Bitter sweet affair

Chapter 83 - Birthday Wish

He walked into the dark house and dropped his keys on the counter. The day hadn't turned out the way he planned. He still couldn't forget how he'd hurt his daughter; he didn't mean to but he did. He held on so much that he hurt her, it was similar to what he did to Amelia. He turned the lights on, expecting to meet an empty living room but he saw a shadow and shrieked.

"Julie. You scared me" he said in fast breath before heading to the fridge to grab a glass of water. He poured it into a glass and chugged it all down in one go. He hadn't realized he missed lunch when his belly growled. He opened the fridge to grab something to eat; he took out a club sandwich and a canned drink. He walked over to where Julie was and sat down to eat.

"Where have you been? And why are you back this late?" Julie asked with concern in her voice.
"Just somewhere," he said in between his food.
"You can talk to me, Andre-
His phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket. It was a face time call from... Amelia?.
Why was she calling this late and more so face time? - his mind wondered. He dropped his half-eaten sandwich and swallowed.

He brought the phone to his face, cleared his throat, and answered. A scream came from the other side and he was shocked, she wasn't Amelia.
"Jasmine?" he said in astonishment, he wasn't expecting it. He looked a bit disappointed.
"Daddy. I took Mommy's phone for a minute to call you. Shh... She's sleeping" Jasmine whispered her last words, smiling excitedly at Andre.

"Aren't you meant to be sleeping?" he asked surprised she was still awake at quarter past 11 pm.
"I woke up and you weren't beside me" she pouted. "I miss you, Daddy," she said sadly.
His heart ached as she said those words. He missed her too but being close to her had restrictions and he was scared of hurting her again.

"I miss you too honey but you should go to bed," he said. He was still worried about Amelia.
"Jasmine. Is your mommy okay?" he found himself asking.
"No, she cried all through the day," Jasmine said sadly.
"Why?"
"Because granny fell ill."

He knew it was something more serious but he was glad he knew something about why she was sad.
"Andre, your birthday is tomorrow, you can't avoid me," Julie said approaching him.
"Daddy, is tomorrow your birthday?" Jasmine asked with a smile on her face. Julie stood on her spot frozen on hearing her brother being called- Daddy. She remembered him saying he had a daughter with Reyna but she didn't quite believe it.

"Yes, sweety. It's my birthday tomorrow" he tried to look happy about it but the little girl saw through him.
"But why are you sad?"
"Because my birthday wish won't come through" he muttered.
"I'll make it come through if you tell me," she said sweetly.
"I just want your mommy to wish me a happy birthday." he smiled. That was the highlight of his birthday for the year he was together with Amelia. Just that birthday wish made his day.

"Jasmine, what are you doing?" Amelia said in a coarse voice. She'd just woken up.
"Daddy we got caught" Jasmine giggled making Andre smile.
"Good night Jasmine," he said before ending the call.

He turned around and Julie's eyes were fixed on him.
"What?" he asked.
"Was that your daughter?" she asked not hiding her surprise.
"Yeah. Her name is Jasmine"
"When can I meet her? Can I meet Reyna too?" Julie said walking beside him.
"I don't know Julie. And she prefers being called Amelia now, also she isn't exactly comfortable with me and I don't want to add to that" he said before sitting on a couch nearby.

"You should tell Mom and Dad. Maybe they'll accept you back-
"No Julie," he said sternly. They'd disowned him when he needed them and he wasn't ever going back to them. Never!
"But-"
"Good night Julie," he said and placed a kiss on her forehead. After which he left for his room.

He got a text and when he opened it, it was a text from Amelia.
"What did you talk about with Jasmine? She's refusing to say anything" Amelia's text read.
He smiled, knowing she was curious about his conversation with their daughter and he wanted to tease her.

"Nothing much. It's just a secret between a father and a daughter" His text read.
Amelia almost threw her phone across the room on seeing his text.
"A secret between a father and daughter? As if!!" she scoffed and decided against replying.

She got a call halfway through her tantrums. She answered and it was the hospital. They told her, her mom was getting worse by the day and the chances she could die any day were high. She was immediately filled with fright. She never thought she'd lose her mom; she wasn't the best mom but the thought that she'd lose her forever made her scared. After the call, she called her dad crying and told him what had happened. He booked a flight that night to Manhattan. He would arrive in the morning and together they'd go see Mrs.Neil.

It was so hard to catch a wink of sleep, knowing her mom was going to die soon.