Mending her shattered soul

3- The Reunion

Sawyer

As I open the door, I'm immediately greeted by a hurricane of hugs.

“Oh my God, Sawyer! I am so happy to see you after all these years. You are still as beautiful as ever! Sorry we came early, but I couldn't wait any longer. I wanted to see my granddaughter.” Trevor’s mum says as she hugs and kisses me over and over again.

I chuckle and smile at her. This woman has always been kindhearted. We did not meet Trevor's parents a lot, but when we did, they were always friendly and welcoming.

“Good Afternoon, Mrs. Harrison. I am happy to see you as well. I missed your smiley face. Please come in. I believe the princess you are looking for is right there” I say, pointing towards Stella.

Stella is paralyzed. It suddenly got too real for her. She is standing next to her mum and looking intently at those strangers who are supposed to be her family.

Vicky, Trevor’s mum, gasps when she spots Stella.

“Oh my God Stella! You are so so beautiful.”

She turns back to look at Trevor “She has your eyes, Trevor!”

“Oh, Stella, you are the perfect mix of your mum and dad. Can I hug you, baby?” Vicky adds with a trembling voice as she kneels and opens her arms.

Stella looks at her mum, then at Vicky, before slowly moving towards Vicky’s embrace.

This reunion is so moving. We are all looking with tenderness as Vicky and Stella hug each other when suddenly Stella raises her head and looks at the men standing next to me. Her eyes go wide open. She pulls back from Vicky’s arms and puts her tiny hands over her mouth, overwhelmed.

She looks at her mum, all excited. Her eyes go from Chloe to her father, and finally to me.

“Daddy! Daddy is here! This is Daddy.” she shouts pointing her index finger towards Trevor.

She runs to him, shouting “Daddy, Daddy!”

Trevor takes her in his arms, hugging her tight, with one hand on the back of her head.

“Daddy, I cannot believe it. You actually came.” She murmurs with a teary voice.

“Yes baby, I'm here, baby girl. I won't go away ever again.” he tells her, tears rolling down his cheeks.

By now, there is no dry eye in the house. We are all staring at Stella in her father’s embrace, right where she belongs. She hugs him tightly with her tiny arms as she says repeatedly “I love you, daddy, I love you daddy…”

If you ask me, I am happy to see Trevor crying. I was afraid he would continue with this heartless attitude, not caring for his daughter. After all, he had seen her pictures over the last six years and he never tried to get in touch. I am happy that Stella has melted his heart and that he told her he “won't go away ever again”.

Granted, he promised Chloe eternal love and here we are today in this awkward situation. I hope he will keep his word this time.

“Honey, Stella baby, do you want to meet your grandpa?” Trevor asks tenderly.

She pulls back slightly from his embrace and nods.

“Stella, this is Grandpa John.” Trevor says, and his father comes closer to caress her hair tenderly.

“Hello, beautiful princess. I am so happy to finally meet you”, he adds; tears rolling down his cheeks. He leans in and kisses her forehead.

She hugs her grandfather tightly but doesn't leave her father’s embrace, understandably, given that they have six years to catch up.

Chloe wipes her tears and clears her throat before welcoming them into our house. She invites them to the living room, and they all follow her as I close the door.

I cannot stop smiling, the scene before me is heartwarming and I am so happy for Stella. Whatever happened in the past, I feel now that her father and her paternal grandparents will not disappoint her again.

They sit on the couch; Stella in her father’s lap with the grandparents at either side of her. They look so sweet, with Vicky and John holding her hands.

Chloe is sitting in the Club Chair looking at them with a big smile on her face. This woman deserves a medal. She did not hold a grudge, despite all the pain she went through because of this family.

Vicky looks at Chloe with sorrow.

“Chloe, I am deeply grateful for allowing this reunion to happen. You cannot imagine how happy we are today!” Vicky says with genuine gratitude.

“Thank you for coming, Vicky. I am happy to see Stella where she belongs. In her father’s embrace and surrounded by her grandparents.” Chloe replies. But her voice cracks… Too much emotion today!

“Chloe, I want… John & I want to apologize to you. What our boys did is not acceptable. Chloe darling, we didn’t know!”

What!? I look at Trevor and the guilt on his face confirms it all. They didn’t tell their parents that Chloe was pregnant! That they had a granddaughter living a few miles away from them.

Chloe shakes her head in disbelief. She just repeats Vicky's words, trying to process the shocking information.

"You didn’t know? You didn’t know?!”

“Of course, we didn’t know. Do you believe that we would have accepted all of this to happen if we knew?“

I leave them alone to bring the food and refreshments from the kitchen. I cannot bear to listen to this anymore. So many missed opportunities. If Vicky and John had been informed of the pregnancy, things could have gone differently. Stella would have had her father in her life from the beginning.

I take a deep breath to control my emotions. What was done, is done. We cannot change the past. I do not want to dwell on that, otherwise, all the resentment will come flooding back again.

As I am setting the food on the table, the doorbell rings.

Chloe and I exchange a puzzled look, not sure who the visitor might be.

“Oh, that must be Ethan; he was running a little late.” Trevor calmly explains.

Dammit! I did not expect him to join us today. I hope he will not try to ruin this reunion. Hell! I will make sure he does not!

I should open the door and have a side talk with him in the foyer to make sure he will behave. But Chloe is faster than me. She quickly heads to the door and gives me a look of warning, as if to say, “You better behave”. Well, I am not the problem, he is!

A few seconds later, Chloe and Ethan walk back in and Ethan's eyes light up as he sees his family surrounding Stella. His eyes brighten up when they land on Stella, and I see a hit of emotion there. The Grinch has a heart after all!

I do not understand those Harrison Brothers! They clearly love Stella. I can see it right in front of my eyes. Then how come they managed to just look at her from afar and never tried to be in her life? This does not make sense. Unless… The grandparents were not aware of anything, so that leaves us… The evil uncle, of course.

Damn it! I warned you, Trevor! I told you do NOT trust him. What nonsense did he tell you to keep you from reaching out to Chloe and Stella? I will get to the bottom of this. Yes, I said the past is the past. But this man was evil enough to separate his nephew from his daughter. He will not sit down today and watch them bond without trying anything to separate them again. I will investigate this, and I will make sure he does NOT succeed this time around.

I look at Ethan again. He cannot keep his eyes from Stella. He is even smiling. I rarely saw this man smiling.

He is holding a big box wrapped with a big red ribbon in his hands. He brought a gift. He is testing me. Thankfully, the fireplace is on, so I can quickly and easily drop the box there. I said I will burn any gift they might bring and I am a woman of my word. He will learn that the hard way.

He walks to Stella and kneels down.

“Hello Stella, I am your uncle, Ethan,” he says, with a big smile on his face.

“Hi, Uncle Ethan” she cheerfully replies, and she leans in to kiss him on the cheek.

“Sorry I am late, but I had to make an important stop before coming here. I wanted to bring you something.”

She looked expectantly at him.

“What is it, Uncle Ethan?”

“It’s a gift from all of us. Your grandparents, your father, and I” he says, and he hands her the big box.

She tries to untie the ribbon with her tiny fingers. Her father gives her a hand and when she opens the box, a cute puppy jumps out, licking her face.

“Oh, my God. Mommy, Daddy, A puppy! Puppy!” She giggles with delight, unable to contain her excitement.

The puppy puts his paws on Stella’s chest and continues licking her face.

Ethan stands up and moves closer to me to give room for Chloe, who joined her daughter and Trevor on the floor, playing with the puppy.

“Are you going to burn this poor little puppy, Ms. Wilson?” He whispers in my ear in a teasing tone.