Loving Her

Chapter Twenty Seven. Chicago

Adrian has a good lead on uncle Jaxon, turns out he's currently in Chicago meaning I wasn't seeing things the other day. I was more than relieved to hear the news.

Today is the D-day and I've never been more nervous.

Lately I've been rethinking my decision on all this, maybe having dinner and inviting Jules over would be a better option.

The party is in two hours and Adrian texted me an hour ago that he wants us to meet somewhere. I have no idea what it is since this morning we had breakfast together and after, everyone in the house had sang the happy birthday song for me and prayed for me. Nothing seemed out of place so I wonder what the hell it is that makes him request that I leave the house.

The GPS instructed that I take a left turn so I do. The address Adrian sent me happens to be in an estate which doesn't look so filled up compared to ours where we live.

The houses here are either completed with people obviously living in them, empty or still under construction. Did he want us to visit a client? Or could this be what I think it is?

The GPPS indicates that I'm at my desired location so I park the car in front of a big back gate. I'm about to step down from the car when the gate opens. I sit in the car watching. I'm not so sure if I should go in or not.

My phone rings and I pick the call.

"Drive in," Adrian says.

"Okay," I drag the word but start the car engine again and drive through the big black gates.

I'm in awe as I stare at the house in front of me. It looks expensive and I'm sure it's worth more than my salary of two years combined. The house has two floors and most of the exterior is made of glass.

I drive toward the house and park my car right beside Adrian's car.

Adrian is standing on the front porch, waiting patiently for me. When I'm in front of him, I raise a questioning brow at him.

"Whose house is this?" I ask.

He smiles and drapes his hand around my waist and pulls me to him, planting a kiss on my temple.

He pulls away and still holding my waist, he reaches for the door knob and turns it. "It's our home."

I jump, completely startled when I hear the chorus of "Happy Birthday!" that came from inside the house.

Adrian chuckles but my jaw is on the floor confused as fuck.

"What is going on?" My head is slowly processing the information but I'm not so sure if my thoughts are correct of I am just hearing things.

Did Adrian say, 'it's our home'?

I look at Adrian and he is grinning. "Happy birthday my love." He pushes me into the house to meet the eager guests.

When inside the house I question him. "Did you say our home?"

He nods. "Yes, our home."

I throw myself on him, my emotions getting the best of me. I hear a chorus of 'aww" from the people in the house but I ignore them, still holding Adrian tightly.

"I love you," he whispers and I nod eagerly, letting the tears slide down my cheeks.

"I love you." I whisper back

I finally let go of him and reach out to wipe my face but Adrian stops me, taking a white handkerchief from the back pocket of his black trousers and wiping my face for me.

"Why didn't you wear waterproof mascara?"

I lightly push him. "I wasn't expecting to be in tears."

He chuckles and when he's done, gives me the handkerchief, knowing I will need it again.

I finally turn back to the guests and they all chorus "Happy birthday." causing me to grin.

I greet the guests, appreciating them for coming.

My mind is too occupied with everything to even take note of the interior decoration of the house but I am already in love with it.

After greeting all the guests, save for my friends, I spot them at a corner, talking and laughing. I make my way over to them and Adrian wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me to his side.

"I hope you're not too overwhelmed."

"At the beginning I was but not anymore." I say honestly. "How did you manage to pull this off?"

He shrugs. "I didn't do it alone that's for sure." He gestured to Andrew and Victoria who are grinning.

I pull out of Adrian's hold and pull the couple to a bear hug. "I love you guys." I say.

"Love you too." They say in unison, patting my back.

"How about a house tour?" I look at all three of them and they all nod. Riya loops our hands and we follow Adrian and Drew.

The house has five bedrooms upstairs and one three downstairs. Each room is a master bedroom. A drian tells me he plans on converting one of the rooms to a home office and another to a game room depending on the number of kids we have. When he mentioned kids, he said it so casually and our friends didn't react so I kept my mouth shut, deciding to bring it up later.

There was a gym and a big ass kitchen. Going outside, there's a pool and a pool house which reminds me of my mother's house back in Lagos. The lounging area out back has couches and a fire-pit. I can imagine many years after when all four of us together with our kids would sit there and just have fun together. A smile forms on my face at the thought.

We returned into the house through the kitchen door and not the passage door like we had done earlier. The house did look familiar but I didn't know how or where I had seen it before.

"What's wrong?" Adrian asks when he notices I had gone quiet.

"The house looks familiar." I answer.

"Because it is, you helped me design it." I hear mum say from behind me and I turn to face her.

"This was the house we designed the other night?" I still didn't believe it.

She nods, "yes."

I smiles, "thanks mum, for giving me a chance to design my own house." I go in to hug her.

"Happy birthday my darling." She slowly pats my back.

"Thanks mum." I say after pulling from the hug.

"You know I love you," she cups my cheeks. "Right?"

I nod, fighting back my tears. "I love you too mum."

We talk for a little while before she goes back to socializing with the other guests.

I check the time on my watch and it's been two hours already and I gasp, turning to Adrian. "What of Jules?"

He smiles, patting my arm. "I sent him the address."

I heave a sigh of relief and laugh at myself for thinking of Adrian like that, of course he was steps ahead.

"Am I too late?"

Speak of the devil.