SHIMMER'S POV
Everyone was silent. I went on to say, "Valentina knows it all. Val and Arianna. I had to involve Val, because I needed to know a lot about Anisha. I wanted this place to be personal to my much loved daughter-in-law. Val told me everything; from the colours that she likes; the flowers that she loves, her love for music; and everything. Arianna helped me out a lot too." I said.
"Pete, you knew about this?' Dylan asked his friend.
Pete looked down and Dylan went on to say:
"There is no way Arianna would have known without you knowing, Pete."
"I knew it." Pete said.
"And you kept it from us?" Dylan asked.
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you," Pete responded calmly.
"And Arianna? I never knew you were capable of keeping secrets?" Dylan continued.
"I am, actually." Arianna said.
Everyone was still in shock; failing to believe what had just happened.
"This home now belongs to you, Anisha. You can name it. You taught me the importance of love. And you too, Ms Meyerton, thank you for showing my daughter in law love. She holds you in very high esteem. Before, I never understood why; for I looked at you with an eye searching for money. To me, money meant everything. But when I later on realised that the love that you have makes you wealthier than them all, I learnt to value you and to see things from a different angel."
"Thank you," Ms Meyerton murmured.
"Anisha my child," I continued, "I can spend the rest of my life apologizing for all the wrongs that I did to you. Some of them are irreversible, but most are not. But I will do my best to treat you so good that with time you will forget it all. And as long as I live, I will make sure that this home is running efficiently; if you need my help. Every child deserves to stay in a nice place. And that hall, which you and Dylan met for the first time, I chose to name it. I'm sorry, in case you don't like the name I chose, you can always rename it. But I named it THE ANI-LAN HALL. That is the place where my son met his true love for the first time."
When I uttered the last sentence, Anisha failed to hold in any longer. She burst into tears, but did not move to me. How I wanted her to come to me and hug me in acceptance. How I longed to show her that I was truly sorry, and I loved her.
"You mean it, Mrs de Milo; don't you?" she asked in between her sobs.
"I mean every word," I said, my eyes too beginning to swim in tears.
"You do, Mrs de Milo? You now accept me?" she cried.
"You can call me mother, my child. I should have accepted you from the first day my son told me that he liked you" I said, meaning it with my whole heart.
And she came to me. She hugged me tight and cried her soul out.
"I have long awaited this day," she said.
Roderick came too, and hugged us both. And then Dylan, and the whole group started coming. There was a lot of crying, and I felt moved to apologise to them all.
"Forgive me, I hurt all of you. Please forgive me." I said as I hugged them one by one. I said those words to each and every one of them.
"That old Shimmer is dead and buried. This is a new Shimmer. Please give me a chance."
The crying continued. Tears of healing. Tears of a new beginning.
"Liam, come to grandma," I said, and the little boy looked up to his parents.
"This is grandma, Liam," Anisha said to him, and he ran into my arms. Amanda Janine also ran, and I lifted both of them in my arms.
Anisha was still close to me, wiping off her tears.
I placed the two children down and rubbed Anisha's tummy.
"Hi grandchild," I said.
"Say hallo, grandma," Anisha responded.
All eyes were on us, when Anisha said,
"To myself, Valentina and Ms Meyerton; this place will forever hold a special place in our hearts. I have made up my mind about its name, and I cannot remove the name Olga. The name Olga defines us. It is the name of home. The place of security and love. Olga was the place that we called home. We cried together in this place; and we laughed together here. We learnt; we fell, we rose, we succeeded, we lost and won…all of that at Olga. It is the name that raised us and made us become who we are. As such, I choose to keep the name Olga. But I will remove the part which says 'children's home'. It should not be referred to as Children's Home. It should be a home of love. As such, I will name this place Olga Home of Love. And for the Ani-Lan Hall, I don't have to change that name. You gave it a perfect name already; it is the best name for the hall. It is where him and I met; and that hall shall forever hold grand memories."
Flashes of lightning struck across the angry sky, followed by loud thunder.
"Lift me up, grandma!" Liam said. Both him and Amanda were raising their arms for me to take them.
I scooped the two children up, and right there in the showers of rain, we all headed towards the parking. Finally, my heart was beginning to find peace.