15/XV. Stay The Couse (Remastered)

“That was the last time I have seen humans, Noah.” Michael told the endearing story about the Creation of the world, Adam, Eve.

And He continued telling the story about Cain, Abel, and the birth of Seth to Noah and his family while they were enjoying dinner together.

“That’s the most wonderful story that I have ever heard.” Noah got this glimmer in his eyes as he genuinely and sincerely thanked Michael for sharing the story of the beginning of the humankind.

“Wonderful?” The angel smirked, “This is the first time that I have heard that that tragedy was wonderful.” He looked up and met Noah’s eyes.

“Well, it’s much more lighter than the violence and murder we see every day here on the plains, and… knowing about the Light…” Noah took his hand to his chest, “Gave me warmth here.” He looked back to the angel as he smiled sweetly.

The Hawkeye activated and the spirit connection of Noah to the Heavens or to the Creator Himself re-established upon knowing about the story of Creation.

“You take my words seriously, even though I am a stranger in this house.” The angel once again tested Noah and his family.

“This family is forever grateful that a stranger stopped by and told us about our origins, the Father of all Creation, the father of humans, and the mother of all living things.” Noah hugged his wife and glanced to his sons and daughters with the gentleness that you can see on his eyes.

“I’m glad to have told you. You are a righteous man, Noah. I will be coming back in a few days.” Michael smiled sincerely as he looked at the faces of Noah’s family.

“Thank you, again.” Noah offered a wooden cup full of grape juice to Michael, and he gladly grabbed the cup and drank the juice nonstop.

SFX: [Bam] Michael slammed the wooden cup to the table made of rock as he finished the last drop, “Until next time.” He said his goodbye and flew out of the cave, out to the trench to the top of the Valleys.

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As the four exited the mansion in Los Angeles, Arthur left a clone of Michael in the perimeter and went on their way to the airport.

Almost eleven hours flight, the four arrived at one of the small mansions in the urban city of London, the place that once crawled with crimes, pollution, and despair, as Michael remembered the place from the Dark Ages, now riddled with technology and bustling economy and community spirit.

“There’s only the four of us, so, I only got this place.” The clutter from Edward’s pocket fell out as he pulled out the keys for the front door of the mansion.

“Sir, let me help you with that.” Matthew bent down one knee on the ground, and picked up bits and pieces of paper, toothpick, and a ballpoint pen.

As Edward opened the door, and stepped in the living room or the lounge, the two kids’ jetlag transformed into energy, seeing the polished teapots on their left side, with the right wall being a mirror all the way before the staircase, and at the lounge, the living room has a spacious area to where you can drink tea and relax, the windows on the right side of the room also illuminated the city outside and the garden beneath the foyer.

Johnny plunged into the sofa cushions in the living room and Arthur sank himself in the large beanie bag near the fireplace.

Edward closed the front door, and Matthew brought their heavy suitcases up the top of the staircases into their bedrooms.

At the rear end of the living room was the dining room, separated by an arch pillar formations and inside is a long table with ten dining chairs, lavished with soft, golden and black fur of a wild animal, guessing, a tiger, or a cheetah, with beautiful embroidery to knit the cushions on the wooden oak-elegant chair.

At the end of the dining room was the kitchen and the bathroom, tiled with white marble finish, and a countertop, an oven inserted in the walls, a garbage chute directly connected to the basement, and burners, and grills to cook majestic food on top of.

After the staircase, a hallway laid out to open for four bedrooms. One room lavished with bookshelves and ancient books with a king-sized bed, specifically designed to have an adjacent connecting door to the next bedroom, much larger than the room before, with a study table, two soft couches, a queen-size bed, and tons of bookshelves, and ancient books as well.

Then on the left side of the hallway, the butler’s room, facing the kid’s bedroom, designed with a sturdy study table, a simple, single bed, fluffy pillows and a thin bed sheets as the weather was still moist and warm in London this month, July.

Next to the butler’s room is another bedroom decorated with an oak-finish study table, a bookshelf near the door, and old books, and a queen-sized bed that faced the windows on the left side of the mansion.

And at the end of the hallway was a bathroom, finished with marble flooring, white as snow, clean as the whitest robe, and has a large bath tub and a shower divided by drapes that ran from the east to west.

“You’ve really outdone yourself this time, Dad.” Johnny turned sideways from the couch as he glanced outside the beauty of the city of London from outside the windows of the living room.

The beanie bag embraced Arthur’s body, and with his aching back and hips on the long flight, he tried to fight sleeping on the bag, and crouched out of the bag into the soft greyish carpet.

“Where are you going?” Johnny laughed as he saw the spectacle.

“I… I’m so sleepy, but I want to sleep and sink in a bed instead of the beanie.” Arthur complained as he lifted his knees, and dragged his feet across the floor to the staircase, sighing in front of the long winding staircase to the bedroom on the second floor.

“Uuuuuuuuuggghhh… this is such a drag.” Johnny smirked as he looked at Arthur take one step at the staircase, and take another to another until he reached the top.

As Edward closed the living room doors, he happily skipped to the kitchen and prepared meals for the family.

Matthew gathered the suitcases, and settled their clothes in their individual rooms, and left the farthest room from the hallway untouched.

“YES!” A shout from the farthest room alerted the twins and Matthew.

“Dad? What was that?” Johnny sprang from the couch looking up to the second floor as he approached Edward in the kitchen.

“A nice surprise?” Edward smiled awkwardly as he turned around to answer Johnny, with the knife still in his hands, hoping that the mystery gift should not have been touched nor opened before dinner.

Johnny quickly dashed to the staircase, into the hallway where Matthew and Arthur is already tip-toeing to approach the wooden door.

“Shhhhhhhhh…” The two signalled to Johnny as he tip-toed as well approaching the two.

Matthew grabbed the knob of the door, which had a Victorian style one, with the long handle, and pulled it down, and opened the door with much force, as the two peeked from the other side of the door.

“AHHHH!” Another shout ensued and echoed in the hallway.

A surprised eleven year old boy in front of a computer was a sight to see.

“Who are you?” Matthew instinctively asked the stranger in the home. “Master Edwards, I think there’s an intruder in the mansion!” He shouted loud enough for Edward to hear.

Edward just shrugged it off and didn’t reply.

“I’m not an intruder…” The stranger turned back to his computer and shut it off. “I’m Eddie Lane.” He continued as he jumped out of the desk chair and approached the butler.

Arthur meticulously observed the kid and noticed strange similarities of the stranger to him and with Johnny, especially with Edward.

His facial features indicated he has Marfan Syndrome, same with Edward, and the twins, as they came from the lineage of Abe Lincoln.

He looked like a fifteen year old teenager, with brown eyes, whose face looked like it was chiselled to the appearance of their father in his younger years.

“That face…” Arthur stepped out of the shadows and approached the boy. “How old are you?”

To the stranger, the kid looked like twelve years old, but he already knew that this curious one is one of his brothers, Edward contacted him the night before that they will be arriving this morning.

“I’m eleven, you?” He replied to Arthur sheepishly, crossing his arms and bowing his head. “Hmmmm… no… no, no, no… this…” Arthur surveyed the kid, walked around him, making Eddie a bit uncomfortable while avoiding eye contact.

“DAAAAAAAAAAAAD!” The other one, didn’t enter the room, but shouted.

“I’ve cooked dinner, just come down everyone, I’ll explain everything!” Edward shouted back, as the four salivated on the second floor, as the aroma of the roasted chicken lingered in the mansion.

They all approached the dining table awkwardly. Edward stayed on the other end of the table, the twins on the other end with Matthew, and Eddie on the other end near Edward.

Awkward silence soon encroached the mansion as Edward and Matthew finished preparing the table with the plates and wares, and presenting the roasted chicken that Edward supposedly cooked in a short amount of time. Truthfully, he only just heated the thing.

“Uhmmm.. saying grace…” Edward lead the prayer before eating. “Lord, thank you for keeping us safe in our travel home, and thank you for this food in our table. Thank you for bringing my family together.” The twins stayed silent as the awkward air filled the dining room.

“So, I see that you’ve already met Eddie.” Edward tried to break off from the silence.

Before the four came down, Arthur had a chance to touch a picture frame in Eddie’s room, a picture of a woman, and Michael saw the past with the use of Oracle.

There’s no need for Edward to explain.

Michael was able to see the past and the history of Edward and Eddie within his power of Oracle.

It was almost twelve years ago, on the cold night of October 1993, Edward was assigned as one of the Interpol intelligence agents, and they were trying to bring down a corrupt official in Welsh.

Edward was already engaged to Emily this time, but they’re not yet married.

On this mission, he met a woman, a prostitute, who worked as a maid in the said corrupt official’s residence.

The official’s name, Milton Ceasar, a high-ranking official of the country, was accused of human trafficking in suspicions that he had a lust for young girls, one of the young girls that was accepted in the mansion worked as a maid temporarily until he knew the true nature of Milton’s character.

She was able to ran away from the mansion successfully, and changed her appearance, but since she was trained for nothing, and was only trafficked through, she had no legal papers, and the only profession she could do to survive was prostitution.

She ended up approaching Edward, assuming that she offered her services, but in reality, it was Edward who created a chance meeting with this woman, her name, Lily Jane, a French native, who, in the young age, was living in poverty, and her parents had no other choice but to sell her to the traffickers to survive.

She held no grudge against them, as it’s the only way to survive.

The two met, and met, and met, he had to.

He extracted her life story including evidences that might exonerate Milton for his crimes.

At the end of the year, they were able to prosecute Milton for crimes against humanity, such as human-trafficking, abuse against women, and child molestation and prostitution.

When Edward revealed everything to Lily, she felt vulnerable, devastated, knowing that everything that they went through, she thought that she met the love of her life, but alas, nothing was true, he only needed her to spill the beans.

“I… I can’t do this alone.” She wept, wailed that night, she wanted to jumped from that building where they first met, but there was something stopping her.

“What… what do you mean?” Edward curiously poked more.

“I’m pregnant.” Those two words were not what he expected.

Edward was only seventeen at that time, he never thought he’d be a father at a young age, nevertheless, the Smiths never run from their responsibilities.

“I’ll be here for you, for the baby.” He had no other choice, he was still an intelligence agent going around Europe, and he had to tell her.

At least those words comforted her that night, and months passed, Edward sent provisions for Lily and her baby so that she doesn’t have to work in that frivolous job.

With his family riches, he even hired a nanny to look after Lily while she was pregnant with their child.

On the ninth month, Edward turned in a request for a one month vacation, and he was approved, thankfully, Emily didn’t know anything about the affair under the engagement, Lily had no idea that she’s a mistress as well.

And Edward stayed in London for a month to care for Lily and the birth of their child.

On the day that Eddie was born, unfortunately, Lily died as a result of the strenuous labor, she’s only seventeen as well, and the stress on her body made it impossible to survive childbirth.

For the first six years of Eddie’s life, he only had known, Mary, his caretaker to be his mother, all-around person who took care of his needs, physical, emotional, and mental well-being.

Edward only was there to fund everything, but the same with the twins, Edward was absent most of Eddie’s life.

Despite of this, Mary explained and always defended Edward’s work whenever Eddie will question or ask where his father was.

She was one of the people that Edward saved under Milton’s cruel abuse, with no other family members, Edward saved her, and when he found no way out of the childcare, she offered to help raise Eddie in her care.

Mary was only able to introduce Edward to Eddie when he was six years old. Edward compensated for the next years of Eddie’s childhood by staying in London for so many months and only returning to L.A. for a couple of weeks.

Everything would have stayed in the shadows if it weren’t for the death of Mary.

A month ago, Mary found out about Emily and the twins of Edward back in America, while Edward was talking to Emily in the phone.

And as she confronted Edward about it, Edward told her everything, shocked with all of the secrets coming out, Mary had a heart attack, and died on the way to the hospital.

Feeling guilty with everything, Edward decided to bring his family to London to reunite with Eddie, but Emily didn’t agree on coming along.

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Edward explained further to the kids about the history of their older brother and how he had a child apart from their family in Los Angeles.

He was not apologetic to the twins, same as his attitude with Eddie, but he was hoping that the family would get together even if this was the case.

“Johnny, Arthur, this is Eddie, your older brother. I put his last name as his mother’s last name so that he can carry on her family name. I hope you understand what happened.” Edward took three bites of the slice of his chicken, and laid down his utensils.

No one dared to lift a spoon or a fork to eat due to the shock of their lives.

“Kids, come on, let’s eat.” Matthew tried to convince the twins to eat the slice he prepared for them on their plates.

The twins just gazed at their meal and looked down, silently taking in everything.

“I… I really don’t feel like eating, Matt. Thanks, Dad, for telling us.” Johnny’s disappointed tone and demeanor as he left the dining table and exited to their bedroom was not surprising.

The twins tried to contain their emotions, and their mouths. They don’t want to say something that they would regret later, especially this was their first day in London.

“I’ll… check up on Johnny, father.” Arthur followed suit.

He thought he had no voice in the matter, it is a human matter, and the only thing that’s important to him right now was what Johnny was feeling.

“Can I talk to them?” Eddie jumped out of his chair and climbed up the stairs as well.

“Hm.” Edward nodded in agreement as the two adults were left at the dining table.

It’s as if the awkwardness from the table didn’t fill him up.

SFX: Tok, tok, tok He knocked on the twin’s bedroom door.

“Can I come in?” He knocked on the door, hesitating if this was the right time to approach his brothers.

He could not contain himself either. He learned everything about the brothers and the other family that his father had in Los Angeles at the death of Mary, and he still has not discussed with his father about what he felt that day.

He did not pull up a stunt, a tantrum, but he stayed silent all that time.

“Sure.” Arthur’s answer surprised Eddie, and as much as he wanted to back out, he already got permission to come in, and heck, might as well!

He did not expect that kind of reception from his younger brothers.

He opened the door to find Johnny fluffed within the soft bed sheets, while Arthur was rummaging on the bookshelves something that he wanted to read.

“Hi…” He ineptly announced his arrival in the room, turning the knob sideways and entering with his right foot first.

“Hi!” The muffled voice of Johnny startled Eddie as he entered the room, the child tried to climb out of the sheets off the bed, but he struggled to get out.

“Hi!” Arthur rummaged through the books laid on the floor and he finally found what he was looking for- a King James Version 1611 Bible.

“So… uhm, what’s that?” Eddie nonchalantly read the room, and it’s not heavy, it’s light, welcoming, as the two played around.

“It’s a Bible. I… uhm, am going to read stories for us to sleep.” Arthur hugged the large big book and carried it back to the soft bed.

He sprang up from his seat and rearranged the other books in the self before bringing the Bible back to the bed.

“Oh! Bed-time stories? Can… can I join? Mary read to me as well, before she…” To avoid further letdown, and as Arthur wanted to know Eddie more as well, he invited his older brother to the queen-sized bed.

“Sure, come up right here.” He answered. “Where were we?” He asked Johnny as he turned the pages back to Genesis.