Harvey

Back at Bella's, they had organized a small party and invited all our neighbors and some kids.
They had decorated the house beautifully and made lots of food.
Ashton was enjoying being the centre of attention. He was soaking it all up.
Bella was rounding up everyone to gather for us to cut the cake.
As she is getting the cake, there is a knock on the door and I hand Ashton over to Jake. As I go to open it, I shout to Bella,

"Were you expecting a visitor at this time?" I ask her

"No Harvey!" She shouts back

I shrug and go open the door and find a uniformed driver.

"Uh hello, how may I help you? I ask

" Mr. Andrate, if you don't mind, someone would like to talk to you " he says

"Who?" I ask looking around

" In the car over there" he points across the road and I see the car I noticed at the court house.

"I don't know!"  I say uncertainly and hesitating

"Its a person you know sir" he says

"After you" I say

I wasn't going to turn my back to this fellow. I follow behind him and we cross the road. We reach the car and he raps on the window.
The door opens and I am shocked and surprised to see....
Damien's mother? What is Sophia Andrate doing here?

"Good evening" she says to me

"Good evening Mrs Andrate, whatever brings you here?" I ask

"I'll tell you as soon as we find somewhere to talk" She says

"Let's go inside" I tell her.
We go to the house and the guests have cut the cake and they are occupied. Jake notices me and I indicate for him to be quiet.
I lead Sophia to my room in Bella's house and I indicate a chair for her to sit in as I sit on the bed cross legged. I clear my throat

"Will you tell me the reason why you are here?" I ask

I knew why she was here! Probably to rub it in my face that I was having issues with her son! She was probably celebrating.

"How is Ashton? She asks
I look at her open mouthed!

She was asking about Ashton? Why?
What is she up to?

"He's fine" I tell her unbelievingly

"I came to talk about Damien" She say

"Look, I know you probably heard about our issues and you are here to insult me or something, but I assure you there is no need, as you can see, I am not even in our home" I tell her

"Harvey, that's not why I am here. I came to ask you to please listen to Damien and don't make rash decisions" she says

"What?" I say completely confused

"I know I have given you no reason to trust or believe me, i have behaved outrageously, but my son is very important to me. He is my only child, I know he loves you now and that should have been enough for me to accept you" she says

"I thought you hated me and the fact that your son married a guy" I exclaim

"No, not all, I never had an issue with Damien's sexuality. I was just taking out my bitterness on you, Antonio and others.
Ever since Philipe cheated on me after all we had built together, I changed, I felt I had sacrificed so much for us and he still cheated on me, our marriage became a night mare and we lived separate lives till he died" she says

She was looking surprisingly vulnerable and I was finding it hard to believe.
She was such a strong, confident lady.

"Were you the one in the car at the court house?" I ask

"Yes, I was" she says

"Why were you in the car?" I ask her

"I wasn't sure about my welcome" she says

"I guess, you really gave me a hard time and you never wanted me for your son, I am still finding it hard to believe" I tell her

"I understand, but you can trust that I love my son and seeing him so hurt and devastated, I saw the pain, the wounds in his eyes, he really loves you Harvey and he has grown so attached to you and Ashton, give him a chance to explain everything" she says quietly

I still can't believe Sophia Andrate is asking me to listen to her son and give him a chance.

"Well, I am meeting him later to talk, I can't promise anything" I tell her

"I apologize for everything and thank you for giving him a chance, I know you are good for him, you make him happy and Andrea is a manipulative liar, don't let her spoil your marriage, i hope you reconcile" she says getting up

"I hope so too" I tell her as she leaves and I escort her downstairs.
I find Bella and Jake in the corridor looking guilty. They were obviously eaves dropping on our conversation! The nosy cowards!

After Sophia has left, most of our guests have left too and Bella and Jake immediately head to me,

"We heard everything, unbelievable!" They say

"I know" I confirm

"Are you going to talk to Damien?" Jake asks

"Yeah, I promised" I tell him

"Go and dress up, we'll clean up and take care of Ashton" I say

"Thank you guys" I tell them going to take a shower and quickly dressing up.
I send Damien a message;

"Ready to talk, can we meet?"

Immediately my phone rings, and I get nervous.

Why did he have to call! Couldn't he just text back?

I pick up the phone and before I can say anything, he says,

"Thank you Harvey, I really need to explain everything, I'll pick you up. See you in ten minutes

Ten minutes later, I hear a knock on the door and I pull it open to see Damien standing there. I swallow back a gasp as I see him dressed so immaculately and looking as gorgeous as ever.

Before we go, can i peek in and check on Ashton?" He asks pleadingly

"Yeah sure, he was almost asleep though when I came outside" I tell him

He hurries inside and comes back a short while later.

"He's asleep, I've missed him alot." He says leading me to his car.
After I get in, we drive to a secluded restaurant and we are led to a private area.
As they are bringing our food, he looks straight at me and says,

"Its been killing me not being able to explain everything" he tells me

"Then tell me, here I am" I say

"Look, there is a script in my drawer,the one Antonio saw. But I swear to you its not for a movie, I would never do that without your permission" he explains

"What is it for? What did you expect me to believe? You're an actor, its a possibility and you have made a foray into directing" I shoot back

He looks down not looking into my eyes

"Its for a play, I hired some theatre guys to re-act the story of how we met as a surprise for your birthday, so i wrote myself and I also wanted us to renew our vows" he says quietly

"Are you serious? " I exclaim moving from my seat to look at him.

Coming here, I didn't know what to expect. I thought I would have to leave him or something and I didn't want that.

"I swear to you Harvey, that's all it is, I still love you, i miss you and our baby, please come back home"  he says taking my hands in his

"I am so glad, I was really scared of hearing what you would say, of course we'll come back home tomorrow" I say hugging him tightly to my chest.

He puts me back from him and says to me,

"And our home is just for us now, I sent Antonio packing and Andrea is banned for life" he says

"Where is she now?" I ask

"In jail, some of her sponsors sued her,so till she pays, she's locked up" he says

"Things turned out well for us you know" I say

"Yeah" he says kissing me and sitting back

"So can I pick you guys up tomorrow?" He asks

"Why not now? Let's get Ashton and go home" I say

We drive back to Bella's and get the sleepy head and go back to our home.

That night, I slept peacefully knowing all was well.

THE END...
NEXT CHAPTER IS THE EPILOGUE.....