The next day.It"s dinner time. As usual, Abigail brought her brother"s food from the canteen.
Adam and Zain eat dinner together while Abigail watched her brother with amus.e.m.e.nt in her eyes. Her brothers would surely be amazed when their parents would join them in the card game later. She wanted to surprise her brothers that"s why she didn"t inform them about her plan.
After the brothers finished devouring their meals, Abigail exited the room to return the dishes to the canteen.
Done depositing the dishes into the canteen she went to her mother"s study room.
"Mom, are you ready? Where is Father?" Abigail asked when she can"t find her father inside.
"He will be coming anytime soon. Don"t worry he will join us in the game," Queen Margaret said. "Why don"t you go back there first and start playing the game with your brothers?" she suggested.
Abigail smiled. "Alright, Mom. I"ll go ahead!" she replied energetically, then exited the study room.
In the prison room.
Abigail specifically requested from his brother that they"re going to play card games today. The brothers agreed on one condition that they only have to play for one hour.
They began playing with the same mechanics, the player who got the cards with the highest number in a single card will win and the loser is the one who got the lowest number.
They were already playing for thirty minutes and Abigail was worrying why her parents haven"t arrived yet?
Back in the study room.
Queen Margaret waited patiently for her husband"s presence.
Ten minutes later the king finally arrived.
"Where have you been, my King?" the queen asked.
"I just come back from the underground core," he replied and sat on the sofa.
"Let"s go now to the prison room. The children are playing a fun game, we should join them. This will be our family bonding. It is one way of showing to our children that we are willing to bond with them. Besides, it"s been a while since we"re able to bond together as one family. I"m sure we will enjoy the experience!" Queen Margaret said.
"This better be good, my Queen!" King Antone said.
"Of course!" Queen Margaret smiled sweetly and excitedly grabbed her husband"s arms.
A few seconds later, they appeared inside the prison room.
"We"re here kids!" the couple gleefully announced their arrival to their children. They immediately sank on the mattress and smiled at their children"s surprised faces.
"Come on, give us our cards, son!" Queen Margaret ordered Adam, winking at him.
Zain was stupefied after seeing his parents inside the room. All of a sudden, the finally become a complete family, kind of a rare sighting. And occasions like this seldom happens in their family.
Adam immediately reshuffled the cards and explain to the newcomers the mechanics of the games.
They start the game from the very beginning.
Zain was keeping his silence within the few minutes of the game, but as time pa.s.ses by and the game progresses he began to loosen up and laughed with everyone.
Merry laughter floated in the air.
The players were having a good time.
Five hours later.
The game finally ended as it"s already time to rest.
Queen Margaret hugged her children one by one and thank them for a good time. "I enjoyed the game, children. I hope we can do it again some other time," she said, teary-eyed. "You have no idea how happy I am that we were able to bond together like this after a long time," she added feeling emotional.
King Antone hugged his eldest son, Zain. "Welcome back, son. It"s nice to see you smiling again," he said, his mouth quivering with emotion.
Zain was stunned. It"s the first time his father hugged him and showered him affection after a long time. He was speechless, tongue-tied and no words come out from his mouth.
Queen Margaret, King Antone, and Abigail rose to their feet preparing to leave the room.
"Bye guys!" they said in unison.
"Bye Mom, bye Dad!" Adam responded.
Zain was still speechless. What did just happen?
The trio left the room.
A deafening silence enveloped the room.
Adam went to the bathroom to wash his body from the pen marker.
While Zain sat down on the bed and was left in a state of disbelief. They just have a family bonding earlier! And he admitted to himself that it was fun! His father and mother didn"t even complain that their body parts were hilariously covered with the pen markers. They just throw themselves into the game and laughed their hearts out.
So far, it was the happiest bonding that he can ever remember together with his family. They just laughed at each other like children.
He wanted to cry because he was overwhelmed with emotion.
After taking a shower in the bathroom, Zain lies down in his bed recalling the happy bonding time with his family earlier that kept playing in his mind. A genuine smile curled up in his lips.
...
Inside the royal couple"s bed-chamber.
"My King, did you enjoy the game?" the queen asked her husband.
"Yes, I do! I never thought that a simple game card can be entertaining and hilarious and evoked tons of smiles on our faces. Our children enjoyed it, it"s nice to see them laughing with us," King Antone said, his eyes glistened, feeling emotional all of a sudden.
"Is it worth it?" the queen continue asking.
King Antone smiled at his wife. "Yes, it"s worth it. Let"s do it again, once a week, until we can finally convince Zain to let go of Jessy and leave the prison room behind, armed with a new purpose in life," he said, his eyes filled with optimism.
Queen Margaret smiled and embraced her husband. "Yes. It"s gonna be a new beginning for all of us!"
The king and queen gazed at each other"s eyes, smiling at each other"s expectant faces. A renewed hope of reconciliation with their wayward son, Zain, blossomed in their heart.
~~~o0o~~~
Jessy was done with the blood transfusion in the clinic.
She went to Roden"s place in her invisible form.
The entire family was about to rest for the night when she appeared near the door. Roden has been asking her about his brother"s condition in the city. So, finally, she decided to bring Roden into his brother"s bachelors pad so that he can see for himself that his younger brother was doing exceptionally well in the city.
"h.e.l.lo, guys!" Jessy greeted them.
"Is it now?" Roden asked.
"Yes. Now is the perfect time for you to see your brother," Jessy answered.
"Okay, give me a second. I will just wear proper attire," he said and grabbed some clothes from the cabinet, then he went inside the bathroom to change.
Jessy smiled at the kids and Mahlia~Roden"s wife.
She had sent a text message to Jagger early afternoon informing him that he will bring his brother to his place tonight, close to midnight to be exact.
A few minutes later, Roden exited the bathroom and ready to go.
Jessy didn"t waste time, she holds Roden"s arms and teleported right into Jagger"s bachelor"s pad.
They landed inside the living room.
Jagger was already sitting on the sofa waiting for his brother"s arrival.
The moment the two brothers saw each other, they immediately embraced each other tightly.
Then they plopped down on the sofa.
"How are you, bro? How"s your life here in the city?" Roden asked.
Jagger grinned. "I"m doing fine, better than I expected. It"s all thanks to Jessy, she gives my life a new beginning. I"m very lucky, she helps me all the way even if I was supposed to be on my own here in the city," he said. He looked at Jessy with admiration and longing in his eyes.
Jessy shrugged her shoulders. "Guys, I will just enjoy the view outside. I will be back after one hour," she said, wanting the brothers to have some private moments with each other.
The guys nodded their heads at Jessy.
She disappeared from their sight.
Jessy exited the building and hovered above the city. The city"s skyline produced an enchanting display of lights that can be seen from above.
The view from above was simply magnificent and breathtaking. Jessy loses herself in the mesmerizing sea of dazzling lights shining brightly in every part of the city.
Zooming here and there, against the starry night and pa.s.sing skysc.r.a.pers, Jessy had a good time, feeling like she was Peterpan in adventure land.
One hour later.
Jessy went back to Jagger"s flat. "Are you done talking, guys?" she asked.
"Yes, we are. Let"s go back now to the Facility, Jess," Roden said. "Bye bro!" he added.
"Bye, brother. You take care of yourself and give my regards to your wife and the kids," Jagger said feeling happy after seeing and talking to his brother.
"Okay, let"s go!" Jessy glanced at Jagger for a brief second and then starts the teleportation process in her mind.
A moment later, Jessy and Roden disappeared from the living room.
Jagger was left alone in the room. "Thank you, Jess, for your kindness," he murmured to himself and entered his room with a smile plastered on his lips. He was happy to know that his brother and his family were safe and living peacefully under the king"s leadership. All he needs to do is to never mess up his brother"s chance of living in peace and security along with their clan members.
He can do that easily and so much more in the future.