“Hey, Mom!” Jade said as she stepped away from her father to embrace her mother.
“You are all bones,” Evelyn complained when she embraced Jade, and all she felt were bones.
“Geez! Thanks for the compliment, mom,” Jade said with a roll of her eyes as she moved away from her mother to look at Andrew and Janet, who were standing behind her parents with a broad smiles on their faces.
“This is…”
“I know who they are, dad,” Jade cut off her father as she flashed them a grin, “I’ve heard a lot about you, Mr. Miller.”
“I hope you only heard good things? And please call me Andrew,” Andrew said as she embraced him.
“I must say you look even more handsome and charming than I imagined,” Jade said with a charming smile.
“Thanks, Jade. You look lovely yourself, but I’m not surprised. Your mother is an angel after all,” Andrew complimented with a grin and then stepped aside to let his wife welcome her too.
“It’s good to finally meet you, Jade,” Janet said with a wide smile as she embraced her.
“Same here,” Jade said as she broke the hug and looked down at Jamal, who was looking at her as though he was trying to figure out something, “Hi, there! Do you remember me?” She asked with a friendly smile.
“You are my mum’s friend, aren’t you?” Jamal asked thoughtfully, and Jade gave him a nod, impressed that he still remembered.
“Yes. It’s nice to meet you again,” she said as she crouched in front of him to embrace him.
“Is Grandma Evelyn your mummy?” Jamal asked curiously, and Jade nodded.
“Yes. Grandma Evelyn, huh? I guess that makes me your aunt now, doesn’t it?”
“I already have an aunt. You know her. Aunt Andy,” Jamal reminded her.
“Yes, I do know her. But, it never hurts to have more than one aunt. It means more adults to spoil you silly,” she said with a wide smile that made him laugh as she ruffled his hair.
Jade straightened up and returned to her father’s side. She took his hands, “I missed you so much my heart was aching,” she said as she led him to a chair, “What took you so long?”
“We were having so much fun that we lost track of time. You could have called me the moment you arrived,” Desmond pointed out as he sat down.
“And miss the happy surprise I just saw on your face? Not a chance,” Jade said as she sat on his lap like a little girl.
“Aren’t you too old for that now?” Evelyn asked as she and the others sat down.
“I can never be too old to be my dad’s baby girl,” Jade said with a grin.
“What about the others? Where are they?” Andrew asked curiously.
“They got tired of waiting. But I’m sure they will join us soon now that they know you’re back,” Jade said with an easy smile, hoping that everything was fine upstairs.
“I suppose there was no fire sprinkler incident?” Evelyn asked, eyeing Samantha, who was now standing by the patio door, and Jade blinked at her in confusion before giggling with understanding.
“None at all. I didn’t know you guys were visiting Benne until yesterday. I can’t believe you guys left me out of all the fun,” Jade said with a pout, and her father patted her hair fondly.
“It wasn’t fun without you,” Desmond assured her dutifully.
“We didn’t come for fun. We came because of the news and because Benne wasn’t taking my call. Don’t worry. We still have our family vacation to plan for. Just make sure you clear out your schedule before then,” Evelyn said as she looked around the patio.
“You guys did a good job,” she said with approval.
“When did you get here?” Desmond asked curiously as he looked at his daughter with unconditional love in his eyes.
Thinking that it was best to tell the truth at this point, Jade shrugged, “Early hours of yesterday,” Jade said, and her parents looked at her with confused surprise.
“You were hiding in the house?” Evelyn asked.
“No. I was at Harry’s…”
“Harry? Benne’s best friend? Are you seeing him?” Desmond cut in, and Jade rolled her eyes.
“No, I’m not. I had to wait there until your birthday to surprise you…” Jade stopped talking when her brothers and their girlfriends joined them on the patio.
“Happy birthday, Dad,” Benne and Bryan chorused.
Desmond glared at his boys, irritated that they had to make him angry all day in order to surprise him like this, “Why did you both leave all the work to Jade?”
“Is that what she told you?” Bryan asked with a scoff as they sat down while Jade giggled.
“Happy birthday, Desmond,” Sonia and Celsie joined.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.