The lunch

“What if your mother doesn't like me?”, I asked nervously as we had just parked outside the driveway of the home he grew up in. I remember seeing his family at the wedding, but then it got all chaotic that there was no time for the proper introductions and everything.

“You should actually be worried about what's going to happen if she loves you. You'll be here more than I am and that's honestly worrying”, he joked around, making me even more nervous.

“You're not helping Nathan”

“Okay listen”, he entwined our fingers over the center console in between the car seats and I took a deep breath. “My family is going to love you, trust me”

To think that I was actually confident when I woke up this morning about meeting his family, I really must have lost it on the way here because sitting here just made everything a lot clearer. The first impression I'm going to make the second I walk through that door is the kind of impression that's going to last forever, especially if I want his family to like me and think I'm thought I'm good enough for him.

“Are you ready?”, he asked with his hand on the door knob and I took a deep breath before I nodded my head in agreement

“Okay”, he pushed the door open and motioned I to go in first. “We're here”, he loudly announced when he closed the door behind us and I kinda froze in my spot as I took in the interior of the house with my eyes, it was blankly spectacular, a touch of modern and old fashion class blend here and there, it was really beautiful.

“Nathan and Olivia are here”, a teenage girl galloped in our direction, actually running towards Nathan's opened arms, and he picked her up as soon as she reached him. She giggled as he spun them around for a while before he finally placed her down again.

Catching a glimpse of me standing behind them, she immediately threw her arms around me, and I was taken aback a little when she locked me warmly in her embrace, but then I hugged her back with the same energy

“It's finally great to meet you Olivia. I'm glad you could make it”, she stated with a wide grin on her face, instantly wiping away how nervous I was when I walked through the door.

“Liv, this is my sister Sidney”, Nathan introduced her and I smiled at her. It was quite obvious she was his sister because she shared almost his facial features, in a more feminine way including their prominent beautiful amber eyes.

“It's lovely to finally meet you Sidney, I've heard so much about you”

“Only good things I hope”, she ran her hand through her long light brown hair as she gave Nathan the side eye, and he shrugged his shoulders, clearing away from being incriminated in this conversation

“Only good things, I promise”, I laughed, and she seemed pleased as she nodded her head. Sid looked sweet and innocent, and I could tell she was quite the heartbreaker.....or so I've been told.

“You're early for once Nathan”, we heard a masculine voice from a distance, and we all turned our heads to see an older version of Nathan approaching where we were standing as it seemed he was coming from one of the rooms downstairs, carrying a small baby in his arms. I was actually surprised at how similar they looked. Apart from Nathan being a little shorter than him, I couldn't even tell the difference between them.

“Oh my God, you guys look so alike”, my mouth was parted in surprise as I pointed in between them, at this point I wasn't even sure Nathan was Nathan

“That can't be right”, older Nathan laughed, seemingly amused by what I just said. “I look nothing like this fool”

“This is Jamie, my older brother”, Nathan rolled his eyes a little as he said that before stretching out his arms so that he could take the little one in his hands and Jamie leaned over to place the baby cautiously in Nathan's hands and I couldn't help but notice how Nathan's face looked as he cradled the small baby to his chest, carefully rocking him side to side

“It's nice to meet you Olivia”, Jamie stretched out his hand for a handshake and I placed my hand in his

“Likewise”, I smiled politely at him as we broke our contact and my eyes turned to the adorable baby Nathan was holding safely in his hands, walking towards him to play with one of his little hands. “Who's this cute little one?”

“This is Jaden, my handsome little nephew”, Nathan was smitten as we looked down on his little face

“He really is handsome”, I cooed softly as I stroked his little cheek, and he stopped sucking softly on his pacifier to smile at me, the kind of smile that just warms up my heart so much I couldn't help the huge smile that was growing on my face

Okay, I didn't need this right now because I was already suffering from extreme baby fever from being a part of Anna's pregnancy journey and now this?

“It's now time for his afternoon nap unfortunately”, a woman appeared from one of the rooms Jamie seemed to surface back from, boy was she beautiful and flawless with her light green eyes and wavy dark hair that complimented her soft facial features

“Already?”, Nathan let out a disappointed whine. “But we just got here Cass. I want to spend more time with him”

“You will, when he wakes up from his nap”

“Olivia, this is my wife Cassidy”, Jamie stretched out his hand for her to hold, bringing her close in a side hug

“Darling, this is Nathan's girlfriend, Olivia”

“It's a pleasure to meet you Olivia”, she took a step closer to me and hugged me, air kissing both my cheeks as we broke away, and I smiled politely at her

“Pleasure to meet you too”, she reciprocated my smile before turning to Nathan again, stretching her arms out and Nathan shielded Jaden from her

“Two more minutes, then I'll go put him down”, he begged desperately and Cass tilted her head, unable to say no to the pouty face he was putting on and she finally agreed

“He can be a little difficult, so I'll go with you”, Jamie said as he and Nathan started walking in the opposite direction, and he turned to wink at me before they disappeared from sight

“Come with me Liv”, Cass took my hand in hers and pulled me in the direction of what I assumed must be the kitchen

“You look a little nervous, are you okay?”, she asked when she noticed I was fiddling with my fingers a little and I slowly nodded a little. I had little social anxiety around people I wasn't quite familiar with, but something told me I was going to be okay here.

“I understand, meeting the family can be a little overwhelming the first time, but you'll be okay”, she reassured, and I felt more and more relaxed. We chatted a bit as we started in the preparation on the salads for the braai. Sidney joined us, and we got to know each other a little. They were really nice, and it turns out we all watched the late night reality show I loved, and so we had much to talk about

“Ladies, can I steal her for a minute?”, Nathan walked into the kitchen as our laughter died down, and we all looked at him

“As long as you bring her back as soon as you're done, I guess you can”, Cass notified him as she carried on with the chopping

“I promise I will”, he was already pulling me by the hand out of the kitchen

“See? I told you have nothing to worry about”, he said as he twirled me around a little just when we were about to ascend up the stairs.

“Where's your parents though?”, I asked curiously and just when he was about to answer me, the front door was pushed open and they both walked in, holding grocery bags in their hands

“They had to do some last minute shopping for the braai”, Nathan whispered near my ear as we walked down the staircase again and approached them

His mother's face beamed instantly from the sight of us as she hugged both of us individually, my hug was longer than Nathan's though and for some reason I thought that was a good sign that it wasn't going to be all that bad after all

“Liv, this is my mom and stepdad, Violet and Joseph Carter”

Nathan didn't actually have the greatest relationship with his biological father, even though they sometimes talked his dad wasn't playing an active fatherly role in all their lives because he was always away on business

When Joe came into their lives, he gave them all the love and affection they could only imagine getting from their father as he treated and made them feel like they were his own

Even though Mr McCarthy was also invited to the braai today, Nathan doubted he would show up...and by the looks of it, it seems he was right

Nathan pulled me closer to him. “My lovely parents, this is my girlfriend-”

“Olivia Davis, we know”, Mrs Carter briefly interrupted him, still smiling at me

“It's nice to meet you both Mr and Mrs Carter

“No, it's nice to finally meet you Olivia”, Mr Carter gave me the ordinary, not too awkward side hug and squeezed my shoulder gently. “And please call me Joe”

“Got it”, I gave him a thumbs up, and he laughed as he took the shopping bag Mrs Carter was holding

“I'll take these to the kitchen”

“Nathan, why don't you help Joe with the braai fire outside?”, Mrs Carter suggested and Nathan hesitated a little as he turned to look at me, twisting his lips a little in worry. He had warned me beforehand that his mother was a bit of an over sharer and a talkative conversationalist, leaving me alone with her only meant that she could also bring up events from the past.

“I was hoping I could give Liv a tour of the house first”

“I'll do it”, she cheerfully clamped her fingers together, looking between us as Nathan and I exchanged brief looks

“But mother-”

“It's okay Nathan”, I brushed my hands on his arm. “I'll be fine”

He still looked a bit hesitant as he took a step back, mouthing an okay turned on his feet, leaving me alone with his mother. I smiled nervously at her, dropping my eyes for a second before I saw her put out her arm for me so that we could entwine our arms together.

“Shall we?”, I gave her a nod as we accelerated up the stairs, and she started on the tour, showing me how every room was different in its own way. She further explained to what inspired the design of the interior of the rooms as she had designed the house herself, and I was remarkably impressed and fascinated at how she came up with all these ideas that signified her creativity. All the rooms were very elegant.

“This house may look big outside but inside it's just these huge walls closing in on us. It's actually really small”, she said at the end of the tour, and I was still very blown away at how exquisite a home can look, almost like the ones we see on the lifestyle programs on Tv.

“You have a lovely home, Mrs Carter”

“Please call me Violet”, she patted my hand gently, and I realized we were not quite done with the tour, and we ended up in the patio, with the beautiful view of the garden landscape across us

I could feel 'the talk' was coming....

“You know, the first time Nathan told me about you was during a phone call one evening. He told me he couldn't sleep and when I asked him why; he said to me, “It's because of a girl” and I was like oh a girl?. He sighed heavily and said, “I don't know mom, there's just something about her” and that later progressed to “I can't wait for you to meet her”

I smiled a little, but inside I was like jumping in joy. I didn't even know he was talking to his mother about me.

“Nathan was in a dark place for months after Kathy's passing, distancing himself from all of us by studying for his degree as a diversion from reality, and it was like I couldn't even recognize my own son anymore. He seemed and acted okay, at one point I was convinced he was because he's always been good at hiding the hurt from everyone. I didn't think he'll ever be the same again, until you came along”

The first time Nathan opened up about Kathleen was a few weeks into our relationship, it was supposed to be her birthday and I realised something was wrong. He wasn't himself at all. When I confronted him about it, he was hesitant at first telling me about Kathy because he hardly ever did, he was just trying to cope as good as he could, and I understood that people grieved in different ways and Nathan was no different.

His description of Kathy was that she was a wonderful person, free-sprited and was loved by everyone. They got married really young, in their early twenties and like any wedded couples, they loved each other right to the moment Kathy drew her last breath. The reason why he didn't want to talk about her was because he didn't want me to feel like I was in some kind of competition with Kathy whereby I would feel threatened by her because the truth was, she was his first love.

He was only afraid that talking about her would change things in our relationship, but this wasn't a competition at all. I respected that she'll always be a part of him, and it wouldn't be easy for him to just shut her out of his life like she never existed. It would always be hard to come to terms with her death because Kathy didn't just choose to leave him.

The whole experience however somehow made us grew closer to one another. Talking on a deeper, emotional level just strengthened our relationship and I just saw him as a whole new person. All Kathy ever wanted was for him to be happy, and I was glad to help him in a way on that journey.

“I honestly don't remember the last time I saw him this happy and for that, I would like to thank you”

No, no. Thank you for giving birth to him. Honestly

“You really don't need to thank me Mrs Carte — I mean Violet”, I corrected myself when I saw her raise her eyebrow at me. “Nathan came into my life at a time I wasn't even close to searching for someone who'll love and accept me the way I am. I'm really the lucky one here”

“Even so, you bought my old Nathan back. He's back to his own self again”, she started tearing up, but quickly wiped away those tears, regaining the sweet smile on her face and I couldn't help but to hug her to comfort her a little.... I didn't know what else to do because I'm not so good at words in situations like this.

“I'm afraid that's the end of the tour my dear”, she said as we broke away from the hug

“It was perfect. 5 stars from me”, she laughed as we went on our way to join the others downstairs

Getting to know Nathan's family wasn't all that bad as I thought it would be, they were actually lovely people and not once did I feel like an outsider because they were all very accommodating. I could see it on Nathan's face that he seemed pleased that I was getting along with them, it was really important to him that all the people he cared about were gathered in one room, peacefully and harmoniously.

When he was finished eating, he leaned with his arms folded on the table, simply just looking at me and I rose my eyebrow at him, noticing how his eyes would drop from my eyes to my lips back and forth, his eyes starting to get little, having that sexy bedroom eyes look on his face

I mouthed stop to him, and he actually found it funny, as I saw his chest rumble a little with a laugh, and he turned to look away. Then I felt his hand set firmly on my inner thigh, squeezing gently, and I fidgeted in my seat a little, reaching underneath the table to interlock our hands over my lap so that he didn't try anything funny. This wasn't the time or place for him to awaken something in me.

After lunch, we took the gathering in the backyard garden where we wrapped the rest of the afternoon with some drinks and snacks over small talk. Nathan kept me close to him at all time, mostly because he wanted to be the one that fills me in on all the inside jokes so that I don't get dumbfounded on what they were talking about, but then the girls managed to steal me away from him.

When he stood up to walk back inside the house, I followed after him with an excuse that I was going to the bathroom and I found him pouring himself some whiskey

I hugged him from behind, circling my arms around his waist and he turned to face me

“Hey my person”, he smiled while raising the glass in his hands to his lips. “Are you having fun?”

“I am actually. You have a wonderful family”

“I told you that you have absolutely nothing to worry about”

“Yeah you did”, just when he was about to take another sip, I stopped him. “Can I have taste?”

“Yeah sure”, he gave me his glass and I took a small gulp, feeling it strongly burn the back of my throat as it teared my esophagus in half and I started coughing as soon as I forced myself to swallow. He pressed his lips together, holding back an obvious laugh.

“Are you okay?”

“It burns”, I croaked while sticking my tounge out, my eyes even started to water

“It does”, he took the glass from me and drank from it, his lips twitching a little after he swallowed the bitter liquid. “But you get used to it with time”

“My chest is on fire”, I pressed my hands against my chest, where I could feel the fiery sensation underneath the skin. He then placed his hands underneath mine, starting to massage my chest gently with his hands to soothe the heat I was going through.

“Is that better?”, he asked, and I slowly nodded my head, and he wrapped his arms around my shoulders

“Much better”, I smiled locking eyes with him as I did so and he pressed his lips on my forehead before settling his eyes on me again

“What?”

“You were really amazing today”

The smile on my face probably brightened even more as I breathed out a giggle

“You really need to stop making me blush like this”

“I can't help it”, he leaned to kiss me fully on the lips, but I pulled away when I heard some footsteps approaching the kitchen. Joe stopped in his tracks when he walked into us tangled into each other's arms.

“Oh, I sincerely apologize for interrupting”, he said jokingly, taking a step back. “Please continue”

He disappeared from sight and Nathan and I started snickering as exchanged looks but Joe quickly appeared again

“When you're done though, Nathan I need some help with the cleaning the grill outside if you would be kind enough to assist young man”

“I'll be there in a minute”

“Thanks”, he disappeared again, and we released each other

Nathan turned to look at me, shrugging his shoulders lightly. “Duty calls”

“Okay”

“One last kiss?”, he tapped the side of his cheek and I leaned to kiss him there, but he quickly turned his head so that I kissed him on the lips

“Sike”, he grinned as he started backing away. “We'll finish this later on though”