Chapter Three-Hundred-and-Four
3rd Person POV
Harlin had not been able to sleep through the night. When he finally found sleep, it was almost dawn. He did not sleep long knowing that his mother would be very close already. He wanted to meet her at the gate of the city and bring her home himself. However, when he opened his eyes, he saw the face of a woman smiling down at him.
“Mother?” At first, he thought that he was dreaming but when she hugged him he knew that it was real—she was really there.
“Mother?” he sobbed into her arms.
He loved his mother's embrace. It was sift and she smelled like roses. He sobbed even harder.
“It's okay, son. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere again, okay?” quipped Irvette as she wiped the tears away from her son's face.
Her memories had been restored all at once and with such force that it had made her dizzy for hours. Right before she had lost her memories and her sanity, she remembered that she had been in the cell and that Harlin had come to rescue her. She had recognised him because he was the exact replica of his father who was also named Harlin.
She had told him to run especially when the fire had started but he had not listened to her. He had tried fighting off the zombies and then tried to unlock her cell.
However, one of the zombies hit him hard on the head and he collapsed.
Her mind had gone blank afterwards.
When her memories had returned, she had asked the maid with her for her son. The maid had been surprised at first but had been happy to see that she had come back to her senses. The maid had left the room and a few minutes later, Queen Emily had come into the room.
She expected the woman to insult her or say something mean to her but instead, Emily hugged her and cried in her arms. It was then she broke down and asked forgiveness for aiding the kidnap of the twins years ago. Emily had told her that it was alright. She had long forgiven her. They had cried even more before Emily had told her that Harlin had returned home to be with Alison.
Irvette had not waited. She had insisted that she had to see her son immediately.
“I thought that I would never see you again,” cried Harlin.
“I'm sorry it took me so long,” said Irvette.
****
The people Irvette was most nervous to meet were the twins whom she had caused harm to as children. She was not certain how she was meant to apologise to them. It was especially difficult because she had got to know that the two of them had looked out for Harlin. They had protected him and cared for him as though he were their younger brother.
It was at breakfast that she met them. When they strolled in, contrary to what Irvette had been expecting, there was no hostility coming from them. They looked genuinely happy to see her at the table for breakfast.
“Aunt Irvette!” they said at the same time.
“Oh, huh, I'm really…” they both shook their heads. Their kidnap was not something they liked to discuss in front of Harlin even though Ashton had revealed it to Harlin.
“Let's eat some food. We've got everybody's favourite!” said Alison, trying to clear up the awkwardness.
****
Unlike what Dagen had thought, Reginald found it weird that his father had sent him an invite to a soiree. It had been since Dagen planned a soiree without any special reason to celebrate.
“How come we didn't get an invite,” pouted Charlotte.
“As if you need one from your father,” replied Alison.
“It says here, strictly by invitation,” said Charlotte reading the invite that had just been handed to her brother.
“You don't need an invitation to go to your father's house, I'm sure he thought one invite would be enough for the three of you,” said Alison. She had not received an invite too but she knew that if she showed up, she would not be turned back.
“I can attend the soiree too, right Aunt Ali?” asked Harlin. Irvette cringed a bit when she heard her son ask Alison for permission as though it was the most natural thing to do. She was just his mum, not an authority figure in his life.
“You can, but you are not to follow the twins to their home. Okay?” The three had the habit of following one another everywhere. It had happened several times that the twins would accompany Harlin home only for Harlin to accompany them back to their home and they would keep doing that until it was absolutely necessary for the group to break up.
“Okay, Aunt Ali! You're the best!” said Harlin as he kissed his aunt on the cheek. He was glad Aunt Alison had raised him. She was easy to convince unlike Aunt Emily or Regina. Aunt Alison allowed him to have his way most of the time.
“That’s alright, just return home in peace and not in pieces, okay?” quipped Alison but the trio were already exiting the room, leaving the sisters to be alone.
“He's a good kid, Harlin,” said Alison to her sister.
“I wish I'd been there through it all,” a tear managed to roll down Irvette's cheek. She couldn't believe she had missed her son growing up.
“It's okay sister, there's still time to get to know him,” replied Alison.
“You think?” quipped Irvette. Harlin was already all grown up.
“Of course, there are a lot of things Harlin has yet to do. You've not watched him get married or have his own children yet. He's still growing up and what's important is that you'll be here to witness everything from now on,” said Alison. Irvette hoped her sister was right. She wanted to see her baby continue growing up.
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