Ever since they arrived from Italy, Celestine could count the number of times she met Cayenne and Stefan with one hand. On the other hand, Julia spent a lot of time with them, trying to win their trust after all the horrible things she did. The only thing she had in common with her mother was the fact that neither of them had been to the couple's home.
Today was the first time they ever set foot into the majestic home of the couple. Seen from a distance, the mansion was like the logo of a famous mass media entertainment company. It was like a palace.
They even went through a tight security check.
"Do we have to do this?" Julia asked the bodyguard when the man asked her to open her handbag and present her ID. "I'm a Dumrique, too, you know."
"Ma'am, it has nothing to do with your identity. Everyone would go through the same security check every time they step inside this property – even family members," answered the bodyguard.
Coincidentally, the Sugo family came, and another bodyguard checked their vehicle and wrote down the names of the people inside the car. They even had to sign on it.
Julia and Celestine were asked to do the same after she was cleared from the security check. It wasn't just them; Ferdinand and Elliot were also included.
"You can now proceed," said the guard and radioed someone that Ferdinand and his family had arrived.
Elliot drove the car and when they got closer to the mansion, they saw someone waving his hands. Elliot slowed down and opened the window of the car to know what the man was up to. It turned out, he was only directing them to where they should park their car since there will be a lot of visitors this time.
"Stefan is obsessed with his wife's safety, so I hope you won't take the security check against him," Ferdinand spoke before stepping out of the car with the support of his cane. Most of the time, he could walk, but because of his heart disease out of old age, he had to use his wheelchair from time to time as well.
His words gave a different meaning in Julia's head. She had already heard about Stefan's love for his wife and the things he would do for her. She even saw an interview with her cousin where he was asked to choose who he should save between his wife and children. His answer was obviously his wife.
Julia knew that Stefan's weakness was his wife, but Cayenne's weakness would be her children. If something happens to her kids, she will break down, and like a domino effect, Stefan will also crumble, and then their business will be affected until they will slowly lose everything.
"Julia, what are you still standing there for?" Celestine called out to her daughter who stood still at the door to the mansion. "Stop dawdling. You're blocking the other guests."
That was the time she realized that the Sugo family was already standing behind her, waiting for her to make way for them. "Sorry," she muttered and stepped inside to follow her mother.
Cayenne was in the living room playing with her triplets when visitors started arriving one after another.
Family gathering was a normal occurrence in their household, but this time was a little special. In fact, Cayenne planned to hold the next gathering in two weeks because she had other plans to do. However, her husband wanted to brag about Zeki.
"These are for your kids," Celestine said, and Elliot came forward to hand the gift bags to Cayenne. "I didn't know what to bring since Stefan provides you with everything. I thought of buying something for the kids instead."
"Thank you, Auntie," Cayenne said and told one of the nannies to bring the gifts inside the nursery room upstairs. "Give me a sec," she said and went over to the Sugo family. She talked to them and the guards responsible for their safety before turning around to give her attention back to Celestine and Julia. "Sorry about that. I just needed to make sure that Stefan's grandparents are okay."
"It's okay. I don't mind," Celestine answered while Julia nodded her head in agreement despite the fear she felt when she found the bodyguard that she met last time at the resort was watching her.
She remembered his name – Rey. She didn't know why, but there was something in him that was scarier than how she felt when meeting Nikolai. She moved closer to her mother while keeping a smile on her face. She didn't want the man to see that she was affected by his presence.
"Can I play with your kids?" Julia asked when she saw that someone from Stefan's family was playing with Aziel and Jahzara.
"Yeah. Go ahead," Cayenne said and with one look toward Nikolai, the latter knew what she wanted him to do.
"Where's Zeki?" Celestine inquired while looking around to find the youngest of the triplets. "And Stefan?"
"Oh, they will be here soon," Cayenne said without saying what caused the delay. She didn't want to spoil her husband's surprise to everyone.
A few minutes later, just as Travis arrived with his family, Stefan came downstairs with Zeki. The youngest child was dressed differently compared to his siblings. He was dressed like his father who was about to attend a company meeting – too formal.
"Why are you dressing him like that?" Jillyanna questioned the moment she arrived, and her eyes instinctively moved toward her own son, Raizel. Somehow, she could already tell what was going to happen. "You're not deciding his path for him, are you?"
"No, of course, not," Stefan responded and kissed his son's cheek. "I'm just dressing him because today is his special day."
Everyone was curious about what he said. They all knew the birthdate of the triplets and surely it wasn't the time for them to celebrate their first birthday yet.
Instead of saying something, Stefan just grinned which caused Cayenne to start shaking her head helplessly.
Stefan coughed to clear his throat and pointed his finger to his face. To everyone's surprise, Zeki spoke, "Da-Da." He pointed his finger at his wife, but Zeki just stared at his mom. As soon as Stefan pointed his finger back to his face, Zeki would say 'Dada' again.
Now everyone knew the reason for this unexpected gathering – to celebrate Zeki's first word, especially since he learned to call his father first instead of his mother.
It happened on the night of Stanley and Jessie's wedding. Cayenne and Stefan went home with their kids and knowing that his wife would work the next day, Stefan decided to take care of the kids so Cayenne could take a rest ahead of him.
He was carrying Zeki to the nursery room while the nannies carried the other kids following him. He was just about to open the door when the little boy in his arms woke up and spoke, "Dada".
The house instantly sank into a deafening silence. The nannies were even holding their breath for a few seconds as if they just saw a ghost in front of them.
"Da-Da," Zeki said once again as he touched his father's face. "Da-Da."
Stefan could not believe it. The youngest of his triplets just spoke and called him. Not his mother, but him. He was overjoyed with this discovery and instead of going inside the nursery room, he went to the master bedroom to let her wife listen to their baby.
Cayenne wasn't just surprised but felt jealous as well. Most of the kids she knew learned to speak "mama" first, but her son learned "Dada" instead. Nonetheless, seeing the joy on Stefan's face, even when he kept saying that he loved his wife the most, Cayenne stopped being jealous and just felt happy for him.
Zeki won him over and she knew that the other kids would do the same as they continued to grow.
About thirty minutes later, when Stefan finally returned to the nursery after talking to his wife about having a family gathering the next day, Jahzara and Aziel talked to Zeki which came out gibberish to the adults.
Aziel: "I thought we would say mama first."
Jahzara: "Yes. You didn't follow the plan."
Zeki was arranging the blocks inside his crib while listening to his siblings talk. They agreed to call their mama first, but he didn't proceed as planned. "If I said mama first, mom would become more attached to me or us. Then, our dad will be jealous of our presence. Who wants to become his object of jealousy?"
Aziel and Jahzara looked at each other and knew that in the future, they would be consulting their youngest brother about a lot of things. He was the smartest of them all.