Jay Aslan: Journey to the Top

Helen and Lou stayed the whole time, but Lee had to leave on the second day because his case was pressing.     

Jay enjoyed the company of the two new women in his life, he really appreciated Helen's insight in particular. She had started her own art gallery right out of college thanks to some well-placed investment she had made with the money from her part-time jobs. She was a bona fide self-made woman and he had utmost respect for that.     

Lee was a little bit more complicated, Jay had heard from Helen; he came from a very wealthy family in Korea, but had given everything up for his dreams. His parents hadn't taken well to him running off to a foreign land and leaving his arranged marriage partner behind.     

When they had realized he wasn't coming back, they had cut his inheritance off and severed all ties with him.     

Lee was the prime example of a success story so that hadn't hindered him.     

He had been accepted at Stanford University – where he and Helen had met – on a merit scholarship, graduated, passed the bar, opened his own law firm and had become one of the most sought after criminal defense lawyer in the U.S.     

Then he and Helen had gotten married on April 24th 1994, and Jay was born on January 7th of the following year. Helen had been 22 then and Lee 26, they were now respectively 38 and 42, but both of them looked to be in their early thirties.     

All in all, Jay hadn't gotten much information about his father's side of the family, but had been filled in about his mother's.     

Freja Lucille O'Malley (née Lund) was half Swedish half French, and lived in the north-east of France with her husband Sean Connor O'Malley, a pure bred Irish – with auburn hair and all. They had three children, Marie, the oldest, Jean, the second child and only son, and Helen (née Hélène, changed the spelling when she moved to the US), Jay's mother.     

His aunt Marie was married and had three children, all daughters aged 7, 12 and 19.     

Jean was a professor at Sorbonne University in Paris and single as far as Helen knew. She wasn't sure since apparently the man was particular about the ongoings of his private life.     

Jay chuckled when he realized what a melting pot his genealogy tree looked like; Korean, Swedish, French, Irish, and born in America. He had realized that he spoke French, Korean and Swedish fluently thanks to his father and mother's influence, which was really cool.     

He had been bilingual in his previous life – English and Russian – and had been able to work as a freelance translator from time to time and alleviate his bills.     

But he was getting sidetracked.     

"Jay, upsy!" his thoughts were interrupted by a childlike voice and he looked down to see Lou's outstretched arms and puffy cheeks. Apparently, he had made the lady wait.     

He chuckled and propped her up on his lap. It was the day of his departure and he was doing much better now. He could sit properly and walk a little (bed to bathroom), but not much more.     

He had gotten a good look at the mirror and was appalled at the protruding bones all over his chest, he looked like one of those African refugees God bless them.     

He had a whole new respect for those people, he was in the same condition but could barely move to go to the bathroom while they walked 2 miles a day just to get water.     

Anyways, he wasn't bad looking otherwise, he had amber eyes, dark black hair and a distinctive mole under his left eye. He suspected he had dimples too, but his cheeks were too hollow to know for sure.     

His hair was too long though, it reached his shoulders now and he didn't like it, he was sure his mother had something to do with that.     

"Jay, you leaving?" the little girl looked at him worriedly and her eyes reddened.     

Calling him big brother was too long so she had started to call him by his name. She didn't want him to leave, he wasn't like Anna's brother at all!     

He was very warm and she really liked it when he smiled at her and caressed her hair, she thought it would be great if it could happen everyday.     

Jay looked at the little girl who was on the verge of crying and for a second didn't know what to say. He smiled wryly, he would pack her up in his luggage and take her away if he could, but that would be a crime, huh.     

That was bad, he was becoming a sis-con.     

He gently kissed her forehead and tightly hugged her. "I have to leave for a bit, but I'll definitely be back in time for school. You start school this year too, right? I will make sure to go with you on that day. How about it?"     

She sniffled a little and looked at him doubtfully but eventually bit her bottom lip and nodded. "Hm... you have to... you can't lie..." she whispered.     

Oh my god. Too cute! He squeezed her a little tighter but not enough to hurt, and Helen chose this moment to come back with Nurse Jetson and a wheelchair in tow. She greeted her children with a blissful smile. "It's time Jay, shall we?"     

Jay nodded and Nurse Jetson and his mom helped him in the chair.     

Once they were done, he picked Lou back up and settled her down on his lap, afraid she would start crying if he didn't.     

He swore it was the only reason and not because he was becoming too attached. Yep, definitely.     

His mom pushed his chair out of his room and down the hallway, then they all boarded the elevator together down to the 1st floor where Lee had been talking to Dr. Philips and Dr. Keys. The two doctors bade Jay farewell and he thanked them for their care, before they all boarded the elevator once again to the underground floor where a black SUV was waiting for them. Lee helped Jay get into his seat, he then folded the wheelchair and put it away in the trunk while Helen took care of Lou.     

They all climbed aboard and drove towards JFK.     

It took two full hours for them to reach the boarding gates, by then Jay had coaxed Lou out of his embrace with sweet nothings and she had reluctantly let go of him but not before he had promised to bring her a new doll for her to play with. His parents were apparently very amused at his predicament.     

Helen held him in her arms and appeared to be unaffected but he could feel her trembling against him. He smiled and kissed her forehead, coaxing her the same way he did his sister, minus the doll promise.     

When it was Lee's turn, the latter simply nodded and gave him a pat on the shoulder, which Jay was grateful for.     

The airline had provided him with an attendant and he turned to her, indicating he was ready to go, she nodded and smiled, then pushed him towards the 1st class boarding gate.     

And just like that, he was gone, off to Europe for 6 whole months!