LOVING THE REJECTED BILLIONAIRE

“Ooh, I said I can walk, daddy. Just put me down.” Angel snorts to her daddy after we get out of the car, makings us all laugh.

She is acting all tough and strong for someone who just left the hospital, but we are all happy that she isn’t now experiencing much pain. At least her attitude doesn’t say that.

“Are you sure you can walk, princess?” Andy and his worries as he puts her down albeit unwillingly.

“Of course, daddy. Princesses are strong, right?” She chirps, taping her feet on the ground and walking a few steps ahead of us as we watch her. “See, I can walk.””Okay, but just be careful, okay? Don’t run.”She smiles as she leads us inside the house, marching with so much vigour. She must have been so exhausted of being constrained in that hospital bed. I would be as much overjoyed if I were her.

Stepping inside, she stops just a step away from the door, her eyes darting around to the new faces awaiting her inside – my family. We walk in, Andy and I standing on her sides.

“Hi, cutie!” Mina chirps from the small crowd, waving a hand to Angel. She seems to be in awe and shock. These faces before her are all new, and I am afraid new faces haven’t been of good impression on her of late.

“Hi.” She waves back. “Are they bad people too?” She asks, her eyes not leaving them.

Andy crouches beside her, while my eyes fall on this particular weird human being – Maria’s mother, perched on the seat. My hormones just don’t seem to blend well with this woman for some reason. Wait, why is she here? How did she even get to this house?

“No, baby. These are our new family.” Andy says, calling my attention.

Family? That’s, deep.

“Family, daddy? Who are they?”

“They are Tania’s family, and that makes them our family too. You trust they are good, right?””Yes, daddy. Mommy Ania’s people can’t be bad. Are they going to live with us, mommy?”Huh! What’s that?

“Aaa, no…”

Andy cuts me off. “Why don’t you say hi to them first, princess, huh? Let them tell you their names first then we can talk about the rest later.””Okay, daddy.” She walks towards them, while I snuggle up to Andy. Why did he cut me off?

“What are you thinking?” I query, but instead of answering, he winks first, his eyes browsing my family one by one. He is up to something, but definitely, not bad.

“I admire your family, babe. I want to steal them from you, with your permission of course. Would you mind?”Huh?

“What do you mean? They are already your family, love.” I retort.

“How about living with them, I would love to experience that.” He states.

I get what he means. I would love to extend my family to him, and I am sure they love him as much, but that is only for them to decide. Besides, Mina and Mira are schooling. It will be difficult to transfer them mid-year given that they are in their final year. I can’t decide that.

“You don’t have to think about it so much, okay? It’s just a wild imagination.” He says.

“We can always ask them, hun. It won’t hurt, right?” I rub his hand, and he grins.

“Okay. Will you help me with that?”

“Okay. Anything for you babe. Whatever makes you happy, I will be glad to grant it to you.””Thank you.”

“Mommy?” Angel startles us, walking to us. “Are they going to be our family?”I crouch before her, taking her small arms into mine. “Do you like them, baby?” I ask.

“Yes, mommy. But why do those two look so much alike? I can’t seem to differentiate them.”That made Andy and I laugh. I can’t blame the little girl, though. It takes one a long time to be able to differentiate who is who. Even back at home.

“Hey, kiddo. Come, let’s show you how to distinguish us, okay?” Mina speaks, taking her hand.

“Can I go with her mommy?”

“Of course. Go.” I say to her, and Mina pulls her to the seat with Mira.

Rita and I excuse ourselves to go to the kitchen and get food that mom and my sisters prepared, while Andy leads everyone to the dining area. I peek at them as they settle on the seats, Andy exchanging words with them, especially my father, and I feel happy and fulfilled. Seeing him this happy and contented is my contentment, and I will do anything to conserve that smile on his beautiful face.

“I have never seen him this happy.” Rita mumbles behind me, peeking at them too.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Me too. Do you think my parents would want to stay over here?” I query as we turn to get the food.

“I can’t say for sure, bestie. Life over here is beautiful, but they are used to another different kind of life. Although if you ask me, your parents need to enjoy a little bit of change and comfort at their age. Life in the city will be good for them. I should also think the same about mine.”We carry the food to the table, and after settling everything, we take our respective seats next to our spouses as we do the self-service. Mom’s cooking has been mouthwatering from the start, and today’s delicacy that she made isn’t an exception. Mina, Mira, and Angel are bonding nicely. My sisters are enchanted by the little cutie, and she is warming up to them nicely. I have no doubt they will become play buddies.

Nothing much is exchanged between food except a few compliments here and there, and of course, Andy telling them that cooking was one of the things that made him fall for me. Everything is okay, and everyone is happy, except for this auntie gross. Nothing seems to excite her at all. Not even her grandchild whom she desperately wanted to so much get close to. After the intro, she hasn’t said a word to her, nor is she sparing her even a glance. She’s awfully mute.

“Auntie, Grace. Are you okay?” I just had to ask, because something so feels odd about her.

All the eyes shoot at her.

“For a person who just lost her only child, Tania, am doing exemplary good by just being around you all, right? I’m here, sharing in your joy and victory even though I’m in no mood for all these.”Pardon my brain, but…

“But auntie, nobody forced you to be here, right? I was actually surprised to even find you here.”She clears her throat twice, taking in a deep breath as she stiffens in her seat. “I need to do this. I need to stay strong for what is to come.””What is to come?” My curiosity fires, the nerves of my body arising.

“I mean, the real moaning. My daughter is not yet buried, and I know I haven’t experienced the real pain yet. I hope you all can understand my situation.”I guess she is right? It might be my hormones disliking her.

“I personally apologise for your loss and what you are going through in general, madam, Dahria. Nobody intended for things to end this way. My sincere apologies, but I hope you also understand that Ania…” Smirk at that. “I mean, Tania and I need to move on. We deserve to be happy after all that long unprecedented battle.” Well, it couldn’t have been put any better. He always finds the right words.

“I do Adrian. Don’t restrict yourselves because of me.”Rita and I take the empty dishes to the kitchen and get the champagne, and juice for the children.

“Rita, do you notice something odd with my auntie?” I query, massaging my neck.

“Huh? Like what?” She retorts, packing the glasses in a try.

“I don’t know. The way she is acting. I just feel weird about her.” I stop scratching my neck, reaching for the bottles.

“The poor woman is grieving, Tania. You don’t expect her to be sane and all dolly and bubbly. I even admire her bravery to be seated among us.” She grabs the tray, insinuating that this matter doesn’t carry the weight I’m laying on it. “What are you thinking, Tania?”I breathe out a sigh, making a mental note to stop allowing paranoia to get the best of me.

“Nothing. Forget it. I guess you are right.” I start walking out, Rita trailing behind me.

We serve the drinks and hand everyone a glass.

“Ooh, sissy, we are over eighteen, you know. A sip of champagne won’t do us any harm, right Mina?” Mira’s voice echoes, making my parents snap their faces at her.

“Of course. Just two or three sips.” Mina seconds her twin. That was so expected.

“Still no, and this is not up for discussion.” Father responds on my behalf, silencing them.

Mother smirks at them, while I raise my hands.

“You heard it, girls.” I scoff.

Andy takes his glass, and stands up, clearing his throat. “I’m sorry, twins, but I agree with your father. You are too young for this.” He teases them.

“Daddy, you can’t differentiate them too? I’ll show you how to.” She turns to Mina on her right. “This is Mina. She has long hair, and is slightly taller than her,” she turns to Mira on her left, both girls mesmerised by her, “Mira.” The two girls can’t hide their smiles, and they start clapping for the little girl, everyone on the table joining the riposte too.

“My Princess is so sharp, huh? You’ll have to keep reminding me that because daddy is kinda old now, okay Princess?” Andy smirks.

“You are not old daddy, but okay?” Angel chirps.

“Okay baby.” He clears his throat, summoning our attention. “I would like to take this opportunity and thank you all for your great support. Thank you, mom and dad, for everything.” Ooh, I love how he calls them, and the smiles on their faces at that. “I can’t explain how grateful I am. To Mina and Mira, my sisters, I thank you for saving my daughter’s life. To my friends, Ambrose and Rita, I am greatly appreciative of your support. Thank you all so much. A toast to all of you. May God bless you abundantly.”We all raise our glasses and toast to that, and he continues right after.

“And another toast to my daughter – my strength and joy, Angel. Daddy loves you so much.” He raises a glass to Angel, and we do the same, clinking our glasses.

“Love you more daddy.” Angel chips with a broad grin as we lower our glasses, and Andy returns her smile, his lips curving up to the most adorable smile.

They say blood is thicker than water, but these two aren’t connected by blood, yet the bond they share is beyond blood. They are inseparable.

“To the love of my life,” he turns and reaches for my arm, helping me to my feet, and he pulls me to him, his arm encircling my waist. We face each other, and I find myself blushing, “my all, my light in darkness and source of joy, Ania. I would be lying if I say that I have exact words for you. You pulled me out of a hole I never thought I would get out from. You showed the most beautiful side of this life compared to the ugly one I knew and got used to from the beginning. When the dark cloud befell us, you danced with me through it all. You never got tired, and you never left. I am nothing without you, Tania Marie Lawson. God bless you for me, mi Amor. Te Amo mucho. Eres mi Vida.””Te Amo mucho, mi amore. Eres mi Vida.” I whisper, and as the room is filled with the clicking of glasses followed by loud shouts of joy and clapping, we draw our faces to each other, align our lips, and in front of everyone, we seal our love with a beautiful kiss, dancing to the tune of our throbbing joy. I don’t even mind my family as I kiss him with the same passion and intensity as his.

I open my eyes as we pull away, darting my eyes at the small crowd of cheerful people, except that one. She is the only one parked on her seat, gawking at us in a look that I can’t quite decipher, while the rest are on their feet cheering for us. Upon noticing my eyes on her, she forces herself up, putting her hands together in a lagged clapping. She is…”And another toast, to the newest member of my beautiful nuclear family – the angel we are expecting. Ania and I are pregnant.” That blew up all the steam in the room.

Angel is all smiles, and she even blew us a kiss, while Andy tickles me with a kiss on the neck, resting our glasses on the table and pulling me out of the seat to the empty space.

The cheers stop suddenly, all the eyes and attention on us. Angel withdraws from the crowd, walking behind her daddy as he goes down on one knee.

Huh! Did he forget that he proposed already? The gold ring has been on my finger since then.

Angel rests her hands on her daddy’s shoulder, her eyes flickering with joy, the beautiful smile on her face lighting this room. This kid though! As if she knows what her mischievous daddy is up to.

“And now, I ask you once again, Tania Lawson, to be my lawfully wedded wife. Grant me the honour of bearing my name, and give me the pleasure of loving you for the rest of my life. Will you be my wife – Mrs Ashton, and love me for eternity, and I, you?”Ooh, my! I’m tearing up again. I thought we went through this before, and I was over this overwhelming feeling, but I was wrong. I feel just like I felt that day he proposed. And just like that day, as I stare at his hand before me waiting for me to grab it…”Say yes, mommy!” Angel chirps, stopping my tears of joy from flowing.

I take his hand into mine, clasping it tightly as if I will never let go, which I don’t intend to. Come whatever may, I will be always by his side.

“I accept, Andy. I want nothing more than to be Mrs Ashton. Once again, YES! I will marry you!” I thought I was whispering, but it came out loud enough to summon the cheers back into the room a gain.

He stands up, hugging me tight for a moment, and pulling away, brushing his lips on mine for a peck before turning to everyone. He scoops Angel in his arm, and encircles me with the other. His family is in his arms.

“We have a wedding in a week to prepare for!” He announces.

Silence!

A freaking what? In a week!? How on earth is that possible!?