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“Hello, Maia…” He began, and she looked up and beamed.
“Hi, Blaine.”
“I wanted to know if I could take you on a date... It’s a bit difficult to refuse, considering my position as CEO of several companies.” Maia giggled.
“You think it’s difficult, Mr. Porter?” She asked, taking a sip of her water, and Blaine whispered his next words. It was difficult for Brielle to make out the words he’d spoken, but Killian read his lips all too well, instantly reminding him of who the woman was and why she looked so familiar.
“You tell me, Sunshine..”
Killian recalled seeing her with Blaine many months ago and was sure Brielle had no idea they’d known one another. A slight blush coated Maia’s face, and she bit her lip as she could tell Brielle and Killian were watching their interaction.
“You’re cute, Porter, but.. you’re gonna have to try a little harder than that.” She winked and walked away, leaving Blaine in shock. Killian chuckled as he leaned down to Brielle. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and he spoke.
“How many tries do you think it will take him to get her to say yes?” He asked, and she shrugged.
“How many did it take you?”
“One.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sure it did. Since this is Blaine we’re talking about, I’d give it about thirty.” They both laughed, and he brought her over to their table. Looking back over to the kids’ section, Brielle noticed both Archer and Delilah were missing.
She moved to stand up, feeling slightly panicked, but relaxed back in her chair as she watched them walk over to the table. The only difference was that now the little girl’s face was flushed as a strawberry, and the look on Archer’s face said it all as he pulled out a chair for her to take a seat beside his. Brielle bit her lip, and Killian pulled her over.
“What’s wrong, love?” He asked, noticing her eyes staring off in confusion.
“I don’t know how comfortable I am with Archer being so close to Delilah. The boy clearly knows a little too much and treats her like she belongs to him..” Killian looked over to the table and noticed Archer’s intense stare at his daughter.
“It could be a little crush he has, but since we’re not talking about a normal little boy, I know this little infatuation may not bejusta crush. We can keep a closer eye on them, but let’s not worry too much. He most likely won’t be seeing her anytime after today.” He assured her, and Brielle nodded, agreeing, but she still felt like something was wrong.
Calvin wastookind to both of them, and his son had taken an automatic liking to Delilah. Though it could’ve just been a coincidence, she highly doubted it. She knew he was planning something… something big. It sent a cold shiver down her spine, considering the possibilities of what he might be plotting.
“Somethings going to happen, Killy… I don’t know when. I don’t know how… But Calvin is playing a game of chess with all of us, and in his game, he wins.” She whispered and looked over to him. Killian sighed as he pulled her closer.
“Shhh… darling. I know. I don’t want you to stress. I noticed a few of the signs myself… and we will ensure anything he plans doesn’t go through. Try to relax.” She nodded her head and felt the small kiss being placed on her forehead.
“…Oh, Brielle,” She heard in front of the table and looked over her shoulder to see two elderly people. The woman had her hand on her mouth as tears threatened to escape her eyes, and the man stared in utter disbelief.
“My God, you really came,” Killian whispered, and Brielle furrowed her eyebrows. She stared into the woman’s teary eyes, and only then did she smell a scent that woke up the deepest parts of her brain — the smell of homemade cookies, roses, and paradise. Brielle stood up and looked closer at the man and woman.
“… G-grandma?” She uttered in a shaky voice. The woman nodded her head, and Brielle rounded the table quickly, throwing herself into the open embrace of the older woman. She held her close as she felt one of the sore parts of her heart fill up with love.
“Don’t forget about your old man now..” Her grandfather spoke as he wiped away his unshed tears. Brielle went over to him and also threw her arms around him in a bone-crushing hug. Killian stood up and went over to them.
“I think we should go to one of the backrooms… It’ll be a great place to begin the much-needed discussions..” Brielle nodded her head, and he led them to a secluded area. He closed the door, and Brielle sat across her grandparents on the sofa. There was an immediate silence, and Brielle spoke, cutting to the chase.
“Where have you been?” She asked, as her last memory of them was when she visited their estate in Pennsylvania for the winter with her family. Her grandmother smiled sadly.
“Shortly after our Christmas together, your grandfather was diagnosed with stage two brain cancer. We traveled across the world in search of medical assistance, and eventually, we found a doctor in Europe to perform the surgery. Still, we had to go through many years of therapy, which should’ve only taken months.” Brielle continued to listen, but only then did she notice Eugene standing at the now open door with Killian, listening to the conversation.
“I had to relearn many things. How to walk again, how to hold things, at times, I even forgot how to read… A few years after the surgeries, I finally started feeling like myself, but then..” Her grandfather trailed off, and her grandmother continued.
“I was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer… It all happened so fast, now that I think about it. I was so worried about your grandfather. I didn’t see the need to worry about myself… Then, I went through the same process of getting multiple surgeries and going through immense amounts of therapy. Throughout our years overseas, we tried to contact Gregory and Cheryl to see how you all were doing. Unfortunately, they always had an excuse for us not to speak to you, and eventually, we lost all contact. We were planning to visit to see if we could find out what happened, but I was still in recovery. It was only a month ago that Killian reached out to us asking who we were in relation to you, and he then invited us to the wedding.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Eugene scoffed, causing the three of them to flinch and look over at him. He shook his head angrily and left the room while slamming the door.
Her grandfather sighed. “It’s going to be hard getting through to him. We know he thought we abandoned him as he was old enough to know that we left but not old enough to know we were approaching death.” Brielle nodded, knowing what they were feeling.
“I’ll talk to him.. He listens to me.” Her grandparents nodded. It looked like they wanted to say more, but they said nothing and stood up.
