Destiny

Chapter 34: A change?

The next day They all drove back to Houston, Lini still has a bad headache, she slept the whole way while the children sang. Taker told his entire ministry that he wouldn't need to take them home since Lona will have company for a while. Lini wakes up as they arrived home, she stretches before taking the suitcases and heading home. Lona is very happy that she has finally spent time with her dad, they had a good time despite his work which requires him to be serious and mysterious. Lona throws her small bag against the stair post before going upstairs with Agnes, polaroid photos are falling out of her bag.

Lini bends down to pick them up and sees that they are Polaroids of her dad and Lona having fun with the camera. It's rare to see Taker smile, it shows that he needed to spend time with his daughter outside the house. It can be seen that he loves his daughter, it's the only thing he has left of his family that he had built with his wife. Lini watches Taker leaving the living room with a pile of mail in the basement, she smiles sadly, she sees that Taker has already lost his smile. She really wonders what he's hiding in his basement, why he drinks when he's down there. A broken man. This is what is behind his great character.

~!~

Invoice, invoice, and more invoice but no news for the case. He switches on the lamppost which dimly lights the basement, he looks at his table filled with hypotheses, newspapers, photos. He opens a new bottle of whiskey then pours himself a glass, he thinks back to his afternoon spent with his daughter yesterday. It's been a long time since they've spent time together due to his obsession with finding out who killed his wife and son. His obsession has made him a bad father for Lona because she feels like an orphan. He decides not to drink his drink, he looks at a photo of his wife and son which was placed on a table against the wall then looks at a photo of Lini which he hung on the table next to the photo of the policeman . He looks at the ceiling hearing noise, laughter of children and music.

~!~

Lini and the girls are in the living room singing along to every music that's on the TV. Lini is sitting on the floor with a glass of lemon water singing while the girls are sitting on the armchair with their little cup with orange juice singing too. They haven't noticed, nor heard that Taker has come up and are watching them having fun from the corner of the living room entrance, arms crossed. The Music that comes is Gangsters Paradise by Coolio, Lona has always loved this music, he smiles at the memory he had in his head that Jessie had trouble getting Lona to sleep one day and this music played on the radio and then Lona immediately calmed down. It's not music for children but she loved it. Taker smiles when he sees Lona miming a gun with her tiny hands with Lini and Agnes.

~!~

Night falls and Taker hasn't returned to the basement all day. He stayed with the girls all day, his daughter was very happy that her daddy stayed with them. This afternoon, they were playing outside, having a water balloon fight because the weather was very hot in Texas. It was Taker and Agnes versus Lini and Lona, they were having a blast.

During the game, Lini kept getting water balloons from Taker so Lini decided to get revenge by throwing balloons at him as well. Agnes watches her mom laughing and playing with her idol, Lona joins Agnes also watching her dad playing with Lini. They have never seen their parents so happy for a long time. Then Lona whispered something to Agnes then ran to their parents and threw water balloons at them laughing.

As soon as they finished playing, they decided to go inside to warm up. After a good shower and getting into pajamas, the girls go downstairs to watch TV while Lini joins Taker in the kitchen. She sees him, back to her cooking, she has always found a man cooking sexy, she could see that Taker is wearing nothing under his apron. She is impressed how Taker is built, she never cared how muscular he was. Unconsciously she bends over the table putting her head in her hand watching him cook. She never thought she would be friends with the guy she hated the most, he can be intimidating with his look and with his presence, he was mean, detestable but she can see it under his bad looks boys, he is a wonderful man.

Taker finishes cooking and puts the omelettes with the rice on each plate before looking over at Lini, frowning when he sees her looking at him with a smile. "Are you okay?" Said Taker finally, she comes to her senses not having realized that she was looking at him. "Yes yes it's ok, I'm.. I'm just hungry" she said trying to find an excuse. Dumbest lie he's ever heard, he smiles as he watches her get the kids to eat; Knowing that she wasn't just thinking about food.