Tasha stepped through the front door after six late evening. Her mother hugged her tightly at the door, with Tyson standing behind his grandma.
“Mom,” Tyson hugged his mom after Grandma. He looked into his mother’s eyes expectantly. Tasha was so happy she wouldn’t be dashing his hope. She had assured him before leaving that his father was a good man, that he would surely help them out.
“How was your journey?” He asked. “It was fine.” She planted a gentle kiss on his forehead. “I have good news,” she took his hand, and they walked further into the living room to sit on the couch.
“Tyson, your father, Blake, has agreed to donate his bone marrow for your treatment.”
“Are you serious, mom?” Tyson’s eyes widened with joy. “M-, my Dad is going to make me feel better again?”
“Yes, he’s going to do it.” Tasha beamed at her son, a lone tear dribbled down her cheek. “He promised to come over the weekend.”
“He is coming here?”
“Yes, he wants to meet you and also go for the compatibility test. But I’m sure he’s going to be a match since I am not.”
“Thank you mommy,” the little boy stood up and hugged his mother. “I love you so much, mom.”
“I love you too,” she hugged him back. “My sunshine. You are my world.”
“So he’s actually coming?” Mrs. Harrison, who had been listening to the conversation between her daughter and her grandson, asked.
“Oh yes, mom,” she looked over at her mother. “He promised to come, and I believe he will.”
“You are a great mother, Tasha,” she said. “Tyson is so lucky to have you.”
She knew how hard it was for Tasha to pick up the courage to go after Blake.”
“Thank you mom,” she reached over and took her mother’s hands. “You and Daddy were a tremendous support for me. You encouraged me to do the right thing.”
Tasha’s phone started ringing in her bag.
“I’ll get it,” Tyson jumped up and reached for Tasha’s bag on the coffee table and dipped his hand inside to get the phone.
“Here mom,” he held it out to his mom, who took it. The phone stopped ringing by the time she took it from him. But it started ringing again, and it was her father calling.
“That’s Dad,” she said and swiped across the screen.
“Hey, Dad,” she said, a little smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.
“Hey,” he replied. “I just want to know if you are home already?” His voice was warm and laced with concern.
“Yes, daddy, I just got back.”
“Good, so how did it go?”
“It went well,” she said and explained everything to him.”
“Wonderful,” Mr. Harrison said. Tasha could feel the relief in her father’s voice from the other end. They talked more for a few minutes before they hung up.
Tasha left to go and freshen up while her mom, and Tyson set the table for dinner.
Much later, after dinner, when she was cleansing her face for the night, her phone rang on the nightstand. Picking it up, she saw Blake’s name flash across the screen.
“Hey, Blake, ” she answered, her voice a little breathless.
“Did you make it home okay?” Blake’s voice was warm, laced with concern. “I’m sorry I should have called earlier, but I got busy with work.”
“I understand, yes, I’m good,” Tasha replied, a smile tugging at her lips. “I got home at around six. I am just about to sleep.”
“Good, good,” Blake said, his voice lighter now. “I’m looking forward to seeing Tyson during the weekend. I suppose he must be asleep now. I would love to hear his voice.”
“Yeah, he is,” Tasha said. “He’s so eager to meet you, too.”
“I can’t wait,” Blake chuckled.
“Thank you Blake,” Tasha murmured into the phone. “You needed to see how happy Tyson was when I told him you had agreed to donate for his treatment.”
“You don’t have to thank me, Tash,” he replied. “He is my son. I will do everything to make him live a good life.”
There was a companionable silence before Blake cleared his throat and wished her a good night.”
She said her goodnight, too, and they ended the call.
Tasha finished up with her night routine and got under the sheets. Tasha snuggled into the warm sheets, a happy sigh escaping her lips. The weekend couldn’t come soon enough.
*********
The following day at midday, Blake sat listening to Mia Lopez, the IT Director as she explained the details of the technical problems plaguing the company’s internal system.
“As you already know, we have provided a short-term remedy,” Mia readjusted her glasses. “But I assure you that my team and I will make sure we get to the button cyber anomalies in the next twenty-four hours, Mr. Carter.”
A glitch recently occurred on the company’s Internet just a few hours ago.
“Mia,” Blake gave the woman a stern look. “Get to the bottom of this. I don’t like how the entire operations of the company was brought to a standstill. And I don’t want it to repeat.”
“Definitely sir,” she said, matter-of-factly. “We are working on it as we speak. My managers are fixing it.”
“I hope so.”
“Mr. Carter,” Mia looked at Blake, her gaze steady. “I think someone is trying to crash into the accounts records.”
“Accounts?” Blake sat forward in his seat, his Internet piquing up. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes, boss,” she responded. “I give you my word. I will sort this out. We are going to identify the glitch and where it came from.”
“I trust your instincts, Mia,” Blake said in a voice full of authority. “You have been with Carter Industries for years.”
Mia shook her head, happy for the vote of confidence.
“You know what?” a thought of unease crossed his mind. He felt that she was right. “I want you to keep this under wraps until we unravel who is behind this. Can you do that for me?”
“Sure boss,” she assured him.
“Right, okay,” he leaned back in his seat. “That will be all for now.”
With that, Mia stood up and left.