The Lost Heir

3rd PERSON’S POV 

"Why is my little prince crying?" A man asked his 10-month-old son. 

The baby boy has been crying in his mother's arms for almost three minutes now. And he immediately stopped crying when he heard his father's voice and started looking around while sniffing. He keeps blabbering and saying gibberish words like he was actually telling his daddy why he was crying.This makes the father smile so brightly. The baby starts giggling when he sees where his father is and the man walks towards his son.

"Who is that?", the woman holding the baby asks. Then the baby starts babbling again. He even starts drooling and slaps his tiny pair of hands on his mother’s shoulder.

"Oh, it's Daddy!", she chirped, which made the baby squeak loudly, getting ecstatic after seeing his father act like he was going to attack him. And that makes the couple laugh loudly. The room was filled with the couple laughing and the baby's giggling.

"How was the meeting, darling?" Avery asks her husband after a while. She then put their little prince on the bed and sat at the edge of it while holding the hem of her son's clothes to prevent him from crawling further.

Stuart followed his wife and also sat at the edge of the bed, facing his wife. He then took a deep, long breath and patted his son's head. That didn't go unnoticed by Avery who's a bit of an observant. The way her husband took a deep breath, she already felt something was bothering him. Avery knows Stuart so well because they basically grew up together since their parents are also best of friends since their diapers days. She looked at her husband intently. 

"What happened?" Avery asked her husband worriedly. "You've been stressed out lately. Care to tell me, hmm?" She added while holding his hand that was caressing their son and squeezed it gently.

Stuart lifts his right hand and gently caresses his wife's cheeks. He can see that his wife is really worried, it is evident in her pair of amber eyes. And she is right, he was indeed stressed out lately. Even if he tried to hide it from Avery. His wife would still be able to see through him. That's how she knows him very well.

Stuart looks at his wife and gives her a reassuring smile. Taking his right hand back and placing it on top of hers.

"My dear, it's nothing serious. You don't have to worry about it." Again he tries to hide his worries to his wife as he doesn’t want her to get worried or to bother her anymore. He knows too that Avery has been feeling tired because of their super energetic son since she had declined his suggestion of getting a nanny a couple of times.

"Darling, you can't hide anything from me. You know that, right?" She said, still looking at her husband, "we've known each other since we were kids. Basically, we grew up together. Even if you tried to hide something, I would still be able to see through you. I know when something is bothering you or not.

Stuart then took another deep and long breath before he started telling his wife.

"We've just discovered that Mr. Harris has been doing illegal fund transfers these past few months. It's not that big of an amount but..." he then sighed as he couldn't continue what he was about to say.

Avery was surprised. They have known Mr. Jay Harris since they were just teenagers. They even regarded him as their older brother, as he is four years older than them. Jay’s grandfather worked for old Mr. Davis, Avery’s grandfather, as his secretary.

"But why?" puzzled, Avery asked. Lines formed in her forehead.

"I don't know. I could not believe it at first, I even wished someone was just trying to frame him. I've been trying to get a hold on him but nothing for weeks but nothing. All his phone lines have been cut off. All my efforts trying to contact him were in vain." Stuart looked down. Avery can feel sadness in her husband's voice. She too felt very sad after hearing her husband.

"I know he is a good person. Even after discovering his anomalies, I still believe that he is a good person. I don’t care what the other Board Members said, I still believe in Jay. Even if everything turns out to be true, I’d still believe he has valid reasons. Jay is a brother to us, he would never do this to us."

“What could be the reason? We both know he is not the kind of person that would indulge himself into gambling. But whatever it is, I will stand by your decision, and whatever it is, we will find it out later, okay? So please don’t dwell on it too much, it’s been days since you had a proper sleep.” 

“What—”

“Do you really think I wouldn’t notice? Everynight, when you thought I was fast asleep already, you would get up and head straight to your office. I didn’t ask you about it because I was waiting for you to tell me. If I had known this was deeper than what I had thought, then I should’ve said something earlier.” Avery voices out her concerns. 

Not only that Stuart has been staying up all night for weeks but also he hadn’t had a proper meal, and he had lost some weight because of it. Avery chose not to mention it because she knows Stuart would feel guilty for making her worry too much.

Stuart looked at his wife, sighs in defeat and gave her a peek on her forehead. He really loves how his wife is so calm and very understanding. He then glanced at their son, who is now sleeping peacefully. No wonder their son has been really quiet, he had fallen asleep already.

Stuart and Avery looked at each other and smiled lovingly. Forgetting what they have been talking about earlier. They laid beside their son. Making their little prince being in between them. Having Avery and their son by his side made him feel more relaxed. Avery was indeed the best gift he ever had. And of course their little Prince.