The House Where Love Grows

Chapter Twenty Six

The rest of the day went by without incident, but he knew that he would have to answer that question she had asked him earlier, and he had his lie all ready on his mind. He hated to keep things from her, but this was something that could cause her more pain than he wanted to see her go through. If things didn't go well with the DNA test then he would have to think about telling her what was going on, but until then, he would have to lie....

Sanem kept an eye on Can, wondering what was going on. She knew it was something big because he had a hard time looking her in the eye. Everyone was home at the same time for dinner, and that was something that didn't happen in a regular basis. Luis had finished practice early and made home just in time to sit down with the family. Sanem even noticed a couple of glances to each other between Can and Luis, and she wondered if that had anything to do with Cans problem.

After dinner Beni and Can went to the darkroom to finish developing the pictures that he had taken at the birthday party. Can was hoping to avoid Sanem for as long as possible. This process of developing pictures was Benis favorite, and Cans too as well. It took his mind off of their obvious troubles. With all the photos developed and hung to dry, Beni went in to say goodnight to his Mom and the triplets. Sanem would keep that question on hold until they had gone through their nightly routine of putting the children down, then he would get to the bottom of his problem.

Sanem was saying her second round of goodnights to Beni as Can went to get ready for bed. He knew what was coming so he was trying to prepare for it. Just as he got into bed his phone pinged, alerting him that he had a text......" They snuck one in on us son, we have a court date day after tomorrow. I'll be at your office first thing in the morning...sorry."  

Can blinked his eyes several times and then reread the text. What did he mean, they snuck one in, how could they? He was still trying to figure out what happened when Sanem walked in, "Already in bed, good, I'll be right back." She said, flipping her hair in a jokingly manner. He smiled and shook his head, but he was still in a fog over the message. He closed his eyes, determined to shake off that feeling of the rug being jerked out from underneath him. He plugged his phone up to the charger as he did every night and took a deep breath, " Ok just tell her the lie you came up with and let that be it."  He said to himself.

Sanem emerged from the bathroom with his t-shirt covering her naked body. The neck of the t-shirt hanging loosely off her shoulder in that most precarious way. She climbed in bed on her knees and crawled across their large king size bed, much like a slinky cat on the prowl. He knew this was not going to be an easy conversation to have, but he was determined to hold his ground. She giggled softly as his t-shirt fell further off over her shoulder and down her arm, revealing her very volumpuous breasts. She gingerly pulled the neck of the t-shirt up to cover her body and batted her eyes at him in a playful way, " Sorry, the t-shirt is a little large." She said, as she finally reached his side of the bed.

By this time Can had already forgotten the lie that he had conjured up in his mind to answer the question that he knew was coming. All he could think of was removing that very large t-shirt from her body and throwing it on the floor. He reached for her to pull her over closer to her, but she stopped him, " Whoa, wait a minute. We will talk a little before diving into the good stuff." She told him, giving him a wink. He felt his chest tighten, but he smiled, " Ok, what do you want to talk about?" He said nonchalantly. 

Her eyes squinted, " Can, I know you better than you know yourself, so what is going on with you. And don't insult me by telling me that nothing is going on." She replied, propping herself up on one elbow. He smiled slightly and proceeded to tell her the explanation that he had manufactured in his mind. " So see, it's just a problem with a contract, that's all." He said taking a deep breath and reaching to pull her over next to him. She balked, pulling away from him, "Just a contract problem, that's what you're saying." She repeated.

Can knew she would need to bit more convincing, but before he could answer her question the doorbell rang. Sanem jumped up looking at Can, " Who could that possibly be at this time of night.? She asked. Can was just a stunned, as he looked at his phone seeing that it was 10:40.  He quickly climbed out of bed and pulled on his workout shorts that were lying in the floor, and started toward the bedroom door. He grabbed his tank top that was draped across the chair by the door as he made his way down the hallway to the stairs. The doorbell rang again before he could get to the bottom of the stairs, so he shouted, " I'm coming, just hold on."  Sanem grabbed the robe that hung on the back of the bathroom door, she wrapped it around her and went to check on the triplets, hoping that the ringing doorbell hadn't woke them. As she looked in she could see they were still sound asleep, she closed the door quietly and headed toward the stairs.

Can was annoyed by the time he had reached the door so he turned the lock and jerked it open. " Yes, can I help.........Can had started the phrase but halted. The person on the other side of the door was Mr. Chavez, the very last person that Can had wanted to see at his entryway. But there he stood, and he had a very determined look on his face. Chavez nodded slightly but Can was at a loss for words as he continued to glare at the man. Chavez spoke first in a quiet docile voice and broken English, "Mr Divit, sorry to arrive at such a late time, but".........Can quickly stepped outside pulling the door partially shut behind him. " What are you doing here, ....you can't be here." He told him as he stepped closer to him, his teeth gritted so tightly together he thought they might shatter, and he felt his body start to twitch. 

The man hung his head, almost as if he was embarrassed for what he was about to do. Can ran his finger through his hair, and paced back and forth, " What do you want, tell me then leave before anyone sees you. How dare you come here." He expressed, his whole body feeling enflamed with anger. Chavez looked around nervously as he spoke, " I thought maybe we could settle this between ourselves, without those lawyers and a courtroom." He replied.

Can moved within inches of the mans face, " Look, I am more than willing to settle this with you right now, ....what do you want, or should I say, how much do you want?" Can asked, his voice sounding tight and strained. 

Before Chavez could answer the question, door opened back and Sanem stood there glaring intensely at the two men....

" Can, please ask our visitor to come in, I would love to meet him." She announced, her eyes glistening with tears and her cheeks flushed.....