Adam's POV

Jane pulled me into the church, and the attention was on us. Most of the faces were familiar, but I could see a few new faces. Ms Rollins was sitting with her friend, talking. She looked up when she saw us pass by and looked back at her friend as if she'd seen someone she didn't know.

I sat next to Jane then the service began. The pastor came and began his sermon.

"Good morning, church. I'm not one to linger about so, let me start.

I'm going to be talking about forgiveness today. I know most of you have heard of this. God wants to forgive us of our sins, but he can only do it if we go and ask for forgiveness ourselves. That's why we have to pray everyday, because we are bound to make a mistake every once in a while. We might even sin without realizing it."

He looked around the church, and his gaze landed on me for a little while, then he smiled and continued on.

"But, have we even given ourselves the chance to forgive ourselves? We have done a lot of things in our lives before we got into this relationship with God. Some of us were the best liars out there, some of us were cheaters. The list is too big for me to even continue on.

We are now in this relationship, yet, we can't forgive ourselves of what we've done in the past. It is said that when one has been baptised, they've become a new creation, meaning that you're clean now. So, why is it that you still hold on to the guilts of the past?

All those things you did before you let God into your life don't exist anymore. And for those who've done something after baptism, just pray about it. Ask for forgiveness, and also forgive yourself. I feel like I was talking to someone today, and I hope and pray that they will allow God to give them the peace they deserve."

When he was done with his sermon, people began to sing. The song wasn't familiar, but the words from the pastor kept on ringing in my head, making my mind tick.

Was praying about it enough? Could it get rid of the guilt I felt inside?

All I got was complete silence as a reply. A hands rested on my shoulder, bringing me out of my reverie. Jane looked at me, a small smile on her face.

"The service is over. Let's go."

I looked around and saw that it was true. The church was nearly empty, apart from just a few people that were still around. When we walked out, I saw the pastor walk towards us. His smile was bright and welcoming.

"Mr Carter, it's been so long since I've last seeing you."

I smiled wryly, discomfort setting in.

"Yes, it has been a while indeed."

He held onto my hand, and gave it a fatherly squeeze. That was definitely something I wasn't expecting from him. It reminded me of my father.

"I know you've been through a lot, son, but know that there's a God in heaven who gives peace."

We had a staring contest for a bit until I nodded my head, and looked about to see Emilia with Ms Rollins standing next to the car, looking in our direction.

"Thank you, pastor, for the sermon. It has given me something to think about."

"Okay, son. Come back next week."

We parted ways and I walked towards the girls. Emilia, being the chatterbox she always has been, talked about what she'd learnt from the children's church while I drove us home.

*******

I took my laptop, and went to do my work in the sitting room while Emilia did her homework. The teacher had told them to look for different types of flowers as their weekend assignment and bring pictures with them. If they wanted to draw as well, they could. The floor was covered with crayons of different colors and she'd taken pictures of the flowers we had in our backyard.

"Aunt Lei, look! I drew a flower."

"That's a nice picture, little one."

I looked up to see Ms Rollins with a small bag in her hand. I wondered what she needed it for.

It's her weekend off.

Oh......... That meant I had to do something about dinner tonight. She wouldn't be here to make it and Emilia wasn't going for a sleepover today.

"Are you going, Aunt Lei?"

Ms Rollins crouched down close to Emilia.

"Yes. I will be back tomorrow evening, okay?"

The latter shook her head, making the former frown a little.

"No. Don't go, Aunt Lei. My dad's taking me to the carnival tomorrow, and I want you to come with us."

I looked at Ms Rollins, who seemed to be thinking about it. She turned to look at me, but I quickly looked back at my computer's screen, acting like I was concentrating on something else other than at them.

"Well........it is my day off. I'll come along with you."

Emilia clapped her hands in excitement, and I looked up to see Ms Rollins still looking at me. I nodded at her in approval. She smiled at that, and I couldn't help but smile back at her.

Shutting my laptop, I stood up and went to my study. I placed the computer in a secure place and took my wallet. Ms Rollins was looking at Emilia's drawings, talking to my pumpkin as animatedly as she possibly could.

I looked at them, and noticed how great they looked together. One could see from a mile away that they had bonded, and I felt it, then, that I wanted to see them like this, everyday. Shaking my head, I called out to them.

"Okay then. Make sure that you're ready. We're going out for dinner tonight."

Emilia immediately left what she was doing, and ran outside. Ms Rollins smiled to herself as she began to pick up the crayons and papers. I went to help her out and together we picked up the child's homework. Our hands touched when we were heading for the same color, and we both looked up at each other. She averted my gaze but a wry smile made itself present as she stood up to place the papers on the couch. Shocked by her reaction, I smiled to myself , pleased that she wasn't appalled by my touch.

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The car's engine was purring as we drove down the street, headed towards the restaurant. Emilia sat at the back playing on my phone while Ms Rollins was at the front with me. There was a comfortable silence in the car, almost peaceful, if I did say so myself.

"Where are we going?"

Ms Rollins' curious voice caught my attention, making me turn to look at her while I responded.

"There's a Chinese restaurant close by. Emilia and I go there most of the times when we don't just order something."

She hummed, looking outside, seeing the cars passing by on her side. When we got there, Ms Rollins took a hold of Emilia's hand while I went ahead of them inside. Calming music played in the restaurant, giving off a foreign ambience as compared to the one I was used to hearing. I didn't mean that in a bad way though. I actually liked it.

We took our seats at an empty table and a waiter came and took our orders. Some of them were written in Chinese, but I just picked for Ms Rollins our usual since she'd shown signs of not understanding anything. I didn't either, but when Emilia and I came here for the first time, they served us that dish. I went online when we got home, and looked it up. From then on, that was what we always ordered. Maybe I would try out the other ones next time.

Three bowls of steamy chicken chow mein were set in front of us, then the waiter left. I took my chopsticks and began to eat while Emilia used a fork. I looked at Ms Rollins and saw her using a fork as well.

"You can't use chopsticks?"

She looked at me, and smiled sheepishly. Shaking her head, she looked at her plate and began to eat.

"I'll teach you......that is, if you want me to."

She swallowed her food and said that she would love to learn. We smiled at each other, and continued on with the food. When we were done, a waitress came to our table with a welcoming smile on her face.

"Would this beautiful family like to order a dessert?"

Ms Rollins' eyes widened a little as she looked into her plate. I thought of teasing her about it, but I stopped myself. Not yet.

"No, thanks. Can you bring the check?"

"Sure."

As soon as she left, I looked to Ms Rollins.

"Are you okay, Ms Rollins? You looked a little uncomfortable there for a moment."

She looked at me, eyes still wide open. She shook her head and, while laughing nervously, tucked some hair behind her ear. I couldn't help but see how cute she could be sometimes. I noticed it that day when we sat together outside after I'd cajoled her to do so. When she was embarrassed about something, she'd do some funny stuff like shut her eyes tight and act like she was about to implode.

The cheque came and I paid. On our way back home, we talked about trivial matters, which allowed me to realize that we were now more comfortable with each other. I liked that feeling, that feeling of having someone I could talk to about anything, and still have a good time.

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Should I make a cast, where I send pictures of who's who and all that?? I've been thinking about it, but my couch potato self is having second plans🤦🤦🤦.

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