The Unexpected (Part 5 - Lilies)

[Present day]

It was 8 PM, and unlike every night, Riza had prepared some special and extra dishes for dinner. Her small dining table, which had space for only 4 people was well decorated. She had even put a thin glass vase with some white lilies, on the table. The dishes she had prepared were on the table, covered with lids to keep them hot. She had already put some dog food in Hayate's bowl, which Hayate was enjoying, and she was sitting on her newly bought sofa, waiting for someone to come.

After some time, Riza heard someone knocking at the door. She opened it and saw two gentlemen were standing in their suits without a tie. Oliver was holding a bouquet of some yellow lilies and Roy was holding a bouquet of some pink lilies. Both were standing outside the entrance, waiting to be welcomed inside.

"Hello Major, hope we are in time," Roy offered the bouquet of pink lilies he was holding.

Riza took the flowers from Roy's hand, and soon after that Oliver greeted her, "Hello Ma'am."

When Riza looked at Oliver who was smiling and offering his bouquet of yellow lilies to her. Riza smiled back at him and bent to take the bouquet. Meanwhile, Hayate came from inside upon hearing Roy's voice and started running around Roy's feet, barking and wagging his tail.

"Oh, hey Hayate!" Roy patted Hayate on his head.

In the meantime, Riza stood up while holding the two bouquets and asked, "Why are you two wearing suits?"

"It's the first time Oliver has come to your house, so he asked me to wear one," Roy replied.

Riza chuckled and looked toward Oliver, but he was busy, playing with Hayate. So, she stroked his head gently to get his attention. When Oliver lifted his head and looked at her, she said affectionately with a smile on her face, "Let's go inside."

Roy and Oliver got inside the house and found that there was no decoration stuff in her house. Even though, when Roy looked at the dining table, he saw a beautiful tablecloth covering it, with a small flower vase with some white lilies in it was at the center of the table. Also, there were 5 different dishes present at the table. Those things didn't seem odd to Oliver because he didn't know Riza like Roy, who was surprised and knew very well why Riza did that, she was also looking very happy.

Riza went toward the dining table and picked up all the lilies in the vase except one, she then picked up a yellow lily from the bouquet and put it in the vase. Watching that, Oliver looked at Roy and started smiling and teasing Roy without making any noise. While Oliver was teasing his father, Roy grinned and pointed toward the vase which now contained a white, a yellow and a pink lily. Because the vase now had 1 flower of each color, Oliver stopped teasing Roy. Riza then put the remaining flowers near her awards and looked toward Roy and Oliver.

"You must be hungry," Riza said while walking toward the dining table.

"I am very hungry, I don't know about dad though," Oliver said.

"Let's eat then," Riza suggested.

All three of them sat around the small dining table as a family. Roy and Riza sat opposite to each other, while Oliver sat in between them. Riza already knew that Oliver would need a high chair to eat properly, so she had put a pillow on the chair where Oliver was sitting. She then poured some food on Oliver's and Roy's plate.

Riza had prepared all the favorite dishes of Oliver, so when Oliver saw them, he got overjoyed.

"Wow Ma'am, you always know what I like," Oliver praised excitedly.

Riza smiled and thanked Oliver while serving the remaining dishes.

While eating, Oliver was calling Hayate to feed him some of his food, but he was persuaded by Riza.

"You can play with him later Oli. Hayate has his own food, you don't need to feed him," Riza said politely.

Hayate also barked with agreement, and returned back to finish his food in the bowl. Oliver then looked toward Riza and asked, "Do you live alone with Hayate?"

Riza looked at Hayate who was also eating his dinner on the floor, and replied, "Yes...Hayate is like a son to me."

"Dad told me that you are very strict, but you always treat me nicely whenever we meet. Sometimes you scold me though, but that is fine," Oliver said.

"I am only strict to people who don't behave, like your dad," She smirked while looking toward Roy before finishing off her sentence.

"So I don't behave, hmm?" Roy said.

They spent the time by eating and talking like a happy family. And after finishing the dinner, when Oliver was about to get out from his chair, Riza interrupted.

"Oli, I have something else too," Riza said.

Oliver moved back to his chair and asked curiously, "What is it, Ma'am?"

"Wait, let me bring it," Riza replied while moving out from her chair.

She went to the kitchen and brought an ample amount of ice cream in two bowls. Oliver's eyes started sparkling when he saw those bowls.

"YOU ARE THE BEST, MA'AM," He gushed.

Riza placed one bowl in front of Oliver and another one, in front of Roy. As soon as Oliver saw the ice cream bowl in front of him, he took the spoon and started eating it. Roy on the other side, looked at Riza who didn't have an ice cream bowl for herself.

"You are not going to have some?" Roy asked.

"No, I got something sweeter than ice cream," She replied while looking at Oliver eating ice cream.

Roy smiled, looking at Riza's happy face.

They spent some time telling Oliver some stories from their life, and finally, it was time to leave. Roy, Riza, Oliver, and Hayate were standing outside Riza's apartment, where Roy's car was parked. There was also a driver and a bodyguard standing beside the car.

"Thank you for the dinner Major," Roy thanked.

"It's my pleasure," Riza responded.

Meanwhile, Oliver remembered something. "Oh…oh…I forgot to give you something"

"What is it Oli?" Riza asked.

Oliver pulled out a small sheet from his pocket and gave it to Riza. The sheet was folded so she unfolded it. It was a childish drawing of a smiling girl standing beside a tree with her hands behind and her feet joined showing shyness.

"How is it, Ma'am?" Oliver asked anxiously.

The drawing was very good when you know that it was drawn by a 9-year-old. But still, Riza was only able to identify that the drawing was of some girl and nothing beyond that. So, she asked politely, "Who is this girl?"

"I copied it from a photo of yours my dad had. He told me that a photographer took this photo when you were a girl. I know that drawing is not that good but, I tried my best," Oliver blushed.

Riza stopped for a moment, looked at Roy and smiled. Riza knew that Roy had one of her childhood photographs, still, he started laughing awkwardly out of embarrassment. Riza then bent down to give a kiss on Oliver's cheek.

"Thank you Oli," She tousled his hair affectionately.

"You are welcome," Oliver smiled.

"You are a pretty lucky guy, you know? You got Hawkeye's kiss," Roy commented.

Hayate also barked with agreement and started wagging his tail, due to which Oliver chuckled. Meanwhile, Riza reminded them of something crucial. She said, "I think you should go now, it's already late and Oli has his school tomorrow"

"Goodnight then," Roy said.

Oliver also followed up and said, "Goodnight Ma'am. Goodnight Hayate, I will meet you tomorrow"

Oliver bent down and tousled Hayate's head to which Hayate responded with a bark.

"Goodnight you two," Riza responded.

The bodyguard then opened the car's back door, and the father-son duo got inside. They took their farewell from Riza after that. Riza also went to her house with Hayate and closed the door. She took the drawing into her bedroom and put it in the drawer beside her bed after placing a kiss on it.

While sleeping she kept on thinking about telling a secret to Oliver which she hid from him from a long time. She finally decided to reveal whatever truth she was hiding the next evening, after Oliver's school. And she slept thinking about how she was going to tell Oliver the truth, and how he was going to react after listening to it.