Chapter 553 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

The doctor led them to Aaron’s room, and Benne and Celsie stood back with Jamal at the door while Harry went in to see his father.

Celsie sighed, “Can we say the worst phase is over now?” She asked, and Benne gave her a nod as he placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her to himself before kissing her forehead.

“Thank you, Jewel,” Benne said softly.

Celsie looked at him, wanting to ask what he was thanking her for, but then she remembered his conversation with Jade, “What did Jade say?”

Benne glanced at Jamal before looking at Celsie, “She confirmed the relationship between Candace and Aaron,” Benne said, and Celsie looked at him with interest.

“How did she confirm it?” She asked, and Benne explained all that Jade had said to him, leaving out only the part about Rachel’s family involvement. They could talk about it later when they were alone and settled.

By the time he was done, she sighed, “I’m glad that we found her before Sara did. At least now Aaron doesn’t have to search for her. We know where she is. All I want now is for Aaron to be fine, and for them to meet,” Celsie said, and Benne gave her a nod.

“Yeah. Me too. I already asked one of the pilots to get them. So hopefully they should arrive before midnight,” Benne said, and Celsie looked down at Jamal who had been quiet the entire time.

“Are you okay, Jam?” She asked as she crouched down in front of him, and Jamal gave her a nod.

“He will be fine, right?” Jamal asked, referring to Aaron.

“Sure. The doctor assured us he will be fine. Do you want to see him?” Celsie asked, marveling at how it had just so happened that Jamal was there with them at a time like this.

“Can I do that?” He asked, looking up at Benne.

Looking down at the kid, Benne remembered that his dad had died earlier that day. It was quite an eventful day, Benne thought with a sigh as he bent forward and lifted Jamal off the floor, “We will go in together when Harry is done. Why are you always so partial, though? You’ve never held me like that before. Why did you take his hand?” Benne asked in a light tone, and Jamal raised his tiny shoulders in a shrug.

“He looked sad.”

“Aww! Aren’t you the perfect gentleman, Jam?” Celsie asked as she ruffled his hair fondly, and Jamal grinned at her.

“So when I’m sad will you hold my hand?” Benne asked, and Jamal pursed his lips like he was thinking about it.

“Celsie will hold your hand while I hold her hand,” Jamal joked, making both Celsie and Benne chuckle.

“You really don’t like me, do you?” Benne asked making an angry face at Jamal, and he laughed as he wrapped both arms around Benne’s neck.

A moment later, Harry opened the door and he sighed when his gaze fell on Jamal who was in Benne’s arm.

All of a sudden he had gone from being a simple man who lost his mother at birth and whose only family was a loving dad, to becoming a twin brother, an uncle, and the abandoned son of some shameless woman. Not to mention his relationship with Celsie too. Could life get more complicated than that?

He wanted to be alone. He needed to be alone for some time. He was feeling overwhelmed by everything.

“We will stay with him if you want to leave,” Benne said as though he could read Harry’s mind.

“I don’t think you should leave. At least not yet. Please stay with him until he wakes up. If he doesn’t see you when he wakes up, he might think you left because you are mad at him,” Celsie pleaded softly.

“I’m upset, but I’m not mad at him. How can I be mad at him after seeing his pain like that? What kind of a son would I be to be mad at a father who endured all that pain all by himself just so I would have a perfect worldview?” Harry asked with a deep frown, and Celsie teared up.

“Oh, Harry! You have no idea how worried Aaron was about your reaction. He was so scared that he might lose you,” Celsie cried, and Benne offered her his handkerchief, while Jamal looked at Celsie with concern.

Harry shifted his gaze to Benne, “Can I speak with Celsie alone?”

“Do you even need to ask me that? I will take Jamal in with me to see Aaron while you both talk,” Benne said, and walked into the room with Jamal, leaving Celsie and Harry alone.

Without saying a word to Celsie, Harry began to walk, and Celsie followed him. Once they were at the canteen part of the hospital, Harry drew out a chair for Celsie and she sat down before he did the same.

“Can you tell me exactly what happened? How my dad got to tell you about everything including how you got to know about Candace?” Harry asked, thinking that he needed to know everything from the beginning.

Not from his dad’s point of view this time, but from Celsie who could genuinely tell him how much his father had been affected by everything.

Celsie gave him a nod, and then she started speaking. She told him how she had overheard him talking and crying in his sleep, how she had overheard his conversation with Benne about Sara, and how she had decided to speak with Aaron privately instead of telling him about it.

“… So when Jade called asking me to send her the picture of your mom in the photo frame in your bedroom…”

“How did Jade know I had such a frame in my bedroom?” Harry interrupted with a frown, and immediately, Celsie realized her slip.

Perhaps she shouldn’t have mentioned that? But how could she have told him how she made the connection between him and Candace without mentioning Jade’s role in it?

Celsie swallowed, “I don’t know. She crashed here for some days so I sort of assumed you showed it to her or something,” Celsie said, thinking now that she had not even given much thought to it back when Jade mentioned the photo frame.

Seeing that Celsie didn’t know, Harry doubted that it was Aaron who showed it to her either. Did Jade go into his bedroom in his absence? He mused and then shook his head. That wasn’t the most important thing at the moment.

“Go on,” Harry urged her on, and Celsie continued.

“You didn’t go into my bedroom?” Harry asked, surprised and impressed when Celsie told him how she asked Jade to ask him or Aaron for the picture instead.

“No. Was I supposed to? It’s your bedroom. I couldn’t possibly invade your privacy in that manner,” Celsie said with a frown, and Harry looked at her for some time without saying a word.

He had associated with the Delgado family long enough to know there was little or no respect for privacy amongst them. One person’s business equaled everyone’s business. And if it mattered enough to one of them, it mattered to them all.

He doubted that Celsie was going to be able to maintain her stance on respect for privacy much longer. Not when she was a part of the Delgado family.

---