Chapter 4: Many crave this

Chapter 4: Many crave this

“Who was it?” Ruben’s eyes grazed past Luke’s tiny frame as he continued to work on his phone.

“Just the neighbors, they brought dumplings.”

“Dispose it.” Ruben replied sternly.

“Why?” Luke protested.

“Why? “ Ruben raised his head, his sharp eyes peered into Luke, he felt something change in Luke's eyes but he couldn't phantom the cause.

“It was made with love, and motherly affection. She shared dumplings with us without asking for anything in return and without being asked to… Unlike your wife t-that doesn't seem to care at all.” Luke's voice broke with each word he spoke.

“Luke, that's no way to speak to your mother.” Ruben corrected.

“She's not my mother, she's a stranger...I have never felt motherly love from Brittany. I have had my fair share of abuse from her dad… She's not my MOTHER!“ A streak of tears fell off Luke’s face, his doe eyes made him seem even more pitiful.

“Luke.” Ruben's voice softened instantly. He had always been careful with matters concerning Luke but he lost his ways and caused Luke to be wronged by Britt. He tries hard to make it up to Luke but a motherly affection cannot be cloned. No nanny or relative can make Luke feel like home.

“Come here, I'll serve the dumplings, they taste better with sauce.” Ruben decided to indulge in his desires.

“Thanks father.” Luke flashed a brilliant smile immediately, his sorrows dissipated instantly.

“Father?” Ruben’s eyes twitched in shock. He could count the number of times Luke called him Father with half his fingers. Luke never addressed him in any way particularly. The purpose of bringing him to the private villa was for a father-son bonding time to their relationship.

“Why do you appear so shocked father? Aren't you my father?” Luke teased with his tongue out. His eyes lingered on the plate of dumplings like it was a platter of gold.

“Father hurry.” Luke nudged Ruben with his little fingers. Seemingly impatient, the mouth-watering feeling from the scent of the dumplings caused his stomach to growl.

“Alright, Alright little one. ” Ruben burst into laughter. His heart felt a different feeling of warmth from within. This relationship he craved so much. He was stricken with guilt for staying away from Luke at the moment he needed his parents the most and even more for having a mother like Tess.

At the thought of Tess, Ruben's heart burned with fury once again. She abandoned her son but she looked completely fine like it never happened. He vowed to never forgive her for it.

“Look it's spilling, steady your hands.” Luke tapped Ruben's hands that were pumped into a fist from the wave of memories.

“Hmmm, here, enjoy.” Ruben pulled a chair and lifted Luke on it. He took a seat opposite him and watched the little fella indulge in the delicious dumpling. His cute cheeks akin to that of a hamster.

The two sat across each other in the dining area, the light at the center of the room descended on their artistic figure, and a sweet warm melody filling the air.

….

At Tess’s villa.

Luuk ran into the villa as fast as his legs could carry him. He couldn't risk being sighted by Ruben.

He closed the door firmly behind him, panting for air.

He could finally understand his father's anger towards Tess. Another lookalike that...That he Is not aware of? That screams suspicion!

His heart ached for Tess.

He walked quietly into her room, approaching her bedside with soft steps. He sat calmly by her bedside watching her careless yet elegant sleeping face and posture.

The sorrows between her brows couldn't be more vivid. Although she hid her sorrows behind a mask, meeting Ruben today definitely woke a bad memory and sleeping is her healing mechanism to cope with the pain.

Luuk’s little hands grazed the middle of Tess’s brows, smoothening the frown on her face.

Seemingly detecting Luuk's scent, Tess smiled and grabbed his little waist with her hands, pulling him into her embrace.

“Mother! ‘ Luuk shrieked. She totally caught him off guard.

“My adorable adorable son.” Tess delivered kisses all over his face, against his resistance.

“Mother let me go, that's disgusting I have your saliva all over me. “

“It's called motherly affection son, many crave this.” Tess laughed. Luuk’s reaction to her kisses and endearment makes her melt from his cuteness.

“hmm… many crave this.” Luuk repeated. His mind drifted to the blue eyes lad he saw. The loneliness in his deep blue eyes was vivid. It was in his aura. One could tell he grew up emotionally detached from the world.

Luuk felt sorry towards his brother whose name he forgot to ask.

Sorry for being the only one whose existence is known.

Sorry that he enjoyed all the warmth from his wonder from childhood and all the essential nutrients required for a child to grow.

He vowed inwardly to make it up to him.

Tess noticed Luuk in deep thoughts. “What are you thinking of, little one? “ she flicked his forehead lightly.

“Mother, Do you want to go to the park tomorrow?” Luuk asked, flashing a puppy eyes.

“Yess!” Tess’s heart melted instantly, she blurted out without thinking. It's very rare for Luuk to display such cuteness voluntarily. Her heart was filled with warmth and ached just as much. With Luuk's level of intelligence, he probably guessed Ruben was his father. Her heart ached at the thought of Luuk feeling responsible for keeping her feelings in check so she's not hurt by Ruben.

“I love you son.” Tess brushed her fingers across his hair.

“I love you ma” Luuk smiled sheepishly, indulging in his mother's affection.

Tess slept for another thirty minutes with Luuk squished in her arms.

She woke up to the sound of her phone ringing, Albert was calling.

“Hey Old man ” Tess yawned lazily.

“Tess, how is Luuk fairing? “ Albert smiled, accustomed to the way Tess addresses him.

“Hey hey that hurts, what about me? “ Tess whined dramatically.

“ Tess, Luuk is moving to an unfamiliar environment and although it's not his first trip with you on a mission, it's a trip to his homeland. A confrontation from Ruben might be unavoidable.” Albert’s voice held a tinge of worry.

“... Luuk met Ruben… but he is being quiet about it which makes me worried. I don't want to get him involved in the fight between me and Ruben. It's my fault for giving him an irresponsible father. “ Tess turned towards Luuk, sleeping peacefully next to her, brushing his hair with her fingers affectionately.

“Luuk is a smart boy, I am sure he will talk whenever he wants to. Don't be hard on yourself Tess.”

“Sure, old man. I will brief you about the strategy for the investigation of De Vries tomorrow. I need to cook now, talk to you later. “

“Mmh, later. Send my regards to Luuk, I sent him new books and materials to practice with.” Albert smiled at the thoughts of Luuk’s small fingers flipping through books and assembling useful appliances.

“Thank you Albert.” Tess’s heart was filled with warmth. Albert had been the perfect father and grandfather figure to Luuk, indulging in his expensive hobbies and taking care of him in Tess's absence.

The call ended shortly after and Tess prepared to cook for their family of two. She decided to cook Luuk's favorite spicy braised chicken. Although he denies having a favorite dish, she could tell he loves it very much from the sauce stain all over his mouth and the empty plate.

She cooked plain white rice, spicy braised chicken, spicy tofu stew and grilled fish. Luuk loves Korean and Asian food a lot, just like Ruben. Perhaps because Ruben’s late father was of Asian Lineage.

Tess doesn't have a particular preference of food so she eats anything. She learnt to cook Asian food to please Ruben and thankfully it paid off because Luuk loved her cooking compared to foods from first class restaurants.

His unbiased and ruthlessly honest personality confirms his opinions are honest and sincere.

When the dining table was set, Tess walked to the room to wake Luuk. There she met him wide awake on the bed, playing with his phone while grinning on the screen. Another rare sight.

“Luuk Janssen, are you texting a girl? What are you doing? let me see! Are you keeping a secret from mama?“ Tess teased.

“Mother!” Luuk jumped from fright, throwing his phone behind him, garnering Tess’s suspicion. “it's nothing, what do you mean a girl, mother I'm six!”

“Tch, do you remember Jake? My course mate’s son, he's also six and he's had two girlfriends.”

“Mother, this is not a proper conversation! Quit it.” Luuk’s face turned beet red.

“haha, dinner is ready. Quit smiling at your screen and come eat dinner downstairs. “

“I wasn't smiling!” Luuk protested.

“Sure sure” Tess replied sarcastically, ruffling Luuk's hair softly, earning a cute, threatening side eye from him.

Luuk waited until Tess had left before he read the chat Luke sent to him.

He just discovered that his brother’s name was Luke, which sounded similar to his name, Luuk. Their parents really had a strong soul connection.

“We should go to the park tomorrow, it’s a Saturday, mother would be free.” Luuk communicated his intentions to spend a week with Ruben and have Luke spend a week with their mother.

Luke was very happy with this suggestion. He craves motherly love and although his relationship with Ruben got better in recent months, it couldn't fill the void he felt growing up with a heinous mother figure. He wanted to have a taste of what a normal family felt like.

“Convince him to come with you to Shalom private park at 11am, I will be there with mother thirty minutes prior. I will find an ice cream spot. Mother loves ice cream and tends to be blind to my presence when there's ice cream. You can also request for ice cream and can switch there.” Luuk had typed ‘Father’ but erased it, he felt weirded out having to call Ruben father.

He found a private park on the internet, being a public figure, Ruben was very strict on security and wouldn't like a public park unlike Tess who would be fine with any of his arrangements.

“Okay brother! I am very excited to spend the week with mother. It's also fun here, I'm sure you would enjoy it since you said reading is your hobby, unlike me. Father has a private library versed on all fields of study, rare books you wouldn't usually find in public libraries are there. Also past inventions and old artifacts. You would love it!” Luke tried hard to show the advantages of living with Ruben so Luuk doesn't back out of the agreement.

As expected, at the mention of rare books, Luuk's eyes shone brightly like a thousand stars gracing the night sky. He once heard of a science book and artifact collector living in the Netherlands rumored to have a huge personal library. At first he was excited for the journey to befriend this book-rich person, but now suspecting that the person could be his father, he couldn't be happier.

Tess just happened to walk in on him smiling sheepishly at the screen. In his head he could see the brain watering books on advanced technology, programming and computer language. His heart brimmed with joy. “It seems the next few days will be fun.”