.

"We're actually wondering if we can get you to bake our goodies again this year!"

Amelia thought for a second, having a flashback of all the hardwork she did on last year's Midsummer Festival which is all worth it.

"I would love to. What's this year's theme?" Amelia asked.

Mrs. Johnson sighed. "Well, that's the problem, we don't have one yet. We'll have a meeting in two days. It's so hard to top the previous one."

Last year, they had a fairytale theme festival. Every one in the town dressed up.

Luke and Levi wore a prince costume, complete with crowns and swords.

"Hope you come up with another brilliant theme this year, Mrs. Johnson."

"We'll do. Feel free to come by the pavilion by 3 o' clock that day. Have a great day, Amy."

"You, too."

They are about to exit when Amelia's phone rang.

📲 "Hello, Zeke. Is Luke giving you any trouble?"

📲 "Hey, Ames. Nope, Luke is an absolute angel."

📲 "Why did you call? We're about to head to the car."

📲 "There's a man here waiting for you."

📲 "Did he tell you who he is?"

📲 "Yeah. He said he's Leonard Storm."

📲 "Hmm... That name doesn't ring any bell."

📲 "He's not from here. Who in town will wear a three-piece suit anyway? He's hot though."

📲 "Well, let him wait. We'll be there in a few. Make sure he orders something."

Amelia ends the call and continued their way to the parking lot, pushing their cart while holding Levi.

'Leonard Storm?'

The drive was silent as Levi fell asleep in his seat. After twenty minutes, they arrived in the shop.

Amelia parked her car and noticed a luxury car parked in front of her shop.

'That car is so out of place,' she thought.

She opened the backseat and took the sleeping Levi out of the car. She then, made her way to the entrance.

"Zeke, do you mind getting the groceries in the car. I'll just put Levi in their room real quick."

"Sure, Ames. I just put Luke up there few minutes ago."

"Thanks, Zeke."

Amelia made her way upstairs, forgetting about the man waiting for her in the shop.

Opening her sons' room, she saw Luke sleeping in his bed, hugging Mr. Bear, his favorite toy.

She put Levi on the other bed and kissed their foreheads.

"Have a good nap, my angels. Mommy will be with you soon."

Amelia made her way back to the shop and proceeded to the counter.

Someone suddenly cleared his throat.

When Amelia raised her head, she saw a tall man with a charismatic green eyes.

"Uhh... May I help you?"

"Yes. I am Leonard Storm. I think your friend mentioned that over the phone."

"He did. Why do you want to talk to me?"

Leonard sighed and leaned over the counter. "I was sent here by your father. You have to go back to the Capital."

Amelia was dumbfounded. She took a deep breath to calm herself. 'How did they found me?'

Just when she was about to answer, the café bell rings indicating a customer coming in.

"I'll wait for your answer on my seat," the man said, making his way back to the table he was sitting in.

"Amy!" Mr. Jimmy Harolds, a town elder greeted her.

Amelia shifted her focus to the elder. "How's your day going, Jimmy?"

"Great! I just got back from therapy."

Jimmy had a minor accident last month that resulted to a leg injury. He was undergoing physical therapy.

She smiled at the elder. "How's the therapy?" she asked.

"The usual. Alice is a mad woman, she pushed my limits again today. I'm happy though. Two more sessions and I'm good to groove for the Midsummer," the elder proudly said.

"Well, what's your pick for today?" Amelia asked.

Jimmy looked at the menu. "I'll have a sugarless mixed berry smoothie and a slice of the best carrot cake in the universe."

Amelia liked Jimmy's attitude, he's not afraid to try new things in her shop. "Well, choose your seat, I'll just prepare your order.

While Amelia's busy with the order, Zeke finished arranging the groceries, the unfriendly visitor called for him.

"Excuse me, Zeke, right?"

"Yeah. Do you need anything?"

"Do you have any accomodations here?"

"Well, there's a hotel two towns away and a motel in the next town. We don't have those here but we have cabins you can rent."

Amelia served Jimmy's order and head over to Zeke who's talking to the visitor.

"If you want to stay here, I'll give the owner of the cabins a call." Zeke said.

Leonard looked at Amelia who pulled Zeke's forearm and whispered, "I'll just get the twins, I already saw that they're awake in the monitor."

"No problem, Ames."

With that, Amelia went ahead upstairs and went straight to the twin's room.

"Mommy!" both of the twins shouted, approaching her with a hug.

She smilled. "Did you get a good nap?"

"Yes!" the twins answered in unison.

Amelia ruffled their hair. "Alright, let's go downstairs and have some snacks."

The twins held hands with Levi holding Amelia with his left hand and Luke on his right. The younger twin was carrying Mr. Bear with his right hand.

The trio went downstairs. Zeke was on the phone at the moment.

📞 "Yeah, we'll see you in a bit. Thank you."

Zeke hung up and ruffled the twin's hair. "Hello, little angels. Had a nice nap time?"

"Hi, Uncle Zeke. Can we have some cookies we made?" Luke said, hiding his face behind Mr. Bear.

"Of course, I'll just go to that man," he said, pointing at Leonard who was busy with his laptop. "then, I'll prepare your snacks."

Amelia looked at the man.

'How did they found me? I've hidden myself and the twins for so long. Why now? I don't want to leave this place. This is our home.'

She was lost in her thoughts when the twins pulled on her cardigan.

"Mommy, let's have some snacks!" Levi exclaimed.

Writer's Note:

Hi, thank you for starting this journey with me, darlings! I will try my very best to update and be mindful with my spelling and grammar. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!

Hugs and kisses! 💜

As Zeke went over to Leonard, the man clad in business suit was too busy with his laptop to notice the woman who was the reason why he travelled to an unknown town called: “Haven”.

“Mr. Storm? I just called my friend; they’ll be here in a bit,” Zeke said politely.

The man slightly nodded his head. "Just call me Leo." Then, proceeded with the files he was checking on his laptop.

Zeke left Leo with a grumpy mood.

On the other hand, Amelia and the twins are in the kids play pen and study area, waiting for Zeke to serve some snacks.

“Ames, the Maruyama siblings will be here in a bit. The man would most likely to stay here,” Zeke whispered. “What does he want anyway?”

Amelia shrugged her shoulders. “I have an idea but I don’t want to think about it.”

Zeke gave the woman a knowing look. “I’ll always be with you, Ames. Always.”

“I know.”

Zeke then, proceeded to the counter to fix some snacks for the twins.

“Here’s some very berry cookies baked by Little Chef Luke and some milk,” Zeke said serving the snacks like a five-star restaurant waiter.

The boys giggled. “Wow! There’s an ‘L’ in my cookies! And it’s made with blueberries!” Levi exclaimed.

“Of course! Uncle Hide taught us how to write in yesterday,” said Luke.

Levi hugged Luke. “Thank you. I got you potato chips!” said Levi excitedly. Luke’s eyes sparkled because potato chips were one of his favorites. “We have to eat veggies, though,” Levi added.

“I don’t care. I’ll eat all veggies in the world for my potato chips!” said Luke, excitedly.

Amelia and Zeke can’t help but laugh at the scene.

The café door chimed and the two Asian siblings enter. Levi was the first one to recognize the visitors.

“Uncle Hide! Aunt Yuki!” shouted Levi, running towards the siblings with Luke following his twin.

The twins were very close with the Maruyama siblings since Hideo or Hide, as the twins likes to call him, gave them a portrait of themselves for their third birthday and Yuki because she always gives them cute matching costumes that the twins love dressing up into.

“Levi!” said Hide.

“Luke!” said Yuki.

The siblings shared hugs and kisses with the twins. Zeke cleared his throat.

“Hey, business first,” Zeke said.

Hide and Yuki let go of the twins and greeted Amelia. “Hey, Amy!” greeted Yuki, who was carrying a huge paper bag in her hands. “I got some new matching dinosaur onesies for the twins,” she added.

“Thank you, Yuki. I’ll make sure to have a photoshoot of the two and send it to you for your portfolio.”

Yuki beamed. “I appreciate that so much.”

Meanwhile, Hide and Zeke went over the table occupied by Leo.

“Mr. Storm, this is Hideo, my friend who owns the cabins around the area.”

“Good day, Mr. Storm. Heard that you’ll be staying in our town. Are you waiting for the Midsummer Festival?”

Leo shook Hide’s hands and re-introduced himself.

“How many days are you going to stay here? The Midsummer Festival will happen in eight days. Most visitors will be here in five days,” said Hide.

Leonard pulled up his calendar from his phone. “I’ll stay for two weeks.”

“Great! I have here the contract with the rules and regulations,” Hide said, pulling up a black folder with the contract from his bag. “You said you wanted to stay near this café? Cabin #4 is just a few steps away from here. But, there’s stricter rules for that place.”

“I have no problems following rules. It’s fine,” Leo assured the young landlord.

“Alright, the cabin is up that hill on your back,” Hide said, pointing at the direction. “There’s a wooden stair that you can climb to reach it. I will lead you the way if you’re ready to go.”

Leo shut his laptop and replaced it the bag he was carrying when he got there. “If it’s not much of a trouble, I’d like to go there now.”

Leo stood and went to Amelia. He cleared his throat. “Ms. Hawke,” he said, getting the attention of the women and the twins. “I’ll be lodging here for the next days.”

The twins wondered about the strange man. “Who are you, mister?” Levi asked bravely.

Leo stooped low on the level of the twins and smiled at them. “I am your Uncle Leo,” he said. “What are your names?”

“Levi, his name starts with ‘L’ too!” Luke exclaimed.

Amelia was taken aback by the behavior of the twins towards the stranger. “Uncle, my name is Levi and this is my twin, Luke. Did you come from far away?”

Leo was about to answer but Amelia interrupted the conversation. “Levi, Luke, I think Uncle wants to get some rest now.”

“Will you visit again, Uncle?” Luke asked, hiding his face using his stuffed toy.

Leo smiled and ruffled the twins’ hair. “Of course, I’ll see you again.”

"Uncle, have a cookie! It has an 'L' on it like our names!" Levi said excitedly.

......................

Writer's Note:

Hi, darlings! This is it for chapter two. For the next chapter, I will be shifting in first person point of view style (Amelia's POV) so that we can see how the story unfolds in her mind. Also, please do comment on the things I have to improve in the story.

To avoid confusions, Hideo's name is pronounced as 'hee-de-yo' but his nickname: Hide is pronounced as the hide in hide and seek.

The Maruyama siblings are Japanese but they settled went to Haven for a certain reason. Their story along with other characters will unfold as we go on in the novel.

Thanks for reading!

Hugs and kisses,

mchlabsinthe

Warning: The flashback of this chapter includes very slight mentioning of blood and death. I will try to make it as mild as possible cause here are some essential information about the characters' past. If you are sensitive to these contents, please proceed to the next chapter.

At first glance Leo cannot deny the resemblance of the twins to Liam. From the eyes to the shade of their hair, it is as if his fallen comrade is alive.

‘I wish you’re the one to see your sons, brother,’ he thought.

(Flashback)

Four years ago...

Liam had been deployed in a top-secret mission in the Northern Alaskan region where illegal dealing of high caliber weapons was conducted. Liam had been serving the agency ever since he was scouted in college. Every time he would go on a mission, he would always say that he had an important business trip to attend to.

They are on the second day of surveying the location and was resting on the base when Liam received a call from his private phone.

“Hello.”

“Hi, honey. How are you doing? I’m sorry I wasn’t able to contact you immediately. The signal in our hotel is not good.”

“I want to tell you something, Liam.”

“Honey, you’re making me nervous. What is it?”

There was a long silence on the other line. “Hello?” Liam said.

He heard a sigh. “Liam, remember when we celebrated our third anniversary three months ago?”

“Yes, of course. Best weekend ever.”

“It also the first time that we did it.”

“Yes. Honey, am I thinking what you’re thinking?”

“I went to the doctor yesterday because I was having morning sickness for the past days and the results just came in.”

“And…?”

“I’m pregnant, Liam. You’re going to be a dad.”

Liam gasped and felt hot tears rolling from his eyes. “Liam?”

There are many things flying around Liam’s mind. “I’m still here. Wow. Amy. I love you. I promise I’ll be back as soon as I finish my job here.”

“I love you, Liam Wolfe. We will wait for you. See you soon.”

Liam was overwhelmed with his emotions. He ran back to the barracks and opened their door. "My girlfriend's pregnant!" Liam happily shouted to the people in the barracks.

Most of them congratulated Liam and some teased him. It was a lively evening for everyone. "I can't wait to finish this mission and propose to her!"

Later that night, Liam was called to their team leader's tent.

"Agent Wolfe." Liam’s team leader and long-time friend, Leonard Hawke greeted him. “Agent Hawke.” Liam replied.

“These are the profiles of the people we need to eliminate.” Leo said, handing a sealed folder with the words ‘confidential’ stamped in front.

Liam opened the folder and put each profile on the table. “Our surveillance team are in the ports, there are some sightings of this man,” Leon said, pointing at a photo of an Asian looking man. “This is Xu Dao Chen. The right-hand man of the Asian cartel. They are having a deal with the Russians.”

“But why have a deal in Alaska?”

“Who do you think has the massive weaponry in the world?”

This had been the most dangerous mission that Liam would experience as an agent, but he had nothing to worry about because their team leader is the ace of the whole agency.

The next day...

All of the field agents gathered in the briefing room for the planning and preparation of their attack. Liam, along with five other members, is tasked to infiltrate the warehouse where the deal will happen.

“This mission will not only save our nation but also the lives of the innocent. We cannot afford to fail.” Leo said with firmness.

Later that night...

“All units standby,” Leo said over their transmitter. Leo is in the team that will attack the Russians. “Report once you notice something.”

“Agent Wolfe, reporting. There’s a movement on the east entrance of the warehouse. A black bulletproof van entered. We’re moving forward.”

Liam went to the backside of the warehouse and started attacking the guards posted to man outside. “We are in.”

“Hide. We’re almost there.” Leo said.

Liam and the others hide and observed the warehouse.

Few hours later...

The only sound to be heard from the warehouse were guns, and shouts of agony and pains. Blood, bullet shells, and dead bodies were scattered on the floor.

“Liam, there’s a traitor in our team,” Leo said to him privately.

It was too late. Liam was held at gunpoint by a member of his team. “Agent Smith, why are you doing this?” Liam asked calmly.

He knew if he made a sudden movement, he would die. “Do I need to tell you anything?” the traitor said, mocking Liam.

“How can you betray your nation?”

“The country betrayed me first!” Smith shouted angrily. “Sending me undercover for three years, getting tortured and beaten. Then, I saw the news about my fiancée getting married to another man. So, I strike a deal with the devil.”

“You could’ve talked to us. You could’ve told us what happened.”

The traitor laughed and shoot Liam in his right leg. Pain shoots in Liam’s body as he fell on the floor.

“The offer was too good to refuse,” Smith said still laughing manically.

In that moment, Leo approached Smith. “Smith!” he shouted. “Drop your gun!”

Instead of dropping his gun, he took Liam as hostage.

“Shoot me and this brat’s brain will scatter on the floor.”

Smith dragged Liam off the floor and held his gun into Liam’s temple. Then, he made way to the exit the warehouse. Leo cautiously followed them.

When Smith arrived beside a black van of the enemy, he pushed Liam and shoot him in the back.

“Liam!” shouted Leo. He fired his gun towards the moving van, first targeting the wheels then, the machine.

The van exploded.

Leo rushed towards his comrade. Liam was already losing a lot of blood from his leg and back. “L-Leo, I d-don’t t-think I c-can,” he said coughing blood. “m-make it.”

Liam took something from his pocket. It is a photo of a woman. “T-This is m-my g-girlfriend,” he said weakly, coughing more blood. “A-Amelia. Y-you h-have to p-protect h-her from h-her father.”

“I will. Don’t talk anymore, the medics are coming. You’ll go back to her,” Leo said.

“N-no. T-this is g-goodbye n-now. I r-regret that I w-won’t see our c-child. E-everything is in m-my j-journal. T-tell h-her t-that I l-love h-her,” Liam said as his pulse slowed down.

“T-thank you, b-brother.” And with that Liam took his last breath.

(End of Flashback)

“Leo?”

Leo snapped away from his thoughts and faced the voice who was calling him. “I’ve been calling you. Did you get your luggage?” said his temporary landlord.

“Yes,” he answered, pulling a black luggage from the backseat of his car.

“Follow me.”

Writer's Note:

This is the third chapter, darlings. Updates will be done over the weekend cause I have a full-time and very demanding job but I'll try my best to update at least once or twice a week. Thank you for reading. Type in your comments and suggestions.

Hugs and kisses,

mchlabsinthe