Page 99 of Cheating Fate

She blinked in confusion, and my father frowned. I smiled, realizing how my words might have implied it came from a secret admirer.

“Father, you should stay with her. She will be grateful for it,” I said.

My father instantly tensed, understanding that whatever the message contained would greatly upset my mother.

“We will be outside when you are done,” I said before exiting the room with Zhara.

She hugged me as soon as the door closed behind us. I didn’t know why I was so messed up by the situation. It was a moment to rejoice. A part of me wanted to be in the room when she discovered the truth. But another believed she wouldn’t want an audience bearing witness to her potentially falling apart once all was revealed.

Seconds stretched to countless minutes. I didn’t know how long the message was. With the excellent soundproofing, we couldn’t hear anything emanating from the bedroom.

And then the door finally opened.

My mother’s face was red, her cheeks damp from the tears she had wiped. The look on her face as she gazed upon me wrecked me. It wasn’t sadness but a desperate hope, silently begging me to confirm this wasn’t some cruel joke.

“He’s wonderful, Mom. He loved your mother so much, and he’s desperate to meet you,” I said softly.

“He… He’s really my father?” Mom asked in a quivering voice.

“Yes,” I said with conviction. “His scent is undeniably of your bloodline. I recognized it as soon as I was within range of him. And then he confirmed it. He is your father, and he very much wanted you.”

She threw herself into my arms and wept again. Despite knowing they were tears of joy, It still fucked me up to see my mother crying. And the look on my father’s face messed even more with my head. He rarely showed such a vulnerable expression. But his joy and love for my mother radiated like a thousand suns.

Mom finally regained her composure and straightened while wiping her tears.

“Would you like to meet him?” Zhara asked softly. “He knows we’ve been organizing your transport here. He said he’ll be ready whenever you are.”

“Yes! Yes I do!” my mother exclaimed before a horrified expression settled on her face. “But not like this. Oh Goddess! I must look like a total wreck with my eyes puffy and my nose running!”

We laughed. My mother was always gorgeous, even now. Her slightly damp face only made her look even more vulnerable and adorable. It whipped my protective instincts into a frenzy.

“You look perfectly fine, Mother,” I said in an indulgent tone. “But you can go check for yourself in the bathroom right here.”

I didn’t have to say it twice for her to rush towards it. I chuckled again, my heart filling with love for my mother. My father’s hand settling on my shoulder startled me.

“This is the greatest gift you could have ever given your mother. Thank you, son,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.

“I don’t have much merit in any of this,” I said sheepishly. “But I’m glad to be able to help facilitate it.”

He hugged me, and I returned his embrace.

When mother finally came out, Zhara and I escorted my parents to the Basilica. Rhadames had already gone ahead to warn the Divine that we would drop by very soon. When we entered his hall, he wasn’t sitting on the throne, but pacing his dais, visibly nervous.

He stopped the moment he heard our approaching footsteps and jerked his head in our direction. He froze, a whirlwind of emotions flashing over his handsome features. I didn’t need to read minds to know he was seeing the ghost of his beloved. My Grappa had shown me pictures of Alana. He had not exaggerated by saying that Mother was her spitting image. If not for my mom’s golden eye color, they could have been twins.

His face constricted as he clearly battled the urge to cry. My father slipped an arm around my mom’s waist as her steps faltered, her knees weakened by overwhelming emotions. Grappa climbed down the stairs on shaky legs, then walked towards her, meeting my mother halfway.

They both visibly fought the urge to run and throw themselves into each other’s arms. Although I understood their reasons, it still boggled my mind that they both feared the other might reject them. They stopped a couple of feet from each other, eyes locked. Mom’s lips were quivering, and her entire body was trembling.

“My baby…” Taseus whispered in a tortured voice. “My beautiful daughter…”

That broke something inside my mother. She threw herself into his arms. He caught her, lifted her off the ground, and held her in a tight embrace. Mom buried her face in his neck and cried again.

“My baby… My Grace…” Taseus said as his wings closed around her. “I’m sorry, so sorry. Your mother and I wanted you so much… so very much.”

Seeing tears well in my father’s eyes made me feel less embarrassed about the ones freely rolling down my cheeks.

After that moving reunion, Grappa Taseus had no difficulty convincing my parents to stay for a while. On the fifth day, the rest of the crew and I had to return to Veredia. When I expressed my concern about how they would return home, they reassured me that the vessel Rhadames teleported them from was still en route to Dantor. It would arrive in a couple of weeks to pick them up. They were discussing the possibility of just continuing the journey to Veredia, since they were already here in the Western Quadrant.