Page 65 of Julian

“Is Kiara joining us for lunch?” Julian asked when she hadn’t shown up by the time everyone else was there.

“It appears that she won’t be,” Elizabeth said as she passed Duncan the bowl of salad they were beginning their meal with. “The nausea she deals with can rob her of her appetite. She’ll eatwhen she feels well enough to. If she doesn’t show up, it usually means that she doesn’t feel like she can eat anything.”

“Does she get enough to eat?” Julian asked.

“Mrs. Stevens makes sure that there is food available for her, and she knows she can eat anything she wants in the kitchen. Sometimes different foods appeal to her.”

Julian was glad that she was eating, even if it wasn’t when everyone else did.

As the meal progressed, conversation ranged from the wedding to Annie’s plans to go to LA with Benji for the potential championship-winning basketball game. Duncan had certainly changed his tune on Cole, and Julian thought perhaps another wedding was in the offing.

“Julian, could I see you in my office after lunch?” Duncan asked.

The request for a meeting wasn’t a surprise, so Julian nodded.

“Want to go shoot some hoops, Elijah?” Benji asked.

“Sure thing,” Elijah said with a nod. “It’s been awhile since I’ve played though, so you’ll have to take pity on this old man.”

When the meal ended, Elijah and Benji headed off to the rec center. Annie left to go to her house, while Elizabeth went to her office, which was essentially another small solarium next to their suite.

That left Julian to walk with Duncan to his office. He didn’t know exactly what this conversation might be about, but he was trying not to let their past interactions color his approach to this one.

He knew that he needed to improve his relationship with Duncan, despite the harsh words he’d had for him when Julian had revealed the secret he’d held for so long. If Angela could forgive him for what he’d done as a child, he could try to forgive Duncan for his harsh words.

When they walked into the office, Duncan directed him to the sitting area instead of the chairs at the desk. That was unusual for their meetings, which just added to Julian’s uncertainty about this one.

Duncan sat down in one of the armchairs, so Julian took the loveseat that faced him.

“First of all,” Duncan began, “I want to apologize again. I shouldn’t have gotten as upset as I did. You were a child, and I hadn’t been the father I should have been to you. If I had been, perhaps you would have felt confident in coming to me and sharing what you’d heard. I’m sorry for that.”

Julian was at a loss for words. He’d expected that there might be another apology offered, but Duncan’s acknowledgement that he’d been a rather distant father at that time was surprising.

Would it have made a difference? Julian wasn’t sure. Either way, there was nothing they could do to change what had happened. Duncan had changed as a father after the kidnapping, and in some ways, had swung completely in the opposite direction.

“I understand that it came as a shock to you, and I’m sorry it took so long for me to tell you what had happened.”

“I hope we can move beyond this,” Duncan said. “I’m proud of you for sticking with the treatment, and I hope that now that you’ve been able to deal with what happened in the past, you won’t find the need to drink so overwhelming.”

It was true he didn’t feel overwhelmed by the need to drink all the time like he had before going to the treatment center. Unfortunately, his resolve hadn’t truly been tested as of yet.

His thoughts went to the alcohol that was still in the closet in his room. He needed to get rid of it before something came up that would tempt him to drink.

“I wanted to talk to you about Kiara,” Duncan said.

Julian straightened in his seat. “Is there something wrong?”

“No, continuing bouts of nausea aside, she seems to be doing well. And we were thrilled to hear that she’s having a healthy baby boy. Though of course we would have been thrilled with a girl too.”

“I hope that I’ll be a good father,” Julian said, but then wished he could take the words back as soon as he’d uttered them.

“I think the best thing you can do is know your child,” Duncan said. “I’ve come to realize how different each of you are. Even Annalisa and Angelica. As twins, you’d think they would be more alike, but that’s not really the case. Elizabeth has shown me how important it is to look at each of you as individuals. Admittedly, I haven’t been the best father, so maybe you should just do the opposite of whatever I’ve done.”

“The thing I struggled with the most has been your overprotectiveness,” Julian admitted. “But now that I consider my responsibility to my son, I think I understand it a bit more. Especially in light of what happened with the twins.”

Duncan’s head bobbed. “I know I go overboard with some of the security protocols, but I barely survived my failure to protect the girls. I couldn’t imagine going through that again.”

“Let’s hope it never happens again,” Julian said. “We have a good security team now.”