The House Where Love Grows

Chapter Twenty Two

The triplets had been more active than usual, not willing to go down for their nap at their regular time. Sanem tried to reason with them but Ece had other things in mind. As always she spoke for the three of them, " Momma, we want to wait for Beni to come home from school to take our nap." She explained in a very demanding voice. Sanem had already had a trying day, starting with breakfast and Beni's questions about adoption, so she wasn't in the mood to bargain with her babies. " Ece, Miray, Ruslan, I think you may have forgotten that Daddy and I are the ones that make the rules. And you three are to follow those rules." She recited, as she pointed her finger at each of them. Ece stuck to her guns, still insisting that they would wait for Beni, "Momma, we want to wait for Beni, we want him to take pictures of us while we take our nap."  Ece said, standing with her hands in her hips. 

Sanem was to exhausted to battle with them at that moment so she suggested that she take the pictures of them while they slept. That seemed to appease Ece, so Sanem hurried down the hall to Beni bedroom to get the camera from his room, not wanting to waste anytime or give the triplets any reason to change their minds. As she opened the closet to grabbed the camera bag she noticed a picture stuck down in the side pocket of the bag. As she pulled the picture out she saw it was the picture that Maria had taken of the three of them at the hospital just a couple of days before they had gotten custody of Beni and Luis.

She looked at the photo wondering why he had it hidden in the bag. She smiled as she thought back on those days. They had been so scared for Beni as they traveled from Instanbul to Cusco. Not sure of what they would find once they arrived, but that little guy was a fighter and within days he recovered. Sanem shuddered to think what might have happened to that baby if they hadn't taken immediate steps and gotten emergency custody of them. 

She stuck the picture back in the pocket where she had found it and went back to the triplets room. " Ok, Mommie has the camera"......she said as she entered the room. But all three of her babies he already laid down beside each other on one bed and fell alseep. It was perhaps the sweetest sight she had ever seen, so she focused in the camera and snapped several shots of them sprawled out across each other. But the photo in the bag was still on her mind, she wondered how he had even found that photo. Her and Can had been very careful with the pictures that they had from the orphanage. They kept them hidden away from the other photos just to avoid any confusion. Maybe he would talk to her about it, but she wouldn't let on that she had found it.

Can had been trying desperately to keep his mind on work that morning, but the trip to the lab to drop off the hair sample earlier that morning, and a phone call from his Dad had sent his mind in another direction. " Son, I have a report from the investigator. I need to go over it with you." His Dad had told him. That had been an hour ago and Can was starting to think the worst. Can had been staring at the same screen on his laptop for a while when Aziz tapped on his door and entered, " Son, how are you?" Can looked up quickly, relieved to see his Dad. " Yes, yes I'm fine. Come in. Have a seat, would you like some tea?" He asked nervously. Aziz smiled, " That would be great." He told him as he pulled the paperwork from the envelope. Can stuck his head out the door, " CeyCey, would you bring us two teas please." He called out to his friend.

Within  minutes CeyCey entered carrying a tray with two cups of tea, " Mr. Can, Mr. Aziz, your tea. Anything else?" He asked, noticing the tense look on both their faces. They were both staring intently at the papers that had come from that manilla envelope, like they were the most important papers in the world. Can looked up, " No, that's all. But please make sure that no one interrupts us, and I do mean no one." He said, his eyes glaring at him. CeyCey nodded, " Yes sir." He quickly turned, leaving and closing the door firmly behind him.

CeyCey had gotten a feeling that something was terribly wrong, but he couldn't imagine what it would be. He hoped there wasn't anything wrong with Sanem, he couldn't take it if there was. The image of all that paperwork lying out on the desk made him feel uneasy.

Aziz took each piece of paper and turned it to face Can, almost ceremonially, looking at Cans face as he scanned over the documents. Can could feel his heart racing as he tried to make sense of the message he was reading. " Dad this says that Chavez just got out of prison a little over a month ago. So how did he get such a good dependable job and home life in that short of time." He asked, his eyes squinted. Aziz smiled slightly, " Just keep writing, it gets even more bazaar as you go along." 

Can read on, his mind trying to absorb all that it said. It seemed that Chavez had been given a job as a manager at one of the largest manufacturing plants in Lima, Peru. Can looked at his Dad, " This makes no sense, he just was given the job,...without any experience or knowledge of the business." Can shook his head, " No, somethings not right. And where does he live? Do they know that." Can asked filling with frustration. Aziz nodded, agreeing with his son, "You're right, it doesn't make sense. My guys are still working on the details, this was just the preliminary findings." He replied.

Can leaned back in his chair, " Dad, this isn't going to help us, if anything it will hurt us. If he had is great job and is able to provide for Beni,...then they may just send him to Chavez."  Aziz knew he might be right, " Don't worry, something will show up, it has to. This guy is a con, or he works for a con. It will show up." 

They agreed for Aziz to be in charge of the file with all the information. It would be to risky for Can to have possession, just in case someone found it. He shuddered at that thought. Aziz shoved all the papers back inside the envelope, " Can, they will find out what's going on, I'm sure of it. Don't get all upset about it." His Dad said, giving him a big hug as he started out. " And wipe that frown off of your face or everyone's going to know that something wrong." He ordered,  giving him a confident smile.

Aziz strolled down the hall as if he didn't have a care in the world, and Can watched, wishing he could do the same.

He sat down on the sofa, his body feeling as if it weighed a thousand pounds. He rubbed his face with his hands, trying to wipe away all the fear that he was showing in his face. His heart ached, his head was spinning, but all he could think about was Sanem.

The tears had reached their limit, over filling his eyes and running mercilessly down his face....

What would he do if they didn't find anything on Chavez.......how would he fix it..

His phone rang jarring him from his heartache......it was Sanem.  In that instant as he stared at her name on his phone,....he knew..

" He would do anything,.....anything he had to do to fix it......