AUTHORS NOTE: I've deliberately started this chapter in a similar way to the one from Jared's perspective to show the building similarities between father and son.
CHAPTER 136
(GIDEON)
I'm lying in the comfortable bed staring at the ceiling, going over the events of today and this evening. Everything is going round on a loop in my head. Today has been totally unbelievable and if I am feeling this unsettled by it, I dread to think how Jared is really feeling. A surge of pride goes through me as I think of my son, and the way he has dealt with everything that has been thrown at him today. Everyone says kids are resilient but the way he has coped is admirable. I am in total awe of him. The sense of gratitude I feel towards his adoptive parents is huge, the way they have raised him and how he is, is a credit to them. I think about my own childhood, and ruthlessly push the thoughts away. Then I smile bitterly, if I'd been told about Jared right from the start, I would've unquestionably stayed with Corrine and Jared most certainly wouldn't be the impressive young man he is right now… he would be as fucked up as I am!
I know he is still trying to make sense of everything, the fact he had sat and Googled me is a testament to that. He had showed me everything he had read and watched, thankfully he had chosen the more reputable news outlets and so the picture he had built of me after seeing all that is an accurate one. I had answered his questions on the things he had discovered and told him all about Ryan and the events of earlier this year. He had asked me if he could meet Ryan and I had immediately agreed, after all he is my brother and I will be introducing him to Christopher and Ireland. He had been shocked when he read the truth about my mother, and if I am honest - as was I. The article Jared found about her which was released upon her victims' civil cases coming to court had gone to great lengths to reveal exactly what a complete monster she was, and what she, my father and Eric Landon had done to other people throughout their lives, it was one which I hadn't personally seen and it appeared to be a personal account of one of her victims. It had also inevitably talked about Hugh and how he was their victim and what he had done to me. Jared had done a thorough job of researching me as he had also read the archive articles about my father and the Ponzi scheme he had operated and which had been the cause of his downfall. He had also watched the series of interviews done through Kavanagh Media and he asked questions about Kate and also Elliot's birth family. I had answered them all honestly with the caveat that he should speak to them personally if he wanted to know more as it was really their stories to tell. He had asked me a lot about Christian, as despite my entire life being on full display there is still very little about Christian out there in the public domain, other than he is now in contact with his birth family. I had explained that Christian was very protective of his birth family and they were simple people and he didn't want the media spotlight to be shone on them and that if he wanted to know about him he should ask him personally. I also warned him that Christian was a very private person and didn't like talking about his past, he had accepted that without question. I had felt a degree of anger at the articles he showed me of the events of today in Chicago, a shaky poor quality phone video someone had taken and posted had gone viral and that person's selfish stupidity would now impact on my son.
I turn and look at the clock beside me, I sigh as I see it is nearly 3am and as I turn over and shut my eyes to try and get some sleep I hear a distant scream. I sit up on full alert now, and throwing off the covers I pull on a pair of boxer briefs. A moment later there is a knock on my door I open it and see Christian standing there looking anxious.
"It's Jared, I think he's having some kind of nightmare" he says.
I go cold at his words and wordlessly pushing past him I sprint down to Jared's room. As I get there, I see Eva and Ana both trying to contain him. They are calling his name, as he thrashes about.
I walk towards him, my heart breaking for him. This is my hell and has been since I was his age and I don't want this for him. Eva and Ana move back and allow me through. I don't hesitate, kneeling on his bed I reach for my son and pull him into my arms and I hold him. I am physically stronger than he is and I use that strength to hold him to me.
"Jared, wake up" I say loudly and firmly.
I repeat it and suddenly he stops struggling, and goes limp. "Jared, wake up" I say again.
I feel him coming into consciousness, I look down at him and push his sweat soaked hair from his face, and I press a kiss to his head. "I've got you" I say to him.
"Dad?" he whispers.
I hesitate, which dad is he referring to? Does he think it's William Martin holding him or does he know it's me? I decide to state my name, "Yes I'm here, it's me… Gideon, I've got you" I say.
Jared's eyes open and he looks at me. "Dad!" he says and he tries to move so I loosen my grip on him and he wraps his arms around me and holds me tightly.
"I've got you" I say.
I don't know how long we sit there but eventually he pulls away from me, "I'm sorry I woke you" he says.
I shake my head, "Do not apologise, now listen to me Jared you are going to go and have a shower, then you are going to come back here and you are going to tell me exactly what happened in that dream, everything you can remember do you understand?" I say.
He nods, and obediently goes into the bathroom. I straighten the bedclothes, I randomly think that at least I don't have to change these, which is what happens when I have a nightmare as mine are always of a sexual nature and the sheets end up in a sticky mess. I push those thoughts away and wait for my son to return. While I am waiting Christian, Ana and Eva come in to me.
"How is he?" Christian asks.
"He's having a shower and then I'm going to go through his nightmare with him and talk it out" I say.
"Is that wise?" Christian asks but Eva puts her hand on his arm.
"That's what Caroline told Gideon to do when he has his nightmares, he has them and then we sit and talk it out, he describes what happens in them and we work through it together" she says looking at me with complete compassion.
Christian nods, "I'll go and make him a warm drink" he says.
"Thank you" I reply, I know Christian feels like he needs to do something, and this episode is also hitting a little close to home for him, with his own history of nightmares.
"I think if there is nothing I can do here, I'll go back to bed" Ana says and I nod at her.
"Thank you for helping him" I say.
She waves her hand, "He is closer to us so we heard his cries and went to investigate".
Eva nods, I wasn't asleep either and I heard Christian and Ana moving about… I'm sorry I didn't hear Jared though" she says.
I shake my head, "No, angel don't apologise" I say.
"Do you want me to stay?" she asks me and I think for a moment.
"Perhaps it'd be best if it's just me, he will be upset that he's woken everyone up so probably best if it's just me, when he comes out" I say.
Eva nods and coming to me she leans down and kisses me before running her hand down my cheek, I nuzzle into her touch, "You are doing brilliantly, you are going to be an amazing dad to him" she whispers and as she moves away, I grip her hand and pull her back.
"Thank you, angel," I whisper before I kiss her soundly once more. She has no idea how much her confidence and total faith in me means to me especially at the moment when I am feeling so out of my depth. She leaves me to it but a moment later she is back with a grin on her face.
"Put these on Ace" she says as she throws me a pair of pyjama bottoms. I glance down at myself and realise I'd run down to Jared in just my underwear in my panic to get to him.
"Thanks" I whisper as I slip them on.
A few moments later Jared returns and sits down next to me.
I wrap my arm around him, wondering how I am going to approach this, I decide to go with complete honesty. "Remember how I told you I have nightmares from my childhood?" I begin and he nods, "Well, part of my therapy of dealing with it is I talk about what I remember afterwards, I describe it and work through it… it helps, trust me it helps" I say.
Jared nods and looks up at me, "Who do you talk to?" he asks.
"Eva" I say simply.
Jared looks around, I remember hearing her in my dream, I remember hearing Ana as well" he says.
"They were here trying to wake you" I say.
He looks ashamed at that, "Did I wake everyone up?" he asks, "I'm sorry" he adds.
I shake my head, "No, don't apologise. Just talk to me Jared, tell me everything you remember" I say.
He shivers and I immediately pull a blanket from the bed and wrap it around him securing it with my arm. He leans against me and rests his head against my shoulder.
"It was weird, I wasn't in one place… when it started I was in Chicago on the street where mom and dad died, but I wasn't with them it was like I was watching them from a distance… I stood and watched Uncle Phil and that guy Jerry Barnett. I watched them ambush my mom and dad and shoot them… but it wasn't how it actually happened… you know in the video. Mom and dad were just walking and they seemed to appear and just gun them down. I ran away and then somehow I was at Uncle Pete's house, I was in my bedroom and I looked out the window and I saw Jerry Barnett and Uncle Phil and they came into the house. I ran downstairs to warn Uncle Pete and Aunty Suzy but they didn't hear me and so I yelled at Uncle Phil and that other guy to stop, but it was like they didn't see me and they just gunned down Uncle Pete and Aunty Suzy. I was scared and I ran outside and Christian was there and he grabbed me and put me in his car and brought me here, as we were getting out the car… this is going to sound really stupid". He pauses and shakes his head.
"Go on, it was a dream, they aren't meant to be logical" I say.
He nods, "We got out the car and your plane appeared in the sky. I saw your plane and it landed on the beach. Christian took me down there, and Ana was there waiting. The doors opened and you and Eva climbed out of the plane and as we were all walking up to the house Uncle Phil and Jerry Barnett appeared again and they shot all of you… everyone was dead, then Uncle Phil came up to me and put the gun between my eyes like he did before and he said you're not a real Martin so you have to die… and that was when I woke up".
I hold him tightly, I can see immediately what this is. Seeing that damn video footage along with the information he had about what happened, along with his own experiences with his fucking uncle have all got jumbled up and now with the extent of loss he has had to deal with he has a fear that something is going to happen to us. That is confirmed by what he says next.
"Uncle Phil and Jerry Barnett are in jail, aren't they?" he asks.
I nod, "They are, they are going nowhere. There is no way on earth they can hurt you again" I assure him.
There is a knock on the door and Christian appears, by the look on his face I think he has been listening outside before coming in, that is confirmed by what he does next.
He crouches in front of Jared and offers him the steaming mug of hot chocolate. "Here you go, be careful as it's hot" he says gently.
"Thank you Christian" Jared says gratefully as he accepts the mug.
Christian sighs, "Jared, listen to me, tomorrow I'm going to take you to the security office so you can see just how safe you really are here. Taylor will show you all the security measures we have in place here and how they work – trust me when I say nobody is getting in here, ok?" he says.
Jared nods, "Ok" he says as he sips his hot chocolate.
He grins at Jared, "I'm really liking the idea of using the beach as a runway though!" he says as he touches Jared's chin with his fist. Jared giggles at that and I roll my eyes, but relief also rushes through me at that sound.
"Don't encourage him Jared, because he will probably do it" I say as I try to keep the light atmosphere that has now been established.
oooOOOooo
One Week Later…
"So, you are sure you are ok with this?" I ask Jared as we stand in his bedroom. I am fully aware that today is going to be huge for Jared, seeing the entire family together and meeting some for the first time. Everyone has been made aware of Jared and have been told what has happened so that no awkward questions are asked and the chances of a meltdown are reduced.
He nods, "I am, I'm actually looking forward to it" he says.
I ruffle his hair with my hand, to which he immediately protests.
"Dad! You'll mess my hair up!" he says.
I grin and wrapping my arm around him to secure him to me, I ruffle it some more. My heart lurches as he giggles loudly.
This past week has been incredible and I'm glad we have had this time to properly bond as a family. There was another nightmare the night after the first one, but I sat with him and talked it out and since then he hasn't had another one. Caroline has told me to be aware it could happen at any time though and to be aware that he is still going through the grieving process and will be for a while yet. Arash has been in contact telling me that I am now officially Jared's father. I admit I may have called in a couple of favours to get this sorted quickly and painlessly as soon as Jared expressed the desire for me to formally adopt him. Jared seemed delighted when I told him and showed him his new birth certificate, as I have made sure that his original one was also updated and I was named on it as his biological father. The media are still sniffing around, the majority are camped out outside the penthouse in New York which amuses me somewhat considering that it is no secret we are all here in Seattle. There has been a contingent down near the gate but as they are unable to get in and the grounds are completely private they have been unable to get any decent pictures.
I went to Jared's school and they fell over themselves to accommodate the move to New York, that may have had something to do with the generous donation I gave them. The school in New York is aware of everything and now just awaiting Jared's arrival. Peter and Suzanne's home is now up for sale. They didn't have any children, so their will names their siblings and Jared as the beneficiaries. I am guessing that they hadn't got around to making more provision for Jared, as it stated that their property would be sold off in the event of their death. That irritates me slightly that Philip and Patrick Martin will benefit from the sale of the property but there is nothing I can do about that… yet. As William Martin is also dead, his share will go to Jared which sort of makes up for the fact his other uncles will benefit from the sale.
"Dad" Jared says and I look at him, on alert by his serious tone.
He bites his lip, "I know your birthday isn't for a few days yet, and so really I should wait and give it to you on the day, but I got you this".
He holds out a small package to me, and I take it from him.
"Thank you" I say.
I open it and gasp in surprise at what I find inside. It is a small photo frame, with three photographs in it. The one in the middle is one of myself with Eva and Jared, I remember it being taken - Ana took it on her phone the other evening. The next is one of myself and Eva and I am looking at her as though I want to devour her, and is clearly a candid photograph as we are looking at each other and not the camera, the third is a selfie of myself and Jared which he took of us down on the beach. I am lost for words.
"This is amazing, thank you" I say.
Jared shrugs, "I wanted to give you the photo I took of you and Eva and I was just going to send it digitally but when Ana took that one of all three of us, the idea kind of popped into my head to do this".
"I love the frame" I say as I examine it.
"I asked Christian to get it for me. I picked it and paid for it and he ordered it for me and he printed off the pictures as well on his printer" he says.
I grip the frame tightly, "This is having pride of place on my desk at work when we return to New York" I say, and Jared smiles at that.
"Dad?" he asks again and shuffles warily.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Now that… well now it's out there that I'm your kid… have you heard from… her yet? You know… Corrine?" he asks warily.
I shake my head, "No, I haven't. She hasn't tried calling me, but then again, she probably won't as she knows I won't take the call. I will say that it has been noted by my security that she has been seen in the vicinity of the Penthouse in New York a couple of times since the news broke".
"But we are here? We have made no secret of that fact, Eva got photographed with Ana at Grey House the other day and we got photographed as well when we went there to see Christian?" he says frowning in confusion.
I nod, "I know, I have a feeling she is up to something but I think she is biding her time" I say. I look at Jared closely, "I need to know what you want me to do regarding Corrine. If you want me to keep her away from you or to facilitate a meeting. If you want to meet her then I won't stop you, she is your mother so you have the right to meet her but…" I stop as Jared shakes his head adamantly.
"She's not my mom, Angela Martin was my only mom and now Eva is my step mom… that is how I look at it, she was just an incubator… she didn't want me and she told lies about me. I don't want to meet her, I want nothing to do with her" he says.
I pull him into my arms as I can see this has agitated him, "It's ok, if that is what you want then that is what will happen" I say.
"I talked to Christian and he told me about his assumptions about his birth family" he says suddenly.
I smile at that, Jared has spent a lot of time with Christian over the past week, and has become very close to him. I have no idea what they have talked about when they have been together, but I've seen them walking down to the beach many times, I wasn't going to ask about it though as that was private between them, but it seems he wants to tell me.
"Did he?" I say simply and Jared nods.
"I asked his advice, because he has made contact with his birth family recently. I asked him if he thought it made me a bad person not to want anything to do with Corrine".
I stiffen at that, I don't want him to start thinking he is a bad person. "Jared" I say as I pull away from him, but he holds up his hand.
"No, dad listen, I said I'd made the decision that I don't want to see her based on the facts that I knew, from witnesses who were around at that time, from what that French guy told you and from the fact you had no idea about me. That's before we even get on to what I was told and her weird demands which were put into the adoption contract and Christian said that was my decision but whatever I decided then everyone would support it. I asked him what if… when we get back to New York and she turned up asking to see me and I refused… would it make me a bad person not to want to see her and he said no. That was when he told me his story, how he had this view of his birth mom for years and how he blamed her, but that Ana had made him see that she wasn't totally to blame for what happened to him… and he told me all about that as well afterwards. But he said, it took him ages to forgive her and make the journey to go and find her grave, but he said the difference was he didn't have all the facts about what had happened and now he has. He went on to say that I have a pretty clear picture of Corrine from many sources and sources which I trust along with written evidence which backs up what they told me so I've made an informed choice upon that information… he also told me how she tried to cause trouble when it came out about Ana and Eva being sisters and how she tried to manipulate Ana, so I don't want a toxic person like that in my life".
I can't argue with any of that, and I just nod, "As I say if that is what you want and she turns up I will support that decision" I say.
"Thanks dad" he says.
I think about what he has just said and I'm actually quite surprised by his disclosure that Christian had told him about his past. "You like Christian don't you?" I say.
He nods, "I do, he gets me… like you do… do you think he'd mind if I called him Uncle Christian?" he asks suddenly.
I smile at him, "I'm sure he would be honoured" I say.
"GIDEON WHERE ARE YOU?!"
I roll my eyes and then grin at the shout.
"Who is that?" he asks as he looks towards the door.
"That is my little sister Ireland, it appears that Ireland and Christopher have arrived from New York… and Eva's father Victor should also be here as he was supposed to be flying in with them" I say. My heart lurches at the prospect of seeing them again and also by the fact I know Victor will also be waiting downstairs.
Jared takes a deep breath and I see a slight hint of anxiety in his eyes.
I wrap my arm around him, "You'll be fine, they are lovely people and they won't hurt you" I assure him.
We leave the room and head downstairs, as we walk into the sitting room, we see Christopher and Ireland standing waiting for us, chatting happily to Ana and Eva. Eva nudges Ireland and nods towards us.
"Gideon!" Ireland gasps and she runs to me and hugs me tightly.
She turns to Jared, "Hi, you must be Jared, I'm so pleased to meet you I'm Ireland – his sister" she gushes.
"And I'm Christopher" Christopher replies as he saunters over. He slaps my arm, "How's it going bro?" he says with a grin.
I reach out and pull him into a hug, marvelling at the fact of how far we have come in a relatively short amount of time. At the beginning of this year, we hated the sight of each other and now… I swallow hard at the realisation and shake my head.
I look around for Victor, "Where's Victor?" I ask Eva and she grins pointing behind me.
"I'm right here son" comes the no nonsense voice of my father-in-law".
I turn and hesitate a moment before walking up to Victor my hand out stretched. Jared is at my side and Victor accepts my greeting before smiling kindly at Jared.
"Hello young man, I'm Victor – Eva's dad" he says.
Jared politely holds out his hand, "I'm very pleased to meet you sir" he says.
Before anything is said I hear more voices and a loud shriek which makes me smile, as I know that Elliot and Megumi have now arrived. I hear even more voices, and moments later Grace, Carrick, Sadie and Lucy also appear. The doors to the outdoor covered space are open and people start spilling out but are contained within that covered outdoor room as it has now started to rain.
I move around greeting people and introducing Jared, who appears to be handing the amount of people here really well. Everyone is being mindful of him and trying not to overwhelm him which I am grateful for. I spot Angus and I smile as I see Jared go over to him and stand chatting with him. Jared's flippant comment that Angus was kind of like his granddad had made Angus laugh when I told him but he has also taken on board that role and much like how he became my surrogate father he is now adopting the role of surrogate grandfather to Jared.
As the party continues and I mingle I suddenly realise I can't see Jared and scan the area, then I spot him. He is sitting with Christian's birth family and chatting happily with them. I wander over as I haven't spoken to them yet.
"Hello Alex, Edwin" I say as I approach. Alex struggles to get to his feet but I stop him.
"No need to get up" I say as I lower myself down beside Jared, a moment later Hal and Derek join us and Hal hands Jared a drink.
"I see you've met my son" I say as I look at Jared proudly.
Alex nods, "He has been telling us all about everything, it must have come as a shock to discover you had a son Gideon?" he says.
I nod, "It was, but a very welcome one" I say.
Jared turns to Edwin, "Christian has been telling me about the orchard" he says and Edwin's face breaks into a massive smile.
"He has done a wonderful job restoring it" he says.
"My dad and I planted a tree in our front garden back in Chicago. There was originally a tree there and it died so we had it excavated out and then dad and I planted a new one, when I went back there for the last time last week Christian said it was like the trees in your orchard". Jared pulls out his phone and flicking through the photographs he finds one of him and William Martin standing next to the tree in the front garden and shows Edwin the photograph.
"This was your dad?" he asks Jared carefully and he glances briefly at me as he says it.
Jared nods sadly, and I stiffen slightly. "Yeah, William Martin he and his wife Angela adopted me… they were my mom and dad" he says. I put my hand on his shoulder and squeeze gently.
"Christian said he would take me to see your orchard" he says as he shifts the conversation.
Edwin nods, "You would be more than welcome" he says.
"GIDEON!" I look up at the shout and Eva is waving at me to come over.
"Excuse me" I say as I stand up and walk over to my wife.
"What is it?" I ask.
"Christian wants to say a few words and Mia is bringing out the cakes" she says.
Sure enough, a moment later I hear Christian's voice, "If I could have everyone's attention" he calls and a hush falls over everyone.
"It is my great pleasure to host this joint birthday party for my beautiful wife Ana who celebrated her birthday last week, my brother Elliot whose birthday it is in a couple of days' time and also my brother-in-law Gideon whose birthday is a couple of days or so after that. A massive thank you to my sister Mia who has arranged this party on an accelerated time line and I'm sure you will all agree she has done an amazing job".
Applause rings out for Mia who holds up her glass to Christian.
"This time last week we were all debating wondering whether to hold the party at all considering the events which have so recently happened, but a very special young man insisted that the show must go on and the party must happen. So, this is the perfect opportunity to also officially welcome the newest member of our family, my new nephew Jared Martin-Cross, come over here Jared" Christian calls.
Jared flushes bright red and comes over to applause, he makes a beeline for me and I wrap my arm around him, leaning down I whisper in his ear, "Are you ok?" I ask and he nods.
"I thought you, Elliot and Ana were the guests of honour?" he whispers back and I grin.
"Yeah I know, but you were always going to get a mention, and Christian has a habit of going over the top" I say wryly.
I watch as a table is wheeled out with three cakes sitting side by side, the first has Ana's name on it, the second has Elliot's and the third has mine. Elliot is joking around as usual as the candles are lit.
"Best if you blow out yours first El, before the inferno engulfs the entire table" I quip to which Eva, Ana and Megumi all start laughing.
Elliot grins at me, before bending and blowing out the candles, Ana and I follow suit as everyone breaks into a rendition of happy birthday. There is more applause and I swallow hard as I spot Jared singing and clapping.
I step forward, "I'd like to say a few words, first of all a massive thank you to Christian and Ana for hosting this wonderful party, to Mia for the superb organisation of it, and for all of you for coming – especially to my own family who have flown in from New York especially for this and Christian's family who have flown in from Ohio and Colorado. When I met my wonderful wife Eva I started to live, before that I just existed and through the events of earlier this year when she discovered Ana was her sister my own family has now grown dramatically. Like the ripples in a pond when a stone is thrown into it, that single event of Eva and Ana discovering they were sisters had knock on effects which have affected us all. I know my life has changed considerably and undoubtedly for the better with everything that has happened, and now I also have my son to share this wonderful life with". There is applause and then Elliot steps forward.
"Thanks Gideon, I totally agree with everything he just said. My life is far happier now, I have married that fantastic woman who is standing right there grinning at me, she is…" he pauses and swallows hard and blinks a few times, "Sorry" he says, he clears his throat, "I have my beautiful daughter Ava and my wife is… pregnant with our… child" he pauses again and Megumi walks over and slips her hand into his and strokes his arm. Eva and Ana also close in and offer him their support and Christian touches his shoulder. "Sorry, this is a happy occasion, I shouldn't…" he pauses and clears his throat, before he continues, "This year has been a rollercoaster with everything that has happened but you know what I wouldn't change it… well maybe some bits I could've done without but you know what I mean". He stops and lets out a long breath and turning he pulls Megumi close and holds her tightly.
Jared touches my arm, "Is he ok?" he whispers to me and I nod.
"Megumi was expecting twins and she lost one" I explain and Jared nods.
Ana steps forward next, she looks at Christian who immediately steps to her side. "There isn't much more I can add to what my brother and my brother-in-law have already said. This year has been unbelievable, it has had more than its fair share of ups and downs but I think we have all come out of it much wiser people and a far closer family" she glances at Grace as she says this and Grace smiles at her and nods.
As everyone breaks into another round of spontaneous applause, I'm distracted by Taylor who comes out and whispers in Christian's ear. He smiles and looks at me.
"I may've organised an extra surprise for Gideon" he says as he tugs on my arm and leads me inside to where Taylor is setting up a laptop.
I step forward curious as to what is going on. Eva grins at me and I know she knows what is happening. I look at Ana and she also looks quite smug. I turn and look at Jared and he looks excited and my eyebrows rise.
"Does everyone know what's going on?" I ask him and he just grins at me.
"Pretty much" he replies with a shrug.
Christian waits and then I see a video link appear, and there is Ryan and Martha sitting side by side.
My eyes widen, "Ryan!" I say.
He grins at me, "Happy birthday Gideon, I know it's a bit early but I had to send my own greetings to you. Christopher told me about the party there in Seattle and I expressed a desire to be part of it and so Christian and Christopher organised this" he says.
"I don't know what to say" I say.
"Happy birthday to you Gideon and also to Ana and to Elliot" Martha says.
I pull Jared forward, "Ryan, Martha, this is my son Jared" I say, I look at Jared, "This is Ryan Landon… my other brother, who I told you about" I explain.
Jared stares at Ryan, but doesn't say anything. I don't respond but I know something is occurring as Ryan's expression is also one of stupefied shock as he looks at Jared.
"Jared? Will and Angie's Jared?" he says and then flushes slightly as he realises what he has said.
He quickly recovers, "I can't stay here long but I just had to send my own wishes to you all, so thank you for letting me be part of this day and I'll see you when you return to New York" he says and he looks at me meaningfully.
I nod, and after a few more words the link is gone. I turn to Jared, and everyone is looking at him closely.
"Your reaction when you saw Ryan, do you know him?" I ask him and he nods.
"He was friends with my dad, not close friends… more like an acquaintance, and something happened where they fell out. Therefore, I hadn't seen him for a while. I didn't realise… I didn't make the connection when I read that article about the shooting or when you told me about him" Jared explains.
I glance at Christian who just gives me a meaningful look.
"I'll get Welch to dig" Christian murmurs in my ear as he passes me and I nod.