Chapter 136

Aria’s POV

“Julia and Harold are very dear friends of mine,” I explained to Jean and Luke as we took a cab to Julia and Harold’s house. “We all need to be on our best behavior with them.”

“Is that why we are wearing our fancy clothes?” Jean asked.

“Yes,” I said simply. “They are older, too. And Harold isn’t feeling very well. So we don’t want to run or shout or break anything.”

“Okay,” the kids said in unison. I couldn’t blame them for being almost five-year-old bundles of energy. That was their right as children. But they knew when to try to reel in that boundless energy, like anytime they visited me at the clinics in Moonglow.

“People who don’t feel well need quiet and calm,” I’d told them in the past.

They’d learned that lesson well and typically behaved well in those types of environments. I had faith they would do the same for now.

When the cab reached the house, I paid the taxi driver and then we all exited the car.

The house was exactly as I remembered it. So much so, that for a moment, I was taken back to when I arrived at one of the family gatherings, dressed more provocatively than I ever had before. The look on Lucian’s face as he saw me…

Eyes wide, mouth dropping open slightly…

It was seared onto my mind for all of time. Now was no exception.

Lightly, I shook my head, chasing away the thoughts, and ushered the kids toward the front door. There, I rang the doorbell.

“Coming!” Julia called from within. She had servants, but as she knew to expect us, she likely wanted to greet us herself.

The door opened and there was Julia, smiling wide. She already looked like she had her life restored, full of excitement. She grinned at me, but it was the kids she really wanted to meet. Her gaze dropped to them immediately. She lowered herself down to her knees with the quickness of someone a quarter of her age.

“Hello, there,” she said.

“Hi, ma’am,” Luke said politely.

Jean was a little shyer and half hid behind her brother.

“Julia, this is Luke and Jean,” I said. “Kids, this is Julia.”

“Aunt Julia?” Luke looked at me with question. He was asking if Julia was someone close enough to me to be considered family, like Cathy, Piper, and Jasper.

They had no idea they were all actually family.

“I’d love it if you would call me, Grandma,” Julia said. She then seemed sheepish, looking at them and then up at me. “If that’s alright.”

The kids looked at me too.

“I think that would be very nice,” I said. “Grandma Julia and Grandpa Harold.”

The kids brightened at this. They weren’t great with strangers, especially Jean, but if someone was meant to be as close as family, then that made things less formal. The kids could be much more comfortable that way.

Already, their attitude is shifting.

“Can we have a hug, Grandma?” Jean asked shyly.

Tears welled in Julia’s eyes, she seemed so happy. Immediately she opened her arms, and the kids came in for a hug. When it was done, she invited the kids inside, then hesitated with standing again. Seeing she needed help, I reached down and gently helped her rise to her feet.

“Thanks,” she told me. “They make me want to be young again.”

Harold was inside, sitting on the center cushion in the middle of the couch.

Luke approached him first. “Grandpa Harold?”

Harold didn’t look too good. As I approached, I could tell he was looking pale and sallow. Yet, when the kids approached, even he perked up, his eyes brightening. He tried to straighten, to sit up, but even with great effort, he struggled. Julia hurried forward and placed a pillow behind his back.

As I did with Julia, I introduced the kids to Harold, and he too got a hug from them that seemed to lift his spirits to whole new heights.

“Hold on,” Julia said. “I bought some gifts.” She quickly rushed out of the room, only to return with two fully wrapped presents.

When did she even have time to buy those? After our earlier conversation, she must have gone straight to the store to buy them.

Excitement filled the kids and the rushed to get their presents. They tore through the paper and then beamed at the gifts.

Jean received one of the more expensive dolls that looked just like her, that she’d always wanted but were difficult to come by in the stores in Moonglow. Luke received a remote control car, with lights that came on, and that included a fully working radio.

Both were elaborate gifts.

“Thank you!” Luke said, filled with excitement. Jean was so overwhelmed that she started to cry.

As the kids played, I pulled Julia aside. “Thank you for the gifts,” I told her, “But you didn’t have to do that.”

“Oh, nonsense,” she said. “It’s a grandmother’s duty to spoil her grandkids.”

Reaching into her pocket, she retrieved another pair of gifts, this time much smaller. They were a pair of family heirlooms. A broach for Jean, and an elaborate tie-clip for Luke. As antiques, both looked exceedingly delicate and expensive.

“For when they are older,” she said. “Just in case we aren’t around to give these to them when they can appreciate it.”

She didn’t say anything, but I knew the significance here. Looking up, meeting her gaze, I could tell that she knew these were Lucian’s children.

“Don’t look so surprised,” she said softly. “Luke is the spitting image of his father.”

“Please don’t say anything,” I told her. “He doesn’t know and I think it’s better that way.”

For the first time since our arrival, her face took on some sadness. “He’s changed, Aria. He’s not the same man that you knew. For five years, he’s done nothing but pine after you.”

“He only ever liked the idea of me,” I told her. “He doesn’t even know the real me.”

“You should him some of the real you before you left,” she replied. “He liked what he saw. If he knew the rest. Aria, please give him a chance. If not for you, then for the kids… He would be a good father. Surely you know that too.”

“I don’t know anything,” I said. As a husband, Lucian had been absent and unfeeling. He was never cruel to me, not purposefully, but he wouldn’t always consider me either. So many times, I felt like I was a side-character in his life, pushed off to the background and ignored.

I would never let that same thing happen with our children. How could I trust him to be a good father, when he had been such a distant husband?

But… recalling our reunion, yes, I could tell Lucian had changed somewhat. It could just be the pull of nostalgia giving him feelings for me. But maybe… there was something more.

Maybe he had learned something. Maybe if he knew our kids were his then he would work to be more present in their lives than he had been in our marriage.

I couldn’t be sure. I’d have to take a risk to find out, but I didn’t want the kids to be hurt by him. Not like I was.

“I don’t know,” I told her again, and left it at that.