Chapter 12: Philip Harrington vs. Troy ‘Travis’ Stanton~ The beat to his heart … Home!

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Back in the dining area, Camille was laughing uncontrollably. “Philip is not a bad person, Trav…Troy. He will only take a life if it’s for a good cause.”

“And you think taking Paul’s life is for a good cause?” Troy looked and sounded incredulous.

“I didn’t say that.” Camille tried to compose herself. “Listen, you said yourself that your mother said no harm will befall Paul, right?”

“She promised,” Troy responded.

“Her word is gold.” Camille smiled. “Trust me on that. I’ll take good care of Paul. Don’t worry about him, okay?” At Troy’s nod, she added; “And remember, Philip is the most kind-hearted and amazing man. It would be great if you tried to get to know him.”

“Not on your life.” Troy breathed, ignoring Camille’s gasp. “I don’t trust the guy. I know the woman meant…”

“Gloria.” Camille interrupted. “That’s her name.”

“Glori…”

“Don’t call her that.” Camille interrupted again.

“But you just said that’s her name.” Troy groaned, looking confused.

“Yes but she’s your mother.” She said firmly. “You need to address…” She trailed off and seemed to be listening to someone. Then with a sigh, she murmured; “Never mind. I’ll keep Paul away from Philip if that’s what you really want.”

“Thank you, Camille. I’m grateful.” Troy said.

“Anytime, darling,” Camille responded as they headed back to the living room where Jeremy sat with his head thrown back against the headrest and his eyes closed.

“Good talk,” Jeremy muttered without opening his eyes.

Troy almost rolled his eyes at Jeremy’s words. The look he threw Camille’s way showed exactly what was going on in his mind. He clearly found it weird that Jeremy would pass such a comment when he hadn’t even heard what he’d talked to Camille about. Camille, of course, refrained from pointing out the obvious to the clueless Troy. She wondered what Troy’s reaction would be if she made him aware that Jeremy had in fact, been the reason behind the discontinuation of her argument on the appropriate name to call Gloria.

“Where’s Paul?” Troy asked.

“Mum took him to see the cat,” Jeremy responded. “Hey, why don’t you give your cat another name?” He opened blue eyes that looked so much like Troy’s and stared at his brother.

“And why would I want to do that?” Troy shot back as he took his seat.

“Just so we can know who we’re referring to at any point.” Jeremy shrugged.

“How about you sticking to Jeremy?”

“I’d have gladly stuck to it but since you started calling me Jer, that name sorta stuck,” Jeremy said dryly, almost sounding bored. “You see, everyone used to call me Jerry. Until you decided to call me Jer…”

“Which were your first words by the way.” Gloria chuckled as she joined them with Paul. “You two done?” She looked from Troy to Camille.

“Yes,” Troy responded. “And the name stays.” He added without looking in Jeremy’s direction.

“Still so stubborn,” Jeremy muttered as he got to his feet. “Come on Cami. I’ll drop you two home.” He said as he went to hug his mother. “Will you be okay?” He asked softly.

“I’ll be fine, baby.” Gloria beamed. She looked tired but at the same time, very happy.

“Call me if you need me, okay?”

“Will do. Thanks.” Gloria kissed Jeremy on the cheek and hugged Camille. “Thank you, Cami. See you later, Paul.”

“See you, Ms. Gloria,” Paul responded. “Take care, Troy.”

Instead of heading for the door as everyone expected, however, Jeremy stopped in front of Troy and just stared down at him. Then he did something that surprised everyone in the room. He reached down for Troy’s hand and drew him up into his arms. Troy gave a slight protest but Jeremy didn’t let him go. Troy eventually loosened up and melted into the embrace. And the two brothers just hugged each other. One filled with overwhelming joy for having his brother back home, and the other filled with surprise at the contentment he felt from being in the arms of his supposed brother.

“God, I missed you.” Jeremy groaned against Troy’s soft blonde hair after a while. “Everything will be okay. Just listen to whatever mum tells you, okay?” He whispered. At Troy’s nod, Jeremy stepped back and abruptly turned towards the door. He knew that his mother was in for it. But he wasn’t worried at all because apart from the fact that she was Troy’s mother and the best person to deal with him if anyone could make Troy see things as they really were and understand everything, it was Gloria Stanton.

As the trio went out, a young man entered with a duffle bag. “Hello, Mama G.” He bowed respectfully.

“Hello, Kieran.” Gloria gave the grinning man a fond smile. “How are you doing?”

“I’m good, ma’am. Alpha asked me to bring this for Troy.” He gestured at the bag.

“Oh, thank you.” Gloria smiled, silently acknowledging how thoughtful Philip was. “Kindly put it in the room to the left, my dear.”

“What’s that?” Troy asked as he watched Kieran go.

“I’m pretty sure it's clothes and stuff you’ll need.” Gloria shrugged. “Want to check it out now or after we’ve eaten?”

“After,” Troy murmured with a frown. “I won’t be surprised at all if that bag is filled with deadly snakes.”

“Oh hush, boy.” Gloria hissed. “Philip will never…” She paused and looked up when Kieran came back to the living room. “Thank you, Kieran. Tell Philip that Troy said thanks.”

“I didn’t…” Troy began to protest but Gloria raised her voice to drown out his.

“Tell him I said I’ll see him in the morning.” She said, ignoring her son’s dark scowl. “And say hi to your mama.” Gloria gave Kieran a dazzling smile.

“I’ll do that, Mama G.” With a tip of his head, the young warrior left mother and son.

“Now listen to me carefully, Travis Stanton.” Gloria began in a stern voice. “I know you were taken away from me at a very young age. But even before then, I taught you the basic manners. Please, sorry, and thank you. And I want to believe you haven’t forgotten that when someone does something nice for you or show you some kindness, you say thank you.”

“Is killing my family an act of kind…”

“Shut up, Travis.” Gloria turned and started for the kitchen. “Coming?”

“It’s Tro… Urgh…why do I even bother?” He muttered as he stood and followed the feisty woman into her kitchen. Somehow he knew that the woman who claimed to be his mother was always going to address him as Travis and not Troy, as he wished everyone would. “Might as well get used to it.” He murmured to himself.

“What was that?” Gloria called out.

“Nothing,” Troy mumbled.

He didn’t see the film of tears and the happy smile on Gloria’s face. Gloria knew she had a lot of work to do. But she had hope in the bond she shared with her son. It was well.