Chapter 58 Chapter 57:

Chapter 58 Chapter 57:
Devon:

I feel a presence behind me and I know exactly who it is. I don’t know how long Arya has been standing in the doorway of the kitchen, staring at my back but I am not willing to say a thing. Instead, I continue chopping the tomatoes with each flex. It’s almost eight and Wanda and Liam will be here anytime soon.

Liam is bringing a bottle of wine, in which I clearly warned him not to, who knows? That guy might be sneaking in a bottle of alcohol and calling it wine, he better have no plan of getting us all drunk on Thanksgiving day.

“You know you’re really hot whenever you cook.” Arya finally pads over to my side, staring at the counter with bright gray eyes. I keep in the smile, instead raising a brow.

“Oh really?” I turn to stare at her, she’s wearing a deep burgundy dress that falls just below her knee. “You look beautiful.” I say, my breath hitching. So damn beautiful.

Arya brushes a strand of hair behind her ear, “Thank you,” a deep blush forms on her cheeks and for some unknown reasons, it makes my pulse quicken. “It’s one of the dresses I designed myself.”

She stares down, as if scared to look at me. Arya is so talented, but she keeps staying with people who have no use of her talent, my girlfriend is a fashion designer and it’s high time everyone knows that. Girlfriend? Damn it, are we still even doing that pretend dating stuff?

“Is the Turkey done yet?” Arya asks, shifting closer to me. I catch the faint whiff of her perfume and my heart races. Why am I feeling all these petty emotions in a wave on a day like this? 

I watch as Arya bends, opening the silver handle of the oven, the aroma of roasting herbs and golden butter fills the air before Arya closes it back.

“Just a few more and it’s ready,” she pouts her lips and I think, ‘oh fuck it’

I drop the knife on the counter, removing the gloves. My hands find her waist and she giggles, trying to swat my hand away. “Liam and Wendy will be here soon.”

“I don’t care.” He’s my brother, I am sure he knows exactly when not to intrude, “I wasn’t joking when I said you look beautiful tonight, you should design more.” We hear Vera giggle from the sitting room, maybe she found something interesting. The laughter of my daughter brings a warm feeling to me.

I feel like Arya gets shy whenever we talk about her work. Like everyone should be free when it comes to doing what they love, what’s holding her back? I tip her chin, letting her stare into my eyes. Her gray eyes say a lot, but at the same time, nothing at all. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” her voice is low, “Will you....um..take a look at my sketches later?”

“Of course.” As I lean further, the doorbell dings and Arya jumps away from me, breathing heavily while also fighting in laughter.

“That must be Wanda and Liam, looks like this year Thanksgiving has begun already.” She walks out of the kitchen, and I follow her silently. Vera outstretches her arms and I carry her, she giggles at me, and I smile back.

“Welcome, our beloved gu-” The moment Arya flings open the door, she freezes in shock, her hand still on the door handle. “Mom? Dad? Collins?” 

“Let’s not forget Samantha.” Her elder sister, Samantha raises her hand, trying to poke herself into view.

“Is this how to treat your beloved guests?” Her mother smiles, grabbing her daughter to pull her into a tight hug. “We missed you so much, honey.”

“How? When? What?” Arya mumbles, hugging her mother back tightly.

“Well, your boyfriend had something to do with it.” Her nineteen year old brother, Colin, says, stepping forward. He has the same sharp eyes as Arya, he’s quite tall, with a lanky build. “He somehow managed to clear our schedule and flew us over here with his private jet all in one night.”

Arya turns to face me, her eyes glassy. “You did that just to get my family here for Thanksgiving?”

I keep her stare, Vera still in my hands. “You said you wanted your family here and besides, it just took a few phone calls.”

“Also, when were you going to tell us that you have a boyfriend who is also the baby of your father?” Her father asks, peering at me. “Samantha updated us on everything on the drive here.”

Samantha shrugs, throwing a wink to me.

“A billionaire boyfriend at that,” her mother smiles, before leaving Arya and coming over to me. “We’re Arya’s family and thank you for doing all these. I’m Alice Morris, working as a business woman and that old man over there is Hugo Morris, he’s my business partner and long time husband. And these are our children, Samantha who’s a doctor, and Collins, who’s still in university and of course, our darling Arya whom you are already dating.” 

Her smile is really bright, and it’s way easy to tell where Arya got her wicked sense of humour. There's just something about her that makes my insides warm, she reminds me of her mother. Damn it.

“Nice to meet you all,” I keep it simple, “we’re very lucky to have you guys spend Thanksgiving with us.”

“Of course, no problem at all. I mean someone has to update your feeding table, Arya, I hope you have not been feeding him cereal for breakfast?” Alice glares playfully at Arya.

“Mom!” Arya rolls her eyes, faking being annoyed.

“What’s that smell? Oh mine, it looks like something’s burning.” Alice sniffs and my eyes widen in return, damn it. The turkey, I should have switched off the oven. “Don’t worry, I will go check it out.” We watch as Alice pads through the kitchen hurriedly, muttering another language under her breath.

“My wife likes to fix things, kind of like a superhero,” Hugo chuckles, “I better swoop in as the sidekick.” He follows her.

“Can I go drop my bags now?” Collins asks, still looking at me.

“Yeah, your bedroom is upstairs, to your left. I arranged it the way you might like it.” I say. Arya smiles at me, something unreadable in her eyes.

“No freaking way, is there like a playstation in there?” He asks, bewildered. He walks up to me and whispers in my ear, in such a way that Samantha and Arya wouldn’t hear a thing. “I think you’re really cool, Devon. I finally have a super rich brother-in-law.” He smirks, before pulling the luggage up the stairs.

“Can I?” Samantha says, outstretching her arms.

“Right, of course,” I say, Vera’s little head resting against my shoulder, her brown curls tickling against my neck, her tiny hands are clenched tight to my shirt and her eyes are tightly shut. It’s funny how she falls asleep so fast.

The weight shifts as Vera stirs awake, her sleepy eyes blinking open. We all look as she takes in the surroundings, her eyes shifting focus towards Samantha, and her bright green eyes glow. “Aunty Samantha!”

Samantha steps forward, “Baby girl, I’ve missed you so much.”

Vera is now eager to get out of my arms, sighing. I ease my arms, letting Samantha take her, they both talk to themselves in a language only both of them understand. Samantha starts to walk towards the kitchen, with Vera in her hands, while muttering. “Your grandparents are here.”

“I am sorry if my family is a lot.” Arya eases freely into me, her eyes pleading for an apology, “Why did you bring them here though, that’s a lot, Devon.”

“You wanted them here,” I sigh, “Come here, let’s go have dinner.” She nods her head in acceptance.

Thirty minutes later, the dining chairs are already occupied, the table is filled with all of the Thanksgiving special- mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and the golden Turkey.

Liam and Wanda arrived fifteen minutes ago, Wanda seems pretty excited to see Arya’s family, as we eat, the table is full of laughter, stories and past memories. I am seated at the head of the table, with Arya at my right, her gray eyes sparkling like they’re lit from within. All of these feel so strange and exciting at the same time.

Liam seems to adjust well, that guy is laughing with everyone like he has known them for years, I think he even managed to charm Samantha, even though I warned him not to bring the wine, he brought it, winking at me from across the table.

Vera’s seated in the highchair, taking in everyone with glowing eyes. She playfully tries to reach for food in Collin’s plate, but he teasingly scolds her, earning a burst of laughter from everyone.

This feels right. 

Arya leans towards me, her eyes shining with the same light that drew me to her that day on the cruise ship. “Thank you for doing this; you really don’t know how much this meant to me.”

I swallow, the tightness in my chest unexpected. “It’s nothing.”

She squeezes my hand under the table, whispering. “This means everything.”

Liam raises his glass, “To family, also dear Alice, can I call you mother?” he looks at me, winking. How many times is this guy going to wink at me today?

What the fuck?

“Oh my, that would be a pleasure!” Alice gasps, looking at me. “I would appreciate it if you can call me that too, after all. We are all family.”

“Alright, mother.” The word still feels so foreign in my mouth, but for the first time, it feels right. Arya smiles at me, pride glinting in her eyes and I like that the look is reserved just for me. I love her, damn it. I am utterly in love with her.

\--

Barbara:

The moment I mention our daughter, Julian’s face pales, he grabs my hand the next second, ushering me to the west wing of the house, his personal office in particular. What’s he so scared of losing? His perfect wife, his perfect daughter or even his perfect son-in-law. That’s a whole load of bullshit, if you ask me.

“What’s going on, Barbara? Is this some kind of sick joke? Because years ago, you told me that she wasn’t going to intrude in my life or yours. You made sure of that!” He’s glaring harder now and I almost laugh to his face.

Since I’m here, why not make myself free? I sink into his leather chair, raising my head to roll my eyes at him. There is a bottle of pinot noir on the table, half empty, I consider pouring myself a drink but with the way he’s looking at me, I stop myself.

“Well, let’s be frank with ourselves, Julian. You’re just a scared idiot afraid of his own wife, why didn’t you think of the consequences when you were fucking me behind her back then?” People tend to amuse me a lot, what’s that saying? Look before you leap, we never learn, do we?

Back then, when Kate was still alive and happy with Robert and I was just the friend of Kate, it was a get together and Kate so badly wanted me to tag along, I knew I would feel like a third wheel, but I went anyway. There, we met Julian and Catherine; they were just married, and happy in love.

Being at that get-together made me feel lonely, I remember having a drink when Julian came to meet me, I remember being charmed with his smile and his nerdy sexy glasses, he said words to me that made my insides flutter. We wanted each other that day, and of course, I whispered in his ear to meet me in the bathroom. Back then, I guess I was craving for fun. Kate had Roberts and all our friends had their person, I guess I was selfish because I badly wanted my person too.

“Knock two times so I know it’s you.” I whispered seductively in his ear, before standing up, and walking towards the bathroom. Honestly, I thought he wouldn’t risk his marriage for a lady he just met and I stood in the bathroom, half-naked. Five minutes later, he knocked twice and I knew I had him.

We didn’t stop fucking ever since then. Well, except when I got pregnant the same time Catherine got pregnant. It was a catastrophe, Julian demanded I lay low.

“No one needs to know, if they do, my whole life is ruined.” He said then. He was mostly concerned about himself, mainly because his wife had all the money. People do selfish things and when it blows out, they seek out selfish protection.

We gave the baby out, I killed Kate, became Mrs. Brookes, at party functions, we acted like didn’t fuck for years. Everyone has their secrets, mine just happen to be a lot.

“So my daughter....she wants to see me?” Julian asks, his voice low. He seems like a sad cat right now, out of options. I want to pity him, but then I remember, he came to the toilet at his own free will, he could have chosen not to, but he did.

“Yes, Julian. That is simply what I ask of you. Don’t you think you’re too selfish?” I ask, standing up from the chair and walking towards him. He has the audacity to look hurt. “You have two daughters, one whom you love so much, the whole world knows about her, you adore her, in public, in private and another one, whom you haven’t even met. Whom you didn’t even make any efforts to see her. You didn’t even want to see her baby pictures.”

My shoulder is quaking and he grabs my trembling shoulders, trying to calm me down. 

“I am just a scared idiot.” He sighs, “I have been nothing but a terrible person these past few years, and I want to amend things. I want to meet her. I want to meet my daughter.”

We stare into each other's eyes.

“I don’t have any pity for you.” I remove his hands from my shoulders, “I will text you the details. Go continue dinner with your family, happy Thanksgiving.” I say, heading to the door.

“Barbara?” He calls after me, making me pause from opening the door.

“What?”

“Thank you for everything.”

“Fuck you, Julian.” I say, pushing the door open and walking out. I don’t bother going to greet Catherine, as I walk towards my car, I think of why Anna wants to meet her father, why do I have a disturbing feeling that what she is planning is more than a happy father-daughter meet-up?