Chapter One Hundred and Four

It was a twenty minutes drive to Favour and Leonard's house, and Jasmine realized that she was actually looking forward to seeing her sister. All things aside, she had actually missed Favour. She had missed their talks and laughter and she honestly wished Favour had known about her the pregnancy and miscarriage. Maybe if she hadn't been so secretive about it in the first place, she wouldn't have had to go through all of that pain on her own.

Tonight was not about that, she reminded herself, and pushed the bad thoughts away. Tonight she would forget about everything else and just be happy with her sister.

Jasmine parked her car in the drive way, grabbed the bottle of wine she'd bought and got out of the car. The wine was just gonna be for her and Leonard since Favour couldn't drink. She had also bought these cute overalls for the baby that she was sure Favour would absolutely love. She hadn't been a good sister lately, and she wanted to make it up to Favour.

When she knocked on the front door, Leonard opened it and welcomed her heartily. He looked so happy to see her and Jasmine couldn't help but smile at him. When Favour came forward to hug her, she melted. Oh, it was nice to see them and she was glad that she'd agreed to have dinner with them.

They headed to the dining room and Leonard took the wine bottle from her. When Favour saw the overalls for the baby, her eyes became wet with tears and so did Jasmine's.

'You didn't have to' Favour said, sniffing quietly and giving Jasmine another hug. 'It's so cute. You are just the best sister ever.'

'Please don't cry' Jasmine replied, smiling at her. 'I wanted to get something for the baby... And I know you can't drink the wine. Don't cry please because if you don't stop I'm going to start crying too and dinner will be ruined. I'm sure that's not what you want'

'No. No it's not' said Favour hurriedly as she wiped out her eyes with the back of her hands. She returned the overall back into the bag and placed it on one of the empty chairs. 'Please sit down. Leonard made dinner, and I can assure you that he's an excellent cook...'

'Ignore her' Leonard said, although Jasmine could tell by the look on his face that he was flattered. 'I try my best in the kitchen, but I don't think.'excellent' is the best word to describe my cooking'

'Don't mind him' Favour retorted and Leonard grinned at her.

Jasmine smiled as she watched Leonard begin to dish out the food. She could see that Leonard loved her sister very much just by the way he stared at her. With love and adoration in his eyes. The both of them looked so happy and Jasmine was glad that at least one of them got to be happy.

The stew had a wonderful smell, and Jasmine couldn't wait to dig in. Now that she was here, she realized how hungry as she didn't have lunch that afternoon. As Leonard set a plate in front of her, Jasmine heard a car pull up in front of the house. She lifted an eyebrow and stared at Favour.

'Expecting more company?' she asked jokingly. 'Just how many people did you invite to dinner? All your neighbors?'

Favour smiled at her. 'Actually, I forgot to tell you... Collins will be joining us tonight'

Jasmine involuntarily dropped the spoon she had just picked up. Unable to believe her eyes as she stared wide eyed at sister. Wondering why she was just telling her this now.

'You are kidding' she said, hoping that it was a joke, but the look on Favour's didn't suggest that she was joking.

'No I'm not.' said Favour, who exchanged glances with Leonard.

'Then why didn't you tell me that he was coming here tonight?' Jasmine inquired, not knowing if she should get pissed at her sister or just act like she wasn't concerned. Too late, she was already going into panic mode.

'Oh, he called today and told me that he was in town' Leonard spoke up, 'Well then I invited him to dinner and he agreed to come.' Seeing the expression on her face, he added. 'I'm sorry, I thought you two would be glad to see each other...'

'Is something wrong with the two of you? You look so worried' Favour said.

Jasmine shook her head. 'Don't worry about it' she said, pulling herself together. 'I'm fine'

Favour didn't look convinced, and Jasmine was sure she was going to ask another question when there was a knock on the front door.

'I'll get it' said Leonard as he stood and headed for the door.

The silence between Favour and Jasmine after Leonard left was deafening. Jasmine didn't know if she should get mad at her sister or just leave through the back door so she wouldn't have to deal with seeing Collins again. Just when she was beginning to feel like herself again, he was back in her life, sending all the progress she'd made to hell.

She noticed her sister staring at her and looked away. The appetite she felt was gone now and all she wanted to do was go home.

'Are you going to tell me what's going on now.. Or should I ask Collins myself?' Favour asked.

'Just forget about it' Jasmine replied.

They didn't have time to talk further because Leonard and Collins came into the dining room that minute. Collins and Favour exchanged pleasantries and he asked her how she was feeling. Favour replied that all was well with the baby and that she couldn't wait to meet it.

Collins took his seat before he shifted his glance to Jasmine, who simply returned his stare.

'Hello, Jasmine. It's really good to see you again'

Was it? Jasmine thought, but she stopped herself from asking him that. Instead, she gave him a small smile and replied that it was good to see him again too.

The air was so tense and they all knew it. Favour brought up the award and the speech just so they could have something to talk about, much to Jasmine's relief.

'Leonard and I were flattered that you included us in your speech. That was really nice of you, Collins'