Easton stared dumb stricken as the person entered majestically and in full glory. She stopped in front of Easton and took of her glasses.
“Good day, Dad,” the beautiful young woman knelt in front of Easton and greeted.
“Lily? I can’t believe this!”
“It’s me, Dad. I’m back.”
Easton looked at her for full five minutes without saying anything.
“Lily? What kept you away from home for so many years?”
“Dad, I’m sorry. I wanted to heal and make a name for myself. I wanted to…”
Easton interrupted her.
“… You wanted to heal? Heal from what exactly? You left this house twenty years ago with the promise to return for your child but you never did. Now, you say you wanted to heal. What lousy excuse is that?”
Heavy footsteps were heard on the stairs as Daisy and Katty came in sight. They were running downstairs to meet Ivan. Each wanted to be the first to say hello. Daisy stopped in her tracks and Katty bumped into her.
“Move, silly, will you?” Katty snapped but Daisy didn’t hear her. She stared at the woman in front of Easton Landers. Her memory of her mother was vague but she had seen a lot of pictures and she could tell that it was her mother standing in front of Easton.
“Mummy?” she called.
“Oh my beautiful baby….. come and give mummy a big hug.”
Lily opened her arms and waited for her daughter to come but Daisy didn’t budge. She just stood there and tears ran down her face. Tears of joy, pain, anger, sadness, regret, all flowed freely down her face.
“I’m sorry, Daisy. I know I should have come earlier, I’m sincerely sorry. I apologize, please, understand mummy. I’ll make it up to you…” Lily begged.
“Don’t tell me that. You abandoned me and left me all alone. I spent everyday waiting for you. I had neither father nor mother in this cruel world and now that I’m an adult, you reappear, hoping to walk your way back into my life? After how many years? Tell me, mother. How many years did you stay without me? You didn’t hear from me, you didn’t come to see me, you didn’t even call. What if I had died? Mum, what would have happened? You would not even know or bother about me anymore!” Daisy poured out her heart and stormed out of the house in tears leaving a dazed Katty behind.
Daisy ran out blinded by hot tears and collided head on with Ivan who was coming into the house.
“Ouch are you…” Ivan wanted to yell but he stopped himself when he saw who it was. Daisy? She was crying too!
“Daisy? What’s the problem? Did something happen? Is grandfather all right? Talk to me please,” he asked but Daisy only responded with tears. Ivan held her close and led her to his car. He placed her head on his shoulders and let her cry to her fill. When she was calm, Ivan asked her again,
“What’s the problem, Daisy?”
“Go in. Don’t worry about me,” she answered and lay down on the back seat of the car. Ivan looked at her, worry lines were visible on his forehead. He was very concerned about her.
“Are you sure you are fine? How can I not worry about you?”
“Ivan, I’m fine.”
“Mmm. Okay,” Ivan replied and left her to her fate.
Ivan opened the door and came face to face with Easton and the other woman. The air was tense and difficult, he wondered what it was all about. He shurged, adjusted his tie and moved forward.
“Good afternoon, grandfather. Good day,” he greeted his grandfather and his visitor.
“Oh my goodness! Ivan?”
What? That voice…
Ivan turned to the woman in surprise, his eyes were silently pleading for explanation.
“It’s me, Aunt Lily.”
“Aunty Lily? How…why…oh my! Aunty Lily!” Ivan exclaimed and went into her embrace.
“You have grown so big in the past years. Look at you now, a very big boy…hahaha.”
“Man, Aunty Lily, not boy,” Ivan joked and both laughed. Ivan and Lily used to be very close in the past before Lily left the country. Ivan missed her everyday and waited more than anyone for her to come back but she never did. He never voiced his thoughts to anyone be he didn’t want to remind his grandmother or cousin about their daughter and mother respectively.
Despite all these, grandfather Easton still had a cold look on his face.
“Ivan, what brings you here today?” Aunty Lily asked. She was very grateful for Ivan’s presence and she wanted to steal a few seconds or minutes to be away from her father’s rounds and horrible bounds of questions. But Easton thought otherwise.
“You have no right to question him. Don’t ask him anything and don’t say anything else until you have answered all my questions.” Easton turned to Ivan and said,
“Are you going anywhere this evening? Is it convenient that you wait a while more?”
“Emmm…well, as long as it doesn’t exceed an hour,” he answered.
“Mmm. Okay.” Easton waved him off. Ivan was able to guess what was wrong with Daisy. She must have been shocked at her mother’s sudden return. She was probably hurt all these years and will find it difficult to accept her back as her mother. He knew the same would apply to his grandfather. Although he wasn’t happy at his aunty’s failure to return years ago, he was happy to have her back hale and hearty. To him, that was all that mattered. He took a discreet glance at the clock and decided to spend some time in grandfather’s library.
Ivan smiled at the familiar smell of books. Easton loved reading and had so many collection of books. He picked out a colourful business pamphlet from the drawer and glanced at it. It looked interesting so he walked away with it, hoping to read it in his room as a way to pass time. He opened the door and looked around his room. Everything was in place but there was a figure on his bed!