Chapter 950 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

He believed that Alicia had enough empathy to make both Candace and the public understand that Candace had done what she needed to do to survive and there was no shame in anything she had done.

Jade placed her hand over Harry’s and squeezed gently. Maybe it was because she had spent too much time in his company some how she could guess what he was thinking.

Once they were done and everyone was ready to leave, Harry cornered Mia before she could get into Jasmine’s car since they had come together.

“You’ve been deliberately avoiding me, haven’t you?” Harry asked from behind Mia, and she spun around to face him, slightly startled.

“What? No! Why would I do that?” she asked, looking flushed.

“That’s the exact same thing I’ve been wondering. Why would you do that when you can easily tell me where we first met. Or would you rather I hire someone to look into you?” Harry asked, and Mia swallowed.

“No. No! I wasn’t avoiding you. And all of that is not necessary,” Mia said, and Harry nodded.

“I don’t want to keep the others waiting. I will be expecting you in my office tomorrow. If you don’t show up before noon, I’ll assume you want me to dig into you,” Harry said and walked away without letting her say anything else.

Mia raised a hand to massage her temple as she watched him walk away. She would rather tell him who she was herself than have him dig into her life. Since she had no idea how much digging would be done or what they might find.

The first thing Celsie did when she woke up the next morning was reach out for Benne, but when her hands made contact with the empty space beside her, she frowned as she sat up and turned on the bedside lamp.

Where was Benne? She mused as she glanced at the clock beside her. It was just past four in the morning.

They had gotten home sometime past eleven the previous night, and had shared the bath together, relaxing, talking about all that had happened at the engagement party and making love before finally going to sleep.

She got out of bed and looked around to find her oversized T-shirt which she threw over her head before going out in search of Benne.

She found him in the living room, dressed in just his boxers and sipping from a mug of coffee with his back to her.

Judging by his posture, Celsie guessed he was lost in his thoughts so she decided to sneak up on him on tiptoes, but before she got to where he was, he sensed her presence and turned to her.

He smiled at the sight of her touseled hair and sleepy face which was now set in a pout at being caught.

“How did you know I was here?” She asked, and Benne chuckled as he pointed to her shoulder.

“Good morning. Missed me?” he asked as he set down the coffee mug, and she bobbed her head as she climbed onto his lap straddling him.

“Yeah. Why are you up already? Did you even get any sleep?” she asked as she watched his face since she knew she had slept first.

“I couldn’t fall asleep,” he said with a shrug.

“Why?” she asked with concern.

Benne smiled, “You were snoring so badly…”

“Liar! I don’t snore!” Celsie hissed and he chuckled as he rubbed his eyes which were beginning to feel really heavy.

Despite the fact the he was exhausted and wanted to sleep, his mind wasn’t. He was too worried to go to bed.

“Is something bothering you?” Celsie asked as she rubbed his shoulders gently.

Benne hesitated a moment before shaking his head, “I don’t know. I guess I’m feeling really anxious. In a couple of hours the result will be out. I’m just worried,” Benne confessed.

“Aww!” Celsie cooed as she embraced him.

Benne buried his face in the crook of her neck and tried to relax as she patted his back like a mother comforting a troubled child.

“I didn’t expect you to lose sleep over it,” Celsie said softly.

“How could I not? If the result comes back positive it means my whole life is going to change, Celsie…”

“For the better hopefully,” she said in a soothing voice as she pulled away to look into his face.

“What if it isn’t for the better? What if I’m not prepared for it? I mean, I don’t even know what I’m expected to do. How am I supposed to build a relationship with the child if she is mine?” Benne said and Celsie giggled.

“What’s funny?” he asked with a frown, and she grinned.

“I never thought the day would come when I would see the almighty Benedict Delgado doubting himself,” she said with a teasing smile, and Benne sighed.

“I’m being serious.”

“And I am being serious too. How can you even doubt yourself?” Celsie asked incredulously.

“What if I’m not ready to be a father yet?” he asked with a frown.

“How could you not be ready? You’ve always wanted to have a child and now you just might have one. I expect you to be excited not second-guessing yourself,” Celsie said, and Benne shook his head.

“This is different, Celsie. Wanting it is different from being all round prepared to take on the responsibility. Take Bryan for instance. Sonia is pregnant and he has the whole of nine months to prepare his mind towards fatherhood. But you see this? It’s like it is being thrust upon me. There is no enough time for me to prepare. It’s all so sudden,” he said and she sighed.

This must have been one of the things Harry had meant when he said Benne must have a lot on his mind. It had not exactly occurred to her that apart from being worried about her reaction to the news he would be so worried about not being ready to be a father.

“If you ask me, I think you’re more than ready and would do an excellent job. Let’s assume you were adopting. It would be the same as this. Adopting a grown up child…”

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