21

Pulling over, I saw Henry waving at us through the windshield. He was holding brown bags. Nathan hastily hopped out to meet him.

"Are you not freezing out here? How long have you been here?" I walked towards him. He was smiling so broadly as snow covered his entire trench coat.

"I thought we could have lunch together to celebrate Nathan's first day at school." He smiled.

"Yayyyyy!" Nathan cheered, trying to collect one of the brown bags.

"It's quite heavy," Henry informed him.

"I can hold it." He insisted, and Henry gave one to him. He clutched his to his chest, his eyes beaming with joy.

"Let's go in. Come on," I urged.

With chicken burrito and rice and beans, Chicken Caesar pasta salad for appetizer, and S'mores for dessert, it was a feast. Nathan was so happy we prepared so much food just for him and yeah, he wouldn't sit still at the dining table.

"You love it?" I asked him.

"Yes!" He chirped and munched on his chicken to his heart's content.

"It's all thanks to Uncle Henry, all right?"

Henry chuckled, "I did nothing."

"Thanks, Uncle Henry. You are the best!" He chirruped.

"I'm glad you like the food." Henry smiled.

"By the way, Henry, how did you learn to cook so well? I mean, this is literally the best homemade food I've ever eaten."

"Are you serious?" He wouldn't believe me.

"Of course... everything is delicious." I asserted.

"Well, I stole some lessons from my aunt. I used to go to her place during the summer holidays in my college days. She was a great cook," he said.

"Was it?" I hoped it was not what I was thinking.

"She passed away three winters ago."

"Oh my God!" I gasped.

"What's that mummy?" Nathan blinked.

"It's nothing," Henry said somberly and ate on.

"I'm so sorry, Henry." I touched his hand briefly.

"Thanks." He squeezed mine.

I wanted to ask him what the cause of her death was, but I felt it wasn't appropriate for a cheerful gathering like this, so I let it be. He must miss her a lot, like I missed my parents, especially my father.

"I can't thank you enough for the meal," I said with the utmost sincerity.

"Don't mention it. I'm more than pleased to have you both at this table with me." He smiled at me.

I was touched.

"Mummy, I need to pee." Nathan cried.

"Go on now." His mouth was already smeared with food and his collar was wet, he must have spilled some juice on himself. I watched until he disappeared from sight.

"I wish this moment would not end." Henry's voice distracted me. I returned my gaze to him. His expression was rather sincere. I was reminded of the first time he confessed his feelings for me.

"I'd always wanted a family, too." He bizarrely moved his head.

I chuckled.

"A beautiful wife and an adorable child, son, or daughter, I don't mind." His eyes traveled to the table, and he took both of my hands.

I swallowed, I knew moments like this, and I knew the outcome of this particular one. I just felt Henry should have met me when I was quite naïve and had not come across Ethan Brooks. Perhaps we will be married now.

"What do you want in life?" He asked, gently caressing my fingers with the back of his thumbs.

I thought for a while before giving him my answer.

"I really don't know what happiness is, but I want to be happy. I wish to be happy and give my son the life he deserves. I want us both to live happy lives."

"Well, I want to be the one to show you what happiness is. I want to give you and Nathan happy lives. I don't care what you think, but while I'm with you, I'll make sure you are always happy," he expressed.

"Henry..."

"I know you might believe I'm saying this because of my pursuit of your heart, but believe me, it's not. I'm only saying I'll fulfil the desire of a friend without any selfish motive." He grinned.

I smiled.

"You know, you could actually get any woman with that smile." I chuckled.

"Really?" He smiled again.

"Yeah..."

"That means I'll smile more often, so I can capture your heart quickly." He beamed a smile. I chortled, Nathan ran in.

"You took a while? Did you pee?" I eyed him.

"Yes, mummy." He smiled.

Henry gently let go of my hands.

"Do you want to eat some more?"

"A little bit more," he said.

"What about you eating dessert now?"

"Can I have it?" He asked cutely.

"Sure." I passed him the S'mores, and he helped himself and began to eat.

"You've eaten a lot of delicious food today. What do you say to Uncle Henry?"

"Thank you, Uncle Henry. You are the best." He gave a thumbs up.

"Thank you for eating so much." Henry chuckled.

"Nathaniel, will you tell Uncle Henry about your teacher and the new friends you made today?"

"Yes, yes." He nodded.

"I look forward to it." Henry smiled again.

I hoped he had never caused it made me smile too.

Leo

"Iliana, who styled your hair?" Cynthia was saying when I returned to the table. I had gone to receive a call and had the opportunity to release the tension in my body.

The Stathoms were a pain in the ass and Victor wouldn't stop charging at the servants, despite the fact that we hosted them rather often. It seemed like he was prone to forgetting faces very quickly.

Thankfully, Oliver and Jeremy were terribly quiet and not bickering at each other. Jeremy, I knew, was still sulking from earlier. Grandpa had called him an Axolotl, which I went to look up when he had refused to tell me what it meant.

An Axolotl was not a pretty creature in pink.

My dad and Gabriel usually had a flawless rapport, so I, as much as others, was expecting some juicy conversation which, I hoped, would not generate a conflict with the interference of others, like Oliver.

"I need to go now." My dad said as soon as I sat down.

"Where to?" Nana was the first to ask.

"I have to be somewhere, Nana." He pushed back the chair.

"Where is your destination?" She persisted. "You shouldn't leave midway through lunch, we are the host." She complained.

"I wish I could stay, but unfortunately, I can't." He rose to his feet, all eyes fixed on him. Nana sighed, dropping her fork in annoyance. She tugged at her shawl. I knew she was trying to restrain her anger. Everyone knew Nana took these things with the utmost importance.

"I'm so sorry, Gabriel, Cynthia...the kids," he gave an awkward laugh. "I have to go." He finished.

"Of course," Gabriel said. I guessed he wouldn't be talking very much at lunch.

"Just let him go, Nana. We have no problem with that." Cynthia gave her hand a dismissive wave.

My eyes caught Ariadne staring at me. I didn't know how I was able to contain my resentment towards her, and there she was leering at me with those deceitful eyes. I couldn't wait to get off the table.

"Thanks, Cynthia." He grinned. "Then I'll get going." He walked around the table and gave my mum a soft kiss.

"I'll see you later." He murmured, and then he was gone.

"Will you ever let the boy be?" Grandpa groaned.

Jeremy swallowed.

"Has he not done his will? Iliana, would you pass Cynthia the tomato sauce?" She cocked her head towards my mum.

"Oh, thank you. I needed just that." Cynthia grinned. Nana twitched a contented smile.

"So how's your business going?" Cynthia asked my mum.

"Pretty good. The sales are friendly." My mum chewed.

"That's good to hear. Venus just launched a new product. Quintessentially, you must have heard of it. Our sales are skyrocketing." She said confidently.

"Oh wow. I'm not keen on makeup, so I must have missed the name," My mum said. I thought the salad was too vinegary.

"I know that, that's why I brought you one." She reached for her purse and brought out a small pack Venus designed for sale. "Have it."

"Oh my. Thank you so much. I'll use it well." And that was how Cynthia Stathom promoted her latest product with such smoothness.

"I brought one for Nana too." She added.

"You are such a darling." Nana chuckled, accepting the gift.

"Your birthday is in two days, is it not, Ariadne?" Nana feigned ignorance of the news. I was certain I would be dragged into the conversation that would erupt subsequently.

"Yes, Nana. I haven't prepared a lot..."

"You'll need a hand. I'm sure that Leo has no problems helping with the preparations." She turned a questioning eye to me.

When would Nana stop this irritating shipping?

"I do."

Ariadne noisily dropped her fork on the table.

"Do you need water?" Jeremy asked, out of the blue.

She shot him a wicked glance.

"What do you mean?" Nana frowned.

"This week is Investors'Acknowledgement Week at the company, so yeah, my schedule is pretty tight," I said.

"You can't make time at all?" Nana queried.

"No."

"Must you have a party?" Oliver glared. "You are so frivolous," he said.

"Shut the fuck up, Oliver or I shall adorn you with this plate of tagliatelle." She ground out.

"You really can't do that..."

"Try me."

"That's enough. Stop acting like kids. You are adults, for crying out loud." Cynthia cried.

"I'd love to watch a drama as interesting as that, and then you'll see if you don't have you two grounded for the rest of your lives. And Ariadne, while you say fuck, try to be sincere." Gabriel opined.

Jeremy kissed his cross and suddenly, Victor began to bark ferociously.

"Keep it low, baby." Was all Cynthia could say, regardless of how terrified her pet dog was making the servants feel.

"Perhaps he wants some bones." Nana let out an awkward laugh, wearing a crooked look afterward. I knew she didn't like Victor very much.

"I want to go smoke." Grandpa's voice broke, amidst Victor's barking. He pushed back his chair and steadied his legs.

"Out of my way, boner killer." He grumbled past the animal.

"Who calls a dog that?" Oliver's face was blank.

Layla

Nathan fell asleep in Henry's arms, so he was carried to his nursery as quietly as possible. Henry literally tiptoed to and fro so as not to stir him up from his sleep.

"Do you mind coffee?" I asked when he returned. It was already pitch-black outside, and only the snow sheets that carpeted the pathways were still visible.

"No, I don't." He sat and switched on the TV. By the time I finished preparing coffee, he had surfed and had finally settled on Fox.

"Thanks." He accepted the cup of coffee.

"Are you enjoying the show?" I asked.

"Sure. I just started watching, though. I think it's pretty educative," he responded.

"Yeah. So I wanted to tell you that I decided to bug Ethan. That way I can find out more about his current relations, although I am thinking of contacting William Gould very soon."

"All right. Just be careful, I do not want any harm to come to you, as you know he's not a nice man."

"Yeah, he's nasty, and I was a victim of his nastiness, so I know how to go about him." I reasoned.

"I believe you..."

I chuckled.

"Thanks. Yeah, I will also be seeing Amanda soon. There are some things I need to sort out with her. I have come up with some designs I'd like to put up in the limited catalog. We have a lot to talk about," I mentioned.

"That's great. So will you travel down to NY or..."

"Yeah, I will. I'd like to see how the company's doing. It's been a while."

He nodded in acquiescence as our eyes met, and I felt a chill run down my spine.