“Dinner’s ready, girls! Get down here!” Emerald heard her mother shout from the ground floor, squarely from the bottom of the stairs.
Running her hand through her hair, she got up from the queen sized bed placed in her designated room and made her way out of the bedroom when she heard Luca speaking to her mother rather loudly.
“Honey, don’t shout. You’re going to disturb our little Junior’s peace. Let me do all the shouting, ok?
Girls! Come down, it’s dinner time!” He yelled again after correcting Maggie.
“We heard Mom the first time, Dad.” Armani quipped, rolling her eyes as she also came out of her room and joined Emerald who chuckled at their endless drama; together they made their way downstairs and into the kitchen.
“I’ll get the plates.” Armani said.
“I’ll help Mom with the food.” Emerald replied and they both dispersed and got to work.
Maggie welcomed her daughter’s presence with a small smile but Emerald could tell that it wasn’t her mother’s usual genuine smile, there was a storm behind that smile.
“Hey, Mom,” she greeted as she placed a kiss on Maggie’s cheeks.
“Hi, baby.” Maggie responded, holding her daughter gently in her arms.
“I hope baby Luggie isn’t disturbing you,” she smiled as her mother laughed at the nickname Emerald and Armani had given their unborn sibling. They had combined Luca with Maggie to form Luggie.
“Baby Luggie is being an angel just like you were,” Maggie gave her daughter an affectionate smile but it didn’t last for long as slowly, tears welled up in her eyes at the sight of her daughter’s emaciated look.
She wasn’t looking like her usual self. Her usually slightly dim emerald eyes were now dimmer than before, her exposed collarbones were slightly protruding through her skin, not to mention the thick layers of eye bags latching onto the skin beneath her eyes.
Even her smile was clearly forced, Maggie noticed. Yet, she knew. She knew very well what her daughter was going through. She knew very well the demons her daughter was constantly up against, yet it shattered her to see her daughter trying to keep it all bottled in, trying to fake her happiness when clearly, everything was wrong.
On seeing a tear drop slide down her mother’s face, Emerald immediately panicked as she hurriedly wrapped her arms around her mother’s small frame as best she could with her now protruding baby bump in the way.
“Mom, stop it,” she softly chastised her, “I’m perfectly fine, Mom. There’s nothing to worry about,” she tried to comfort her but Maggie was having none of it as she pushed away from Emerald.
“No! Stop saying that when you clearly aren’t!” Tears were now streaming hurriedly down her face, as though they were in a race against each other.
Emerald stared at her mother stoically, doing her very best to not reveal any emotion. “Stop pretending like everything is alright with you when they clearly aren’t, Maree. Stop it. We’re here for you as a family; I’m here for you,” she grabbed a hold of her daughter’s hands before squeezing them tenderly.
“Stop trying to handle it all on your own, sweetie. You don’t have to be strong all the time. Please,” Maggie pleaded as she sobbed silently, still watching her daughter’s indifferent expression.
Silence spread its depressing cloak over the both of them as for a few minutes, they remained quiet, just staring at each other. Emerald could feel her chest constricting with every glistening tear drop that fell from her mother’s eyes. Knowing that she was the cause of her mother’s sorrow felt like a repetitive stab to her heart.
Before either of them could open their mouths to speak, the chime of the doorbell reverberated round the entire house, breaking through the quietude.
Both women immediately broke out of their trances as they looked to the kitchen entrance to see Luca standing in the doorway, watching both of them. From his melancholic expression, Emerald could tell that he had overheard their conversation.
He took few steps towards them before placing a gentle kiss on Emerald’s forehead. Drawing back, he muttered, “You can get the door, piccolo. I’ll take care of your mother.” Emerald nodded in reply before hugging her mother once again.
“I’m sorry for making you cry, Mom,” her voice wavered as she whispered before pulling away and walking out of the kitchen to the front door, where voices were now coming from.
Taking deep breaths to get her scattered emotions in check, she rounded the corner and came face to face with her two best friends. A small smile made its way onto her face when they squealed and pulled her into a bear hug while maundering how they had missed her and all sorts.
“We’ve got a surprise for you, Meme.” Logan enthused after pulling away. Oriana let out a rather loud squeal at his words, clearly excited for her to see the surprise.
“What’s the surprise?” Emerald asked and she could also see the brewing curiosity on Armani’s face as she too stood beside her.
“Don’t you mean ‘who’?” Logan smirked before taking a step to the side and away from the entrance.
With wide eyes, Emerald took in the figure of the familiar man standing at the threshold. His customary magnificent physique adorned a fitted navy blue short sleeved shirt with black ripped jeans and a pair of black vans. His outfit was everything casual and comfort giving, yet he managed to pull off that sexy look.
Emerald didn’t know she had been staring until he took a step closer to her. “Hey,” he greeted meekly, unable to peel his leeching eyes off her exposed skin, which seemed to glimmer.
The Prussian blue bandeau tube crop top she wore, coupled with a pair of matching shorts, gave a perfect view of her toned neck, stomach, arms and seemingly endless legs. They couldn’t stop staring at each other.
“Whipped,” Logan said, snapping the pair out of their own little bubble as he tried to cover up his words with a fake cough.
Looking around, Emerald found her sister and friends giving her and Jordan a teasing look. She gave them a glare before turning to Jordan with a smile, realising that she hadn’t requited his pleasantry. “Hi,” she greeted and then, she noticed he held a duffel bag.
‘Was he staying for the wedding?’ she couldn’t help but muse hopefully.
“Come on in, please,” she directed Jordan into the house, leaving her friends to shut the door since they were family, not strangers. “We were just about to have dinner,” she led him into the dining room where her mother and father were making their way out of the kitchen.
Emerald noticed that her mother was looking way better than earlier. Other than the slightly conspicuous red hue in her eyes, she looked like her usual self and in appreciation, Emerald passed Luca a slight smile to which he responded with a small nod.
“Oh! My babies are here,” Maggie grinned as she pulled Logan and Oriana into a bear hug, leaving a little space between them due to her baby bump. Both of them chuckled and greeted her as they placed simultaneous kisses on her cheeks.
With a wide grin, Maggie’s eyes shifted towards the new face in the room and almost instantaneously, her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the beautiful man standing before her with a mysterious yet parlous aura.
Unexpectedly, Jordan’s heart seemed to thump louder and faster as he gauged her reaction. ‘Did she recognise that he was the J. K?’ He stymied his unsettling thoughts. The last thing he wanted was to scare them away.
Trying to ease the uncomfortable silence that had sprung up in the atmosphere, Emerald stepped forward and took the liberty of introducing Jordan to her parents.
“Mom, Dad, meet my. . . uh. . . my friend, Jordan,” she gestured. “Jordan, here are my parents – the bride and groom,” she teased, earning a blush from her mother and amused chuckles from the others.
She had called him her friend and not just a patient. A smile threatened to break out on his face at the immense joy he felt. At least they were getting somewhere.
Maintaining his polite attitude, Jordan wore a small, almost non-existent smile on his face as he moved closer to Maggie and took her hand to his lips, placing a chaste kiss on her knuckles, much to Luca’s dismay.
“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” Jordan greeted simply, not knowing whether to call her Mrs. Pearce or her soon-to-be new last name, so he settled for a much comfortable title.
Maggie giggled charmingly – seemingly the pregnancy hormones were to blame – much and much more to Luca’s dismay, whose face was hardening by the second.
“Oh, nonsense. No need to be so formal, son. You can just call me Maggie or Aunt or even Mom,” she pulled him into a hug, surprising Jordan before passing Emerald a suggestive wink.
Emerald’s eyes widened at her mother’s expression, wondering where the woman that had been crying earlier, had evaporated to.
Sensing the direction to which this discussion was headed – awkwardness – Luca immediately stepped in between Jordan and his fiancee, creating quite the distance between them as he placed a lingering kiss on Maggie’s lips before narrowing his eyes at Jordan, clearly showing his dislike for him.
They stood eye to eye at the same height of some inches past six feet with Jordan staring squarely at him, apparently unfazed by his glare. After some moments of awkward silence with the tensed atmosphere that was thick enough to be sliced through with a knife, the spectators had finally had enough of the drama, so Armani stepped forward and nudged her father.
“Dad, stop it. He’s our guest, remember?” she mumbled before passing Jordan a welcoming smile.
Realising that she hadn’t introduced her sister to him, Emerald pulled Armani into a side hug before speaking, “Jordan, meet my lovely lil’ sister, Armani. Armi, my friend, Jordan.” She passed him a fleeting look to see his eyes glued to her frame.
“It’s really nice to meet you, sir.” Armani stretched out her hand for a shake, only to be surprised when Jordan placed a peck on her knuckles as well.
“The pleasure is all mine,” he gave another gentle smile, surprising Logan and Oriana, who only ever saw him smile on rare occasions.
“I’m glad I made lots of food,” Maggie grinned. “So who’s ready for dinner?”
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