Chapter 195 NO RETURNING
1178words
"Have you delivered the picture to Santa?" Aaron asks me at the breakfast table, making me choke at my tea.
COUGH … COUGH …
"What is it?" Ann asks, looking blankly at Aaron and me while I wipe my face quickly and nod to Miss Martha indicating her to take away Aaron from the dining table.
She takes the hint and quickly comes over to pick Aaron up.
"Daddy, what about my…" He begins and I harshly cut him off. "To your room, Aaron. Now."
His face turns pale from my rudeness and then the tears start to well up in his soft blue eyes as he snuggles in Miss Martha's arm like a frightened kitty and she takes him away with her.
"Are you going to tell me, what's happening between you two?" Ann asks me with a displeased look.
"Aaron has wished for his mother from Santa."
BOOM
I reveal and as I expected Ann's face falls and her brows furrow in distress. "Why? Where did I miss out?" She whines like a broken soul and I sigh in stress.
"Ann, it isn't like this. He just… He needs his mother. Every child needs their mother." I try to make her understand the perspective of Aaron asking for his mother has come naturally not from Ann's lack of love and affection towards him.
WAA … WAA … WAA …
She cries in my arms, sobbing, "I can't let him go."
"No one is asking you, Ann. I think this is the time that we should bring his mother and brother back to him." I tell Ann calmly and she looks at me absently.
"His brother?" She prompts.
"Yeah."
"Yes, we can bring him his brother, and maybe then he would stop asking for his mother. We will tell him that his mother left him to us. She was never a good woman." Ann mutters and I frown with displeasure.
That's a white lie what Ann is saying.
"No, he wants a complete family, Ann. Me, his mother, his brother, and you." I correct Ann and she gives me an amusing look as though I have recently grown a long beard on my face.
"No… That couldn't happen." She rejects me immediately and I snort unhappily.
"Enough of your stubbornness, Ann. At least, think about Aaron's happiness." I say exasperatedly but Ann looks completely unbothered by my exhaustion as she stays firm on her decision.
"Tessa could never come back to this mansion, Never."
And with that statement, she stubbornly leaves the dining table and I sigh helplessly while watching her back disappear from my sight.
****
"Coffee?" Lillian pops her head from the half-closed door and asks with her brows wiggling mischievously at me.
"Nothing," I reply with a plain face and she pauses for a moment and then enters my office with an anxious face.
"What's wrong?"
She takes the seat at my desk and asks worriedly.
"Aaron…" I sigh and she jumps slightly from her seat, "Is he ok?" She looks at me in terror and I nod my head easing her unnecessary worries for Aaron.
"So, then, what is it?" She asks relaxing back in her chair.
"He is asking about his mother," I reveal.
"So, tell him about her. After all, He has the right to know about her. How long are you gonna hide this from him?" She questions and I scowl unhappily can't she see my difficulty in this situation?
"He wants his mother, Lillian. He wants Tessa to return." I snap furiously and Lillian stays calm as she replies to me, "I don't see anything wrong in this. She is his biological mother. Even in the legal terms, she is allowed to be with her son."
I take a deep frustrated sigh as I start to run my hands in my hair and then glare at Lillian. "Tessa could never return. She hates me, she hates us, that contract has changed her completely. She won't come back now."
"She hates you that doesn't mean she would hate her son too, and how could you be so confident that she will not return to her son, huh?" Lillian questions while folding her arm over her chest as though she is a police officer and I am a culprit giving her the confessions of my sins.
"That's not possible," I mumble in disappointment.
I know Tessa is scared of her past and she would never return to the place from where she had got all the haunting memories.
"At least, you should try once. Instead of making up your mind on this." She suggests and I nod my head to avoid another argument with her.
I am already tired and exhausted perhaps at night I could convince Aron to let go of the topic of his mother or maybe I will make up a few stories related to his mother's disappearance from his life.
"Lillian, could you order cupcakes for Aaron?" I ask Lillian, she knows about Aaron's health condition and which ingredients are not harmful for him.
"Oh, yeah sure." She says cheerfully and I dismiss her politely afterward.
In the evening, with a box of cupcakes, I entered Aaron's room to surprise him but instead, I got surprised when I saw him sleeping so early.
I look around and the room is empty. I guess Miss Martha has gone back to her room and Selina must be off duty now.
I keep the box of cupcakes at the side table of his bed and then watch him for a moment. I had scared him badly in the morning. I got louder than necessary. I should control my emotions around Aaron. He is just a kid after all, and he has no idea how big trouble he is creating for me and his mother by constantly asking about Tessa.
I lean down to kiss his forehead but when my lips touch his forehead I frown when I feel the heat of his body. He is burning from the fever, I turn him around and his face becomes completely red in my view.
My heart skips a beat when his hand falls lifelessly on the bed and immediately I look for his pulse, it's slower than usual. Without wasting another minute, I pick him up and rush towards the mansion's gate.
"Ron, bring the car, hurry," I shout at the top of my lungs while running towards the exit.
As I reached the door, Ron had already brought the car. He hurriedly opened the car door for me and I got inside instantly with the small body of Aaron lying lifelessly in my arms.
"To The hospital." I bark, not caring about my loud tone.
Ron immediately presses the pedal to speed up and we are off on the road.
My heart thumped loudly in my chest. I keep glancing at Aaron, "Aaron, wake up… Aaron…" I pat his cheek slightly trying to get him back to consciousness, he moves his head slightly mumbling only one word repeatedly.
"Mommy."
