Chapter 207: Book 5: Time Flies By

Three Years Later

“Don’t they look just like you both used to when you were babies?” asked an ecstatic Henrietta Gray, looking at Hudson’s two-week-old twin boys, Carson and Easton.

“Yeah, Easton looks like me,” said Weston proudly, while Hudson grinned.

“Then you look after him. I’ll look after Carson. Sophia can take a break,” said Hudson.

“Sure. I can do anything for Easton. He’s mine, bro,” said Weston, rocking his little nephew in his arms. His mom and Hudson shared a look as they looked at him tenderly. Life had been so very harsh on him. The last three years had been a major battle for him. It took him a year to get back on his feet and another six months of exhaustive physiotherapy to walk normally again. But he never gave up hope and patience and worked harder and harder with every passing month. He joined back his office in a more senior position than before. He now drove his car back and forth from the office since he was banned from riding his motorcycle, which his dad had disposed of after the accident. Despite everything, he never gave up hope of Isabella and still waited for her, jumping at the sound of the doorbell. He prayed every day just like his dad had asked him to, and it broke his mom’s heart to see him like this. Thankfully, they had never heard from the Hartfords since that fateful day.

“Isabella would have been so happy to see her nephews,” gushed their mom. Realizing what had escaped her mouth, she looked apologetically at Weston. His eyes filled with tears, but he gave them a sad smile, and, tucking Easton in his crib, he left the room.

“Mom, you know he gets affected whenever Isa’s name crops up,” said Hudson.

“It just escaped my mouth,” said his mom with a sigh. Even after four years, there never passed a single day when they didn’t talk about Isabella. Anna Sophia came back to the nursery, freshly showered to feed her babies.

“Did you have breakfast, Sophia?” asked Hudson’s mom.

“No, mom. I’ll have it after feeding them,” she answered.

“You need to eat on time, dear, else you won’t produce enough milk and your head will swoon every time you feed them,” advised his mom. Anna Sophia’s eyes widened after hearing that.

“Oh, I didn’t know that. Okay, mom, I’ll eat on time from now on,” she promised.

Weston sat in Isabella’s room and went through her things for the billionth time. After recovering, he had shifted back to his old room, but he slept in Isabella’s room at night, amidst her stuff. It made him feel closer to her. He couldn’t sleep alone in his room at all as nightmares chased him throughout the night, disrupting his sleep.

“Come back, Isabella. I’m still waiting for you,” he whispered, staring at the bracelet that he had given her. The sound of the doorbell brought him back to his senses, and he rushed out to the staircase to see who had arrived. His heartbeats sped up with hope. Was it Isabella? Did God, at last, listen to his prayers?

Hudson opened the door and stood shocked seeing Arianna Willis, Isabella’s friend, at their doorstep after four long years. “Hey, little one? Where have you been for so long?” Asked Hudson, giving her a hug. His mom, too, came out to check who had arrived. Weston walked down slowly to find out if Arianna knew Isabella’s whereabouts.

“Hey, bro. So good to see you. Mine’s a long story,” she told him.

“Hello, sweetie, so good to see you,” said their mom, with tears in her eyes. She hugged Arianna tightly.

“Is Isabella staying with you, Ari?” asked Weston, coming straight to the point.

“I wish she was, Wes, but I wasn’t here all this while,” she told him with a sad look in her eyes. They all went to sit in the living room. Anna Sophia too came in after putting the twins to sleep and they introduced her to Arianna.

“Then where were you? Laurence had come here a few months back, looking for you,” informed Henrietta Gray.

“Yeah, after our honeymoon, I shifted into Laurence’s house, but his parents hated me. In his absence, they accused me of stealing and threw me out of the house. As I was on my way here, I realized they had hired a hitman to kill me. Laurence had a terrible accident when the car meant to hit me, hit him instead. I didn’t know about it then. I was pregnant and somehow, with the cab driver’s help, I escaped to Arkansas. My daughter was born there, but I couldn’t return since Laurence’s parents had hired people to kill me and they were looking for me. Later, when Laurence was better, he searched for me and brought me back,” said Arianna. Everyone listened with concern. They did not know that Arianna really had gone through so much.

“But why would they want to kill you?” asked Weston.

“They wanted Laurence to marry some hotelier’s only daughter and get access to their riches. Also, Laurence’s dad was the one who confiscated my dad’s firm and made us go bankrupt. He recognized me immediately when I went to their house,” said Arianna.

“This must have been so traumatic for you, dear,” said Henrietta Gray, holding onto her hands.

Arianna nodded and asked about Isabella. They told her everything that had happened. “Has she gone to LA? That’s her hometown, after all,” suggested Arianna.

“Maybe she has, but we don’t wish to compel her to come home,” said Hudson.

“Maybe if we tell her that Weston is still waiting for her, she’ll come back,” said Arianna with hope.

Weston looked at Arianna with hope. “How will you tell her?” he asked curiously.

“Can we post on social media? Maybe she checks our accounts?” asked Anna Sophia. Their eyes brightened with hope. Yes, that could be done.

“Yeah, brilliant idea,” said Hudson, smiling at his wife.

“But what will we post? We can’t post a picture of Weston with a banner, ‘Hey, I’m still unmarried. Come back and marry me already’,” said Anna Sophia.

Weston hid a smile while Arianna and Anna Sophia giggled. “We can post the pictures of the twins with Weston,” suggested Hudson. The girls gave him a look.

“Dumb idea, Dr. Gray. That will give her the wrong idea. She’d think that they’re Weston’s babies and she’ll never return home.” Arianna scowled at him.

“Stop already. I don’t want you guys to post anything. If needed, I’ll think of something and post,” said Weston.

They chatted for some more time. They loved to plan and plot ways to bring Isabella home. At last, Arianna left with a promise to bring her daughter along the next time to meet them.

Weston thought and thought and at last decided against posting anything. His life was barren and there wasn’t anything to post. Maybe she had found someone at last and had long-term plans with him. He wanted her to be happy, wherever she was. So life went on with him. The twins started growing stronger day by day and after work; he played with them every day. Hudson and Carson teamed up against him and Easton and they played with the soft yellow teether balls that the babies chewed. The babies gurgled with laughter. It was Weston’s favorite pastime.

Cody and Dave came regularly to spend time with Weston. With Cody’s upcoming wedding to their old school friend, Vicki, aka Victoria, Weston was busy helping with his wedding preparations. He was Cody’s best man and, as such, had a lot of responsibilities on his shoulders. Dave was after Vicki’s best friend, Christina, who was the maid of honor. He escaped all his responsibilities as he was 24 hours busy chasing her.

“I’ll marry her the next day,” swore Dave.

“Dude, marriages don’t happen that way. Propose first on one knee,” advised Cody. Weston watched them with an amused smile. His friends didn’t change one bit. They were still the same.

“She’ll run for the desert if I propose,” protested Dave.

“You can’t do anything against her will, dude. So, win her first, propose to her afterward,” advised Weston.

“Hmm, what about you, Wes? You need to move on,” said Dave.

“I can’t, dude. I’ve accepted that we aren’t meant to be together, but I can’t think of anyone else,” he told them.

“She might be married by now,” pointed out Dave.

“I know, but I’ll still wait forever,” said Weston. Cody’s wedding day arrived, and Weston was happy for his best friend. Cody had stood by him since childhood and this was the chance he got to stand by him on his special day. He sincerely carried out his responsibilities and wished them all the happiness in the world.

After a fortnight, it was Dave’s wedding to Christina and he couldn’t have been happier that both his childhood friends had found happiness in life.

Days turned to weeks and weeks to months, and soon a year passed by. The twins learned to walk and were already a handful. Arianna visited them many times and every time she came, Weston was excited about hearing the new plans she had to bring Isabella back. Their dad, too, surprisingly added to their plans. It was the best pastime for them.

So when the doorbell rang, Weston eyed Hudson, and they leaped to open the door. It should be Arianna, with a new plan for them!