“No Andre. I just want you to choose me above anyone else. If you leave me someday, I will die Andre. And if I die because of heartbreak, you will be held responsible for my death, only you” Alice threatened.
Andre sighed softly. What the heck is going on? He had too much on his plate at the moment that he would be brainstorming or getting worked up over what mom was imagining before saying such.
And she's not coming out straight before him. How can she expect him to deduce what is wrong with her?
“I won't be leaving you, I've told you that. Why do you worry unnecessarily?” He reassured her. That's the truth. He's never going to leave her even if someone….Andre paused and glared at his mother.
Has someone come to meet her, saying he or she is his biological parents? That could be the only reason why she could sob so much and ask him not to leave her or go away from her.
But how can she think that way? He doesn't know or recognise anyone as his parents except her. So whoever comes, they're on their own, being a parent goes beyond just making love and birthing the products of that pleasure.
“I don't know what you are worried about. If anyone comes to you, making a false empty claim of being a biological parent of a certain person, What's our business with that?
That definitely cannot be me and I do not know anyone besides you. How can you lose your stand as my only parent and think someone will come and take me away from you. Am I a minor that cannot make his decision?” Andre cautioned.
A beam of hope shone through Alice's mind. That's the spirit of a genuine son. She has full confidence in his words. She knows he won't go back on his words and he loves her a lot too.
“Then I want you to grant me one request,” Alice stated. She swallowed hard. She doesn't want those people who come around to find them again. Never, will they find out about her new abode.
Andre shrugged and nodded. Anything that is within his power, that would bring her happiness, he's in for it.
“Let's either relocate from N.Y or change our address” Alice requested and Andre squinted. That's it, he is sure now, that he guessed well. Didn't his mother tell him back then, when he got a job in England and told her to come along, she said she cannot leave N.Y again?
But now, she's suggesting to him that they should leave the same city that she once refused to leave back then, despite his pleas? Wow, he'd become a mind reader, he'd been able to read her thoughts and see her fears.
“We cannot leave N.Y now mom. You refused to come with me when I pleaded with you to. So now, we are here, I have a contract of partnership with the Wood's Electroworld and I am now an enlisted basketball player in the forthcoming international tournament.
But I can assure you of moving out of this apartment to a better one. I'll see the agent tomorrow and I'll get us a new apartment. If that's okay with you” Andre explained.
“Yes, yes, sure. And what's this tournament you're talking about? Are you sure, son?” Alice asked, now she was smiling through the batches of dry tears on her face and puffy eyes.
“Yes mom. I was coming home to break the news to you when you welcomed me with teary eyes “ he said. He sighed softly and for the rest of the evening, Andre was restless.
How can it be, that his real parents now came looking for him. For crying out loud, he is twenty eight years old. Where were they when he was five, ten, fifteen or twenty, where were they?
He doesn't acknowledge anyone as his parents besides Alice Torello. That is not negotiable.
∆∆∆∆∆∆∆∆
In the Ashanti Kingdom, Prince Clifford walked into the bedroom and saw Charlotte lying on the bed. She'd been always like this since the news of their missing son.
“He's alive and he'd been found” he declared, staring at her. Charlotte was stiff and suddenly raised herself to sit upright. She glared at her husband, her heart beating fast.
Was he talking about their son, the missing prince?
“You mean our son, my baby?” Charlotte asked and Clifford nodded. He was the happiest. He needed to break the news to his wife first before talking to his parents about it.
“Yes, honey. The missing Prince has been found. He is in N.Y and he is a mechanical engineer and works with the Wood's Electroworld. He is unmarried though, but has a good reputation among friends.
My son is alive. He is a gentleman and looks so cute, just like me. He has a great resemblance to dad a lot. When you see his pictures, you'll know that he is indeed our son, the missing Prince of Ashanti Kingdom…” Prince Clifford explained.
“Oh my…”Charlotte climbed out of bed and went to hug her husband. “Clifford, our baby is alive. And yes, wait…I don't believe you. He ought to look like me because I am his mother, not you or father…” she argued.
“And why not, I am his father. A son should take after his father and a daughter after her mother. That's how it should be and not the other way round” Clifford teased.
“I think siblings should look like each other, dad. If my brother is found, we would share a striking resemblance with each other, absolutely” Isabella stated, standing by the doorway.
Both parents paused and stared at each other as they beckoned for Isabella to come closer. The parents hugged their daughter “Your brother will be home, Isabella and all of our worries will be over” Charlotte chimed.
“Yes mother and we will be a happy complete family again” Isabella added. They thought they were a complete family until the news of the missing Prince. Realising that their immediate family was incomplete, none of them have been happy since then.
“When is he coming home?” Charlotte asked, excitement flooding through her mind. She can't wait to hold her son in her arms. Not as a baby anymore but in a hug as a man, a grown up and a bundle of happiness to her and the entire family and Kingdom.
“His foster mother is blatantly refusing to let him go. She adopted him and has a government backing. We will decide on how to go to her and compensate her for raising him. I'll talk to father about it first” Clifford informed.
The most important thing is that he'd been found and his address known. He understands how difficult it might be for his foster mother but she will eventually have to accept reality when she knows about what happened.
“Oh please, I'll come with you then. She would understand the cries and pain of a mother like me. I'll come along when you decide to go” Charlotte declared.
“I haven't said we will be going. I'll discuss it with my father first. Whatever is the outcome of our discussion, I'll revert” Clifford explained.
The next morning, Camella called Jack “Hello, I think we need to finalise our wedding date…”