“Shall we move to the kitchen?” my mother suggests. “I brought some sweets,” she says, then looks at my father. “Can you go get them?”
“My mother is the owner of Hazel’s Sweets,” I say and the women all gasp.
“I’m obsessed with the lemon cranberry scones,” Zoe declares.
“Well, you’re in luck. I brought extra,” my mother says and then looks over at the guys. “Why are we all standing here watching?” She looks at my father and then my grandfather.
“Do you want me to tell Charlotte how we behaved today?” my grandmother Olivia threatens them. “Perhaps we can FaceTime her on that shiny new iPad you got her.” They look at each other before turning to walk out of the house.
“Go help.” Zoe points at the men. “And be nice.”
“I’ll be back,” Matthew says, kissing my lips and he walks out.
“I’m going to go and get things going in the kitchen,” my mother and grandmother inform us.
“If it’s okay,” Zoe says, “can we have a moment?” She looks at me.
My mother and grandmother both look at me, not sure what to do or say. “Of course,” I finally say nervously, wanting to vomit all over the place. “Let’s go in the office.” I point over to the closed door right in front of us, opening it, and stepping into it.
“This is so pretty,” Zoe compliments, stepping in, and I close the door behind us. “Can we sit?” she asks, pointing over at the big white plush love seat.
“Of course.” I nod, walking over to the couch and sitting down. My hand on my leg trembles just a bit. “I’m sorry if I stutter or I’m nervous.”
Zoe sits next to me and reaches out her hand to take mine in hers. “If anyone should be nervous, it’s me,” she says. “I just wanted to clear the air a bit. I know how you must be feeling with the whole…” She uses her hand to go in a circle, not sure what to say.
“The whole him being engaged to Helena and being their wedding planner,” I say the words for her and she puts her head back and groans, making me laugh.
“I thought I was going to be okay doing this,” she says softly, looking down at our hands. “I knew the minute he said he was getting married, it was the wrong thing for him to do.” My heart pounds in my chest. “I mean, he didn’t even propose to her, who does that?” She looks at me and I can see she is trying not to cry. “I love my son, I really do, but I had no words.”
“It’s okay,” I say softly, “I get it.”
“No, I don’t think that you do,” she replies softly. “I think it was always you, Sofia. I think after you guys went your separate ways because of another stupid thing he did.” She shakes her head. “He didn’t think he could love like that again, so he just chose what he did. What I’m trying to say is, I think he’s only ever loved you, and now that you’re back, I have a feeling it’s for good.” She smiles. “I know we can be a lot, trust me I know, but I just want to say how happy we are for you two.”
“Wow,” I say, blinking away my own tears. “I can’t tell you what that means to me. I was nervous, so nervous, today because, well, he was just engaged, and I didn’t know if you would be accepting of it.”
“I’m not going to say anything I shouldn’t, but let’s just say, it wasn’t a good fit all the way around.” She smirks, just like her son. “This,” she says, pointing at me, “is the perfect fit.”
I’m about to say something to her when the door opens, and Matthew sticks his head in. “What?” The smile on his face goes away when he sees me trying not to cry. “What in the world? Why are you making my girl cry?” He walks in, or maybe he’s pushed in by Viktor, who comes in.
“What are you doing in here?” he asks, not reading the room. The smile on his face also leaves as soon as he sees the two of us crying. “What is going on? Why is she crying?”
“I am not crying,” I sniffle.
“Nothing,” Zoe says. “I was just trying to tell her, you know, that we’re happy she’s back.”
“And I was thanking her for being open-minded with me, especially since it’s very soon after Helena.” I look at Viktor, who looks over at his son.
“Look, I’d love to sit here and talk about this longer,” Viktor says, “but Matthew senior and Casey are literally having a pissing contest, and I’m just hoping no one whips out a private part.”
“Of course he is.” I lift my arms. “I’m sorry if he makes you feel uncomfortable. I’m the first grandchild.”
“Oh, please,” Viktor says, “we have no excuse for Matthew senior, he just is.”
“Can you give us a minute?” Matthew says to his parents, who nod and walk out of the room.
“You have one minute,” I tell him, “and then I have to go and take care of my grandfather.”
“Are you really okay?” he asks, putting his arms around my waist and bringing me closer to him.
“Yes,” I say, smiling up at him. “I really am okay. What I’m not okay with is the way my grandfather and father treated you. That is not okay.”
“I don’t care as long as you are with me at the end of the day. They can do what they want to me.”
“No.” I shake my head. “This is not okay,” I tell him, and I’m about to tell him more when the door swings open. “Showtime,” I mumble.
matthew
“What is going on in here?” Casey walks into the office. “Why is she crying?” He takes one look at Sofia, then looks at me, glaring.
“Do you want to know why I’m crying?” Sofia asks, her voice tight. “I’ll tell you why.” Her voice goes higher. “Actually, this should be done in front of everyone,” she says, storming out of the room.
“Sofia,” I call, following her out as she makes her way to the kitchen where everyone is either standing or sitting.
“I have an announcement to make,” she states loudly.
“Oh my God, she’s pregnant,” Uncle Matthew says and I just shake my head.
“She is not pregnant,” I say before everyone freaks, “not that I would care.” I look at her and she gives me a not right now look.
“I just want to say thank you to Matthew’s family for being so welcoming to me.” I look over at them, smiling. “And then you have my family.” She glares at her father and her grandfather. “You two.” She points at them. “You have not been so kind or welcoming at all.” Her father says something and she holds up her hand. “Now, I don’t know how you want to hear this, but I want you to listen. He is my choice.” She points at me.
“Thanks, baby,” I say happily, but she whips her head toward me.
“Not now.” I roll my lips, holding up my hands. “He is my choice, and I am his. Which means that I’m going to do life with him. I’m going to move in with him. I’m going to share my life with him. My good days and my bad days. I’m going to have babies with him.” She looks back at Uncle Matthew. “Not now, but eventually. I am doing all of this, and if you don’t respect that, then you don’t respect me, and if you don’t respect me, then I won’t have it in my life.” Hazel gasps. “So you have a choice to make. You can be in my life, and by that, it means you will be nice to him and treat him with the same kindness and respect his family treats me with, or you can be out of my life, which means that come holidays, we aren’t going to be there.”
“Now hold on a minute,” Reed starts, “it’s just that—”
“It’s nothing, Reed,” Hazel hisses at him. “Did you listen to a word that she said?”
“We had no choice. She said she had an announcement to make,” Reed says, earning himself a glare from Hazel. “Fine.” He holds up his hand. “We’ll be respectful.” He looks at her. “Happy?”
“It’s a start,” Sofia says.