Find me

Chapter 28

Henry POV

I kissed the top of Aria’s head before Gabriel took her hand in his and pulled her from my lap.

“She can’t carry the heavy stuff, Gabe.” I told my son. “And she can’t move around too much.”

“Don’t worry, dad.” Gabriel smiled. “I will do all the work. She will sit on her bed and boss me around.”

“I will help you.” Aria said quietly, frowning at him. “I won’t boss you around.”

“I was kidding, sis.” Gabriel smiled, kissing her forehead. “You won’t boss me around, but you will sit on the bed and let me do all the work because you need to heal.”

“Gabriel is right, love.” I said as I stood up and started cleaning the table. “You need to rest and heal.”

Aria watched as I started moving the plates off of the table, and I could tell that she wanted to do it instead of me.

Those people raised my little girl to be a maid. They’ve told her that she has to earn clothes and food. They’ve punished her for every fucking thing she allegedly did wrong.

I wasn’t pissed off. I was enraged and ready to burn them alive.

It would take me awhile to make my baby see that she wasn’t anyone’s servant. It would take me awhile to make my little girl see that she didn’t have to earn food or clothes.

“Go with your brother, baby.” I said softly, giving her a knowing look.

She gulped and gave me a reluctant nod.

Gabriel smiled at me and pulled her out of the kitchen.

As I was cleaning the kitchen, I kept thinking about what I would say to Julian.

How would I tell him that I’ve found Aria?

I already knew what his reaction was going to be when I told him. I already knew how he would react once he saw her. She looked so much like Jo, and Julian would  break down once he realized that.

Julian was 7 years older than Jo. He adored her. He wasn’t just her big brother, he was her best friend. When I started dating Jo, I wasn’t afraid of her parents, I was afraid of Julian. He would bite my head off if I ever even thought about hurting his sister. When Jo died, I was sure that Julian would follow after her. He was a hollow shadow of the man he was before. He was completely broken. It took him years to become his old self, but I don’t think that he ever recovered fully. Aria being gone and declared dead only worsened his condition. He wanted to find my little girl as much as I did. A part of me knew that he wanted to find her so that he could get a little bit of Jo back.

I took a deep breath and walked to my study.

I decided to video call him. I was hoping that Andrew and Luke were at home as well.

Andrew and Luke were kids when Aria went missing, but they always asked about her. They saw her the day after she was born, and they even got to hold her. They were sad and confused after she went missing. Julian had a hard time explaining everything to them. I knew that they would be so excited to have her back.

I sat down at my desk, opened my laptop, and took a deep breath.

I called Julian and started fidgeting with a pen on my desk.

I was nervous.

Julian answered, and I could tell that he was confused. He looked at his phone, trying to figure out where I was.

“Why aren’t you at work?” Julian asked before I could start talking.

His eyebrows were furrowed, and he got even more confused.

“Good morning to you too.” I sighed, shaking my head.

“Good morning, yeah.” Julian rolled his eyes. “Why aren’t you at work? Why are you video calling me?”

“Calm down, man.” I said. “I will explain. Are Andrew and Luke home?”

Julian furrowed his eyebrows, and I could tell that he was studying my face.

“They are.” he said slowly. “Why?”

“Call them.” I said, ignoring his question. “I have some news.”

Julian’s eyes widened. “What news? Is Gabriel okay?”

Julian adored Gabriel. He saw a little bit of Jo in him, and he always pointed it out.

I could only imagine how much he would adore Aria.

“He is fine.” I smiled. “Just call your kids, Julian.”

He sighed, rolled his eyes, and stood up.
I could faintly hear him shout their names. A few moments later, I heard footsteps walking closer to the phone.

“Yo, uncle H.” Luke said as he picked up the phone and grinned at me. “What’s up?”

I smiled back. Luke was a very goofy guy. He could always put a smile on anyone’s face.

“Give me the phone and sit down, Lucas.” Julian sighed, making Luke roll his eyes.

“Sure, sure.” Luke mumbled, handing the phone back to his dad.

I saw Julian’s face pop back up on my screen.

He adjusted the phone so I could see Luke and Andrew as well.

“Hi, uncle Henry.” Andrew smiled at me.

Andrew was different than Luke. He was always serious and very collected. He had this aura of calmness around him that reminded me so much of Jo. I could never be in a bad mood around him. He always found a way to calm and soothe everyone around him. He was an amazing young man, and he was going to be an amazing doctor.

“Hi, guys.” I said. “How are you? How’s school?”

“They are okay.” Julian said. “School is great. You can ask them the details after you tell us the news.”

“What’s the rush?” Luke asked, rolling his eyes at his dad.

“He called me from home when he should be at work.” Julian said, looking at his son. “He asked to talk to you too. He said that he has news. I can’t wait for him to start talking. You can tell him about school later.”

“Is Gabriel okay?” Andrew asked worriedly.

“He is great.” I answered, smiling at him.

“Talk, Henry.” Julian said sternly.

I took a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair.

“I need you to let me finish without interrupting.” I said, trying to stay calm.

Andrew and Luke nodded. Julian narrowed his eyes at me.

“Did you meet another woman?” Julian asked, tightening his jaw.

He always said that he would support me if I ever wanted a new relationship, but I knew how hard it would be for him to accept it. He would always see it as me replacing Jo.

“What did I just say, Julian?” I sighed, annoyed.

“Right.” he said, raising his hands. “Sorry.”

“Okay.” I said, taking another deep breath. “Gabriel came home from school yesterday, and he was acting a little weird. I was afraid that something happened, so I asked him about it, and he told me that there was a new girl in his school. He was confused because the new girl looked a lot like him.”

I took a little break, glancing from my nephews to Julian.

Andrew and Luke furrowed their eyebrows. Julian’s jaw tightened, and I could tell that he stopped breathing.

“I asked Gabriel a little about her.” I continued. “He knew that she was 17 years old and that her name was Aria.”

I looked at Julian. A tear fell on his cheek, but he remained silent.

“I called Owen.” I said. “He brought her alleged parents and her to the station immediately. I knew that she was my daughter as soon as I saw her. We did a DNA test, and it came back positive. We’ve found Aria.”

I stopped talking and waited for their reactions.

I wasn’t sure if Julian was breathing.

Luke’s eyes were wide, and his mouth was open. Andrew’s eyes were filled with tears.

“She looks so much like Jo, Julian.” I said softly after a few moments of silence. “She looks exactly like Jo when she was 17.”

A sob that escaped Julian’s mouth broke my heart.