His Thief

Chapter three: Family

Jeremy's suitcase was taken from him the moment he stepped into his mansion. The atmosphere was calm, and everything seemed peaceful, until.... "Jay is backkkkkk!" A lady shrieked as she ran down the stairs to him and clasped her arms around his neck.

He struggled to free himself from his sister's grip. "Wassup sissy, how are you doing?"

Kim let go of her brother and looked into his face fondly. " My day was fine thank you. How was yours?"

He sighed and began to lose his tie, "I really can't say, Kim ."

Kim opened her mouth to speak but she was cut short.

"Daaaadddd!", A five year old boy screamed from the front door as he ran towards Jeremy.

"Hey champ!" Jeremy called as he picked the child, threw him in the air and caught him in his arm. " How has my little champ being?"

"Cool daddy," the child responded cheerfully. "Uncle Jim took me out to the park after school today."

"That's lovely."

"And I met a nice lady at the park who helped uncle Jim."

Jeremy looked puzzled. "How did she help Jim?"

Just then, Jim walked in. "It's nothing Jerry," Jim said nervously. "Ivan is just being naughty."

"No daddy," Ivan retorted. "Uncle Jim forgot his wallet. We could not enter the park. And Ivan was really sad. This nice lady noticed and she gave uncle some money and Ivan was happy. Isn't Ivan's lady nice?"

"No Ivan," Jeremy responded. Ivan's eyes widened in shock.

"But why dad?"

"She's an angel," Jeremy corrected and Ivan chuckled.

"Thanks dad. I hope to see her again. She's nice and strong."

Suddenly, they heard the tap of heels on the stairs.

"I forgot to mention," Kim said. "Mom's home."

Jeremy groaned out of frustration. He loved his mother, but her constant nagging pissed him off. She kept nagging him to get remarried each time she came to his house.

Soon, Kate Jones was standing before him. Looking bold and elegant. She smiled at him and touched his chin after he put Ivan down. "Welcome home son."

" Thanks mom."

"How was your day?"

" It was fine thank you ma'am."

All was quiet for a long time. It seemed like Kate wanted to say something, but she couldn't say it.

Ivan tugged at his father's shirt. " Daddy? Mom was here as well."

Kate heaved a sigh of relief. Ivan had helped her spill the beans.

Jeremy frowned and gave his mother a questioning look.

" Why was Angela here, mom?"

" She came to fix things between the two of you," Kate replied without wasting time.

Jeremy appreciated the fact that his mother was the straight forward type. He admired her for it. But at this point, he wasn't interested in admiring her .

" Mom, I specifically told you that there is nothing to fix!" He yelled, his face turning red. He cleaned his sweaty chin, then placed his hand on his hips and began to pace around.

Kim took Ivan's little wrist. " Come Ivan, let's go play video games."

Ivan smiled innocently at his aunt. " Ok aunty."

As soon as they were gone, Kate spoke. " Don't be too rash Jeremy."

Jeremy scoffed. "Rash? Mom am I being rash?" He shook his head. " Mom, Angela left me. She left me because I went bankrupt. I pleaded with her to stay. But she refused. She didn't even show compassion on our one year old son. She left him. Left us!"

" But she has realised her mistake. She's ready to fix things now. You need to give her a second chance. And besides, you haven't been able to get remarried. Ivan needs a mother's love. You can't deny him that."

" No mom!" Jeremy yelled. " I refuse to give that cunning woman another chance. She revealed her true colours. She has no space in my life, or Ivan's. And that's final!"

" Didn't you love her at all?" asked Kate, teary eyed.

" No mom. I never did. Have you forgotten you chose her for me?"

Kate walked up to Jeremy, grabbed his shoulders and made him look at her. "I know why you are doing this. It's because you do not want to listen to me. And that's because I am your step mom right. That's why you don't trust me". She let go of his arms and began to sob.

"Mom, what are you saying?" Jim asked, touching his mom's shoulder. " You know Jerry would never think of something like that."

Kate shook off his arms, searched around for her purse, then left the house.

Jeremy just stood, dumbfounded and rooted on a spot.

Jim walked to him and placed his hand on his shoulder, but he shook it off.

He walked away from Jim and was headed for the kitchen, to cook. Cooking was his hobby. Something he does when he's s happy, angry or sad. Jeremy Jones made tasty meals.

He searched for a pan and placed it on the stove before turning it on. His movements were quick.

John Jones the father of Jeremy had once been married to his high school sweetheart, Ivy. But unfortunately, she died when Jeremy was two years old. Leaving John heartbroken and devastated. He refused to let anyone replace her. When Jeremy turned 6, John decided to teach him how to be self dependent, undermining the fact that he was wealthy. He taught him simple tasks like, washing, cooking, ironing and cleaning.

They were both happy together until Jeremy became attached to a lady at the chapel when he was 10. Kate was genuinely nice to him. She always packed lunch for him and took him on outings every Sunday. John also became fond of her because she relieved him of certain responsibilities. Soon, Jeremy wanted her to be his mum, and John agreed to it.

17 years after the wedding, John Jones died from a heart disease. Jeremy was completely traumatized. At that point, Kate decided it was time to find a wife for him.

She got him married to her friend's daughter, Angela. But that didn't turn out right. Jeremy only had a child with her because Kate insisted. A year after Ivan was born, Jeremy's business began to crumble. And Angela who was only there for the money decided to flee, leaving her child.

" Dad are you crying," Ivan asked sweetly.

Jeremy hurriedly wiped his eyes so he could see clearly. He had been oblivious of his son's arrival. He smiled and picked the child up, and placed him on the cabinet.

"It's okay dad," cooed Ivan, wiping his father's face. "You don't have to go back to mommy. She hurt you, and I don't like seeing you hurt."

Jeremy sniffed and embraced his son tightly.