COMPLICATED – Finale Episode 41

COMPLICATED

Written by Princess Juliet

Episode 41( Final episode)

His perfect family

With a light heart, Jayden got into his car and drove back to the hospital.

His mind was already made up. He was going to go along with his girlfriend’s wish to adopt a kid and then build a family with her, but that’ll be after he had taken Greg to see his mother.

It was a promise he’d made to him and he couldn’t, wouldn’t let him down no matter what.

Despite the heavy traffic, he got to the hospital just before mid-noon and was in time to see Atarah walk out of the building. Her mother was beside her and they were both laughing merrily like little girls.

Jayden couldn’t help but smile at their childlike manner. He stepped out of his car, closed the door behind him and then called out her name. “Tarah.”

Startled, she froze in her steps and turned her head in his direction. When she saw him, her face brightened and she rushed over to him.

Jayden caught her in his arms, his breath warm against her cheek. She clung to him and wouldn’t let him go. He chuckled throatily and whispered close to her ear. “I’ll meet you at home, Princess.”

Hearing that, Atarah was a bit disappointed. She gazed up at him, silently questioning his decision.

He let out a deep sigh before stating his reason. “I need to drive Greg to the hospital.”

“Oh, yes!” She exclaimed with a hint of sarcasm but Jayden didn’t seem to notice that. And if he did, he wasn’t bothered at all by it.

Still smiling, he lifted a hand and caressed her cheek softly as he continued. “And when I return home, we’ll go to the orphanage and adopt a kid who looks just like you.”

“Really?” Atarah’s eyes lit up with delight.

Jayden nodded. “And that’ll be right after we have signed our marriage certificate.” He didn’t know why he said that but seeing the sparkles in her eyes, he was glad he did.

Atarah was beyond surprised. In fact, she was almost speechless. Tears of joy welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks as she turned slowly to her mother who now stood behind her. “Did you….hear that….mum?” Her lip quivered and a sob threatened to choke off her voice.

Maria smiled and nodded. “And I give you both my blessing.”She agreed without the slightest hesitation. And then to Jayden, she happily told him “thank you” for she was grateful that he loved her daughter unconditionally.

Without a word, Jayden nodded and lightly kissed Atarah’s forehead before walking into the building and straight to Greg’s hospital room.

To his surprise, he met his brother standing close to the window. He was shaved and smelled of aftershave, his hair combed back. Dressed in jeans and a gulf shirt, Greg looked healthier than he’d been that morning.

Jayden found himself smiling as he greeted him. “Hey, bro.”

Greg turned around and gulped, breathing deeply. “I’m somewhat jealous of your love life, little bro.” He confessed, running a hand through his hair.

At first, Jayden was confused but eventually, he understood that his brother had been watching him, watching them through the window all along. He chuckled and walked toward him, stopping when there was only a step distance between them. Then he gave him a big assuring smile. “You’ll get a better girl, bro.”

“Nah,” Greg shook his head slightly. “I don’t need any girl in my life right now.”

Jayden shot him a look brimful of worry and he smirked. “I plan to travel and tour around the world after getting discharged.” There was a momentary pause and then he grinned at his brother. “Too bad I may not be able to attend your wedding.”

“I want to wed her today.” Jayden’s voice was so calm that he wasn’t sure he had heard him right.

“Like seriously?” Surprise, then disbelief crossed his features.

Jayden nodded. “Then we’ll go adopt a kid—you know, she lost ours in that terrible incident three weeks ago.”

This time around, Greg was silent and a look of sheer panic was on his face. He wanted desperately to hate his mother for causing his brother so much pain, but he didn’t know how. She was still his mother, the same woman who had raised him alone for twelve good years.

“But it is all in the past now.” Jayden words somehow managed to calm him. He shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other and laughed nervously. “Sure, it’s all in the past now.”

Jayden was no fool. He knew his brother was not comfortable with the conversation, so he placed a gentle hand on each of his shoulders and said jokingly to ease the tension in the air. “Atarah and I will come and keep you company after our wedding night.”

“Spoilt brat.” Greg wrinkled his nose and pushed him away playfully.

Jayden smiled in satisfaction hearing the smile in his voice. Tucking his hands into the pockets of his leather coat, he said softly. “Let’s go.”

Greg nodded wordlessly, grabbed his jacket and followed him out of the hospital room, down the hallway and outside to his car.

Jayden helped him with the door. When Greg had settled in the seat, he closed the door behind him and walked around the car before climbing into the driver’s seat and speeding off to the station house.

~~~~

They arrived at the grey building on time. Jayden pulled into the parking lot and cut the engine, gazing out along the tracks.

“You can go in.”He whispered to Greg.

Greg stared at him, surprised. “Aren’t you coming in with me?”

Jayden shook his head in response.

“I insist that you come with me,” Greg said with finality as he stepped out of the car and Jayden was left with no other option but to obey him.

Reluctantly, he alighted from his car closing the door behind him and followed his brother into the building.

He did nothing but wait impatiently as Greg talked to a police officer, telling him his intention of seeing his mother one last time.

Without any hassle, the police officer agreed and gestured to his subordinate to carry out the order. For he knows the Hobsons too well and didn’t want to get into trouble with any of them. Dammit! They were too powerful to be ignored.

Two minutes later, Mary was brought into the room and she looked so skinny and pale, her face almost swollen as if she had spent her life in tears.

Horrified, Greg caught his breath in a startled gasp of pain.

Mary walked over to him and smiled timidly.

“M-Mum.” His anger faltered, and sorrow filled his face. He drew her close and hugged her tightly.

Mary went limp in his arms. “I’m sorry, baby.” She whispered into his chest and broke down into tears. “I’m so sorry for everything.”

Greg gently broke the embrace and stared down at her intently. “I’m not the one you offended, Jayden is.”

‘Jayden?’ Mary moved her head sideways and her eyes grew heavy and wide, meeting Jayden’s blank gaze. “W-What is he doing here?” She panicked silently.

“Apologise to him now.” Greg’s voice was harsh as he enunciated each word carefully. Gosh! He was sick and tired of his mother’s malicious intent.

Mary took a step backwards and swallowed as if there were a lump in her throat. “I’m sorry, Jayden.” She looked at him pleadingly but Jayden didn’t utter a word.

He merely shook his head in disgust and walked out of the room.

Seeing this, Greg leaned forward to give his mother a quick hug and said. “I need to get going.” With that, he nodded at the police officers and started toward the entrance

“When next will you come and see me?” His mother’s question made him stop walking. He pondered a moment before replying. “This is the last time you’ll hear from me.” And he meant it.

“No, please don’t do this to me, child.” Mary’s whole world came crashing down around her, for she couldn’t live in peace knowing that her son hated her. “Please, Greg.” She screamed piercingly but it was to no avail. Greg’s heart was as hard as a stone.

Without looking at her, he barged out through the gate and found Jayden leaning against his car.

“How did it go?” He asked curiously.

“Bad,” Greg replied sadly.

Jayden signed deeply, his whole chest heaving. “I understand how you feel, but she is still your mot…….”

“My mother died the exact moment she pulled that trigger on me.” Greg cut him off abruptly and gritted his teeth in silent fury. The vivid memories were still fresh in his mind and he wasn’t sure he was going to forget them any time soon.

For a moment, Jayden was silent and then he murmured. “Then I guess we are both motherless.”

Greg reacted with a faint smile and climbed into the passenger seat.

Wasting no time at all, Jayden followed suit and closed the door behind him. Then he started the engine and sped down the road to the hospital.

Dutifully, he dropped Greg off at the huge building and patiently waited for him to go in before making a u-turn and driving down the paved road leading to his home.

~~~

When he arrived at the mansion, he met Atarah pacing up and down the yard restlessly. She was dressed in a long white dress and red-heeled shoes. Her long dark hair was flowing down her back like an angel and she looked so stunning, almost too perfect to be true.

Mesmerized by her beauty, Jayden watched her dazedly as she approached him. Before he could climb out of the car, Atarah eased herself into the passenger seat and held him back.

“Welcome, Jayden,” She grinned from ear to ear.

Jayden wanted desperately to kiss her, but resisted and asked her instead. “Where is your mum?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “She left after receiving a call.”

“Oh!” He nodded and began to climb out of the car but her voice stop him

“Where are you going?”

He turned slowly to her and saw she was frowning. ‘What again!’ He let out a quiet sigh before replying. “I need to change my clothes.”

“But this is okay.” Atarah didn’t want him to go. She hastily look him up and down, then smiled thinly. “And you look so perfect and handsome.”

Jayden stared down at his rumpled coat but said nothing. With a faint smile, he jammed his tired legs on the accelerator and drove out through the gate and down the road heading to the courthouse.

~~
In the space of six hours, this was his second time pulling out in front of the Seattle courthouse.

But unlike the first time which was that morning, everywhere was relatively quiet. There were no reporters, no crowd and no paparazzi. The environment looked calm and peaceful.

Briskly, they alighted from the car and slammed the doors shut behind them. When they walked into the building, their eyes nearly popped out of their head.

Trent and Maria were sitting right beside the judge, smiling at them.

“Dad.”

“Mum.” Jayden and Atarah screamed at the same time. Their parents laughed a merry laugh.

“What is happening? Why are you both here?” Jayden was more confused. He kept his intent gaze on the three older adults before him as he waited for an answer.

Maria cast a quick look at Trent.

Trent cleared his throat and began to explain. “I may have overheard your conversation with Greg about wanting to get married today, so I decided to make it stress-free for you. With my connections, I got Mrs Jones’s number from the police chief and called her out here to help.”

“Hmmm,” Atarah nodded her head slowly, finally understanding everything, “So you were the one who made my mum hurry out of the house?” She jokingly asked.

In response to her question, Trent handed the marriage certificate to her along with a ballpoint pen and said. “I’ve done all the necessary things, all you need to do is to sign in the space reserved for the wife.”

With a grateful smile, Atarah took it from him and wrote down her signature before passing the documents to Jayden. “Sign here.” She directed him to the black margin beside her signature.

Without any hesitation, Jayden penned down his signature and handed the certificate back to the judge. “Anything else?”He asked him calmly.

The Judge shook his head, smiling. “A huge congratulations to you both, Mr and Mrs Hobsons.”

“Thank you so much, sir,” Atarah beamed with happiness, but before she could hug her mother, Jayden grabbed her hand and started toward the exit.

“Won’t you at least wait for your marriage license?” Trent called out after them.

“You should also help us with it.” Came Jayden’s response as he climbed into his car. Atarah chuckled to herself as she got in beside him.

“What about your rings?” Trent wasn’t ready to give up just yet. “Your wedding pictures? And your honeymoon?” He rushed forward, yelling out his questions.

Jayden saw him through the rearview mirror and smirked. “My wife and I will take care of that after our family is complete.” Without wasting time, he started his car and drove through the highway and down a narrow road ready to fulfil his wife’s wish.

~~~

The orphanage was not an unfamiliar place to Jayden. He was a frequent visitor, and as a philanthropist, he had sponsored them for years.

He swerved his car into the open field and cut off the engine. As soon as he stepped out, the older kids ran to him and surrounded him like bees, much to Atarah’s surprise.

For what seemed like an hour, she watched him play with them, converse with them and then went over to join him.

Unfortunately, The head nun who had been watching them all along chose that moment to approach them, holding a grinning child. The toddler let out a squeal of pleasure as she made a sudden lurch to launch herself into Atarah’s arm.

Atarah expertly caught the child and settled her on her hips.

“I think she likes you.” The head nun said proudly.

“And I like her too.” Atarah stared down at the child with loving eyes. She looked so cute and innocent that she was tempted to take a few pictures of her.

The head nun laughed heartily. “This is Hazel.”She introduced the little girl to them. “And the baby over there……”She pointed to a younger child of about five months old who was sitting and playing on the grass…… “ is her sister, Evie…..”

Hearing the name Evie made Jayden smile and he watched the baby, his eyes gleaming with amusement.

“Their parent died in a car accident,” The head nun went on and on, but neither Jayden nor Atarah seemed to be listening. They were watching the children with absorbed attention. It was love at first sight to them. …….. “and they were brought here only a few days ago. It hasn’t been easy for the kids, but……..”

“I want both of them.” Jayden interrupted her in mid-sentence.

She looked at him, confused at first, unsure of what he was saying.

“My wife and I want to adopt both babies.”He said again, this time around with a clearer voice and the head nun looked at him with shock and disbelief.

“Your wife?” She wanted to be sure that she heard him right. When he didn’t respond, she regarded Atarah thoughtfully for a full minute before motioning him to follow her.

Jayden went with her to her office while Atarah stayed back to play with the kids. She lifted both babies in her arms and danced around the field excitedly. The babies squealed and babbled strange languages that made her laugh so hard till she cried.

“I love you, babies,” She kissed them on their lips one after the other and couldn’t be more pleased with herself. Little Evie wanted more of her kiss and started to howl. Hazel stared at her sister and began to wail too.

Atarah felt on the verge of panic. ‘What am I going to do now?’ she tried to emulate their language but it was to no avail. The children cried even louder. Then she started to sing and that did the trick.

They stopped crying and stared up at her with huge round blue eyes. Atarah smiled at them lovingly.

Right at that moment, Jayden walked out of the building, hugging the adoption documents to his chest. Finally! After a series of questioning, the babies were his and he was now a father of two kids. How amazing!

With a broad smile, he strode over to his family and hugged his wife from behind.
“How are my babies doing?” He grinned at his little ones. Little Evie babbled words he couldn’t understand and he scooped her up into his arms, smiling proudly at her.

Hazel turned her head away from him. The twenty-two months old baby wanted to stay where she was and had no qualms about voicing her displeasure. She hung on to Atarah’s neck tightly and began to kiss her tenderly.

Jayden laughed at her. “It seems someone loves her mum more than her dad.

“Mum,” Hazel echoed.

Atarah and Jayden stared at her. And then Atarah broke into a huge, proud grin. “Did you hear that? She said mum. She just called me mum.”

“Oh yeah!” Jayden commented dryly. “Where should we go from here?”

“Mum,” Hazel repeated gleefully. “Mum, mum, mum, mum.”

Atarah laughed. It was exciting to be part of a child’s development. And she’d been the first to catch this milestone. “What if we return home and make baby number three, hubby?” She looked up at Jayden, teasing him with her eyes.

Without warning, He leaned forward and kissed her on the mouth. “That’ll be perfect, wifey.” He whispered and deepened the kiss, thrilled when she responded by becoming more demanding and compassionate……

Yes! Love can be wondrously COMPLICATED, it can be confusing, and it can be terrifying. But if it wasn’t all those things, then it isn’t love.

The End
Stay tuned for the epilogue