Chapter 943 - Happy little gathering

~ Los Angeles, Cliffside villa ~

Wednesday, October 23, 6:49 PM

It is very lively in the garden and on the training grounds.

Kids are taking turns sparring in the rink with Haru. Jesse and Felix are included in that friendly exchange of blows.

Sophia is watching them from the oversized lounging chair that staff brought for her from the rooftop terrace. Kitty rests by Sophia's side and enjoys head rubs.

Sarah and Aiden are helping the staff to set up the barbecue area.

Whatever Sarah wanted to lift, Aiden was right next to her, grabbing it before she could.

"I've got it. You should take a seat and rest.", he grinned, ignoring her protests.

After some time, Sarah gave up and went to join Sophia.

"What's up with Aiden?", Sophia is watching Felix, but she didn't miss Aiden's unusual behavior. "He is pampering you more than usually."

"Who knows what's on his mind? But I don't mind the extra attention." Sarah doesn't want to say that Aiden thinks that she is pregnant. Sophia will only get excited and Sarah will need do additional explanations if test on Friday turns out negative... or if something is wrong. 

Sarah exhaled while thinking that all this would not be a problem if she did the test as soon as she reached home. But now it's too late, and tomorrow she is busy… well, in two days she will find out. 

Sarah remembers how all of them were worried when she was in the hospital, and she does not want to make them go through something similar again. That is why she decided that only after she confirms that everything is OK, she will share the news with the rest of the family. 

Sarah looked toward the rink and changed the topic before Sophia asks more about that. "Felix is enjoying."

"Yeah…" Sophia smiled while gazing at Felix who is sparing with Haru. "This is his third round. Aiden's teachings are paying off. He trained every day while you were away."

"I can see that." Sarah nudged Sophia to give her space on the oversized chair, and Kitty moved to Sarah's lap as soon as she could.

"Brother-in-law has some good moves.", Sarah's praise earned her a proud smirk from Sophia.

Sarah told Sophia that she plans to have a talk with girls about relationships after dinner while Aiden talks to the boys, and asked Sophia if she is willing to help out. She was happy that Sophia accepted.

"Are you sure that this should be a talk with girls and boys apart?", Sophia asked.

Sarah paused. "What do you mean?"

"It is a talk about relationships between boys and girls. And having it with everyone together will help send a unified message to all of them. At the same time, question and answer session at the end will be a great opportunity for the girls to find out what boys have on their mind and the other way around. After the talk, you can say that if any of them wants to talk in private, they are welcome to approach you."

Sarah thought about Sophia's words and smiled. "It makes sense. I will tell Aiden and see what he thinks."

Just as Sarah expected, Aiden was very happy with the suggestion. He never thought of himself as a person who can give fatherly-advices, so sharing the stage in this case sounds wonderful.

Everyone enjoyed dinner. You can't go wrong with barbecue.

Matias, the cook, was pleased to see that they are taking turns at the grill, so he was also able to sit and eat with others while constant supply of freshly grilled food was maintained.

Three large folding tables were set up with chairs and benches, and there was space for everyone.

This is the first time that all of them are present for a meal, including the full time staff which stays at the property 24 hours a day.

Sarah encouraged them to get to know each other and to learn from one another.

They took turns to introduce themselves and explain their role at the Cliffside villa.

Jesse was the first to introduce himself, and Aiden added: "Jesse is the most senior here, and he deserves to be the head of security. Everyone who works on security will have mandatory exercises in the morning and afternoon if they are not on duty. But others are welcome to join as well."

Jesse was happy to get the title 'head of security' in front of everyone. It means a lot to him to get this recognition, even though secretly he thought that Sarah and Aiden don't need bodyguards. Two of them told Jesse that since security team is growing, he will be in charge of managing it, training schedules and making sure everyone is safe and Jesse is happy to show his planning and organizing skills.

Sarah and Aiden also discussed in private if Jesse should be aware of Eve and decided to postpone that for some other time. It's not that two of them don't trust Jesse, but other than the closest family members no one else knows about her existence, and they agreed to be extra careful before revealing Eve to anyone else.

When Gennifer introduced herself, Sarah added: "Genie is the housekeeper. That means she is in charge of all the staff and the house. She does a lot of managing, planning and logistics and she makes sure that everything runs smoothly. You can learn a lot from her."

Gennifer liked this description of her duties. She also volunteered to stay on top of kids' studying schedules.

Derrek is the mechanic in charge of the airport, garage and all the vehicles. Aiden told to everyone present that they can learn about aircrafts and cars from him.

Tristan is in charge of the grounds, and he is the designated handy-man. Besides maintaining the garden and the training grounds, he takes care of the animals living there (fish in the pond and birds in the cage). He is excited to train Kitty, but so far she is not responding well to his attempts. Unless he offers food or head rubs, Kitty is ignoring him.

Matias is the cook and he makes sure that staff and anyone staying in the main house is fed, Kitty included. The older man smiled while introducing himself and he said that he will gladly teach cooking to anyone who is interested. He usually cooks in the kitchen located in the second building, where the staff stays, and besides cooking, he is in charge of the kitchen areas in the building for the staff and in the main villa, making sure that equipment and ingredients are clean, fresh and ready to be used.

Bec and Nicole are two full time maids that maintain the house and help out Gennifer with whatever is necessary.

Other than six of them, Jesse was the only full time person living here as the sole member of the security team before Haru arrived, and now seven kids as well.

If anyone else is needed for an occasional job, Gennifer handles hiring them. But those will not be full time positions.

Sarah and Aiden looked at the people (and the leopard cub) gathered at the table with pride. This is their little community, extended family. People assembled here with two of them at the center, because of them.

Sophia and Felix are present, and only JoAnna and Jeff are missing to make this event complete.

Seeing everyone in a good mood chatting cheerfully and getting along well, made both Sarah's and Aiden's heart swell with joy because this happy little gathering is a sign that they are doing a good job with making the Cliffside villa their home.

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