But before they could response to her, a voice stopped them on their tracks, "Are you guys really planning to have dinner without me?"
The voice seemed to be quite familiar to everyone. The elders who were laughing till then and making fun of them, paused in their actions suddenly.
Their heartbeat fastened after hearing the voice of the man which had become a lot huskier than before.
Although all of them were still in shock but they never tried to turn their faces towards the person whose sudden question made them root into their places.
Whereas the younger clan was just watching their parents excitedly, again sitting on the floor as if they had made it their only home or more like a gallery to witness the upcoming drama of tears and smiles..
Andrew who was standing near the stairs, kept looking on his father and other family members who was still in their stupor to say something or move from there.
Holding Lisa's wrist, he slowly walked towards and them and stood in front of the elders so that they were able to see his face without turning their bodies to him.
"Dad, Uncle, Aunty, will you guys have your dinner without me? I won't let it happen. Today, Mom had made one of my most favourite dishes. So I'm not missing my dinner despite your protest." Andrew said to make them come out of the trance.
And it worked, all of them except the youngsters and Mrs. Jones stared at Andrew in horror as if they had seen some ghost.
Actually, Andrew was not less than a ghost for them right now. As he had already died six years ago according to them, so seeing him completely fit and fine after so many years was quite unbelievable for all of them.
Their eyes were conveying that they had still not registered the idea of Andrew being here and thinking it to be a dream.
However, few minutes later, when they finally came out of their stupor, a chill ran down from their spines.
And the next moment, questions of uncertainty started bombarding on him.
"Andrew.. You are really here?" Mr. Morgan who was Louis' father asked with confusion.
"Am I seeing the right or my eyes are just playing a trick on me?" Mrs. Wilson asked, still couldn't believe her eyes.
Andrew just smiled at them and said calmly, "Yes.. I'm truly here. And none of your eyes are playing tricks on you."
Saying it, he looked at his father expectantly and asked, "Dad, will you not give a hug to your son after six years? I know I did a grave mistake of hiding my existence from all of you..
But Dad, please don't stand their like a statue. Talk to me, shout on me, slap me or beat me. You can do whatever you want but just for once, give me a hug, Dad.."
As soon as those words left from Andrew's mouth, Mr. Jones pulled Andrew towards him and engulfed him in a bone crushing hug.
A rush of emotions travelled through the veins of the father and son as they kept hugging each other, trying to satisfy the long years of loneliness in their hearts for each other.
Tears started to come out of both of their eyes along with the others who were witnessing the emotional scene which was showing the love between the father and son.
Small weeping sound could be heard from the big hall as now everyone started to shed tears, seeing the beautiful moment of reunion between two members of a family who shared one of the best bond of the world.
Pulling away from the hug few minutes later, Mr. Jones held Andrew's shoulder tightly and asked, "You are alive, my son? But how can it be possible? They…they told me that you're already dead."
Andrew wiped off the tears from his father's cheeks before wiping his own and said, "Dad, it was not true at all. Actually, I faked my death for a reason which was eating me alive slowly.
I was a coward that time to not face the situation like a strong minded person but chose to escape from the reality to hide my guilty feelings.
I'm really sorry Dad. Please forgive me for just this once. I promise, I won't take this kind of rushed decisions anymore which will hurt you all. I won't let you down in my life."
Although Mr. Jones and others couldn't understand anything what was happening but they knew that, there must be something big behind Andrew's such a big step.
They all knew how much Andrew had loved his parents, friends and their families. So it won't be possible for him to distance himself from his close ones without any specific reason.
Seeing the atmosphere getting tensed, Mr. Smith thought to ask the question which was roaming inside his mind from the moment he saw Andrew.
"Andrew, where were you in these past few years and why did you fake your death to all of us?"
Andrew sighed at this and said, "I know you all are curious about it and I'm too eager to tell about everything but before that, let's get seated in the living room.."
As the elders nodded their heads, Mrs. Jones glanced at her other kids who were really behaving like two years old children and asked, "Do you guys want to keep sitting here for the whole night or are you planning to even come inside?"
The youngsters gave her a sheepish smile and followed their parents like obedient children.
----
Living room...
After setting themselves comfortably on the couch, Mr. Jones was about to ask Andrew about the story when he noticed Amelia standing at the corner.
Despite knowing that Amelia had done something wrong, he still couldn't control his father's heart and told her, "Amy darling…
Why are you standing there alone? You even hadn't met me after I came back. Now quickly come here and give your father a hug.."