39 A new ship has formed

The next thing Renae knew, she received a video call request from her parents. She honestly couldn't decline, so she accepted. "Mum, dad, meet Rere!" Renae exclaimed as she filmed Rere running around with a chew toy in her mouth. She didn't realise that Matthew was also the in frame.

"Ah... she's so cute. Is that... Matthew? Oh my goodness..." Auntie Cara said, pointing to the screen while turning to look at Uncle Mike, who was sitting next to her. "Yep, it's Matthew. He's staying cause' it's pretty late now," Renae explained. Matthew smiled at the camera and waved, "Auntie Cara, Uncle Mike. We haven't seen each other in so long yet you guys seem to not have aged one bit." He said what every over 40 year old would love to hear.

"Matthew... it's been a long time yes, and look how big you've grown! So handsome and full of energy, the teenage days were so fun. Well, you're just a gentleman, aren't you? It would be so nice if our daughter will be able to find someone like you. We'd absolutely love if you become our son-in-law, right hubby?" Auntie Cara was asking Uncle Mike, but she looked straight at Renae.

"Definitely! I wouldn't object at all if they got together. Who wouldn't want a son-in-law like Matthew?" Uncle Mike generously praised. "Whatever. Anyways, Rere, come here!" Renae called, reaching out her arms for Rere to jump into. Rere joyfully leapt into... Matthew's arms. She pouted and whined, "How is he a gentleman? Look, he's bullying me... he's not nice!" She pretended to be a kindergartener and pointed at him. It was like she could change her forms. In that moment, she seriously looked like a little kid throwing a hissy fit about another kid "stealing" her toy. It was pretty cute.

"Since we're on this topic, we've never really asked, but are you actually in a relationship or anything like that?" Uncle Mike asked. Renae turned her head towards the camera and replied, "Nope. No one has stolen the key to my heart yet. Anyways, Rere, come here now." Her voice changed into a demonic-like tone when she said the last few words jokingly. Surprisingly, Rere ran over to her and snuggled comfortably in her lap.

"Hey... Matt...? Do you think... Rere is actually.... secretly... a.. a..." Renae's eyes were huge as she said dramatically. "What? Just say it, geez. You're seriously an extra dramatic person," Matthew said while petting Rere with one hand and taking a picture of her with his other hand. "Where do you think this dramatic personality came from?" Uncle Mike asked, looking at Auntie Cara. "Oh hush it. Renae, ya wanna continue speaking?" Auntie Cara said, rolling her eyes.

"Secretly... a... a sadist?" Renae asked, looking at Matthew with a serious expression. "Hah! As if, dogs are the opposite of sadists. They love pats and stuff so much, how could they like pain?" He added. "Think what you wanna, that's what I'm categorising Rere under from now on," she said, joining in and petting Rere too.

"Hey, you have... didn't I tell you to wipe your mouth after you eat? Huh? Why is your mouth so dirty?" Auntie Cara chided Uncle Mike while grabbing a piece of tissue to wipe his mouth. "I did! How would I know how it got there. Actually... I might've forgotten to wipe..." he replied, guiltily looking down. "Don't look down, I need to wipe your mouth." He nodded and looked back up.

"Okay, enough flirting in front of single people. Let's end here then, it's getting pretty late. I'll talk to you guys soon, love you! Bye bye..." Renae said, waving. Matthew waved as well. Once they said their goodbyes, they ended the call.

"Hey, who were you calling not nice just now?" Matthew asked, inching closer to Renae. "You!" She replied boldly. "It seems..." He put her hands above her and smirked, "You're very much right." After that, they kissed a little. Renae was not ready for that! It took her completely by surprise. "What was that, huh?" She asked as Rere jumped onto her lap. "Heh, it's nothing. I just felt like kissing you so I did," he replied.

"Hey, you remember that tomorrow you would have to go to court again for the second time this year right?" Matthew asked, taking a sip of his water. "Yea, what's up?" Renae replied with Rere still in her lap. "I'm not looking forward to it at all, but if we have an activity planned for after the court hearing, then I might be more excited..." "Oh... Mr Rose are you asking me out on a date?" She teased, raising her eye brow.

"If I say that I am... will you say yes?" He asked, getting up and holding out his hand. "Well, it depends. What will we be doing?" "Watching a movie. Now please hold my hand it's tiring," Matthew complained while pitifully looking at Renae. "With such a pitiful glace, how could I say no?" She said, gracefully placing her hand on Matthew's.

Their little act turned into them dancing. "What time is it even?" Matthew asked. "Almost 1 am we should probably head to bed," Renae replied.

And so they did.

They both woke up earlier since Matthew had to return home to change.

"Since you've prepared for school already, just wait here for me okay? I'll be real quick," Matthew said as he walked towards his car. "Mhmm," Renae replied in a sleepy tone as she watched him start up the car and drive off. She felt like a house wive doing so. She quickly shook that thought out of her head as she returned to the comfort of her home. Her face was a little red but she was already used to blushing because of Matthew.

Matthew wasn't lying when he said he'd be fast. Around 15 minutes later, he arrived to pick her up. She grabbed her bag and they were off. As they reached the school, Renae spotted Kaiden and Cathy walking into the school gates together. "Look, Kaiden and Cathy came to school together, how cute," Renae said while pointing to them from the car window. "We come to school together everyday, so are you saying we're cute?" Matthew asked with a smile. Renae let out a giggle, "Dream on!" He rolled his eyes.

Matthew parked his car and they got off. They met up with Kaiden and Cathy at the staircase and walked towards class together. "Sorry to disturb you lovebirds..." Renae said as though she was actually seriously sorry for a bad deed she had done. "Hey, we're not lovebirds!" Cathy refuted shyly. "Mmmhmm... you two are totally not lovebirds yep. Anyways, today after school, Matthew and I have to go to the courthouse to deal with the Min abduction thing. After that, we're going on a movie date," Renae shamelessly bragged.

"Oh? You guys are dating already?" Kaiden asked. Renae felt relieved. From his tone of voice, it seems his feelings for her had completely disintegrated... and a new love might be forming. "Huh? There's no way I'd date a tom boy like her," Matthew joked. "I'm just kidding so don't cry, okay?" He quickly added.

"You better be joking, otherwise the only thing that'll be crying is where the sun don't shine," Renae said threateningly. Matthew held up his hands and said, "Oh Ms San, please spare me! I surrender to you. I'd use my underwear to create a white flag but my underwear at the moment isn't white." "No worries, no one in this classroom wants to see your dirty underwear," Renae replied, scrunching up her nose as if she smelt something smelly. "You guys will be a weird couple..." Cathy said, shaking her head.

The class is about to start so Kaiden returns to his classroom and Cathy returns to her seat. Meanwhile, Renae held Matthew back. "Don't you think Cathy and Kaiden have been really close lately? Do you ship them? I definitely do!" Renae said joyfully. She let out a cute squeal as she fangirled. "Yes, ha ha ha... I ship them too to be honest. They look so good together too," Matthew replied. "Also, before class starts," he quickly kissed her on the forehead, "here's a gift to energise you." After which he returned to his seat.

It was a long... long school day. When they heard the bell ring, they were so happy they almost jumped out of the window. "Okay, so our plan for today is to head to your house, eat lunch, you get changed, head to my house, I get changed and then we head to court... yes?" Matthew confirmed. Renae nodded. "It's goodbye then," she said, waving towards Cathy and Kaiden. They then split ways.

It wasn't long before they reached Renae's house. "Okay, you're cooking right?" Matthew asked as they got out of his car. "Yea... I finished up all the food my mum prepared me some time ago. Even if I didn't, they would've gone bad anyways so I will have to cook either ways... ugh," Renae responded, unlocking the front door.

They enjoyed their lunch and Matthew played with Rere as Renae changed. "Rere~ have you been lonely since we went for school? We're going to have to leave you again for a while, I'm so sorry," he whispered. "Talking to Rere?" Renae asked as she walked out of her room. Matthew's head darted upwards. "You heard?" He asked. His face was completely flushed. "It's cute," she replied. "Let's go."

They both gave Rere one last pat before leaving for Matthew's house.

As Matthew changed, Renae waited in the car. The butlers and maidens didn't mean to be rude, but they were very curious about Renae, so they stared a lot. She started getting uncomfortable so she just used her phone and tried not to see them.

"Hey, sorry I took so long," Matthew apologised as he buckled his seat belt. Renae shook her head, "It's fine."

They were then off to their last destination : the court house.