Chapter Three: The reunion.

“You two have grown so much,” Danielle said as she pulled Austin and Justin in for a hug. Over two years had passed since she last saw her son and nephew. 

She had missed them greatly but she couldn’t see them as Sebastian had forbidden her to do so. 

“Hey mom,” Austin greeted as he hugged his mother tightly. He was finally seeing her after two long years and this made him emotional.  “I missed you.” 

“I missed you too, sweetheart,” Danielle responded. She had fallen down while she was heavily pregnant with him and that made her go into labour. She was able to give birth to him but that came at a cost. 

The doctors told her that her womb was greatly damaged and she would never be able to conceive again. Thus, Austin was the only child she gave birth too and to be separated from him was painful.

While Austin was busy reuniting with his mom, Justin was busy looking for his. “Isabella, where’s mom?” he asked his sister. 

“She’s up in her room with dad,” Isabella answered.

“Oh,” Justin simply said. 

Isabella looked up and saw Charlotte and Sebastian descending from the stairs. “Oh look, here they come.”

Justin turned and his eyes rested on the woman he had been itching to see for two years. ‘Mom,’ he muttered to himself and his lips curled into a smile.

Charlotte had the same reaction on seeing her son. He had grown even more and he looked just like his father. “Justin,” she said in delight and rushed over to him.

“Hey mom,” Justin greeted with a huge smile on his face. 

“Come here my love” Charlotte said and pulled him into her embrace. “How are you?” 

“Good now that you’re here,” Justin answered.

His answer made Charlotte chuckle. However it did the opposite to Sebastian as his face contorted into a deep frown. 

Charlotte hardly called him ‘my love’ but here she was calling Justin that. He felt jealous of his own son.

Unable to handle the closeness between them, he cleared his throat and said, “You two can catch up later. Can we eat now, I’m starving.”

Charlotte looked at Sebastian and said, “Are you going to greet the boys, you’re seeing them for the first time in two years.”

Sebastian wasn’t really interested in greeting either of the two men but the look Charlotte was giving him, sent chills down his spine. 

He then remembered her threat and he knew he had no choice but to listen to his wife.

He walked over to where Justin was standing and patted his back. “Welcome home son,” he said. 

Everyone present there immediately became quiet and they focused their attention on the two men.

Sebastian and his son didn’t really get along and that was surprising as they looked like each other and even acted the same. 

However, that was the biggest enemy between them. They were both egotistical, stubborn and arrogant and their egos would always clash with neither of the two wanting to lose.  

Justin would always oppose his father and Sebastian made it his life mission to prove to his son that he was more powerful than him.

“I have returned home after two long years and this is how you greet me. It’s like you don’t like my return, ‘daddy’,” Justin quipped with a grin on his face.

Sebastian clenched his fists hard. If it was any other person who insulted him, he would have cut out their tongue but he couldn’t do that to Justin as Charlotte and Isabella would blow out his head. 

“I’m happy son but you know I have a hard time showing emotions especially if the person I’m talking to isn’t your mother or sister,” Sebastian retorted. 

Austin couldn’t control his laughter and that earned him a warning glare from Charlotte and his mother. Knowing how ruthless his aunt was, he quickly swallowed it up. 

Charlotte, who was sick of listening to the father and son squabble, walked out of there and headed into the dining room.

The two men didn’t need to be told the meaning of her action. If they dared to continue their squabble, then she would not spare them. 

And so, as much as they wanted to continue, they didn’t dare to. If there was one thing they could agree on, it was that Charlotte wasn’t someone to mess with. 

They walked into the dining room where she was waiting for them and she was holding a knife in her hand. The whole family quickly took their seats as they didn’t want to provoke her even further. 

“What’s everyone waiting for?” Charlotte asked as no one had started eating even after taking their seats. “Start eating!” She said sharply.

“Mom, can you please serve me?” Austin and Justin asked their respective mothers at the same time. This made the whole family except Sebastian laugh. 

“There’s no need to serve him, he’s a grown man,” he whispered into her ear. 

This made her gasp as she wasn’t expecting it. “I still serve you even at the age of fifty. Shut up and let me serve my son,” Charlotte chided.

She turned to Justin and served him with all his favorite dishes which she had prepared for him. 

His eyes lit up and seeing the dishes. He knew his mother had prepared this with her hands and that warmed his heart. His eyes fell on his father who was still busy sulking at his wife’s chiding.

A mischeivious smile appeared on his lips as his mind suddenly came up with an idea to further torture his dad. “Mom,” he called. 

“Yes son, what is it?” Charlotte asked, giving her full attention to her son and this irked Sebastian the most.

“Can you feed me? You made all these specially for me and I want you to feed me.”

“Of course honey, I will,” Charlotte agreed.

Sebastian’s mouth dropped wide open when he heard Charlotte agreeing to the request. 

She was supposed to be feeding him and not the little brat. He looked at his son who had a smirk on his face. ‘Just wait till I get you, you brat,’ he said inwardly.

The rest of the family understood what game Justin was playing and they simply shook their heads as they were already used to it. 

Justin looked at his father with a triumphant smile on his face. ‘I won this round Mr Gerano and this is just the beginning of many more victories for me."

****

Ella saw Jasmine sitting on the river bank and slowly approached her. She had been gone for over five hours and her mother was starting to get worried. 

“Jas, it’s late, you should head back home. Your mother is getting worried, waiting for you to return,” Ella said. 

Jasmine picked up one of the stones which were lying on the riverbank and threw it in the river. “What’s the point of going home when she’s just going to scold me?” she asked and threw another stone. 

“Jasmine, you know she’s only hard because she loves you and she doesn’t want you to meet the same fate as your grandmother,” Ella said.

“She should understand that I’m not my grandmother,” Jasmine retorted. 

“She knows Jas but that isn’t going to stop her from worrying. You know her better than I do; so stop being a baby and go and talk to her!” Ella commanded.

“Fine but I'll leave if she scolds me again,” Jasmine said as she stood up.

“She won’t, now go,” Ella said.