Chapter 69: Chapter 69

Chapter 69.

‘’This is when you jump up and say praise the living God. You call his name over and over again making sure that he hears you. This is a dream come true. Dreams are really valid.’’ Aliana says going down on her knees. I understand totally what Aliana is doing.

Losing your own baby for over twenty years is one of the deteriorating and abating things in this life. She never even set eyes on her son and I couldn’t be so happy that it turned out that the humble and composed Alvin who used to be ‘my bad guy’ in school, my best friend is the one we have been talking about, looking for and hey, we have finally found him.

I am so happy.

‘’I am genuinely happy for you, sister. Stand up. Harrison says going towards her and elongating his arm for her to hold. ‘’We all are super happy that you have finally gotten what you have wanted all your life.’’

His sister holds his hand and he helps her up. I know she is sad and all but that’s completely opposite to what her face is showing. Her eyes are shimmering brightly and I can confidently say that even at the times that she has been genuinely happy, I have never seen her like this before.

This is beautiful.

How the son and mother meet halfway in a tight hug is a total furtive. They stay in that position for a few seconds before pulling apart.

I hug Aliana and she is so grateful that I gave her the letter. Then I turn when she signals me and I watch in awe as Harrison hugs his nephew with a lot of passion.

Welcome to the family, young man.’’ Harrison says with so much excitement in his voice. ‘’At least now you won’t be going for your uncle’s girl.’’ He says and we both burst out laughing.

‘’You are mistaken, uncle,’’ Alvin responds teasingly. ‘’I am going to try my luck until Clarita herself says that. You cannot tell me what to do.’’

I feel like coming in to warn him against saying that but I think against it. I decide not to because I know they are just joking. These two are relatives hence they should catch up with each other, learn about one another and feel free to fight whenever they want.

They are more or less the same body size. I love both of them on different echelons, tiers and with diverse aptitudes. I pull back from Aliana and we decide to sit down to watch the cinema.

‘’Calm on man! She is mine. We have a baby together and I love her immensely. Just look for your own girl, Alvin, please.’’ I smile inwardly when I hear that from Harry.

This is not my haughty egotistical and narcissistic Harrison. The one that at one point pretended not to care about anyone or anything. He is literally begging Alvin not to pursue me. I know he is just playing around with Harrison. He just wants to mess his spirit up but the supplicant part has really elated me.

‘’What, uncle? Are you scared that I might win your girl over?’’ he asks then bursts out a hearty laughter. ‘’I am so sorry about this but always go for my targets.’’

‘’Enough of all that,’’ Aliana shouts at the two boys and they both turn to look at her. I swear I can relate to her joy. She must be feeling so up the sky and that’s beautiful. ‘’You can go have your fights later, for now, let’s all get a place to sit and plan quietly.’’

‘’What do you have in mind?’’ that’s her brother.

‘’We should go to Alvin’s foster home and thank his adopted family for taking care of him but before then, let’s go to the prison and tell your mum that I have my son. Finally, the baby that she sold has come back to the mother. This world rotates for sure.

‘’Wow! Sounds like a good plan.’’ I say with a stretch of eagerness. ‘’I have missed those guys so much. I didn’t see them at mum’s funeral.’’

Alvin shakes his head. You guys think it is a good idea to go back to that home?’’

‘’Yes, it is a good idea because I will not take you away from them. I want you to still be their son and not turn away from them. I suffered so much looking for you and I know how much they may be going through losing you to someone else.’’

‘’Okay, I hear you.’’ He says nonchalantly.

‘’Besides, you are a grown us man and whatever you decide, I will support your decision.’’ He spares Aliana a slight smile when she says that.

Her phone reverberates in her pocket and she fishes it out. She gives me a look I cannot decode then she goes ahead to pick it then walks towards the door. I am sure that she wants to pick the call privately.

I think I have been too busy for Tabby, she is one of the people that I want to be with all the time. She loves little Ian so much that sometimes I feel like she is gonna take him from me.

I kind of get jealous of it. I don’t know why mum gave me this dress to wear. It doesn’t really fit the occasion but since I want to spend the best time with her, I do all that she requests.

***

‘’A few seconds later, Aliana walks back in and we are all looking at her expectantly. ‘’It was your … um, Luke’s mum. She wants us to go home for lunch. You guys are okay with that?’’

‘’Who wouldn’t be?’’ Luke says and holds my hand leading me out of the room. We walk towards the car quickly then stand there waiting for Harrison and his sister.

‘’What are you trying to do?’’

‘’Where?’’

‘’Between you and Harrison?’’

He smiles a touch. ‘’I am trying to annoy the most exasperating uncle ever. I want him to take care of knowing you could also get someone else.’’

‘’How will that help you?’’

‘’It will not help me, sweet pie. It will help you. He will be the most devoted baby daddy, loving and caring because he just doesn’t wanna lose you to anyone else.

‘’He can never lose me, Alvin.’’

‘’Not even to me, sweet pie?’’

‘’Nope! Not even to you.’’ I say firmly. ‘’I love your uncle that much and you should stop interfering with our love, okay?’’

‘’He waves his nicely-created shoulders carelessly. ‘’As you wish, aunty. I respect both of you. Especially since I found out that I am related to them. I love you so much but not enough to disrespect your boyfriend who is also my uncle because that would only mean disrespecting you. You have my word that I was just pulling his leg but that’s over now.’’

I end up in his arms. He is just warm and accommodative. The next thing I know is Harry pulling me almost roughly from him and I oblige.

‘’That’s enough, Alvin. You need to get yourself a girlfriend and stop parading around mine. You are grounded and not allowed to come close to her. Keep your distance.’’ Alvin bursts out a peal of laughter but he doesn’t say any other thing. He surely is in a good mood.

I know how it feels to find your mum so, I plainly understand Alvin.

He is just excited.

Harry pulls me to the front after giving Alvin a scowl. He steps on the gas gently, the speed that I like. He hasn’t driven me for a long time but I am glad he understands that over speeding is one of my fears.

The drive is rather quiet. I feel like Harrison isn’t in a very good mood. I don’t want him to feel challenged by Alvin because I already made my Final decision.

It is Harrison all the way.

He pulls up at mum’s house and I take in the environment in a single sweep. This is completely beautiful.

‘’What’s the occasion here?’’ Harrison asks and I shake my head.

‘’No idea,’’ I tell him resolutely. ‘’Maybe they are celebrating the return of your nephew. You know he has just been discovered and that’s a big thing.’’

‘’you are right. I am sure that’s what is happening.’’ He says as he holds my hand to lead me to the house.

Things are looking beautiful, from the décor to the planning and the food, the aroma can clearly show that the food is rated tops. I think this is the reason mum didn’t show up at the hospital.

She has thrown a party for what? I internally shrug. I don’t have to bother finding out because I will know, anyway.

Welcome home, Clara. Those are the words I see when I get to the main entrance. Was all this necessary? Why would they do this?

Hey, it’s not that I am ungrateful, hell I am but all these weren’t necessary. I don’t like publicity.

The house is dark and when I say dark, I mean dark like super dark.

‘’Surprise!’’ Everyone shouts and I wonder why all these. The lights are put on and I catch their faces.

Sweet happy birthday librettos are sang led by Tabby and Emmy.

This cannot be happening. I literally forgot to celebrate my own birthday.

I have had very tough times in the recent past that I literally forgot about this. I know it’s like two months past so they must be doing a tardy birthday.

‘’Welcome to the family, my big sister,’’ Emily says and I smile at her when she makes it forward to hug me. We meet halfway and we hug so tightly that I almost feel hurt.

‘’Thank you, small sister.’’ I say teasingly and she laughs.

Luke is looking at me and I don’t waste any time when he opens his arms. I pull out from Emmy’s Tabby joins the hug and my mind shifts very briefly to the first day I saw Luke at Tabby’s and the drama that dad had put up. Did dad know that Luke was my brother? Well, maybe his instincts told him something like that.

And all that is in the past now.

We walk to the garden with Luke and Emmy holding me on both sides. Ooh my God! It is a real party, there are visitors, probably mum’s. They are all seated in a horseshoe arrangement. My little siblings walk me to the middle and I feel my tears threatening but I try to keep them at bay.

This is the reason mum asked me to wear my best design. The dress is dilly, peachy and downy. She specifically bought the elegant six-inch sandals that I am wearing here.

My sweet Harrison handed them over to me when we were alighting from the car. She said that Luke’s mum had asked that I wear them to the party which according to him, didn’t even know what was going on.

My beautiful dress is flowing all the way to the ground and it is singlet with an open cleavage. It was one of my very first and best designs and mum loves it so much.

Luke and Emmy pull back and I feel chills all over my body. This is the very first time I am standing in front of all these audiences. Such a big number like the one here scares me to death.

My mum looks like an angel. She is in an elegant black dress with a white belt and white high heeled sandals. Her husband’s outfit is literally matching hers.

I love it.

‘’Ladies and gentlemen.’’ She starts in a sweet voice. ‘’Thank you for coming here on short notice. May I introduce to you, my long lost daughter? She is celebrating a belated birthday and we are welcoming her home officially. Her name is Clara. It is a long story about how I lost her more than twenty years ago but the main thing is that she is here now and I hope you all welcome her. She is so passionate about fashion designing and she has all my blessings. She takes after me in so many things and from today henceforth, we work together. When you find her, you find me and vice versa. Feel free to interact with her and know more about her. Her boyfriend is called Harry Williams and they love each other so much.’’ She is given a standing ovation, everyone applauds her with some yelling at the top of their voices as they stand up.

Wow! Did she have to say that?

‘’Thank you all. You can now take your seats. ’’ They all sit. All of them are in nice suits. I like their elegant looks.

I watch in wonderment as Harry, my handsome man takes sure strides towards me. He has all the confidence in the world, something that I can bet anything that I don’t have. He slings his arm securely around my small waistline and I beam when I feel good and more secure.

Very confident.

Mum hands the microphone over to me and trust me I have no idea what to tell the audience who is keenly watching me.

‘’Thank you all for coming. This was really a surprise. If the person who planned all of these wanted to surprise me, well, I am confirming to them that they did it. I am utterly and truly surprised. I am glad to see you all here and I am looking forward to working with you in the future. Thank you.’’ I am sweating and trembling all over my body when I am done giving the little speech. The applause that is coming with it sounds exaggerated but I smile ear to ear anyway.

I am glad that Harry’s arm is sling around my waist with love. He must be wondering why I didn’t tell him that Luke is my brother. I hope he doesn’t get angry because I don’t wanna handle a fuming Harrison.

I wasn’t prepared for any of this, I basically have never had to give a speech in front of an audience. This one was a first.

I hope I did it right.

Everyone scatters to get their drinks. Mum takes my hand and walks around re-introducing me to a few other individuals.

Maybe her main clients.