Chapter 363 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“Where did they all go?” Benne asked Samantha with a concerned frown after he dropped his and Celsie’s bags in the bedroom and returned downstairs, but there was no trace of their parents.

Samantha shrugged, “They didn’t say. They just seemed pretty excited to go out, and your mother asked Adolf to drive them in the limo. They took Jamal along with them,” She said, and Benne exchanged a look with Celsie.

“Did you tell your dad about the surprise?” Benne asked, and Sonia, who had just joined them, gave Celsie a questioning look.

“You told him that your dad asked us to remind them?” Sonia asked incredulously, eyeing Celsie like she was a traitor.

“Yes.”

“No,” Celsie and Benne said simultaneously, and Sonia rolled her eyes at Benne, who was trying to cover for Celsie.

“She didn’t need to tell us. She only confirmed what we already knew. We are smart enough to figure it out on our own. Maybe if just one of you had reminded us, it would have been less suspicious than the both of you doing it at around the same time after speaking with Andrew privately,” Benne told Sonia, and she rolled her eyes.

“If you were that smart, then you wouldn’t have forgotten your dad’s birthday in the first place,” Sonia said with a tsk, and Jade, who just joined them, laughed while Samantha and Celsie struggled to keep a straight face.

Benne scowled at Sonia, “In case you missed it, your boyfriend is the least smart amongst the Delgado siblings,” Benne fired back, and this time both Celsie and Samantha joined in Jade’s laughter since the joke wasn’t at Benne’s expense.

“And that proves my point,” Benne said, pointing at Bryan, who was walking in their direction, hugging the bag containing the bottle of wines to himself and using his chin to balance it while also carrying the two bags containing all the snacks they had gotten, and from the looks of him some of the snacks had fallen out of the bag, and he couldn’t wait to set it all down.

“What proves what?” Bryan asked as Sonia took the bags of snacks from him.

“Carry all of that alone proves that you are not very smart. Because if you were, you would have come in with just Jade’s duffel bag and asked any of the household staff to bring in the rest stuff from the car,” Benne pointed out, and Bryan scoffed as he dropped the bag of wine on the dining table, while Samantha retraced his steps to pick up whatever must have fallen out of the bag on his way in.

“Yeah, I’m the same not very smart brother you asked for advice on how to woo your girlfriend,” Bryan said dryly, and Celsie looked at Benne while Sonia snickered at him.

“Yeah, the same advice that almost blew up in my face…”

“No, brother. It wasn’t my advice that almost blew up in your face. I never asked you to lie to her. I may not be smart, but I’m not a liar. Right, baby?” Bryan asked Sonia.

“You’re smart, baby, and you’re definitely not a liar, my love,” Sonia said with a grin as she kissed his cheek, and Benne eyed the both of them irritably.

“Benne isn’t a liar, and I’m sure whatever advise you gave him must not have been very good either since you obviously didn’t advise him to tell the truth,” Celsie said in Benne’s defense, and Benne smiled at her.

Sonia and Celsie scowled at each other while Bryan and Benne glared at each other. Jade, who had been enjoying the banter, shook her head, “C’mon, children. No fighting!”

“Nobody is fighting. It’s just a harmless… debate,” Benne said, and Bryan scoffed.

“Oh, wow! A couples debate, I wish I wasn’t so single so that I could join in,” Jade said dryly.

“I doubt that Harry would have anything interesting to say if it’s not about work. You called him boring after all…”

“Harry is not boring,” Jade and Benne snapped at him simultaneously, and Bryan shook his head.

“It is no wonder that Benne is your favorite sibling. All three of you are boring,” Bryan said, and without waiting for their response, he looked around, “So why is the place quiet? Where are mom and dad?” He asked curiously, reminding them of the reason they were all standing there.

“Samantha said they all went out,” Benne informed him before turning to Celsie, “So? Did you tell your dad anything about our plan? Maybe he found a way to take them out of the house so that…”

“No, I didn’t say anything to him,” Celsie said before Benne could finish, and he gave her a nod.

“When did they leave the house?” Jade asked Samantha, who had returned to join them.

“Sometime around Eleven, I think,” Samantha said.

“Does that mean they went out to celebrate his birthday? Without us?” Bryan asked, and Jade pursed her lips thoughtfully.

“I think so. This is probably for the best. Let’s organize the place and freshen up before they get back,” Jade suggested, clapping her hands to get them started.

“The cake and food are ready, I hope?” Benne asked Samantha.

“Yes, sir. Everything is ready,” Samantha said with a polite smile.

“And I can trust that Adolf isn’t aware of the surprise plan?” Benne asked since he had counted on the fact that Samantha and Adolf were always at loggerheads before entrusting her with the secret.

“I made sure he didn’t come anywhere close to the kitchen,” Samantha said, and Benne nodded in approval.

“We can have dinner out on the patio, right?” Jade asked, and Benne gave her a nod.

“Patio?” Celsie asked, realizing that there were still so many parts of the house that she was yet to see. She hadn’t even thought that there was a patio.

“Yes, the patio.

I think it’ll be more intimate if we all sit outside and enjoy the evening air,” Jade explained, considering that Celsie was asking because she didn’t hear her correctly.

“You don’t have to worry about setting the table. We will set the table ourselves,” Jade assured Samantha before looking around, “Where is Candace?”

“She is in the guestroom, Miss Delgado. Your parents wanted her to go with them, but she insisted on staying back,” Samantha explained, and Jade nodded.

“Please send someone to let her know that I’m here now,” Jade said as she took off her shoes, “Let’s meet down here in ten minutes to set the table. I need to get out of these clothes,” Jade called to the others as she headed for the stairs.

“I didn’t know the house had a patio,” Celsie whispered to Benne as they both headed upstairs to get out of their work clothes.

“I will give you a tour of the place tomorrow,” Benne promised as he took her hand.

Once they got into the bedroom, Celsie walked into the closet with the shopping bag and discreetly transferred the tampons into her box before returning with the bag.

“What is your dad’s shoe size?” Celsie asked as she took out the shower gel from the shopping bag and placed it on the dressing table before going to drop the shopping bag on the bed.

“I think he wears a size ten,” Benne said thoughtfully as Celsie came to stand in front of him with her back to him. And as though he had been trained to do it all his life, he reached for the zipper of her dress and unzipped it to reveal her white lace bralette and matching pant.

“Thanks,” Celsie said as she stepped away from him, “I think this will fit him,” she said as she took out the memory foam slippers from the shopping bag and showed it to him.

“You got my dad a birthday gift?” Benne asked, surprised and pleased by the gesture as he admired the slippers.

“I got a pair of these for my dad two years ago, and he really loved them. I think your dad will like it too. What do you think?” Celsie asked as she returned the slippers to the bag and shrugged off her dress.

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