Chapter 69

~Alistair~

Eliana had come earlier in the day, bringing Ian along with her. The security men at the gate hadn’t wanted to let her in, owing to the fact that it had been six years, and they weren’t the same guards that used to be there.

Although she had informed me that she was going to come, I had doubted it, but while I hoped that she actually came along with our son, I had forgotten to give her my number, in order for her to give me a call to instruct the security men that she could come in.

Owing to the fact that she didn’t have my number, they were convinced that she just couldn’t be here despite the fact that she kept telling them that she knew me and had to see me urgently. She had asked them to give me a call on her behalf, but they had blatantly refused with the excuse that they were going to be in trouble if they disturbed me, until one of them saw the striking resemblance that my son shared with me, and decided to just give me a call.

When he gave me a call, I had immediately gone to the gate and ordered them not to ever leave them waiting again. It was Ian who had narrated the full story to me, and had said I should have used my super sense of hearing, so that I could have heard what was going on at the gate, but I explained that I only heard what I wanted to hear, and couldn’t just be eavesdropping on people’s conversations, and intruding on their privacy.

“Do you know when mum will be back?” He suddenly asked, fiddling with his fingers as he sat down, in a slouching posture on the couch.

“She promised to be here before evening,” I said, checking my wrist watch, which stated that it was past 3 in the afternoon.

“Can’t you call her to hurry up?” He asked.

“I’m sure she will be here soon,” I said, wanting to spend more time with him alone, as it was just the two of us.

He looked bored, and he had just been sitting in awkward silence for close to three hours, since the time he was brought to my place. Eliana was going to be back anytime soon, and if care wasn’t taken, the whole day would have been wasted, without even forming a little bond with my own son, leaving him to think that I was truly a bad person.

“Can I offer you something?” I asked, trying to start a conversation with him for the umpteenth time that afternoon.

“You’ve asked me so many times, and each time you ask, I say no. Why are you still asking?” He asked, wearing an irritated look.

“I just want to talk to my son, is that so much of a bad thing?” I asked, feeling helpless.

“Yes, it is. I don’t know you, and you don’t know me either. My mum says you’re the only one who can help me today, and that’s why I’m here today. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be sitting here with a stranger, who can hurt me,” He said.

I heaved a deep sigh. “You know your mum loves you, don’t you?” I asked.

“Yes, I know she loves me very much, even more than she loves herself. Why do you ask?” He retorted.

“Your mum will protect you at all cost, and will never allow anyone do anything to hurt you. If she thought I was capable of causing you harm, she would have never brought you to stay with me. Don’t you agree?” I asked, in a calm tone.

He appeared to be thoughtful, then, he nodded his head, agreeing with what I had said. “You’re right. Maybe you wouldn’t hurt your own blood, but why did you hurt her and her family?” He asked.

“I had good reasons behind what I did,” I replied.

“Mum says that there is no such thing as doing something bad for a good cause,” He said.

I nodded my head, agreeing with him. “I see that now. I didn’t know before, and I’m truly sorry about what happened with your mother. I was given a wrong information and I acted on it, instead of trusting her and asking her about it first. I am deeply sorry about that, and I sincerely apologise,” I said.

“It’s not me you should be apologising to,” He said.

“You’re right. I should be apologising to Eliana, not you, and trust me, I have tried my best to do just that, but it’s been all to no avail. She won’t accept my apology, but I understand, because after all that I did to her, she needs time to know whether to forgive me or not,” I said.

“Tell me. Why did you do something you now regret?” He asked.

“Okay, I will,” I said, glad that we were finally having a conversation. “The girl whose life you saved is your friend, right?” I asked.

“Yes. Her name is Audrey, and she is my best friend,” He replied.

“Good. Is there someone you don’t like? Um...a kid around your age. Is there someone like that?” I asked.

He nodded his head rapidly, without even pausing to think first. “Yes, Asher. He used to bully me all the time back in Canada, and he always said mean stuff about mum,” He explained.

“I’d like to meet that kid one-on-one, so, I can give him a good smacking,” I said.

Ian chuckled. “If you do meet him, let me know, so that I can come with popcorn and watch how he cries and begs for his mummy,” He said, and we both burst into a fit of laughter.

When the laughter quieted down, I decided to go on with my explanation. “I’m guessing Audrey isn’t friends with Asher, right?”

“She isn’t. We both don’t like him,” He explained.

“Good. Now, imagine Audrey and Asher become very close friends, and they begin to bully people together, without your knowledge...”

“That’s never going to happen,” He said, cutting in, and interrupting my explanation.

“I know. That’s why I asked you to use your imagination. Moving forward, imagine that happens, and you get to find out through someone else that Audrey is now that way. How are you going to feel about it?” I asked.

He thought about the whole scenario that I had painted for him. “I guess I’ll be pissed and angry, and I’ll also feel betrayed if that happens,” He replied.

“Exactly. That’s what happened, but it was worse. When you grow older, you will understand better. However, it turns out that my friend who had told me about your mother’s betrayal had been lying about it because she was jealous of our friendship. Everyday, I regret what I did to her but I can understand it if she chooses not to forgive me,” I explained.

“You never should have believed the words of someone else without confirming the truth first,” Ian said.

“Exactly. That’s the mistake I made, but do you want to know something?” I asked.

He nodded his head, in the affirmative. “Yes,” He replied.

“Even if it was true that your mother had betrayed me, I never should have done anything to hurt her. Your mother is right; we can’t justify bad deeds with good reasons. What is bad is bad, and I have learnt my lesson,” I explained.

He sighed. “I guess I should try to do the good thing always, then, and confirm what the truth is before jumping into conclusion,” He said.

“Yes, you should. Would you.. um...like to play a video game with me?” I asked.

“I don’t think that will be a fair game. You’re old, and I’m still very young. You’ll beat me, and if I ever get a shot at winning, it’ll be because you just let me win...so, no. I’d rather play games with people around my age,” He said, declining my request.

“I’ve not played any game in like forever, so, I guess you could actually win me. Besides, I’m not old,” I said.

“You are. You’re almost forty, aren’t you?” He asked.

I was a little bit taken aback. “How did you know about that?” I asked, surprised.

“Mum doesn’t have any friends. Who do you think she tells everything to?” He retorted, looking at me as if I was a sully child.

“I just didn’t expect her to tell you that. What else did she say?” I asked.

“You should go and ask her. Try to have a conversation with her, and she just might forgive you, and start talking to you as she used to in the past. Don’t go around asking other people about what she said or did. Ask her,” He replied.

“You have a sharp tongue, and I wonder where you got that from. It’s certainly not from me though, I’m sure of that. You probably took some of Eleanora's traits. I’ll try to talk to your mother, but for now, please, let’s have a game,” I pleaded with him.

He rolled his eyes. “Fine. If you insist,” He said.

“Cool. I’ll go get the old video games from my bedroom,” I said, and hurried away.

About two hours had gone by, and each and every time, Ian beat me, and was now on his fourth win. He made every win hurt, as he laughed hard and said that I play like a toddler, but it was fun. I loved the fact that we were getting along, and were slowly becoming fast friends.

“How come you suck so much at this?” He asked, laughing hard.

“Told ya. I haven’t played in forever,” I replied.

“How long exactly?” He asked.

“It’s been six years now,” I responded.

“That was when mum left you. Now, I feel sorry for you. You must have had to stop everything you loved doing because you were pained that you had hurt her,” He said.

I nodded my head, in agreement. “I loved her, and I messed up really bad. I felt I didn’t deserve to be happy when I had caused her so much unhappiness,” I explained.

“It’s understandable,” He said, and his game controller fell to the floor, as he shuddered, after hearing a high-pitched scream from someone in another compound.

“Yes! I won!” I said happily, as I had been able to win the game in the split second that he had been confused by the noise.

“That was just sheer luck,” He said, with a frown plastered on his face.

“I don’t mind what it was, as long as I finally got to win,” I said, wearing a broad smile, feeling victorious.

“I’m still leading though,” He said, with a shrug.

“Aren’t you bothered about the scream you just heard?” I asked.

“I hear stuff that doesn’t concern me all the time, but I don’t say anything because I don’t want mum to be worried, and I understand that it’s because I’m a werewolf that those sounds are heightened,” He said.

“Smart one, but today’s sounds have been more louder, not so?” I asked.

He nodded his head, in the affirmative. “Yes, you’re right. I have been hearing too many things which have been getting unbearably loud, and I’ve just been trying so hard to concentrate,” He replied.

“That’s because it’s the full moon. Our senses get more heightened on the full moon, but I’m glad that you are trying to not let those sounds bother you. With time, you’d learn how to not hear things you don’t want to hear, and focus on hearing the one thing you want to hear,” I said.

“Seriously?” He asked, with his eyes wide open.

“Yeah, seriously. I would teach you how to catch people’s scents, how to tell when someone is lying, how to see clearly even in the dark, and many other fun things. Today’s lesson, however, will be on how to listen effectively, instead of listening to unimportant things and various things at a time,” I said.

He dropped the game controller on the table. “How do we start?” He asked, eagerly.

“What do you want to hear?” I asked.

“I want to know why those people are screaming,” He responded.

“Fine. Close your eyes,” I instructed.

He did.

“Don’t think about anything,” I said.

“Okay.”

“Think of what you want to hear. When you hear it, concentrate solely on that conversation and ignore the other voices. Imagine you’re a part of the conversation, and in no time, other voices will be blocked out,” I explained.

He didn’t reply, but rather, went ahead to start doing exactly as I had instructed. About two minutes later, his eyes flew open.

“The man’s ex-wife is getting married, and wants their daughter to live with him, but his present wife doesn’t want that. That’s what the fuss is all about,” He said.

A smile came upon my face, as I nodded my head, proud of him. “Impressive. You are a fast learner,” I said.

“Thank you. Now, can you teach me more?” He asked, beaming excitedly.

“I think you should eat first. I can sense that you’re hungry,” I said.

“You can sense when someone’s hungry? Wow. Can you teach me to do that now?” He asked.

“I’ll do that once you’ve eaten,” I said.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t eat in strangers houses,” He said, even though his stomach rumbled.

“I’m not a stranger. I am your father, but I can understand you,” I said.

“Thanks for understanding. Now, teach me more, please,” He said.

I liked the fact that he was interested in knowing more about who he was, and I felt at peace, despite knowing the truth that he hadn’t yet accepted me as his father. It wasn’t that much of a big deal, as long as he was smiling and being chatty with me.

Spending time with Ian today gave me hope that things would be better someday, and he’d probably refer to me as his dad, and not a stranger when that day finally came.