Chapter 462

Olivia

Seeing the normally reserved toddlers immediately scramble over to Clarissa, eagerly clambering onto her silk skirt hem with little regard for manners or sticky fingers, made my heart squeeze.

She didn’t even bat an eye, instantly pulling toys and books from her large handbag as if by magic. My stunned delight must have shown on my face, because Clarissa glanced up and laughed openly.

“Of course I had to bring the little ones some gifts,” she said with a cheeky grin as she held up a little stuffed zebra that Aurora was practically going bananas over. “I always have to spoil any little children I come across.”

I couldn’t help but giggle. “I’m not complaining,” I said. “Thank you so much, Clarissa. Really. That’s very nice of you.”

Clarissa waved me off with a chuckle. “May I?” she asked, holding up a little picture book that depicted an adorable array of mice wearing costumes on the cover. “I could play with them while you work, if you’d like. I’d love to babysit.”

My eyes widened slightly, a bit taken aback but not unwelcome to the idea. “You’re sure?” I asked. “You really don’t have to. You’ve already done so much just by stopping by.”

“Once again, it’s the least I could do,” Clarissa said with a smile. “Besides, I love children. And it seems as if you’ve got plenty on your plate already…”

I paused, glancing down at the clipboard in my hands. The to-do list I had for the day was only halfway finished, and it was already almost three o’clock. Finally, with a deep breath, I nodded. “Be my guest. They seem to love you.”

As she turned back to reading to the overjoyed twins, I couldn’t help but notice a slight glistening in her eyes while she spoke sweetly to them. There was a familiarity there that spoke volumes, and it made me wonder if she’d ever had children of her own.

Maybe seeing them reminded her of her own children once. Perhaps they were all grown up now.

My own eyes inexplicably misted over upon witnessing this. I couldn’t explain it, but seeing her with them… something just felt so maternal, so familiar. Like this was how it was supposed to be.

But, as I thought about it, I realized that I was likely just yearning for my children to have a grandmother. That was most definitely it. After all, both Nathan and I had lost our mothers. It was only natural, right?

Clarissa stayed well into the afternoon, effortlessly absorbing Aurora and Elliot’s enthusiastic exuberance. Before I knew it, I was turning around to see her sitting right in the middle of the playpen, letting the twins crawl all over her.

“My, you’re quite the climber!” she said to Elliot, who was reaching for her necklace. Meanwhile, Aurora had somehow loosened a strand of hair from Clarissa’s neat bun and was sticking it in her mouth. Clarissa seemed completely unfazed, and just laughed as they seemed to use her like a living, breathing jungle gym.

Suddenly, as I was looking over at them instead of focusing on my task of folding table cards, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked up to see Clint standing next to me with a knowing grin on his face.

“Oh, Clint,” I said, leaning up on my tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

He smirked and leaned on his cane a bit. “Just took the lady out for a coffee date,” he said. “Figured I’d stop by on my way home.”

“How was it?” I asked, smirking a bit myself at the mention of his newfound relationship with Dianna.

“Well… I’m smitten,” he admitted. “Just a few weeks, and already it feels as though I’ve known her for a lifetime. Who’s that, by the way?” He nodded his head toward Clarissa.

I lowered my voice and leaned closer to him. “That’s Clarissa; Alpha Dan’s wife. Isn’t she amazing with the twins?”

Clint followed my gaze, nodding slowly. “Was thinking the same thing myself,” he said softly. “Seems to be treating them like her own grandkids.”

I smiled weakly, still emotionally overwhelmed. “They certainly took to Clarissa as if she were their own family right away. I can’t explain why I got so sentimental watching them together.” I dabbed the lingering dampness from my eyes hurriedly before Clint could see.

Clint smiled and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, squeezing me tight. “No shame in it,” he said softly, then paused for a moment, cocking his head as he looked at her. “You know, she looks familiar, too…”

“Nathan says she looks like me.”

Clint paused, his weathered eyes darting back and forth between me and Clarissa before they widened in recognition. “She really does,” he said. “Why, it’s uncanny.”

“That’s what everyone says,” I replied with a sigh. “But I don’t see it.”

Clint chuckled. “Ah, well,” he said. “Either way, she’s great with those two. Maybe I’ll finally get a break from babysitting the little tikes.”

I gasped and punched Clint’s arm lightly, but we both laughed. Clint knew that he could always say no to babysitting; he just never did. I think he always felt like it was a way to make up for the fact that he had never had children.

But now, he had Dianna to think about. And I was happy for him.

“Well, I just wanted to stop in to see how you’re doing, but I see you’re doing just fine,” Clint finally said after a beat.

I nodded. For some reason, my eyes had misted over again while I was looking at Clarissa playing with the twins. I quickly blinked the tears away. God, these pregnancy hormones were really getting to me; that had to be it.

After all, what else could it possibly be?

…

A little while later, as I was just finishing up my last task for the day, Clarissa was still lingering around the twins’ playpen. I made my way over to her, taking in the sight of her as she rubbed the twins’ backs while they napped peacefully on their mats.

She looked up as I approached, meeting my gaze. There was a tired, but satisfied look in her eyes.

“You’re amazing with them,” I said softly. “Although, I have to admit that I feel a little bad for letting you babysit all afternoon…”

“Oh, please.” Clarissa stood, smoothing down her skirt, and stepped out of the playpen. “It was a pleasure, really. I love children.”

I quirked an eyebrow. “Do you have children of your own?” I asked. I imagined that she must have at least a couple, considering how much she seemed to love being around them. And her skills with Elliot and Aurora spoke of years of experience in motherhood.

Clarissa opened her mouth to respond and took in a sharp breath, but then paused for a moment. Her eyes almost seemed to glaze over, as though… as though she was trying to remember something, but couldn’t. It was brief, but it was there. And it left me reeling in a state of confusion of my own.

“No,” she finally said, a soft smile spreading across her face. “No, I haven’t.”

Just then, as I was about to come up with an answer to this strange moment, a voice suddenly caught both of our attention. “Olivia?”

Clarissa and I turned to see Benjamin, from the PR team, jogging toward us with a clipboard in his hands. “I was wondering if you could look at the printed program drafts…” he began, but as he spoke, his voice suddenly trailed off upon seeing Clarissa.

He slowed, then stopped in front of us, his eyes darting back and forth between the two of us. Then, a look of recognition washed over his face. What he said next took me completely by surprise.

“Olivia! How wonderful to meet your mother!”