Chapter 1743 - Recognizing The Other Half

They moved to the dining room where a table full of delicacies waited for them.

Kids were already seated at the kids' table and eating. Nannies helped little ones with food.

"Are we celebrating something?", Emma asked while taking her seat on the chair that Charlie held for her.

The only thing bigger than Sarah's smile was Aiden's grin.

"We are pregnant!", Aiden exclaimed.

"Oh… How wonderful! Welcome to mommyhood…", Bridgette said while walking to Sarah to give her a hug.

"When is the baby coming?", Emma asked while standing up clumsily. With her growing belly, moving around was becoming harder by the day, and Charlie always wanting to help, sometimes turned into him obstructing her.

"Due date is February 2nd.", Sarah said.

Sophia counted on her fingers backward. With Lia's birthday on February 10, it was not difficult to calculate... "You are seven weeks along!"

Everyone took turns congratulating them.

Gabriel had a sad smile on his face. He was hoping that he and Victoria will have their own child soon, and now he lost her.

"Pictures!", Aiden said while pulling ultrasound photos from his pocket to share with others. He even had copies.

"What is this?", Felix asked while squinting at the photo. "Where is the baby?"

Aiden frowned and pointed at the dot. "It's right there… Do you need your eyes checked?"

Felix continued squinting. "I can see a smudge, but how is that a baby? Are you sure that Sarah didn't swallow a pebble or something?"

Aiden's eyes widened in outrage.

"Calm down…", Sophia told Aiden. "Felix knows it's a baby, but he is getting back at you because you messed with him when he showed you ultrasound photos of our kids."

Aiden glared at Felix who grinned at him mockingly.

"I didn't mess with him.", Aiden explained. "I really didn't know. It was my first time to see the ultrasound picture with a tiny baby on it."

"Let me look at it again…", Felix said while examining the photo. "Oh, I see it's a wonderful baby. Hands are elegant, and teeth are pearly white, and the eyes are…"

"Stop it!", Aiden hissed. "It's obvious that you can't see any features. It's too early."

Felix shook from laughter. He waited to mess with Aiden ever since Aiden said that Lia on the ultrasound photo does not look human! 

Kids noticed the commotion and Lia and Alice came to see what is going on.

"Aunty... will you have a baby of your own?", Lia asked.

Sarah squatted and patted Lia's head. "Yes."

"Will you love us less?", Alice asked.

Sarah smiled and her hand moved to pat Alice's head. "No. I will love you the same, but you will have one more playmate."

"I hope it's a girl. Then we can dress her up.", Alice said and tugged Lia's hand to return to the kids' table.

"You can dress up boys also.", Lia said matter-of-factly. "As long as you establish yourself as the boss, you can make boys do anything. Adam attends my tea parties every day and he wears a fancy hat and real plastic jewelry."

Alice pouted. "Jay does not want to do that."

Lia gave Alice a knowing look. "I will teach you... You need to find something he wants, and use it against him…"

Sarah thought that they are adorable. And soon, her child will join into that fun as well.

…

After dinner, kids resumed their playing and most of the grownups gathered around them, to observe the commotion.

Aiden was playing the audio recording of the baby's heartbeat for the tenth time, for everyone to hear.

Sarah spotted that Gabriel is sitting on the side and gazing through the window.

Sarah decided to approach him. "Hey, how are you doing?"

"I feel… lost.", Gabriel admitted. "For a long time, I believed that Vicky is the one. That we will finish school, get married, have a family, grow old together… you know, the usual stuff. And now all that is gone, and I have no idea where to go."

"There is more to life than relationships. You are good at your work. Maybe you can take some time off… travel and forget about this place."

Gabriel half-smiled. "YOU are telling me that there is more to life than relationships? Didn't you flip the world to find Aiden?"

"True. But you need to admit that the circumstances are different."

Gabriel sighed. Sarah is right, their circumstances are different.

"If you find out that Aiden is using you for his selfish reasons, and that he would hurt your friends and family, what would you do?"

"I would be devastated.", Sarah admitted.

"Would you be able to hurt him? To torture him and kill him?"

Sarah didn't need to think about the answer: "No. But my sisters would. Gabriel, you are not on your own. Everyone in this room is willing to help you."

"Thanks for the reminder, but it does not matter who punishes her. The fact is that I feel like a fool, without any goal or direction. Lost."

Sarah was not sure how to comfort him. She was never good at those things, but she needed to say something. "I know that right now you are hurting. I don't know if Victoria loves you or if she ever did, but that does not change the fact that she used you. Take the time to heal. No one knows what awaits us in the future. You are a good guy, and I am confident that you will find the right person for you, someday."

Gabriel exhaled. "Some people are better off on their own."

Sarah observed Gabriel and in her opinion, he didn't look heartbroken. "Do you love her?"

Gabriel thought about the question for some time before responding. "Vicky and I are together for a long time. We met in middle school and it didn't take long for our parents to notice that we are close. Once we started high school, our parents encouraged us to get together, and we did. Vicky and I had a lot in common and things were natural between us. I considered her as my best friend, someone I can rely on and I wanted to give her a good life. Whenever I thought about my future, she was by my side. Isn't that love?"

Sarah didn't have an answer to that question, and it seemed that Gabriel was not expecting one.

…

Later that evening…

Sarah and Aiden got ready for the night.

"It's good to be home.", Sarah said while snuggling next to Aiden in the bed.

Aiden hummed in approval. "I saw you talking to Gabriel. How is he doing?"

"Not good. He is doubting if Victoria ever loved him, and he wonders if his chance for a big love got ruined."

Aiden could hear that Sarah is troubled. "You can't help him. He needs to figure out those things on his own. Some people are not so lucky like us, to recognize their other half."

Sarah thought about Aiden's words, and the part about recognizing each other reminded her of something. "Aiden?"

"Hmm?"

"That evening, in Natalia's camp… I heard you rejecting Svetlana and a few minutes later, you were holding me back. You didn't remember any of us; how did you know which one to choose?"

"She told me what to think, and you urged me to remember. The fact that you wanted me to use my head, made a big difference. And then… there was that feeling… the same feeling of belonging I had at the Tesla University when I spoke with you for the first time. It was a whisper that I must do everything in my power to keep you by my side, and that if I let go, I will regret it for the rest of my life."

Sarah melted from the inside. "That is one of the most romantic things I've ever heard."

Aiden smiled smugly. "That is me… romantic."

Sarah narrowed her eyes at him playfully. "You are spoiling it with your arrogance."

"There is a difference between arrogance and confidence."

"True. And you have both."

Aiden made a face. "I will not deny that."

Sarah felt that since they got into the bed, he is caressing her belly. "You will be a wonderful father."

Aiden enjoyed the compliment. And that reminded him... "Are you sure there is only one baby inside?"

Sarah was confused. "Uhm... yes. What kind of question is that?"

Aiden pouted. "Jeff made twins. How is it possible that I made only one?"

"You can't compare those two. Are you not happy with one baby?"

"It's not that I'm not happy... but I thought that maybe I can try adding one more..." Aiden wiggled his eyebrows and moved on top of Sarah.

Sarah giggled when she realized that from the start he used the one-baby question as a prelude for them to make love. Well, she will not complain. "That is not how things work but... I'm not an expert and it can't hurt to try..."

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