Serena Meets Alicia and Jackson Again!

Serena Meets Alicia and Jackson Again!
Serena

“Sorry,” I said between laughs. “Please continue.”

They resumed their very serious discussion, crayons moving across paper.

“It must be hard to live with them,” Nico said.

“I know, right?” Ava replied. “But it is what it is.”

He nodded, accepting this wisdom without question.

“Uncle Nico,” Ava said thoughtfully, “I think you and I are good people and we like each other’s company. Why do we not become friends?”

Nico blinked, clearly caught off guard. Then a small smile softened his face. “I would like that.”

She beamed. “Let me add you on my phone.”

She climbed off the chair, ran to her bag, and returned with a small pink phone. Before anyone could stop her, she took Nico’s number, which almost no one had, and saved it with dramatic seriousness.

“We shall be in touch,” she declared.

Nico looked utterly bewildered.

“I will invite you to play at my house,” she continued. “We will play card games. Do not worry, I will not force you to play dolls. I know boys find it boring. I will also invite my boyfriend.”

“You have a boyfriend?” Nico asked, stunned.

“Of course,” she said proudly. “I am five. I am a big girl. Everyone has a boyfriend at this age.”

“Oh,” Nico said slowly, as if updating his understanding of the world.

The door to the waiting room opened.

Agent Black and Prosecutor Black walked in.

They froze the moment they saw us.

Their eyes flicked from Nico to me, then to Ava sitting comfortably between us, coloring like she belonged there. Silence stretched thick and awkward.

Ava looked up and waved cheerfully. “Hi Mommy. Hi Daddy.”

“Mommy!”

Ava’s voice echoed through the corridor as she came running toward her parents, her little shoes tapping excitedly against the polished floor. She threw her arms around Alicia’s legs and looked up with wide eyes full of curiosity.

“How is my little brother?” she asked eagerly.

“There is no little brother,” Jackson said before Alicia could respond. His tone was dramatic and wounded, as though he had been personally betrayed by the universe. “Your mommy ate way too many eggs and the test result was wrong. And she scolded me all the way to the hospital for ruining her life, her body, and everything else she could think of.”

I had to press my lips together to stop myself from laughing out loud.

Alicia shot him a sharp glare. “You are not funny.”

Ava ignored them both and turned toward us, clearly deciding that this was the more important conversation. “Mommy, I invited Uncle Nico for a card game.”

Alicia froze mid step. “Uncle Nico?” She raised an eyebrow slowly and looked straight at Nico. “When did that happen, and what exactly are you teaching my daughter?”

Nico remained silent, looking slightly stunned and deeply uncomfortable, which only made Ava rush in to explain.

“Aunt Serena said he can be called Uncle Nico,” she said proudly. “I do not have an uncle, so I thought why not. And we like each other. We decided to be friends.”

“Nice,” Alicia said flatly, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

Jackson placed a gentle hand on her back and rubbed small circles as if he had practiced this exact motion many times before. “Calm down,” he said softly. “Shall we head back now?”

Alicia let out a long groan. “What a mess I am stuck in.”

“Uncle Nico is coming for a card game this Friday at our home,” Ava announced confidently.

“We will see,” Alicia replied with a sweet smile that fooled no one. I knew that in her mind, this invitation had already been cancelled.

Jackson turned toward me then, his expression warm and genuine. “How are you?” he asked. “You look healthier than the last time I saw you.”

I nodded and stepped forward before I could second guess myself. I hugged him tightly. “Thank you, Prosecutor Jackson Black,” I said softly. “You saved me.”

He smiled and returned the hug without hesitation. “That was my job,” he said. “And it made my career, honestly. Being the last client I represented as a government prosecutor was Serena Romano.”

“Last client?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes,” he replied, his smile fading just a little. “Your case opened my eyes. I realized there is no such thing as black and white anymore. The corruption runs deeper in the government than anywhere else. The system I wanted to protect is beyond saving. I tried, Serena, but somewhere along the way they crushed my spirit.”

“What are you doing now?” I asked gently.

“I became an independent lawyer,” he said. “Moved to New York. Took a few cases, built a small firm from scratch. It is not easy, but it is honest work.”

“Congratulations,” I said sincerely.

I turned to Alicia. “Agent Black,” I greeted her. “It is good to see you again.”

She groaned as if my presence personally exhausted her.

Jackson sighed beside her. “While you made my career, you ruined hers.”

I stared at him. “What are you saying?”

Alicia answered before he could. “They suspended me,” she said bluntly. “Because they failed to get what they wanted, they punished me instead. Demoted me to a desk job. I would rather quit than let them use me again.”

My chest tightened. “So what are you doing these days?” I asked carefully.

“Mommy is Sathm,” Ava announced proudly.

I blinked. “Sathm?”

“Stay at home mom,” Alicia explained flatly.

Then she looked at me directly, her voice softer now. “Do not feel guilty. Ava needs me right now. For five years, Jack put his career on hold so he could be present for her. Now it is my turn to give him space to focus on his work. We are tired of proving ourselves to systems that do not care. We chose a slower path. Whatever comes, we will face it together. Right now, our family comes first.”

I smiled, something warm settling inside me. “You are a great mother, Alicia.”

She looked everywhere except at me, clearly uncomfortable with the compliment. She was so much like her brother in that way.

“Come on, Ava,” Jackson said gently. “Let us go.”

Ava ran toward us and hugged both me and Nico tightly before waving enthusiastically. “Bye, Aunt Serena. Bye, Uncle Nico.”

As they turned to leave, I spoke up. “Alicia,” I said. “I would like to talk to you for a moment.”

She hesitated, then nodded.

We walked a little distance away, out of earshot. When we returned ten minutes later, Nico was waiting quietly, his expression unreadable.

“What did you talk about?” he asked softly.

“Nothing important,” I said, taking his hand. “Let us meet the doctor.”