Sophia logged into the conference call. Sarah was already there.
"Hi big sis, hi Felix!" Sarah greeted them.
"Hi, where is Aiden?" Sophia observed his absence.
Sarah looked somewhere on the side. "He will join in a minute."
"How is the training?"
"Great progress." Sarah showed two thumbs up.
Aiden sat next to Sarah. "Hi"
"You look horrible." Sophia observed.
Sarah faintly smiled. "He is still getting used to the pace. Mom is not taking it easy on him."
"I'm only tired. In the morning I will be fine." Aiden explained lazily. He was almost sleeping off.
"How are things on your end?" Sarah faced Sophia and Felix.
"We are going next weekend to visit his mom" Sophia gestured to Felix.
Felix smiled nervously, and Sarah noticed. "Felix, is everything OK?"
"Yes, yes... everything is fine." Felix nodded while reminding himself to act more natural. 'There is no reason for me to be nervous when thinking of Sophia meeting my mom.'
Sophia and Sarah chatted for some time and JoAnna still didn't come online. Sarah sent her a text but didn't get a response.
"Do you think they slept off?" Sophia asked.
"Maybe..." Sarah shrugged. "They just came from Reno. Who knows what they did there?"
At that time, JoAnna came online.
"You are late." Aiden frowned when he saw Jeff and JoAnna being late and showing wide smiles. They didn't look guilty at all.
"Sorry we are late" JoAnna apologized and quickly continued, not giving anyone a chance to scold them. "We spent weekend in Reno, and some things happened..."
JoAnna told them how someone sabotaged her saddle, and about Cox family.
When JoAnna said that she thought how six of them can take on Cox family, Sophia was delighted and supported that idea.
Sarah wanted to investigate the saddle issue, but JoAnna stopped her. "Let Oscar look into this. He said he will take care of it. If he comes out empty handed, then we will reconsider. OK?"
Sarah understood.
JoAnna was happy that Sarah didn't insist and wanted to make sure that Sarah stays on her task. "Sarah, you and Aiden should look into Cox family, and let us know what you find. Let's start from there... by the way, who is Liam?"
Sarah shook her head. "I don't know... I told you that in text."
"How come you don't remember?" Aiden frowned. "The one from Jeff's birthday. Two of them came at you and Isabella."
Sarah nodded. "Yes. Two of them. Which one is Liam?"
Aiden rolled his eyes. "The one who wetted himself."
"Oh..." Sarah remembered.
"He did what? Details, please!" JoAnna was curious.
"There are not many details to tell." Sarah did her best to pick from her memories. "He was with another guy, two of them made some lecherous remarks. I didn't do anything to him, before he peed himself. Then he fainted. Very unsightly."
"I'm pretty sure you missed some parts." Sophia observed. "Aiden? Do you care to fill up the gaps?"
He shrugged. "I was not there. When I arrived, he was already out."
"You don't believe me?" Sarah was insulted. "I'm telling you the guy is a weakling. It's not even two months since birthday, and he is walking around... that means I didn't hurt him, much."
"I'm sure it's embarrassing for him that he soiled himself." Felix concluded.
"That is his problem... we should look into his family as well. Do they have a business? Let's take them down! How dare he try to hurt my sister!" Sarah was getting excited.
"One by one." JoAnna was calming down her sister. "First this Cox family."
Sarah looked at Aiden before speaking, "By the way... since we came here, we found out something about our background. It's something that impacts all of us, and we should tell you about it."
Seeing that Sarah is serious, all four faces in the video chat focused on her intently.
"But it's not something we should discuss online. When we meet in person, we will share this." Sarah explained.
Sophia and JoAnna both complained how if she is not about to tell them, she should not have started at all. Now they are curious.
"Is it something that would put you girls in danger?" Jeff looked at JoAnna with concern.
"It involves White family as well. So, you should be extra careful as well." Sarah turned to Aiden and saw that he is nodding off. "This one here is about to sleep off, and I don't want to drag him to bed. Is there something else? Or can we log off?"
"That's it. He really looks beat." JoAnna observed.
Sarah laughed. "In this case it's more than just an expression for being tired... OK. We will let you know when we find something. Bye!" Sarah logged off.
"What do you think she wants to tell us?" Sophia asked JoAnna.
"They are there stuck with our mom. You don't need my intuition to know that it's something related to our maternal family." JoAnna answered seriously. "But I don't want to make wild guesses. Let's plan to meet... Next weekend you are going to Quebec, right?"
Sophia nodded in confirmation.
"How about weekend after that? Sarah and Aiden should be done with their training. Maybe all of you can come to LA?" JoAnna suggested. "You two should come and stay at our place next time."
Jeff looked at JoAnna and smiled. He loved when she called that penthouse 'our place' or 'home'. It made him feel that she accepted him. Whenever she rejected his things in the past it made him feel that she is rejecting part of him. But now he sees that JoAnna is changing. She is getting bolder, more confident, more enchanting.
Sophia didn't miss how Jeff is looking at JoAnna. She wanted to log off quickly and to give them privacy. "Let's have that as a plan for now. I will let Sarah know... "
"Oh, her birthday is coming." JoAnna remembered. "Do you think we will do as usual?"
"I don't know. Let's confirm with Sarah later. Good night." Sophia sighed after logging off.
~Seattle~
"How does Sarah usually celebrate her birthday?" Felix asked.
"Adriatic Sea. She has a group of people there, party, like a mini vacation. Quite relaxed. We go for few days. She usually stays longer and visits few places in Italy and Croatia. We will see if she does the same now, since Aiden is with her." Sophia explained. "You look down. What is going on?"
Felix sighed. "All of you seem to have some special backgrounds, and skills. I feel so... normal."
Sophia hugged him. "Really? Can you tell me the definition of normal?"
Felix looked at her and could not answer her question. He knows she wants to comfort him, but sometimes, feeling of being inferior compared to her takes over. He spoke from his heart. "You are perfect. I feel not worthy of you. Sometimes... not always."
Sophia observed his expression. He was troubled. "Is this sometimes?"
He nodded in response.
Sophia took his hand and pulled him. "Come, let's get those insecurities out of you."
Felix followed. Seeing that they are going to the bedroom, Felix perked up.
Sophia looked at him and laughed when she saw that his mood improved. "I see it's already working. Maybe this is enough to make you feel better."
Felix panicked. "Oh, no, no, no... I'm still feeling quite down." He lifted Sophia in one smooth move and carried her princess style to the bedroom in hurried footsteps.