Success, Opulence and Power by Hebru Young (the unexpected everything .txt) 📕

it down right away. Also, whatever you do, Dahiru must not know that we are looking into the matter. We can never be sure he didn’t set this whole thing up, although I’m not sure how it would be in his best interests,” I said.

“Yeah, no problem, Dom. I completely agree with you, we shouldn’t let this go unpunished. Someone’s gotta suffer the consequences,” said Chris.

“Okay, I’m turning in, I need some sleep,” I said.

We arrived back in Milwaukee safe and sound the following morning. I went straight home, and as I walked in; I could hear Laura’s voice from the kitchen. I could hear the kids voices as well, and they sounded like they were in good spirits. It felt great coming home to the family after what happened in Nasarawa. If those gunmen had their way, I would have been back home in a coffin.

“Hello, everyone,” I said.

“Dad!” Jonny said, sounding really happy to see me.

“Hi, Jonny,” I said.

“Dad, you’re home! We weren’t expecting you home till tomorrow,” Carlie said.

“Hi Carlie, umm, I can go back if you want,” I said jokingly.

“What? Okay, now you’re just being silly, Dad. I’ve missed you, have you been okay?” Carlie asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine, you don’t have to worry about me,” I said.

“Glad to hear that,” Carlie replied.

My mom and Laura were there as well, everyone was dressed nice.

“Mom, you’re here as well. You look great,” I said.

“It’s Sunday, Edwardo, we’re going to church this morning. I don’t suppose you would like to join us?” my mom said.

“No, Mom, thanks for asking though. Hi, Laura,” I said.

“Hi, babe, did you have a good trip?” Laura asked.

“Yeah, it was quite productive,” I said.

“Yeah?” She said.

“Yeah. I got all the documentation sorted out, so we’re good to go,” I replied.

“That’s good to hear. Would you like to join us for breakfast?” Laura asked.

“Of course! What are we having?” I replied.

“The chef whipped up some eggs, sausage, waffles, pancakes, bacon, hash browns, and toast. There is fruit, cereal, and granola. There’s also fresh coffee if you want some,” Laura said.

“I’m going to go freshen up first, then I’ll come back downstairs for the coffee,” I said.

“You didn’t shower on the plane?” Laura asked.

“I did, but I’d like to freshen up again and get out of this suit,” I replied.

“Okay, no problem,” Laura said.

“You going to church as well?” I asked.

“Nope. I’d like to catch up with my husband, if that’s okay with you,” Laura replied.

“Of course, you know I would never object to that,” I said.

“You better not,” Laura said jokingly.

“We’re leaving now, Dad. We’ll catch up later, right?” Carlie asked.

“Yes, Carlie, see you later. Take good care of Grandma. See you when you get back, Jonny,” I said.

“See you, dad,” Jonny replied.

It was really nice seeing everyone in such a good mood, at least it appeared that way. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that the situation with the trial was still bothering Laura, and she was just putting on a cheerful face for the children. Mom looked her usual self, poker-faced. Over the years she’d learned not to let her emotions get the best of her. When we lost Pops she really struggled emotionally, but over the years she had come to terms with his death. When I was done freshening up, I changed and went downstairs to spend time Laura.

“How are things at work, Laura?” I asked.

“Everything is great. We have two big clients. They’ll bring in an extra sixty million credits each per annum for the next five years,” Laura replied.

“That’s excellent news, Laura, you signed them?” I asked.

“Yup,” Laura replied.

“Really pleased for you, honey.”

“Thank you. Coffee?”

“Absolutely, thanks.”

“So, everything going well with trial preparations?” Laura asked.

“Yeah, so far so good. You know Joe, he’s always got something up his sleeves,” I said.

“Yeah, he is good.”

“He’s confident that we don’t really have anything to worry about at this point. He believes we’ll beat this case.”

“That’s really good to hear, I can relax a bit now. I’d be lying if I said I’m not worried about this.”

“Well, all we can do is hope for the best. At least the murder charge has been thrown out.”

“Yeah, that was in the news. I’m really happy about that, it was one of the things I was worried about.”

“Well, you can put your mind at ease now.”

“We should all take a vacation together soon, we should bring your mom as well.”

“That’s actually a great idea. It’ll have to be somewhere within the Nations though, I already took a risk going to the AU this weekend.”

“I did ask you if going was a good idea.”

“I know, I know. I won’t risk it again. If the trial is prolonged and there is an urgent need to travel, I’ll ask Joe to get permission from the judge.”

Laura and I spent the rest of the morning catching up on family matters and discussing how to move forward. I reassured her that everything would work out just fine and that things would be back to normal, eventually. Laura’s main concern was how the charges and the trial would affect the kids long-term—she didn’t want kids picking on Jonny or Carlie. I assured her that the kids would be okay. Jonny is a tough kid and he has thick skin. He doesn’t really care what people say about him. The school kids have parents who are just as shady as I am, so I knew that none of this mess would affect him. Carlie was the sensitive one, but she seemed to be doing okay. Nevertheless, people knew not to mess with my kids. They knew that was the one thing that would lead to trouble. There’d