"Why are you doing this mom and dad? Please don't do this. This restaurant is your dream. Don't sell it out for me. What can happen in the worst case scenario, I will be handicapped. I don't mind but please don't take this step." Henry pleaded; well aware of the sacrifices his parents had made to reach at this point.
"What nonsense are you spouting? You talk about sacrifice with us? No one had made more sacrifices than you. You didn't continue your education, not giving the national enterance exam and used the money you won from different competition in school to open this restaurant for us. Now that you are in this condition, how can our conscience let us ignore you. I have always respected your decision even when you decided not to study further but not this time. Always remember Henry, you are my most precious blessing of my life." Noah poured out his heart, recalling his failure as a father.
The whole family had tears in their eyes; everyone blaming themselves for their failures as a father, mother and son.
"No dad. You can never be a failure. You are my hero; someone I will always look upto in my life." Henry said; showinghis vulnerable side as he nestled into his father's embrace, feeling and enjoying Noah's tenderness.
Looking at the emotional father and son such sentimental effection, Jenny chuckled beside them as she also joined in the family hug.
After the situation calmed down, Henry asked the question that had been bugging him ever since he learned about his father's decision to sell the restaurant.
"You didn't tell me, who wants to buy our restaurant and what is the acquisition price and did you already signed the papers?" Henry asked; curious about the whole process.
Noah and Jenny exchanged a glance before Jenny sighed before replying.
"No we have finalized everything. Actually the lady who wants to buy our restaurant has given us a proposal." Jenny said; still unsure of the reply they should give to Sophia.
"What proposal?" Henry asked; peculiar as well as alarmed for his innocent parent. This time, Noah continued with the conversation.
"It is like this. Yesterday a lady came to our restaurant and....." Noah narrated the entire situation in detail for Henry.
Listening to the entire incident, Henry got lost in his thoughts; contemplating and ruminating his thinking, trying to indentify the pros and cons of the results and find out the best outcome for his parents.
Henry came out of his thoughts at the sound of door clicking as two people entered the ward. They were non other than Sophia and Aria.
Jenny got up to greet and invite them in.
"Miss Sophia, you are here. Please come and sit. My my, our little Aria is looking so pretty today." Jenny said; kneeling infront of Aria as she pinched her cheeks and embracing her tightly. What could she do, she just couldn't control herself at the adorable sight infront of her.
"Hello auntie Jenny and Uncle Noah." Aria didn't mind Jenny's action at all. She was used to it. Her auntie Jenny was a typical face con, she could control herself infront of beautiful and handsome faces. Aria often had this doubt that Jenny married Noah just for his handsome face. Even in her previous life, Jenny often showed unrestrained biasness towards her than Henry just because of her beautiful face. It was not that Henry wasn't handsome; after both Jenny and Noah were both really good looking but when compared to fairy like face, Henry definitely didn't stand a chance. Henry also didn't mind it leading to Jenny's clear biasness towards her.
"Jenny, let the poor girl breathe." Noah said; separating his wife from Aria giving her apologetic look before she squeeze the life out of the pitiful girl.
Aria also sighed in relief. Looking up, Aria's eyes lock with a pair of eyes that had been observing them from the moment they entered.
Aria's breath hitched as tears gathered in her eyes. She could hardly control herself. Sprinting forward, Aria leaped on the hospital bed, diving straight into her brother's embrace; her tiny hands tightly clutching his clothes and she hid her face in his chest leaving everyone in the room completely bewildered at the sudden change of the situation.
"Brother Henry."
Gazing down at the little ball of adorableness tightly clamped in his arms, Henry's eye softened. He felt a very strange but strong connection with her. A connection he couldn't explain but felt it was there. A strongly weird sense of protectiveness came over him as his hold on her hardened as if he wanteed to protect her from every saddness of the world. He wanted to build a secure future for her away from all evil. Henry couldn't believe that just one glance and someone became the person he wanted to protect with his life but it didn't matter even if couldn't reason with this instinct. He only know that he felt it and going to do evrything acorrdingly.
Standing by the side, Sophia felt a little uncomfortable at the sight before her. Her daughter who only had her in her eyes suddenly leaped into someone else's arms as if he was her biggest supportor and protector left a very weird taste in her mind. Trying her best to press down that uncomfortable feeling, Sophia stepped forward to distant Aria from Henry.
"Princess, leave him. Look he is already unwell. Don't create more troubles for him." Sophia said; trying to unbind the two embracing people on the bed.
"Oh no! I am so sorry brother. You are already hurt and I am hurting you even more. Are you pain? Let me call the doctor." Aria said; her mother's words bringing her back to reality as the surrounding dawn to her, getting her all hyper and panicked just at the thought of hurting her brother.
Looking at Aria's behavior, Sophia started to regret her words. Thankfully Henry calmed her down.
"Shhh! My little starlight. You can never hurt me. You are infact the most powerful medicine that can heal me. Your presence gives me the biggest support I never knew I needed. Calm down starlight." Henry calmly soothed her down leaving everyone in the astonished. Noah and Jenny couldn't believe their eyes. There always indifferent son was actually gently counsoling a little girl. If they weren't so sure they might even have doubted if Henry was really their son or not.
Sophia was also feeling very conflicted internally. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel at that moment. On one hand she was happy for her daughter to find herself an elder brother figure in her life and on the other hand downcasted that she wasn't the sole centre of her world. Buring down that sorrowful feeling, Sophia focused more on the positive side; her daughter will have more people around her who actually loved her.
Henry was also bewildered by his own actions. He couldn't understand why would he say such words to a stranger. He couldn't define the bond and instant connection he felt with the little girl in his arms; the sense to protectiveness towards her, the urge to hide her from all the evil in the world and love her immensely. Such strong emotiions, he had never felt that for anyone.
The nickname he gave her just suddenly appeared on his lips; as if it belonged only to her. He had never felt anything like this before.
Aria was also no better off than everyone in the room. Her brother Henry's familiar embrace, his familiar scent, his familiar love; she once again got all of this in her life. She couldn't discribe elation and happiness she was feeling at that moment. But the thing that shook her the most was actually the nickname he just said. It was the same as the one in her previous life. Even then he called her starlight. A star that shinned brightly in his dark life.
Everyone paused in the room, each lost in their own thought. The weirdly peaceful atmosphere was broken when the door of the ward clicked open as a nurse entered the ward, shattering everyones daze as if everyone came back to world from fifferents planets.
By the time the nurse left, everyone in the ward had calmed themselves down as the ambience once again got serious. Still leaning into her brother's warm embrace on the bed, Aria looked at evryone sitting around the bed and initiated the conversation for which they have gathered there.
"What have you thought about our proposal uncle Noah?" ria asked; her heart beating rapidly as she awaited to hear the answer.
"We will give you ouranswer later. First you answer a few questions of ours." Henry took over the conversation, well aware of his father's poor talking skills.
"What questions?" Sophia asked, her serious business mode taking over.
"Before we all agree to it, I want to clear evrything out beforehand so that later it doesn't lead to inner conflicts betwenn us." Henry stated out his point clearly, wanting to avoid any future dispute among all.