Redemption

Chapter 9

I knew she was safer away from your father!"

"You had no right!"

"I had every right!"Isha shot up, her finger centimeters from the king's face. "T'Challa if someone had told you what your father had done, you would not have believed them. You idolized that man with every bone in your body. You sang his praises with every breath you took."

"I loved her!" His fist slammed into the wall where he stood. His shoulders dropped allowing his head to slide down against the wall.

"Then you should be glad she got away from him," Isha hissed, "he wanted her to abort the baby T'Challa."

"No!" The king roared, the fire turned a new in his eyes.

"She was made to leave because she insisted on telling you. Insisting that she was keeping her son."

"My father would never-" the king began. "You're father should never! Just like he should never have killed his brother," pause. "But he did T'Challa. He should never have done a lot of things. But that doesn't mean he didn't do them."

"My father knew how much I wanted a family!" The king argued. "He knew how much having a family would distract you from your training. Jeopardize your favor with the people!" Isha insisted.

"Family makes you stronger!"

"But family is your weakness! The same as it was his!"

Silence filled the room. "He broke every moral law for you. He lied to the woman he married. Lied to his son. The same way you would do anything for Aiden and you've only met him three days ago."

"I didn't-" The king began. "I know, there was no way around it. But you are here now."

"I know it's down here somewhere." A voice traveled down the stairs. Preluding its owner's entry into the living room. Zari rushed excitedly into the room. Her parents in tow. "What are you looking for?" T'Challa stood joining her hectic rummage through the desk. "My photo albums," she shut the drawer. "Aiden's baby pictures?"

"Yes, but mine as well. Graduation photos, my portfolio..." she quickly moved to the other side of the desk. Check the bottom drawer. That's where you kept everything else." The king kneeled beside her. "Of course!" She quickly pulled open the drawer. She removed the box of letters before pulling the prized items out from under it. "You are a genius!" She pressed a kiss to his cheek in excitement.

Plopping down on the couch, she pulled T'Challa down beside her and cracked open the first album. The pages slid open. The scratch of plastic filled the room. In the glossy photo case, Zari stood on an old ferry. An infant Aiden strapped to her back. smiling as the Statue of Liberty looming in the background. "This was shortly after I met Melanie. She convinced me to go explore the city." Zari explained quietly, gently turning the page. The page displayed various other pictures of She and Aiden around the city. In some Melanie appeared at their side. She flipped another page and there she was. Sitting in her bed with Aiden. The baby wrapped in a cloth, Zari's skin glistening with sweat. Her eyes were wet with tears as her new baby boy gently gripped her finger.

The various pictures from that day included the midwives and Melanie. The latter aiding the mother to be in pushing. T'Challa quickly wiped a tear from under his eye. Various other pictures of Aiden graced the pages that followed. From school programs to birthdays. Days in the park and backstage photos from shows. The past six years of Zari and Aiden's life flashed before T'Challa's eyes. Zari passed the book to her parents and cracked open Aiden's baby photos. "He looks just like you," Zari smiled. Slowly turning the pages. "He does," he smiled. "He looks exactly like me as a baby ."