Lucas walked into the exquisite mansion in Ikeja that was his family home late one week later. He reminisced growing up in this house, running around the house with his sister, Amanda and his cousin, Martin who lived a few houses down the street. He had only moved out to his bachelor pad when he made his first millions and then to the huge house in Lakeview estate when he got married. He was more than willing to give that house to his ex-wife when they got divorced as it held so much memory for him. Choosing to move in with his grandfather had been a desperate attempt as he couldn't imagine being in the same city as his ex-wife or her family. It was supposed to help him move on but obviously it hadn't, seeing that he was already in love with her.

He walked through the familiar hallways that led to the massive living room and paused when he saw his mother, Hailey, dressed in a blue and white patterned maxi gown coming from the direction of the kitchen. At 55, she still looked young for her age, but he supposed money helped to keep her looking ageless. She was studying a booklet she held and Lucas realized he knew what it was.

"Good evening, Mom." He greeted, bending to kiss her cheeks.

She smiled adorably at him, patting his back. "You're here, already. I wasn't expecting you till later." She winked at him already familiar with his pattern.

He sighed. "Well, I didn't have much things to do back at the office." Actually, he had spent the greater part of the day talking and laughing with Sara on the phone to even do any meaningful work.

"Which is perfect!" Exclaimed Hailey excitedly, as she linked her arms with his, pulling him along with her to the back of the house where the garden was located. "I need your help with this guest list. The birthday party is this weekend and nothing is ready."

He rolled his eyes at her. "I'm a petroleum engineer, mom, not an event manager."

"And I'm a fashion designer, but look at where we are," came the retort. "Frankly, it’s your fault we’re in this quandary because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut and proposed having the birthday party here. Now, you must bear the consequences of your actions," she stated, glaring at him over her shoulders.

In actual truth, Freddie had proposed the idea and since he couldn't say no to those adorable puppy eyes that was his resemblance, he had agreed. Now, he was bearing the brunt of being too lenient.

She exhaled before continuing. "I've decided to use our lawn instead of using the hall at the hotel. It's a family thing, not a public gathering and Aunt Collette will have my head if I host the party at the hotel. She thinks it's a place honoring evil deeds."

They both grimaced at the mention of Aunt Collette.

She was an 83 year old widow without a child. Her husband who was a lieutenant in the army had died within the first year of their marriage and she had dedicated her life in running the primary school her elder sister, Felicia who is now late, started. She retired 15 years ago and finally agreed to move into the family house Grandpa Fred had built for her. She was lonely for a while, having no one to boss around, and was quite a torture during family gatherings and Christmas holidays.

She was overjoyed when Fred came to stay with her ten years ago and was practically rolling over the rainbow when Lucas and his son, Freddie joined their grandfather. She fussed over Grandpa Fred greatly and would definitely take an axe to the party if they held it at the hotel than at their residence since they had convinced Fred to have his birthday party in Lagos instead of in Abuja where he was residing.

"Since we are having the party here, it won't be too much guests, just close family and friends," Hailey said and trailed off defeatedly. The Caspian-Asiegbus had a lot of family and friends.

"How many people are we expecting from the immediate family?" He asked, studying the area of the lawn. The house was built on a large expanse of land. Eric, his father had bought it, hoping to have his brother Austin build his house too so they'll live together, but Austin had had other plans.

Hailey studied the list she held. "Your uncle Austin and his wife, Grace. Your aunt Rita and her husband, Prince Oforah. Your cousin, Thad and his wife Ava with their kids. There's Martin and Judy with their kids. Then Judy's brothers: Deji and his wife Temitope with their kids, Toluwayi and his wife Yvonne with their son, even Olakunle and his wife Atinuke said they can make it. Martin's twin sisters; Kamneto and Kaima, too. Sebastian, that silly playboy would show up with Rosa and their daughter. That's all on your father's side."

His thoughts drifted to his cousin, Sebastian. He was worse than Lucas, rarely thinking about the consequences of his action. But at least he was reasonable enough to step up and take responsibility for Rosa's pregnancy and for their daughters’ welfare, even if he has no plans of marrying the mother.

"On my side, there is your Aunt Sophia and her husband, Ebenezer, with their son, Lincoln. And your aunt Eleanor and her family. Do you know she has adopted another homeless child?" Hailey explained, shaking her head.

"What about Amanda? Is she not coming?" Amanda, his younger sister and mischief maker, was a model and somehow had ended up falling for her dietitian, Kingsley Phillips. Ever since she hit the international runway, she rarely had enough break in between to visit home.

His mother sighed, obviously missing her daughter. "Your sister is touring the world with Kingsley as their honeymoon plans. They should be somewhere near the North Pole right now. Which makes me wonder, I didn't tour the world with your father on our honeymoon and neither did you. Did we even have our honeymoon?" She asked, mumbling to herself.

He shook his head, trying not to laugh. "I think you've invited everyone in our immediate family. You should let the event manager worry about the rest."

She nodded, snapping her booklet shut. "Yes, you're right. I cannot possibly hand out personal invites to everyone else. If that is all, I'll go send them right away."

She turned to go before her son piped up suddenly. "Add Sara Amadi to the invites, mom. Grandpa Fred invited her."

Hailey frowned at her son, looking at him suspiciously. "I'm aware your grandfather likes Sara, no, dotes on her, but I didn't know he knew her whereabouts to have invited her."

He shrugged, looking away slyly. "But he did, mom."

"Lucas Onyedikachukwu Caspian-Asiegbu!" She bellowed his full name and he winced.

"I may have let it slip to his hearing that Sara and I have some sort of arrangement concerning Freddie. She wants back into his life and I agreed," he admitted ruefully, waiting for her to explode.

She closed her eyes and counted backwards from ten before opening them. "Why? Didn't she sign him away? Why is she back in his life?"

He had the grace to blush. "She didn't sign him away because I never gave her those documents. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I broke her trust and ruined our marriage. All the things she said to me back then was in anger and I knew sooner or later, she'll be back demanding to see him and Freddie will be dragged through the courts."

Hailey opted to tell him he was playing with fire by not having Sara sign those documents but she had a feeling she knew why he did it. She only hoped it wouldn't backfire on him. "I hope you know what you're doing."

He nodded in a sombre manner, flashing her what he hoped was a convincing smile. "I do."

Mother and son strolled back into the house quietly, each in thought.

"Where is Freddie? This house is too quiet." Lucas asked, looking around suspiciously.

"He's with your grandfather. They are watching the family albums in your dad's study," she supplied, calming her son instantly. Hailey would have been worried too, if she hadn't seen them together earlier. Those two alone together was never a good thing for everyone else.

Now that his help was no longer needed, he turned to kiss her cheeks again. "I have to go take a shower and then go out. I might drop by Sara's house to give her the invitation. And don't worry, your son is being a good boy." He winked at her before moving quickly towards the steps, taking two at a time.

Hailey watched him leave and then frowned when her mind returned to what she had seen earlier. The family albums! She supposed it was too late to do anything about it anymore. They had tried these five years to wipe off that memory from their house, choosing to review it when the boy was older. If he stumbled upon the truth now, there really was nothing she could do about it.

Didn't Lucas say he knew what he was doing? She would trust him, trust that he knew what he was doing and that whatever it was would be for that little boy's benefit.

++++++++++++

Sara stared at the handsome man standing in front of her door and smiled, surprised to see him, but not about him being here. He couldn't seem to stay away from her any longer.

"Won't you invite me in?" He asked, raising a brow at the smile plastered on her face. He was dressed in blue wash jeans and white button up shirt with the top two buttons left undone.

She shrugged. "Normally I would but you're used to making yourself at home even if I didn't invite you to." And then she moved out of the way to allow him enter.

He obliged her, coming to stand in her living room. She followed suit, still checking him out. His suave appearance was a far cry from her pink unicorn pyjamas.

"Do you want something to drink?" She asked, looking into his eyes. She wanted him and couldn't help letting him see that.

He coughed when he caught her stance before replying. "No, thank you. Actually, I'm here to give you this," he extended his hand to show her the envelope he held.

She eyed the envelope surreptitiously before accepting it. It was navy blue with gold embellished words engraved on it. CAPPEL, she read. Casting a glance at him, she tore it open. Pulling out the letter inside, she read slowly to his hearing.

The entire Caspian-Asiegbu family and the whole CAPPEL organization invites you Sara Amadi to the 80th birthday party of our great grandfather and founder, Frederick Douglass Caspian-Asiegbu. The venue is the Caspian-Asiegbu family house at lagoon view, Ikeja, Lagos. Date is Sunday 8th of April, 2018 at 5pm. Church service, if you wish to attend will be at The Church of Pentecost, Ikeja in Lagos. Time is 10am. This event is strictly by invitation and we would like for you to verify your attendance by indicating if you'll be needing the company car to convey you to the venue or not. Respond by calling the number below. +234 xxx xxxx xxx

She looked up when she was done to look at him. "I can't accept this..."

"Why?" He quizzed, his eyes trained on her.

She looked away. "Why would you invite me to your grandfather's birthday party knowing our history? Your family must hate me for divorcing you and for letting Rocky embezzle funds from you. They must think I'm a gold digger here for second round if they see me there," she explained.

He frowned. "They won't think that. My family doesn't think that at all. Besides this isn't about them, this is about my grandfather. He's the one that specifically requested for you to come," he said. That was not exactly true but she didn't need to know that.

She held her arms akimbo. "Really?" She found it hard to believe.

"Yes. He dotes on you, and he just got into Lagos on Sunday for the party. He's been asking me about you now that he's seen Freddie. So I told him about our arrangement and he pestered me till I agreed to invite you. He'll not be happy if you don't come, Sara. And you know it."

She sighed, realizing she would be ungrateful if she didn't honor his wish. Besides, Grandpa Fred had always treated her like a daughter and she took him as her family.
"Alright, I'll accept. I'll be there."

He expelled an audible sigh. "That's great news. I can't believe you'll be there." He was grinning widely now.

She looked at him still standing in the middle of her living room with no plans to leave anytime soon, so she decided to use this moment to her advantage. Strolling close to him, she asked.

"Is this the only reason you came here this night? I mean you could have sent your driver along."

He frowned instantly. "You have a thing for my driver?"

Her mouth snapped open in shock and embarrassment. Stuttering, she moved away. "No! Why would you think that? You are here and you don't really need to be here and I thought..." She trailed off miserably when she saw him smirking at her. Obviously he had been teasing her.

"I did not know you had it in you, but I guess after you blackmailed me, I should expect anything." He grinned, beginning to unbutton his shirt.

She frowned, momentarily distracted by what he was doing. "I wasn't trying to seduce you," she squeaked out.

He nodded, removing his shirt. She swallowed hard and realized her throat was dry. They should not have had sex because right now, his actions were clouding her senses and thoughts.

"I never said you were," was the reply and it took her a few seconds to understand what he said. She blushed furiously at that, averting her gaze.

"What are you doing?" She asked suddenly and her voice cracked, her eyes roaming everywhere else but at him.

"Getting comfortable."

"Why?" She croaked again, and frowned at her voice. This man was dangerous.

"It's too late already to go back home so I'm spending the night."

"Why?" This time her frown was focused on her vocabulary.

He shrugged, strolling to come stand beside her. She was now forced to look into his eyes. "Freddie is staying with my parents for the school break and I cannot stay alone in that huge house all by myself. I could invite you to stay with me but that would be too much temptation. Although I know a way we can avoid that temptation."

She smiled faintly. He was temptation enough standing in front of her without his shirt, and with her mind stubbornly going back to those two nights in that hotel. "Really?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," he answered instantly. He continued, however, watching her lips. "You see, there is that really big and soft bed in my room which is made exactly for cuddling and other things but we are in danger of being interrupted. And there's also that hotel room. I mean it must be highly convenient since we do it there than anywhere else but it's already too late to go there besides you are not properly dressed. But here in your apartment and in your bed, we wouldn't have to worry about interruptions whatsoever. This place, right here right now, would be most perfect," he finished, licking his lips, his eyes still trained on her lips.

Staying this close to him and not touching was pure torture and Sara knew she couldn't survive it. "Kiss me already, you fool. Do you need an invitation?" She asked, smiling mischievously.

He grinned, nodding at her. "No, ma'am. I only thought you'd never ask." Bending his head to hers, he kissed her just as she had demanded.

+++++++++++

Sara felt kisses along her closed eyelids, down along to her face and back up to her forehead. She had a wonderful time last night and had no plans to wake up yet to reality. Slowly, she reached out to grab his face and pull him back into bed, but he moved away from her searching fingers and chuckled.

“Wake up, you big bag of cassava. It's morning already," he said, laughing at her attempts to snuggle more into the sheets.

“Everyone does not rise with the cock crow. I need to sleep more," she mumbled, pulling the sheets closer to her body, suddenly missing the warmth of his body from last night.

“I would love to oblige you but I need to leave and you have to come see me off," he said, tugging at the sheets just to annoy her.

She cracked an eye open and groaned. “If you’ll be coming over just to wake me up this early in the morning, then don’t come over."

“I apologize then. But you can go back to sleep once I leave.”

She was fully awake now, so she sat up and looked at him all dressed up. He must have a prior engagement, she thought. “Where are you going to this early?” She asked.

He shrugged. “I’m needed at home to prepare for the birthday party. My mom is taking it out on me because I came up with the idea. I also have a meeting with Jude Thomas concerning the Miss Nigeria pageant coming up on the 14th. Turns out Tourism is partnering with the Petroleum sector this year again," he explained, sounding tired.

She nodded, then frowned when her mind connected the dots. “You’ll be working with Karen, I presume, since she is an ambassador."

He nodded. “Yes, I will. Somehow, CAPPEL has gotten the sponsorship of this year’s pageant thanks to my father. Now, as the overseer of the whole company I need to make certain we don’t exceed our budget. Frankly, I just think Jude and Karen wants to use our company to shine."

"When and where is the event?" She asked out of curiosity. She couldn’t help feeling the information would come in useful later.

“Are you going to attend?” He was skeptical.

She shrugged. “You never know." Information, they said, was power.

He smiled and nodded again oblivious to the cogs turning in her brain. “It will be holding at the Presidential hotels in Enugu. There will be a convention dinner and an after party for the event on Friday the 13th and the main pageant will be the next day at the same venue. I’ll be speaking on Friday, so perhaps we can meet after.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Up above in the media is the Caspian-Asiegbu family tree just in case you feel like knowing. It's not extensive, just the paternal immediate family side of the tree. ☝

There's a high class birthday party coming up and you're all invited. Invitation card is below. 👇Trust me, this party is going to blow your mind 😉😈

Remember, votes and comments count. A lot.

Thank you 😍😘