Page 120 of Unravelling: Aria & Crispin
Then the doorbell rang.
Crispin went to answer it.
A few seconds later, he stepped back into the room, eyes bright with anticipation. "I have a very special gift for you," he said.
Dorian entered first, dressed in charcoal, wearing his best guilty-but-not-sorry grin.
"Peace offering," he said, holding up a bottle of Aria's favourite non-alcoholic wine.
Behind him came a man Aria had never seen before. But her body reacted before her brain could catch up. Her knees felt weak, and Crispin hurried to prop her up.
He was a tall man, a little stooped, and in his late thirties or early forties. There was a limp in his step. His hair was a darker brown than Lule's, but the curls matched. So did the long lashes, the slope of the nose.
And his eyes were pale, haunted and familiar. They were exactly as she remembered-like their father's, like Lule's. That same translucent grey, full of memory and sorrow.
It hit her like a bolt of lightning.
She whispered, voice creaking like an old hinge, "Erjon?"
He nodded, slow and stunned, while taking her in.
Then she was in his arms, clinging to him with a kind of desperation she hadn't known still lived inside her. He held her tightly, his hands rough with work, but his touch unbearably gentle.
"It took me ages to find him," Dorian said softly from the side.
A ragged breath escaped him. "Zemra ime*," he murmured.
Erjon stepped back slightly, still clasping her hands in his. His smile was gentle, broken at the edges, and his grey eyes were wet with tears.
"They caught me that day," he said simply, as if he had practiced what he was going to say a thousand times. "They broke my leg; it got infected." He gestured to his left leg, the prosthetic hidden beneath pressed trousers. "By the time I reached a clinic, it was too late."
Erjon stepped back slightly, cupping Aria's cheek. His smile was warm but carried the weight of years. "You've grown so much," he said, his voice thick. "You look just like Mami."
She laughed through her tears. "And you, like Babi. His eyes..."
"It took a long time before I got out. By then you both were gone. So, I built a life. I married Elira, you know. She used to go to school with you. We live next door to the old house-we turned it into a furniture shop. We have three children now, two boys and a girl."
Then his eyes landed on the girl at the back of the room, and he extended his hand to her. "You've grown so much, Lule."
She blinked, stunned. "You remember me?"
"I remember the sound of your feet chasing chickens," he said with a crooked grin. "And how you used to call me Joni because you couldn't say my name right."
She gave a watery laugh. "You still look like Babi, just less scary."
Aria clung to his hand, eyes swimming. "You have to stay. Just for a few days."
"I will," he promised.
Later that evening, after the guests had moved into the dining room and the conversation had lightened, Erjon and Aria found a quiet corner in the sunroom, the soft hum of laughter and clinking glasses distant behind them.
"I couldn't save you from that monster. I felt so...inadequate," he said quietly. "If only I hadn't gone out. If only I had come back sooner. And then you both disappeared... I didn't even know if you were dead or alive... And then-"
"You don't have to-" Aria began.
"No. Let me." He stared out at the dark garden, voice low. "When I got out of the hospital and I could walk again, I came back, but you were gone. Nobody knew what had happened. Our neighbours had buried Mami and Babi in the back garden."
Aria closed her eyes, her hand tightening over his.
