The House Where Love Grows

Chapter Twenty Five

It was Monday before Faruk got back to Aziz. He was normally a patient man, willing to wait out the process, but this was not a normal business deal, this was about his grandson and his family,  so the many messages that he left for Mr. Faruk had seemed appropriate. When Faruk arrived to his office on Monday morning and checked his phone, only to find it jam packed with urgent messages from Aziz Divit, he knew the day would not be a good one. 

The call from Faruk was a relief, but Aziz had already been pushed to his breaking point by the time he received the call. " Faruk, what took you so long to get back with me, we have a dilemma on our hands." He shouted, unable to hold his temper. Faruk apologized profusely, but he had been called out of town on some personal business, none of which seemed to concern Aziz. "Well we have a problem, it seem that Mr. Chavez is a model citizen of Peru, and my investigators have not been able to find anything comprising about this man." He announced, quite annoyed at having to even say those words.

Faruk was silent for a second, " Mr. Divit, I'm sure there has to be something on this man. We should have the DNA test results back in a couple of days, let's just stall them until then." He replied. Aziz agreed, but he knew it would take more than that to convince his son to be calm. "Ok Faruk, what happens if the DNA test matches, what then. What options do we have, because if I know my son he is going to make his own options, and they may not be the best." Faruk knew that would be the fact, " Should we set up another meeting, just to feel them out again. Maybe they will back down or they may suggest a monetary amount. Who knows, but we need to be ready for anything." He told him..

By the start of his day on Monday and he hadn't heard from his Dad, Can was letting his thoughts run wild. He could feel everything beginning to unravel, and the thought of having to tell Sanem still made him physically sick. It was mid-morning when his Dad tapped on his office door and came in, " Dad, finally." He shouted, jumping up and grabbing his Dad to hug him. Aziz smiled, and returned the hug, " Yes I'm here, but things are not good. I've just talked to Faruk and he thinks we should stall until the DNA results come in." He told Can, pulling put a chair to sit down.  Can slowly sat back down in his chair, processing what his Dad had said, " Stall them, so he thinks that the DNA will show something, like they won't match." He asked. Aziz shrugged his shoulders, " I'm not sure, but if they are a match, then I think we should have another meeting with them, you know, and just lay it all out there on the table." 

Can buried his face in his hands, " What happened Dad, how did it get this far. I thought for sure they would find something on him in Lima." He mumbled. He looked at his Dad with tears in his eyes, " He came to the house Dad, ....twice. I don't know what he wants but we have to find something to give him to make him disappear." Can said with a look of desperation. Aziz was shocked, " Did you see him, did he come to the door......did Beni see him?" He asked. Can shook his head, " No, Luis saw him at the gate. Dad, Luis overheard us talking and he knows everything." He said. 

The rest of the afternoon was just a blur, as Can kept rewinding the conversation with his Dad over an over on his head. Before he knew it, it was time to pick Beni up from school. He had a harsh discussion with his heart on the way there, forcing himself to put on a smile and welcome his son as he jumped on the truck. " Hi Dad, I had the best day. Everyone was talking about my birthday party, they had such a good time." He babbled, chatting on about all of his friends. Can smiled occasionally and nodded his head as Beni described his day. He wished his day had been that good, he wished he had as much happiness in his life right now, but for now he would listen to Beni and count his blessings. Then that thought of, " How many more days would he have like this with his son"  popped into his head, and he felt his eyes burn with those tears that he couldn't release.

Sanem and the triplets were playing in the back yard as Can and Beni pulled in. The triplets had been waiting for their brother to get home since they woke from their nap an hour earlier, so when they saw him, all three of them squealed with delight and drug him out in the hard to play. Can laughed as he leaned down to give Sanem a kiss, " They could care less about their Dad, just as long as I brought their brother." He said, sliding in beside his wife on the lounge chair. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close to him, " And, how was your day? I missed you." He said, meaning it from the bottom of his heart. He did miss her everyday, but today was different, he felt like his family was being pulled apart and the only thing that made him feel better was to touch her...

Sanem knew this man almost better than she knew herself, so she knew he had a problem. She could feel it in the way he touched her, like it may be the last time he would feel her. She snuggled closer, gliding her hand along his face, and scratching his beard with her fingernails. That always relaxed him when she did that, just that one gesture could change his mood. She waited a few minutes, hoping he would tell her on his own what was bothering him. But when she realized he wasn't, she sat up and looked him directly in the eye, " Ok babe, what's wrong, and don't tell me there's nothing wrong. I know you better than that." She spoke, her eyes searching his.

You have heard the expression, ..Saved by the Bell. Well Can was saved by the baby, as Miray let out a screaming cry. Sanem jumped up and ran out to her in record time, forgetting all about that question she had asked Can. But Can followed quickly behind, expecting to see a pool of blood by the sound of the screaming. Sanem accessed the damage and scooped her up in her arms to carry her to the house. Beni looked at his Dad, " I didn't mean to do it, we just ran into each other, and she fell." He said, wiping the tears that were already falling. Can reached down and hugged him, " I know, things happen sometimes, she will be fine." He reassured him.

He quickly followed Sanem inside to help her, " Is she ok babe, how bad is it?" He asked, smoothing down his baby daughters hair.

Sanem had already cleaned the scrape on her knee by the time Can had made it to the kitchen....

" It's just a scrape, she will be fine. A little anti-bacterial cream and a bandaid, and she good as new." She announced with a laugh. She looked at Can with concern, wondering what had gotten in to him....

" But don't think this little scrape will get you off the hook. We will finish our little talk later."   She said, giving him a wink..