Carmel sat down beside me on the couch. "Are you okay, Harper?"

"Yes. I am okay, Carmel."

Then her eyes twinkled with excitement. "Isn't it amazing that you will be my aunt?"

"What?"

"My aunt...when you will marry uncle Gareth." She explained.

"Who the hell said I am going to marry that stupid asshole?"

She looked quite disappointed to hear that. "Umm...you will not marry him? But you are pregnant with his child, right?"

"That doesn't mean I have to marry him. I don't want to."

She pouted sadly. "But he is such a sweet person. He is cute, smart, intelligent, a bit annoying too but..."

"An asshole, that's what he is and I am not marrying him, Carmel. Don't get any hopes." I stated firmly rolling my eyes.

Carmel angrily folded her arms. "You have no idea about what you are losing if you lose him."

"What's your age again, Carmel?" I said playfully. "Twelve, right?"

"You have no idea how this world works." I added.

"But I do know how a typical Romance story works. And you both are going to fall in love with each other and then get married."

"You are just twelve, Carmel..." I muttered exasperatedly.

"Age doesn't make you mature, experience does." She stated with a bit of a pride.

I rolled my eyes. "And what experience do you have about Romance?" I asked emphasizing on the word experience.

"I don't. But what I predicted regarding mama and dad came true. See how much they are in love with each other." She pointed to the entrance of the kitchen where Everette and Aeryn were standing. Everette gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear before kissing her forehead lingeringly.

"Whatever..." I muttered.

"Besides, I never really liked your ex fiance. I never said it but I had a feeling it won't work between you two."

"But you were so happy when I told you about my engagement."

"That's because you were happy. I couldn't ruin your happiness by saying 'Oh, Harper, I am so happy for you but I'm afraid your engagement might not work'" She said dramatically with an accent making me chuckle.

"So..." Aeryn said sitting on the couch to my right.

"Are you still angry with me?" I questioned.

"No. You will be glad to know that I forgave you a long time back."

I sighed. "Thanks, Aeryn."

Aeryn hummed in response and leaned back.

"Where's your husband?" I asked her to which she replied. "Left for work."

"Oh."

.

.

.

I somehow managed to convince Aeryn over the call after she left for her restuarant to let me come there and help her later in the morning because I was getting bored at her house.

So, I hailed a cab and reached the restaurant, working there I felt satisfied that I wasn't sitting idle all day.

"You can leave, Harper. I'll manage from here." Aeryn told me as I prepared the sauce for Burmese Khow Suey in the evening.

"But...why?"

"Because you need to rest, Harper. I don't want you fainting...go home." She said softly taking the spatula from my hand.

I pouted sadly and she glared at me. It went on for a few seconds and I sighed. "Fine. I am going."

"What if Gareth's mother is still there?" I stopped to question her.

She shook her head. "She isn't. I talked to him, she left."

"Oh, okay. Bye, Aeryn. See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Harper." She said and gave me a flying kiss that I caught with a chuckle.

I stepped out of the restaurant and walked down the street to hail a cab when someone called me. A vaguely familiar voice. "Harper. Is that you?"

I turned around. Standing at a distance was a man. Brown hair a few inches above his shoulder swept back neatly. A pair of grey eyes, stared at me. Both his hands in his pockets. He wore a pair of khaki shorts and military green t shirt.

I stared at him for a few seconds before before running towards him and engulfing him in a tight hug.

He hugged me back and I exclaimed happily. "Archie!"

I pulled back and he said. "Finally! I found you."

"How are you, best friend?" He asked.

"I am awesome! And seeing you here I feel so happy!"

He lightly kissed my forehead. "I am also very happy to see you, Harper."

"Where do you live?" I asked.

"I actually live and work in Irvine, California. I just flew here to see you after I got to know this is where you are." He explained.

"Thank you for coming, Archie. I thought I would never see you again."

"That's what happens when you leave your best friend behind and run away from the orphanage." He rolled his eyes.

"I am sorry." I whispered. "You know what happened. I just didn't want to stay there."

He placed his hand over my shoulder and said softly. "Hey, I understand. Your decision was best for you."

I nodded before saying. "So...where are you staying?"

"In a hotel, I guess. I am just coming from the airport."

"Oh...you can stay with me. I--" I stopped abruptly remembering I was now staying with Gareth and it was not my house.

"Is everything okay?"

"Umm...yeah...I...umm...I need to tell you something."

"What is it, Harper?"

.

.

.

"Oh My God." Was his first reaction after I told him everything about my situation, about the baby, about Gareth and everything else.

We were in a park, sitting on the bench eating ice cream.

"I can't believe it." He mumbled.

"Yeah..." I whispered looking down at my lap.

"If you want you can come stay with me in Irvine." He offered.

I gave him a small apologetic smile. "I can't leave, Archie. I can't leave my job plus Aeryn. She was always there for me. And Gareth wants me to stay with him only so I can't leave."

He hummed and I said. "But you can come stay with me at Gareth's house. I'm sure I can convince him."

He brushed a strand of stray hair behind my ear and smiled. "It's okay, Harper. I can stay in a hotel."

"No." I protested. "You are staying with me. I need to tell you so many things."

He opened his mouth to object but I ignored him and dialled Gareth's number.

I called him and picked up a few rings later. "Yes?" His deep voice sending a shiver down my spine.

"Can I invite a close friend of mine to your house?"

"Yes. You can." He said promptly.

"Actually..."

"Anything else?"

"Would you mind if they stay at your house for a day or two? Please?" I said in a saccharine tone.

There was a pause, he went silent, I waited for his decision.

He spoke fifteen seconds later. "Okay, fine. They can stay. I will ask Diana to show them the guest room. But you and your so called friend is forbidden from going into my library."

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you so much!" I said excitedly.

There was light chuckle from his side at my enthusiasm. "Anything else now?"

"No. That's it. And did you say Diana? Isn't today supposed to be a day off for her?"

"It was but she said her work got done earlier so she came back."

"Okay, thank you and bye."

"Bye." He whispered before hanging up the call.

Smiling widely, I said to Archie. "He agreed!"

"That's great." He muttered. "Shall we go?"

I nodded.

.

.

.

"So, this is the GW Mansion. Gareth's home." I told Archie as we entered inside.

Archie looked around. "It's splendid."

"Harper." I heard Diana say and we both turned to her standing near the staircase.

"Hey, Diana." I greeted her. "This is my childhood best friend, Archie Lennon."

"Welcome, Mr Lennon. I am Diana, the housekeeper."

"Nice to meet you, Miss. And please call me Archie."

Diana smiled and nodded. "The guest room is downstairs only."

We both followed Diana and she opened the door to one of the guest rooms and I told Archie to settle down and get freshed and have dinner with me later to which he nodded with a smile.

"You look very happy to meet him." Diana commented as we walked away from his room. "He must be very special to you."

"Yes. He is my best friend since birth. We grew up in the same orphanage but then due to some reasons, I lost contact with him and now I am seeing him after eight years."

"Eight years?" Her voice was laced with a hint of surprise. "That's a long time."

"Yeah." I whispered gloomily.

I decided to change the topic. "What's there for dinner tonight?"

"I am making Chicken Schnitzel."

"Great. Do you need any help?"

She gently patted my bicep. "You rest, child. I can manage."

Giving her a smile I went upstairs to rest.

An hour later I called Archie for dinner and Diana served us.

We were in the middle of eating when Gareth's voice boomed. "Who's this?"