章 23: Hong Kong 8
Outside the building, a black limo was waiting by the curb. Once Holden bid his family goodbye and promised his mom that he would be home tomorrow morning, he walked away and went back inside the building.
Left inside the car were three Knight family members. Cooper sat on the passenger seat, while Lotus and Audi sat on the backseat.
Craning her neck, Lotus made sure Holden was out of sight before she pounced on her husband and probed him for how his conversation with Holden went.
As usual, Audi just shrugged. "You know your son," he said in a matter-of-factly tone as if his words didn't need further elaboration. "He's a lone wolf ever since he learned to crawl away from Cooper."
Cooper protested, "Hey! Not me again, Dad! Ouch! That hurts!"
Audi flicked Cooper's ears one more time. "That's because you won't stop yapping."
Shifting in his seat, Cooper faced his parents and pouted. "Mom, Dad's hurting me."
"Serves you right." Lotus crossed her arms over her chest, a smile painted her sprightly face.
Cooper was her fountain of youth, always bringing cheer to her world, but sometimes his energy was too much for her.
She even thought that perhaps Cooper stole Holden's adrenaline in her womb that's why she birthed twins with opposite personalities.
"Seriously? Mom? Can't you show a little love for your favorite son?"
"Shh! Your brother might hear you!" Lotus and Audi said in unison.
Cooper beamed. "I knew it! Guys, it's okay to play favorites."
"Especially if the favorite is you, huh? Newsflash, your dad is my favorite because he gives me money for shopping."
Lotus narrowed her eyes on her son. She didn't have a favorite. Holden and Cooper would always occupy an equal space in her heart.
For years, she was considered barren and went to great lengths just to conceive a child.
She traveled far and wide to shrines that promised fertility, swallowed a million pills, and endured every piercing needle of injections.
Fifteen years later, their prayers were heard. Lotus, at the age of forty-five, received the news she was waiting for—she was blessed with not just one child, but twin boys.
Motherhood didn't come easy to her, no matter how many nannies were at her disposal.
She wanted to be a hands-on mom to her boys, and so she did everything on her own, making sure she was the first person her sons would look for if they need anything.
When Holden came home that day after his class trip, something told her that everything would change, and it did.
Despite her adamance, they still supported Holden's wish to enter the seminary.
She felt like a hypocrite. In her heart, she knew how she stormed the heavens with her prayers to a point of promising that if her child wanted to serve the Creator, she would fully support it.
Things changed, however, and it's human nature to be selfish at times. Lotus couldn't find it in herself to let go of her son Holden, even when she was, in fact, returning a miracle that was bestowed upon her.
At times, she would pray for forgiveness for her selfishness and ask the Man above if she could bargain her charitable works for Holden's return in a life away from celibacy.
To her shock, a year ago, she received a letter from the Abbott expressing his concern over Holden's sudden application for a year-long leave of absence.
Attached with it was a copy of Holden's letter explaining how he was wavering over whether he should continue the path to priesthood.
Much to their disappointment, Holden rarely went home that year. He still stayed in the seminary, as if his leave of absence was denied when in fact it was approved on the same day.
Reading through it a hundred times that day, Lotus was elated and was eager to welcome Holden with open arms.
However, Lotus and Audi agreed to let their child bid his time, knowing that he would come around when he was ready.
Born a blue baby, newborn Holden took his time, slowly turning pink as he adjusted in the outside world.
Lotus would love to think her son was doing the same thing, leisurely breathing in his surroundings, especially now that his year-long absence would come to an end.
She couldn't contain her excitement when she saw her son's first-ever public appearance but was slightly displeased to see his eyes turned into crescents as he smiled genuinely beside a unique lady donning a purple hair. However, she quickly shooed her unpleasant thoughts.
How could she be picky with her future daughter-in-law now, when her competition before was the Creator himself?
"What if tomorrow, Holden would break the news that he would pursue priesthood?" Lotus wondered out loud.
She felt a hand so warm and familiar cupping hers. Her heart crushed upon seeing a rueful smile on Audi's face.
"Mom… Dad… You're placing unnecessary pressure on your shoulders. Holden made a choice that he would leave the seminary when he sent that letter to Abbot Joachim. I know it. I'm his twin." Cooper wiggled his eyebrows.
"Your son is right, Lotus. There is no way Holden would go back to his path to priesthood, so stop fretting about it. All we had to do is make sure that our Polaris would fall in love with him so he wouldn't have a reason to go back."
"You're so evil, Dad." Cooper nodded, agreeing to his dad's advice. "But I like it."
Lotus, however, wasn't convinced. "You can't force a person to fall in love with a snap of your finger."
"But," Cooper interjected, holding a finger up. "But we can make their world a little smaller, so they would always end up bumping into each other."
Audi frisked his hands in excitement. "Magnificent. Magnificent, my child. First things first, what's the update on the news blackout?"
"I don't know," Cooper shrugged. "By the time I contacted someone this morning to delete it, he informed me that not a trace of the news could be found. Even the photo's source was deleted."
The three Knights looked at each other in worry, and their thoughts were in sync that they uttered the same words at the same time.
"We have a competition!"
…
Meanwhile, up on the twenty-first floor of the building where Stellar and Holden's studio rental was, the door alarm rang informing her he was back.
Sitting by the floor while fixing her luggage, Stellar peered up and smiled at Holden.
"Hey, you're back."
Holden nodded his head. He then kneeled on the floor and asked, "Do you need help with the zipper?"
"Yes, please."
Giving Holden free reigns, Stellar watched him zip up the stubborn luggage.
She had a thousand words floating in her head, waiting to be stringed into a sentence and be spoken, and the biggest of them all was about his parents' impression of her.
It's not that she cared about it, but it looked as if she was a loose woman sharing a bed with a celibate man and looking at it now, well, she did look like a loose woman.
In her absentmindedness, she realized it late that a thumb was tracing her eyebrow, smoothening it.
Peering up, her eyes locked with Holden, his intense gaze dotting goosebumps on her skin and she swore, she felt her heart somersault in her chest.
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