Chapter 29

This was one of those days Amelie,her sister and her mother went out on a girls date.

Since her sister Hekaterina was 7 months pregnant,they couldn't go shopping,so they had planned to just spend the lazing around in their house and have a three people pool party.

Her father was inside doing something by himself or watching TV,sometimes he would join them,but most of the time he wasn't interested in their girl talk.

Since the sun hadn't set yet and the summer was hot.The three of them had taken a dip in the pool.

"[Today,you said you had something important to day to us?What is it?]" Hekaterina nudged Amelie who was next to her playing with the water and had been listening to her mother and her sister talk about motherhood and pregnancy.This was her sister's second pregnancy,but this one was completely different from her first one.

Amelie's face was a bit weird and she dipped half of her face in the water as if trying to hide it.

"[What?Is it maybe some guy?]"Hekaterina smiled at her teasingly.But when she saw Amelie nod and blush a bit,she almost slipped and fell.Amelie and her mother had to hold her.

"[Be careful!Don't get too excited!]"

"[Sorry!Sorry!]" Then Hekaterina turned to her. "[Tell us about this guy!Who is he?When did you meet?How did it happen?]"

Amelie couldn't even properly recover from the first question.Meanwhile her mother,the last person she expected to be quiet was eyeing her weirdly.

"[So that's why you were acting strange these days!]" her mother said in realisation.

"[She was acting strange?]"

"[Yes,one night she also started crying.]"

"[Oh,Ame!Poor you,you really are in love!]" Hekaterina said as she laughed at her.

"[Stop it!]" she wanted to push her,but then remembered that she was pregnant."[You're lucky that my nephew is in there!You've been very safe these few months!]"

Hekaterina caressed her belly."[Thank you baby,for protecting mummy!]"

Hekaterina and her mother's face immediately got serious and dark."[He didn't break your heart or something,did he?]"

Aiden in another country felt a sudden chill in the middle of his workout,but then brushed it off and continued again.

Amelie just shook her head silently and they smiled again.

After more teasing Amelie finally spoke.Even she couldn't understand why she still blushed at the mention of that guy.

"[So,Um-I-I met him during my business trip.]"

"[Don't tell me he's a foreigner?]"

Amelie just slightly nodded.Though her parents weren't that much against the idea of someone foreign and they also had other family members that weren't from their country,they still preferred someone local.They thought that way it would be easier to understand eachother and they would also be able to make a good judge of character.If they didn't understand the person then the latter would be difficult.It was true that they trusted their daughter's choice,but they also knew that love could make people blind.They didn't want their daughter to suffer because of love.They didn't want her to leave to another faraway place, without them being aware if she was okay.They knew how their kids didn't want them to worry much and would always keep their worries to themselves.At least in their small country, it would just be a small drive.They could often check up on her.

But if she was happy with him then that's all they needed.

Amelie continued her voice getting quieter and quieter.

"[H-he's the-well he was the director of the company Ivan works for,now he's actually the CEO.We had a few encounters and he started approaching and talking to me so we kind of-]"

"[Woah!Wait!CEO?!]"

Amelie nodded.

"[Didn't Ivan say that company is very big and successful when he first applied?]"Hekaterina said,her mouth still open wide.

"[...Yes.]"

"[Girl,you have a relationship and only tell us now?And to top it of he's basically a multimillionaire?]"

Hekaterina then started hitting her."[What happened with our promise that you would tell me first?Traitor!I always told you about every single detail with your brother-in-law,and you were the first I told about our relationship, proposal,pregnancies!Traitor!]"

Her mother was happy that her daughter had found such an outstanding man,but she still found it a bit too good to be true.

"[Ame,I know that you love money and all,but don't get too blinded with luxury!What's important is for him to be a good person that respects you and treats you right!]

Amelie was still being hit by her sister,but froze in place without blocking them,speechlessly staring at her mum.

"[Mum,I didn't choose him for money.I knew he had a good position,but I didn't know he had that high position....Oh my God,don't think I found someone that's twice my age!He's young!He's young!...And good-looking.]

"[Oh thank the lord!]"her mother said.Her sister paused and said."[Pics?]"

"[After we get out of the pool.]"

"[Okay!]" then she continued hitting her.

"[Am I that shallow in your eyes mother?]" Amelie was a bit taken aback.

[No,no,no!I know that my daughter isn't like that!Plus I know you also had other rich people that approached you and that you still refused, because they weren't good people!I know how you hate to rely on others, especially on a man!]

Amelie was silent for a bit then the hits by her sister who was ignored became harder.

"[Ou!Sorry!Ou!I didn't think things would get this serious this soon!That's why I didn't tell you anything,okay?]"Well it was half the truth.

"[What do you mean?]" her mother asked her.

"[He wants me to meet his family after 3 weeks.]"

This time her mother exclaimed.

"[What!]"

Amelie just wanted to drown now.

"[That's what he wants to do!]"

"[Isn't this a bit too soon?]"Hekaterina asked.

Her mother was thinking and then spoke.

"[Well it might be for someone a bit younger, Amelie is 27.]"

"[26!]" Amelie interrupted with a smile.Her mother rolled her eyes.

"[26.Is he younger or older?And what's his name?]"

"[Older.2 years.]" she then lowered her head,her voice becoming lower with each syllable.[His name is...Aiden Yoxal.]

"[A-den?]"her mother struggled a bit to pronounce it and when she finally did it properly,but in a heavy accent.

"[...Get your phone!Show him to us!]" they finally managed to kick her out of the pool.

Even if it was warm though the sun had just set.Getting out of the warm water with soaked bikinis,made Amelie still shiver.She immediately wrapped a towel around herself,dried her hands and found Aiden's Instagram profile.

She tried to find his most best-looking photo.Even if she couldn't stand him,he was still at least her fake boyfriend/fiancè.She couldn't disappoint her family.

"[There he is.]"

When her sister and mother saw the picture,they stared at it for a while stunned.

"[This is him?]"

"[Yes.]" Amelie said nonchalantly.

"[You've got to be kidding me.]"Hekaterina said.Then she continued."[Mum,she's probably lying to us,since we've been over her head for a while now!She is probably showing us the profile of an actor or model and lying.]"

"[Ame,you wouldn't go this far,just to get us off your case,would you?]"

"[I'm not!Didn't I already tell you he was handsome?Why are you so shocked?]" She scrolled up his profile, showing his recently updated bio "CEO of Yoxal Technology".Showing how she was following him despite his low number of followers.She showed them how he was following her too.

"[What other proof do you need?]"

"[Show us you chats!]" Hekaterina said.

"[Nice try Hekate.No.]"

"[Tsk,don't be so rude to your older sis!]"

After a moment of silence, her mother spoke.

"[To be honest,I just thought that was the way you saw him.We've seen with others how love does wonders.]"

The two didn't let Amelie escape easily and managed to get everything out asking for every single detail.Amelie was already prepared,but she still was nervous that she would say something wrong,but that nervousness made her act more believable.

"[So you'll return 2 days before our vacation.Good thing you won't miss it!]"

Of course, the thing they were more excited about was the fact that they would get the gossip as quickly as possible.

"[So when are you planning to shop for the presents?]"

"[I thought we could go a day the three of us would be free.]"

Her mother and her sister nodded.Her mother then said.

"[Don't forget to tell your father yourself!I think he would appreciate it more that way than learning it from me.]"

"[I was planning to do that during dinner.]"

"[And you also have to tell Ivan.]"

Amelie sighed."[I'll do it when he comes over for dinner next Sunday.]"

If telling her mother and sister was mentally draining then telling her father and brother was another type of mentally draining.

In front of their eyes, she had always been the youngest.In her father's eyes, she was still a baby despite being over 26 so it would inevitably be awkward for the both of them.With her brother, she had always been this tomboyish sister, sometimes similar to a brother and despite looking detached and chill most of the time,Ivan was actually very over-protective,more than he liked to show.In fact,both her father and brother were more overprotective than they showed.Her and Hekaterina had been the type of girls who weren't easily impressed by men so they hadn't managed to show it before,well until her sister introduced her husband,then boyfriend.The subtle glares,everyone was able to see.

This situation reminded her once again why she had loved being single.The burdens of a relationship had finally caught up to her.