Is this destiny?

~ Los Angeles, Cliffside villa ~

Tuesday afternoon…

Sarah and Aiden reached their home with Jesse, Haru and Kitty.

Gennifer, the main housekeeper, welcomed them. "Master, Madam… welcome back."

Sarah felt butterflies in her stomach. No matter how many times staff called her \'Madam\', she can\'t get used to that. But Aiden insisted because he does not want them to call her \'Miss Hill\', or \'Miss Sarah\' with a reasoning that this is their home and they will get married soon, so it will be inconvenient for the staff to change the way they address them when that happens.

Aiden never had a problem with staff calling him \'Master\'

. He grew up being called \'Second Young Master\', so this is just a bit shorter.

"Hi Genie…", Sarah greeted her back. "This is Haru. He will be staying with us from now on. Did you prepare the room for him?"

"Yes, Madam.", Gennifer confirmed. "Everything is ready, as instructed."

Sarah called from the plane and the staff had more than ten hours to make preparations. The room is ready, and they prepared toiletries as well as several changes of clothes.

Gennifer is very professional, she barely showed any shock at the sight of Kitty who was curiously observing surroundings from Sarah\'s arms.

"Thank you, Genie. Can you make sure that Haru meets the rest of the staff and show him around? He will be part of our permanent security staff so he should familiarize himself with the place." Sarah turned to Haru when Gennifer acknowledged that she understands the instructions. "Go and freshen up. Genie and Jesse can help you if you have any questions. You will join us for dinner with Jesse in the main house. There will be few more people you should meet."

Jesse was not very happy at first with Haru, but during the long flight back, he got a chance to talk to him and see that Haru is not a bad person. Haru likes to say what is on his mind and is naturally curious about everything (to the point of appearing nosy) and that makes him seem rash, but he has good intentions.

Jesse thought how it will be interesting to see how Ade reacts when he meets Haru. Two of them have similar personalities. It will be a competition who can say more, and they could become best friends or biggest rivals… it can go either way. Jesse smiled while thinking that he does not need to wait long. He heard when Sarah and Aiden instructed the staff to prepare rooms because Ade and six others are going to join them tomorrow.

During the flight home, Sarah and Aiden had a good talk with Haru explaining their living arrangements, and he was very happy to become their bodyguard. He thought it sounds flashy.

Haru was fascinated to hear that Sarah and Aiden will test his knowledge in various areas and make sure he gets any education he is missing.

Haru\'s eyes sparkled when Jesse spoke about the game console and the flight simulator they have available.

Overall, Sarah and Aiden approved of Haru and his enthusiasm. His outgoing personality might get him into trouble, but it will also help him make friends easier.

Back to present…

Scent of freshly baked pastries filled up the first floor above ground. Sarah and Aiden exchanged knowing glances: Felix is in the kitchen! They love his pastries.

Sarah and Aiden were welcomed by Sophia in the family room.

Sophia\'s \'welcome back\' was stuck in her throat at the sight of a black leopard cub in Sarah\'s hands.

After few seconds, Sophia exhaled and looked at Sarah helplessly. "Don\'t tell me that this is Kitty."

Sarah grinned and nodded.

"You know that I was expecting a kitten?", Sophia asked Sarah.

Felix entered family room with a full tray of freshly made pastries and stopped in his tracks at the door. His eyebrows shoot up while looking at Kitty.

Sophia waved for him to enter. "Felix, dear… come and meet Kitty."

Sarah laughed. "It seems that you expected a regular kitten as well."

Felix took a seat next to Sophia and his sight didn\'t leave the cub. "Do you plan to keep it?"

Sarah glanced at Aiden. "We are still talking about it."

Aiden shook his head. What talking? It\'s obvious that Sarah decided, and if he says \'no\'

they will argue and no matter what he says, they will end up keeping it. So, he can only agree from the start in order to avoid unnecessary friction between them. He does not think it\'s a big deal anyway. It\'s not like they have any other option unless they want to give it to the zoo or some other organization which deals with wild animals. And keeping Kitty makes Sarah happy.

Sarah sat on the sofa and spoke to Kitty while pointing: "Kitty, baby, this is your Aunt Sophia and Uncle Felix."

Kitty observed two new faces with interest.

"I really think that this animal understands what I\'m saying.", Sarah proudly said.

Four humans in the room started catching up on recent events.

Sarah said that after France she spent few days in the mountains with a Master who helped her upgrade her fighting skills while Aiden was in Chicago, and that Aiden joined her after that with Jesse. They didn\'t go into too many details, but Aiden mentioned that one of the disciples (Haru) decided to join them, and Sophia and Felix will meet him later.

Sophia and Felix are familiar with happenings in Chicago, because Ellie and Jasper met with them previous weekend. Both Ellie and Jasper spoke with Felix about security and Sophia had an initial talk with Jasper about getting his assets back under his name. Jasper needs to collect some documents for Sophia, and he will bring them next weekend when he comes to Los Angeles.

Sophia spoke about Orion Enterprise officially having three departments and half of the executives in their LA office and hinted that some loose merging between their company and White corp. might be possible soon.

Felix told them that his father Damien, together with Smita, Rishi and Shibu are in Los Angeles. They were uncomfortable staying in Jeff\'s or Sarah\'s apartments and didn\'t want to intrude for their ten days long stay in the area, so they rented a house in suburbs through airbnb.

Damien and Felix started their collaboration on few gadgets, including the \'network opener\' which Sarah asked him to look at. If they manage to make that work, then the danger of accessing closed networks will significantly reduce because they don\'t need to go inside and search for an outlet.

Two of them are working in the lab of Orion Enterprise. Felix didn\'t want to bring Damien in Sarah\'s workshop without her permission.

Sarah appreciates that. She told Felix that she will double-check the workshop to make sure nothing sensitive is exposed and then he can bring in Damien to work here.

They are all happy that Jeff arranged visitor\'s access for the White corp. annual meeting for everyone. Rishi and Shibu are ecstatic for a chance to attend such an event. Watching Sarah\'s presentation will be a treat, everyone likes to see a familiar face on the stage. 

Sophia said that she went shopping with Smita and Bridgette, and they plan to go again on Friday. Sarah confirmed that she will join them if nothing comes up.

Sophia guiltily mentioned that their current house hunting is not very fruitful. They can\'t find what they are looking for.

"Don\'t worry about it.", Sarah consoled her. "We have space and you are welcome to stay here until you find something that works. You don\'t need to rush and compromise by getting a property and regret later."

Sophia and Felix are grateful that Aiden echoed Sarah\'s words. They enjoy the hospitality, but still hope to find a place of their own soon.

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