"Ian? Is that really you?" Geneva showed a rare sign of vulnerability that had only been witnessed by a handful in her life. The irritation she had of people interrupting her breakfast was long gone. In fact, she had forgotten that she had been about to have her breakfast.
She pushed her chair back, her eyes still glued on the young man who was approaching them.
She stepped off and hurried towards him, stepping on some of the particles of the broken teacup without bothering.
Several maids and Katie, who had been closest to her, sprung into action, trying to stop her from stepping on it, but they were too late. She was so much in a hurry to get to her son that she was oblivious to everything around her.
Thankfully, the soles of her slip-ons were hard, and she did not get hurt. Even if she was, there was a doubt that Geneva would have noticed that.
It was like she was detached from her body in the dreamland where she had always seen her eldest son.
Katie signalled a couple of them immediately. One started wiping the spilt contents of the cup while the other quickly got rid of the broken pieces of the cup.
Alex was not calm either; the smile was frozen on his face, as did all playfulness. He still hovered in his seat. Finally, he braced himself up with the chair and stood still, following the footsteps of his wife. However, he did not get too close; he just allowed mother and son to have their moment.
With another signal from Katie, the maids set the table quickly, and they regretfully filed out of the place.
A few had been employed after the time Ian had shut himself up and wanted to see the famous first young master, but with Katie around, they just had to leave to give the family the most needed time.
Geneva finally got to her son and touched and poked him with a finger. It was like she wanted to test if he was there.
"Hahahahaaaa.... Mum, what are you doing?"
"Ian, it is really you! You brat! How could you do this to your mother over a girl! How could you!"
Geneva thumped his chest with her fists several times, and Ian let her do whatever she wanted, not bothering to stop her even once.
Finally, he bent down and held Geneva’s hands, engulfing her in a hug, and whispered in only her ears, "I’m sorry..."
Geneva held him tightly and hugged him back.
"You finally decided to join us?" Alex stated from the side, feeling a little left out.
Geneva stepped aside and looked at her husband. A look that communicated thousands of volumes of words without a single word being spoken.
At that moment, she was so content that she knew in her guts that it had been years since she had felt that way.
"I thought Brad was willful, but you-" Alex shook his head, "You just decided to stay away from everyone, including your close family! You treat us as nothing! ... and then you just waltz back in like nothing is amiss.... I don’t know whose son you are! Hmmpf!"
Instead of taking offence or even getting upset, Ian smiled and said,
"I must have got it from you, old man. Genes and family do not lie."
Alex burst out laughing so suddenly that no one knew how to react to that. Alex was always amiable, but few had ever seen this side of him. The workers who had left the room but were not far from there all exchanged glances.
"I don’t want that part of you though..."
"... and which part would that be?" Alex asked, still in a fit of laughter,
"You’ve started balding up already? In just a few years?"
"Tch, tch! Look in the mirror yourself! Can’t you see your hair thinning up at the top?" Alex rubbed his hand over that part as if to check if it were true.
’Savage!’ was the only word that crossed Currey’s mind.
’Was master Ian that impactful enough to get his parents to reveal their innermost traits that day?’ these were their thoughts, but no one was brave enough to say anything.
"You just do whatever you like, eh? Anyway, you wouldn’t be Ian if you did otherwise."
Alex patted him on the back and went back to his seat, saying, "Glad you finally came out."
"Were you about to eat? Let me join you..." Ian led his mother to her seat and looked around as if looking for someone.
"Did you waste all your time in there to exercise? You look to have bulked up even more."
"Isn’t it better that he used his time wisely? I would have killed him myself if the son I raised up, starved and made himself skinny over a girl!" Geneva said snidely.
Ian nodded gravely, "I knew she would do that, so I had to take care of myself."
Geneva stopped and hit him several times with her fists again. Her fists rather hurt when it hit his hardened muscles, but she did not relent.
"Mum, it’s okay." He chuckled and guided her to her seat.
It was like Ian had just gone to take a nap and came out the next morning and not the scenario they were facing with him being away for two years and coming out as if it was just another day. The only difference Geneva noted about her son was his pale complexion but healthy skin, bulked-up muscles, longer hair, and beard. He was still the same old Ian, her Ian.
She felt herself tear up once again and lowered her head to hide it.
"Katie, let them reheat the meal and bring it back."
Katie stepped out to give the instructions and then came back to her position of standing in one of the corners of the room.
"Welcome back, Master Ian,"
Ian nodded at her and noticed what Shelby had talked about. Currey had remained in his seat, already forgotten during the brief family reunion. He had been very surprised when Ian had informed him of his plans just the night before. For a long time, Ian had stayed in the cold room and had conversation upon conversation with his wife.
Currey just hovered in the shadows but not listening in. He knew what Ian would do to him if he did. After Shelby had returned to her room deep in the night, Ian had summoned him and told him of his plans. Currey knew that at a point in time, Ian would come out, but this had been very abrupt for even him. He had barely gotten any time to go ahead with his charade of arriving from travels.
"Where is she?" Ian asked.
"Miss, Miss! Are you awake?!" Suzie knocked on Shelby’s door in a frenzy, not bothering to be called in as she pushed the door open to find Shelby already up and dressed. She had carefully chosen a high-waisted pleated skirt that barely covered her bum.
It was missing a third of it on the side, and in its place was an adjustable buckle. She added a matching black bra to it. Shelby would have wanted nothing but her old clothes that covered her whole body, but because of Geneva, she was starting to become comfortable in such clothes even though she was not daring yet.
"What is all this ruckus this morning, Suzie?"
Suzie paused a little to admire her mistress.
"Sorry, Miss Shelby. Master Ian is in the dining room... he-"
Shelby was initially startled and then sad. Her only thoughts were, ’Ian only came out because of my mention of Aliya’s kids?’
She could not help but let her thoughts drift along that line. She had been in the Thornston estate, and, even though she had seen her husband a couple of times, he never had any talk of coming out of his room or even across her door to see her come up in any of their conversations.
After her time with him that night before. She had spent the better time of the night browsing her phone for information about Faes. Obviously, she found nothing much. She didn’t know how she felt about the fact that he was not fully human. She had itched to ask him about his family but could not bring herself to.
"Yes, Miss, he is there now. Katie asked me to get you as he is asking of you."
"Yes, Miss, please hurry!"
Shelby grabbed her sheer overcoat and secured it over her skimpy attire before she hurried towards the central wing, following Suzie, who couldn’t stand still. The excitement spilling out all over her was too much for Shelby, but she followed her straight into what she felt was a boiling hot soup. She had no idea why she felt that way because they had had separated amicably the night before.
Maybe it was the fact that he had not let her know that he was coming out that morning even after they had talked for hours on length. She had thought that they had gotten a bit closer but it turned out, that, that was not the case, in his view.
Just as she entered the open-concept room that served as their dining room, she heard the words that made her stop in her steps as all eyes turned on her, making her so self-conscious that she wished that the earth would open up and swallow her.
"I heard that you tried to force yourself onto my wife, dear brother. You still covert what is mine after all these years?"
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