With much compromise, Benedict eventually received his phone back in an undamaged state but at the price of being forced to sit on the far end of the table to be placed “as far away from Ms. Jane as possible,” as per Liam’s request.
Liam and I sat on either side of Jane on the other end of the table. But then my mother insisted on sitting close to her “grandbaby” and plopped down next to Liam before he could even protest, leading to the rest of my family sitting to the right of Liam while Cassy’s family made do with the leftover seats next to me.
To say the least, the assignments of seats caused much more hassle than it really needed to. But at least everything seemed to calm down once dinner started.
Between my mother and her friend, Mellisa, there was no issue with any awkward silences as they quickly filled up the room with their lively chatter, even pulling in Benedict’s preppy personality once he stopped sulking and started asking Jane random questions here or there.
Not giving much care to their conversation, I mindlessly added spoonfuls of food onto Jane’s and Liam’s plates.
Some pasta for both of them since they liked cheesy dishes.
Then some vegetables for Liam otherwise, he wouldn’t eat any.
And a few meatballs alongside a dollop of fruit jam to encourage Jane to get some more protein into her thin frame.
Cutting one of the meatballs into quarters, I raised a forkful up to Jane’s lips out of habit, furrowing my eyebrows when she didn’t accept it unlike usual.
Jane stopped mid-sentence with a light pink blush on her cheeks. “D-Achilles…”
“Do you not like it? I can get you something else if you want.”
“N-No! I-It’s not that…” Her eyes darted back and forth from the fork. She leaned closer to me bashfully and hushedly whispered, “It’s just a bit embarrassing with your parents and… your friends around us…”
I glanced around and realized that everyone’s chatter had died as they opted to stare at us instead. I was so used to personally feeding her little bites here and there at home whenever I cooked that I forgot that my parents and our family friends were also there.
Even so, I couldn’t bring myself to feel all that embarrassed by it. If anything, I only found the situation all that more amusing by the adorable blush ordaining her supple cheeks.
With the corner of my lips lifting into a subtle smirk, I teased, “I don’t see what’s wrong with it. I’m only showing everyone how much I love doting on my adorable fiancee.”
Furthering her embarrassment, Liam perked up at the sight of our mini-back-and-forth, and, mimicking me, he also lifted up a forkful of food toward Jane. He innocently chirped, “Do you also want to try my food, Ms. Jane? The spaghetti is also delicious.”
Her eyes darted back and forth between our two forks. Unable to handle it anymore, she let out a low whine and chomped down on each of our forks, grumbling incoherently to herself as she chewed the food. Something along the lines of it being unfair.
Paying no mind to her qualms, Liam grinned in delight as he stabbed a couple more things onto his fork and held it up to her again.
My mother awed at the action, eliciting an even deeper blush from Jane.
“Liam Honey… I have more than enough food on my own plate already…” Jane gently pushed the fork back to Liam and continued, “And I know you’re just trying to make me eat your carrots, so you don’t have to.”
Liam pouted as he reluctantly wrapped his lips around the orange fiend.
Then Jane turned her attention to me and lightly scolded, “And you… You should be feeding yourself too. You’re much bigger than me and need to eat more than me.”
I rolled my eyes and pushed a piece of buttered bread between her lips before she could try to scold me again. With her mouth stuffed, I retorted, “I feed you because I’m worried about how skinny you are. You work too much and stress yourself out to the point that you lose weight… And speaking of your work…” I momentarily glanced at Benedict and told him, “I need you to give her next week off. She’s going to be busy.”
Benedict halted mid-bite, looking up at me in surprise as his food slid off of his fork. “W-What?”
Jane also turned to me in shock, but I paid no mind to it as I held a piece of roasted broccoli up to her lips and continued with Benedict, “I just asked Jane to move in with me this morning, so we will be busy meeting with interior designers and moving in for the rest of this week. Ideally, I’d like to be fully moved in with Jane before my end-of-year business trip and get to spend a few days settling down with her and Liam before I have to leave.”
“You’re moving in together?”
I nodded, ignoring the blatant stares from the others around us. “I know that you can be aloof at times, but what’s so hard to comprehend?”
He groaned and ruffled his hair, whining, “That’s not what I meaaaannnttt. You know that I’m also trying to run a business, right? I can’t just let one of my best workers disappear so suddenly like that, and I’m sure she has several meetings that she can’t just ditch randomly like you do with your meetings.”
I bluntly replied, “If money’s the problem, then I can just pay a couple ten thousand in place of any losses you may experience while Jane is-”
A tiny hand slapped over my mouth before I could finish, making me cock an eyebrow at Jane in question.
Pursuing her lips, she scolded, “Stop hounding your friend like that. I didn’t know you were planning to move in so soon, but I can move a few of my meetings around and just use a few days of my paid leave to take a few days off.”
She was out of her seat and leaning over me, or at least attempting to, with a slight scowl on her face. She looked so adorable to me that I could barely take her seriously, even though she tried to scold me.
“Now, when I let go of my hand, you will apologize to Mr. Serman, okay?”
I nodded and mindlessly muttered a low “sorry” when she released her hand, not giving it much thought since my attention focused on something more important.
Jane was rarely one to take the lead in our relationship, so I was thoroughly surprised when she suddenly jumped on me like that. So much so that I couldn’t help feeling a bit turned on by her unexpected feisty nature.
I watched as she reassured Benedict that she would handle all the changes in her schedule on Monday before leaving for the rest of the week.
This was the side of her that I had only ever gotten glimpses of during our joint meetings for the project from before, but I could definitely say that I would love to see more of it. How she spoke confidently in herself, even if her words may have a light stutter to them.
I wondered how it would feel if she did more than just lean over me. What would be like if she pushed me down with the little strength that she had in her body as she climbed over me… straddling me with her supple thighs on either side of me… tracing her fingers down my chest… teasing me…
I dryly gulped, finding myself suddenly parched at the thought.
I tried to bring my attention back to the conversation at hand, diverting my eyes to anywhere beside Jane.
My mother was telling her tip and pointers about how to get me to listen. Something about how proud she was of Jane for having the courage to tell me off, unlike all the other people who always tiptoed around me in fear of getting on my wrong side.
But I honestly didn’t care. Even if my mother told her about my weakness, it would still be incomparable to my greatest weakness, Jane herself.
Even if Jane asked of the most absurd things of me, I would never be able to say no to her unless it threatened her safety.
That was just how much she meant to me.
I would do anything to keep her happy because her happiness was the same as mine.
Blocking out their mindless chatter as they continued on with dinner, I quietly reached out to Jane and slid her off her chair straight into my lap, earning a squeak in surprise from her.
I wrapped my arms around her waist as I nuzzled my face against the crook of her neck. A chorus of oo’s and ah’s went around the table, making Jane turn bright red.
“A-Achilles? D-do y-you need something?”
I shook my head silently as I planted tiny kisses along the nape of her neck. The dinner was just so dull that I couldn’t bring myself to care about it. I would’ve much rathered be curled up in bed with my lovely little girl under a pile of cozy blankets.
She squirmed in my lap as my lips trailed down the back of her neck, stuttering, “A-Achilles… D-Don’t you think this is a bit too i-inappropriate with everyone h-here?”
I shook my head again as I pulled her back flush against my chest.
“A-Achilles…”
“It’s alright, Danary,” my mother interrupted. “Please don’t worry about it. He’s just probably getting antsy about being stuck in one place for a long… Why don’t we wrap up dinner and have some dessert together before we part? I’m sure Markliam is eager to slice into the pie that you brought earlier today.”
Liam perked up in the corner of my eye at the mention of pie, immediately pushing his plate of leftover carrots away.
Jane nodded slowly in agreement. “S-sure… I can g-go p-pop it i-in the o-oven to quickly r-re- Aahhh, A-Achilles… S-stop…”
Her voice cut off when I latched onto her neck and roughly pulled her back in my lap, upset that she was trying to move away from me. It was already bad enough that I was being forced to be stuck here with all these people when I could’ve been spending quality time with my angel instead, but they were also trying to separate me from her.
An abrupt sound of a chair roughly pushed out echoed to the right of us, effectively cutting off all conversations and making Jane tense up in my arms.
My eyes flickered to the side, looking for the one who dared to make my angel stiffen up so uncomfortably, and found Cassy out of her chair.
Her eyes remained lowered to the table as she neatly folded up her used napkin. With a tight-lipped smile, she politely explained, “I can get the pie ready instead. I’m not busy with anything, and I’m already done eating. There’s no need for you to get up…”
Not paying much mind to her words, I turned my attention back to my angel and gently rubbed my thumbs in circles along her sides. I didn’t know what was making her feel uncomfortable, but I hated seeing her like this. I only ever wanted my Jane to feel safe and relaxed, especially around my family.
Luckily, her attention was pulled away when Liam suddenly jumped into her lap, wanting to join our little huddle. He grinned as Jane panickedly wrapped her arms around me, trying to ensure he didn’t fall out of our laps.
Her body immediately loosened, forgetting about whatever was on her mind earlier, as Liam hushedly whispered a series of questions toward her. Asking about when they were going to be moving in with me. What she thought of the house. Which room he would get. Where he could store his projects. And so much more.
I chuckled softly as I pulled him closer to us, not wanting him to fall off by accident. My whole world was literally sitting in my lap but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I was glad they got along so well with my family, and I could only hope to call them my wife and my son soon.
One step at a time until I can finally have my last name hooked onto the end of their names.