Chapter 210: Chapter 211: Picking The Meeting Place
Aria was quiet for a long moment. "What if he really has changed? What if he’s genuinely different now and I’m the one being paranoid and unfair?"
"Then you’ll figure that out when you meet him. But Aria...." He tilted her face up so he could look at her directly. "....trusting your instincts isn’t paranoia. If something feels off when you meet him, if he says or does anything that makes you uncomfortable, you listen to that. You don’t owe him anything just because he’s your biological father."
"I know that logically. But emotionally...." She paused, searching for words. "There’s this part of me that’s curious. That wants to know where I came from. That wants to understand the other half of my DNA. Is that stupid?"
"It’s not stupid. It’s human." Damien brushed a strand of hair back from her face. "You’ve spent your whole life with a question mark where most people have a father. Of course you’re curious. Of course you want answers. That doesn’t mean you’re naive or that you’re not being careful. It just means you’re being honest about what you feel."
Aria closed her eyes and pressed closer against him. "I’m scared, Damien. Not of him specifically....I don’t even know him well enough to be scared of him. But I’m scared of what meeting him might change. About me, about my relationship with my mother, about...I don’t know. Everything."
"Change isn’t always bad."
"But it’s not always good either." She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "What if he’s exactly what my mother warned me about? What if he seems fine at first but turns out to be controlling and possessive and everything she ran from?"
"Then you walk away. You have that power, Aria. He doesn’t get to control your life just because he helped create it. You decide what kind of relationship....if any....you want with him."
"And you’ll be there? At the meeting?"
"If you want me there, I’ll be there. If you’d rather do this alone, I’ll respect that too."
Aria sat up enough to look at him properly. "I want you there. Not to speak for me or to protect me from making my own decisions. But just...there. As support."
"Then that’s exactly what I’ll be."
She kissed him...soft and grateful and full of emotion she didn’t quite have words for. When she pulled back, some of the tension had left her shoulders.
"Where should I suggest we meet?" she asked. "Somewhere public seems smart, but also somewhere we can have a private conversation."
"What about Alinea?" Damien suggested. "The restaurant where we had dinner last week. I can arrange for us to have the private dining room....it’s secluded but there are staff around. Public enough to be safe, private enough for a real conversation."
Aria considered this. "That feels right. Neutral territory, but somewhere I’ve been before. Somewhere I’ll feel comfortable."
"I’ll arrange it for tomorrow evening if you want. Give you time to prepare mentally but not so much time you spiral into anxiety."
"Tomorrow evening." Aria tested the words, feeling their weight. "Okay. Tomorrow evening I meet my biological father for the first time in twenty-five years." She laughed, but it came out slightly hysterical. "No pressure or anything."
Damien pulled her back against his chest and held her tightly. "Whatever happens tomorrow, whatever you learn about him or discover about yourself....nothing changes between us. You understand that, right? You’re mine, Aria. That’s not dependent on who your father is or what kind of relationship you choose to have with him."
"I know." Her voice was muffled against his chest. "I just.....I wish all of this could have happened at a different time. When things were calmer."
Damien thought about the information Marcus was still gathering, about the threats converging from multiple directions, about Harold Ashford’s meetings with mysterious contacts and Victoria’s growing rage from across the world.
"Life doesn’t wait for convenient timing," he said instead. "We deal with what comes when it comes. Together."
"Together," Aria echoed.
They lay like that for a long time....her body pressed against his, his arms wrapped securely around her, both of them finding comfort in the physical closeness even as their minds churned with worry about tomorrow.
****
NEXT MORNING
Aria went through her morning rounds on autopilot. She examined patients, reviewed charts, consulted with other doctors, did all the normal functions of her job while her mind was somewhere else entirely.
Tonight. She was meeting her father tonight.
"Dr. Chen?" One of her patients....Mrs. Rodriguez, recovering from pneumonia....was looking at her with concerned eyes. "Are you alright, dear? You seem distracted."
Aria forced herself to focus. "I’m fine, Mrs. Rodriguez. Just a lot on my mind. How are you feeling today? Any improvement in your breathing?"
They went through the examination, and Aria made notes in the chart with practiced efficiency. But as soon as she left the room, her mind drifted back to the same loop of thoughts.
What would he look like? Would she see herself in his face? Would there be an immediate connection, or would he feel like a stranger?
What would she call him? Alexander? Mr. Wei? She certainly wasn’t going to call him "Dad" or "Father".....those titles had to be earned, not assumed based on biology alone.
What did she even want from this meeting? Answers? A relationship? Just closure on a question that had haunted her peripherally for her entire life?
"Aria!"
She turned to find Dr. Morrison approaching, his expression friendly but slightly concerned. "I’ve been calling your name for the past fifteen seconds. Where’s your head today?"
"Sorry, Dr. Morrison. Just....personal matters. I’m focused, I promise."
He studied her for a moment. "You’ve been distracted all morning. Your patients are still getting excellent care....I’m not questioning that...but I know you well enough by now to know when something’s bothering you." He paused. "Is it related to Harold Ashford? I heard about what happened to his company."
Aria shook her head. "No, nothing like that. Just....family stuff. Nothing that affects my work."
"Family is important," Dr. Morrison said gently. "If you need the afternoon off to deal with whatever’s going on...."
"No, thank you. I’d rather be working. Gives me something to focus on besides spiraling into anxiety." She managed a real smile. "But I appreciate the offer."
