“What?!”
“Yes, ma’am, we are certain that Ms. Lauren is getting married.” The man bowed his head while speaking to the woman sat on the sofa reading a book.
She frowned up at him, before closing her book with a sound. “And she didn’t even entertain the idea of informing me about this?”
The man gulped before he looked up at his boss. “It is possible that Ms. Lauren forgot to—” Before he could finish his sentence, a book came flying towards him, which he dodged nearly.
“She never forgets to tell me the important things. Either she deems her marriage unimportant, or she sees me as unimportant.”
The guy breathed deeply as his heart pounded in his chest. He was so close to being blinded by a book.
“Get the maids to pack my bags, I’m going to go visit my daughter.” The woman stood up from the sofa before grabbing her purse from the side table. The large windows of the library were doing a marvelous job at highlighting her beauty which was still present at the age of fifty-four.
“S-She’s n-not in N-New York.” The now scared man informed as he gave the woman a nervous look. “She’s in a town in N-North Carolina.”
“And what the hell is she doing there?” The woman began to get interested as to why her daughter would go to a small town in North Carolina. There wasn’t anything wrong with the place, it was just that she was now a top-notch model, and everyone wanted her to star in their magazines, or fashion shows. And famous people never did get privacy.
So, why was she all the way in North Carolina and not in New York? It was a mystery.
The butler was about to answer her question when she cut him off, “Never mind the questions, just get me a plane to the town where she’s staying and go tell the maids to pack my damn bags!”
He was out even before she could yell at him about how slow he was.
The woman turned around to look outside of the large window as she frowned.
Mrs. Carla Grayson still didn’t know why her daughter would hide such a huge fact of her life from her. It was definitely not how she wanted her wedding to be like.
If the mother remembered anything, it was how Lauren had always gushed about a large wedding with everyone present, and the way her prince charming would stand at the altar waiting for her while her father would walk her down the aisle.
Sadly, her father wouldn’t be able to do that even if he wanted now, but that didn’t stop her mother from telling her how she’d do it if she had to.
Lauren would always become happy after knowing that, and not to forget how Stewart always made her happy with the things he promised her.
Did time really change people? Carla Grayson didn’t know.
But, she would soon find out.
……………………………………………………………………….
“Juliet!” Out of everyone that was around when uncle Tyler and aunt Judith came with their children, Stewart was the only one that ran up to Juliet to give her a huge hug.
This brought him a fist to the gut, before Juliet moved on to hug the people she was actually happy to see, like Lauren, Scarlet and Blake; while Stewart kept hugging his abdomen while smiling in pain.
“She’s gotten quite powerful over the years, huh.” Scarlet could only shake her head in pity towards her boss.
“Oh my god, I missed you guys so much!” Juliet exclaimed as she looked at the three people she was excited to see again. Three years were a long time and everyone was beginning to understand that.
It was only when Juliet’s eyes wandered off to a certain dyed-blonde haired woman, which made her smile leave her face.
“What is she doing here?!” She exclaimed in utter shock while the woman she was pointing at smiled awkwardly at her. Blake gave her cousin a big side-hug before exclaiming. “Thank you! Someone else thinks the same as me!”
Scarlet rolled her eyes at her overly-dramatic cousins before she smacked both of their heads, but that wasn’t enough to stop Juliet from blabbering out nonsense.
“Did you get back with her? Oh my god, are you marrying her, and not Lauren? Oh, oh my god, Lauren. She was so good to you, you lying cheapskate!” Juliet began slapping Scarlet’s arm which made Lauren chuckle.
“I’m so thrilled to know that you think so highly of your cousin.” The dark-haired woman spoke as she grabbed Juliet’s hands before she would hit her again. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Remember the last time I beat you both up.”
Juliet gulped before she frowned. “Explain right now, why you brought her here after all the pain she caused you?” Blake nodded his head frantically while their cousin gave them a harsh glare.
“I forgave her and you should too. And you, don’t go sparking up another fire before I spark up your ass with fire.” Blake didn’t back down – he sure looked scared – but he didn’t back down from his questioning stares.
“So, you forgave her just like that, and you didn’t stop her from her stupidity.” Juliet turned towards Lauren, who smiled at her. “It’s better to forgive people, Jules, we’re friends now.”
“Yeah, friends. You know, and you guys should be nice to her too. You’re practically talking about her in front of her, you rude-ass bitches.”
Juliet gave Scarlet a glare before she looked towards Katie, who was standing awkwardly by the sofa.
Clark and Angela, were still out of the loop yet they were watching the scene around them as if a movie was playing and the only thing missing was a tub of popcorn.
“Yeah, Jules, forgive her please.” Stewart chimed in which made Juliet shiver in disgust. “Don’t ever call me that.”
Stewart only threw a flirtatious smile at her, which she answered with a glare.
“Okay, I’ll forgive you since Scarlet did too, but I’m telling you, if you even try to sabotage their wedding or come between their relationship, I am going to skewer you alive.”
“Oh my god, no!” Scarlet looked at her cousin with a disgusted expression, as she shook her head.
“I am still not gonna forgive her for cheating on you.” Blake spoke up as he crossed his arms. Scarlet rolled her eyes before she ignored his claim and went out of the living room dragging a star-struck Stewart with her, as he stared at Juliet and whispered, “So cool.”
“Come on now, lover boy, we need to get the luggage out of the car.” Scarlet rolled her eyes at her boss. She was certainly surrounded by all the dimwits of the world.
And one of them was practically drooling over her cousin.
Speaking of that, she had to ask him if he really did like Juliet or was he just playing, because the last time he played with a girl, Scarlet ended up breaking up with Katie.
“Do you really like her?” Scarlet asked as she walked over to uncle Tyler’s car which was parked right in front of the house.
The Payne house was surrounded by cars. There was Stewart’s SUV, Andrew’s minivan, uncle Tyler’s sedan, and then uncle Tyler’s minivan.
It seemed like only uncle Tyler had good taste in cars, apart from Stewart himself.
“Who?” Stewart replied coolly, trying to hide the way his heart began to thump loudly with fear. Was he that obvious? As he looked back at his actions in the living room, he realized how blatantly obvious he was being.
“My cousin, Juliet. The one you were practically hugging just a few minutes ago.” Scarlet raised a questioning eyebrow at him as they reached the car and opened the back.
Stewart grabbed a bag, before pulling it out of the back. “I mean, she’s cute and totally cool – Oh my god, is it bad if I like her?”
The dark-haired woman tried to hold back her laughter as she looked at her clearly terrified boss. He still had nightmares about the time when Andrew threatened him and not to forget how Scarlet was such a huge asset to him.
Liking a woman of the Payne family meant going to war. A war you could not come alive from.
“No, it’s not that bad. I mean, uncle Tyler is practically a plush toy, but you know how my dad is. He won’t go easy on ya.” It was so fun for Scarlet, to look at her boss being frightened of her father, but it was all worth it as she patted his back.
They were done with getting the bags out of the van and were just sat at the back now. “But, don’t worry about everyone, just worry about Juliet, because she isn’t the type to fall for nice words or money. She’s a tough girl. You felt her punch right, and that was only when she wasn’t trying to hurt you. Wonder what might happen when she does want to hurt you.”
Stewart didn’t have to wonder as his stomach ached a little to tell him how hard her punch was.
“I’ll be sure to be careful.” He muttered in defeat.
Scarlet nodded before getting up. She was about to lift up the bags from the floor when a voice stopped her. A voice that only Stewart found familiar.
“Excuse me?” The voice was coming from the front of the van, and Scarlet tilted her body to the left to see the woman who was trying to call out to her.
Stewart’s eyes widened as he stood up as well.
“Do you know where I might find the Payne’s residence?” Scarlet smiled kindly at the woman before replying, “You’re standing right in front of it, ma’am. I’m Scarlet Payne, can I help you?”
“Oh yes, I wanted to know where my –” Before the woman could finish her sentence, Stewart came out from the back and faced his mother.
Ms. Carla Grayson looked at her son in surprise as he gave her a surprised look of his own.
“Mother, what are you doing here?”
Scarlet gave Stewart a confused glance before she widened her eyes and looked towards the young-looking woman standing in front of her. “Mother?”
Meanwhile, in the Payne house, Katie and Juliet were getting along quite well once Katie began to talk about how she was a nursery teacher. Apparently, Juliet wanted to be one herself since she loved kids, but the feelings weren’t always mutual.
“Oh, if you want, you can work with me after you’re done getting your degree.” Katie smiled at Juliet, who looked at her with doubt. “Would you actually help me in getting a job at your place?”
“Yeah, I mean, you seem like a strong woman and the kids love strong people. It gives them a sense of safety, plus its cool.”
Clark nodded his head, wanting to also be included in the conversation since he had been ignored since the time they entered into the Payne house.
Angela was busy playing with Gregory, who had finally become her friend and was happy about it. They were playing ‘walk the plank’ where Gregory was made to walk the plank because he was annoying to Angela. The plank was the sofa and he had to fall on the cushioned floor since Scarlet didn’t allow them to play without the floor being safe.
Angela had rolled her eyes at that.
She was annoyed with Gregory but somehow the nine-year-old couldn’t possibly be as annoying as the twins who had been flirting with her continuously.
“I mean, I have seen the stars and they shine bright, but they don’t compete with your beauty.” Edward gave her a smirk while Edmund gave him a headlock.
“Stop flirting with her. Let Gregory walk the plank!”
Gregory was happy to be with his older cousins again, and not to forgot how he had made a new ‘friend’ too.
While the four older kids played amongst themselves, Samantha was busy playing with Lauren. The blonde woman had somehow gotten close to the child that kept coming over to her.
“You’re quite a brave girl, ignoring Scarlet like that.” Lauren cooed at the little girl, who giggled happily.
While the guests played around in the living room, the older people were having a discussion in Grandma Payne’s room.
“That’s idiotic.” Uncle Jared spoke up as he rolled his eyes at his brother’s idea of a wedding place. “We can use a church, it’s not like Gay marriage is illegal now.”
Wanda and Laura nodded their heads as they accepted the idea of using a church as the wedding venue.
“Come on, I’m still voting for Scarlet and Lauren to decide where they want their wedding to happen. It’s not up to us.” Uncle Tyler chimed in as he looked towards his mother for support, who only gave him a brief nod.
“Tyler’s right, we should let the children decide.”
“But mother, they already have too much to think about, I mean, Lauren told me the other day that Scarlet had some big responsibility of getting a magazine draft done by the end of the month.” Andrew spoke up as he frowned. “They can’t handle work and preparations at the same time. And we grown-ups have to have responsibility for something, right?”
It was like it was a small round table meeting, as they all nodded their heads, finally agreeing to something in unison.
“But, what if they don’t want their wedding to be at a church?” Judith asked as she looked around at everyone. “We can at least ask them what type of venue they would prefer and then look over all the preparations.”
“That sounds better.” Grandma Payne nodded her head.
Everyone was now satisfied at how the meeting had adjourned.
“Now, get the hell out of my room! An old woman needs to rest her aching back!” She yelled at her sons and daughters-in-law, who got out of the room as fast as they could with chuckles escaping their lips.
Back at the living room, someone had invited themselves inside the Payne house with the help of Stewart who was stood beside an angry woman while Scarlet kept muttering ‘mother’ over and over again.
“Lauren, what is the meaning of this?!” Ms. Carla exclaimed just as the grown-ups were coming to the living room. They all caught sight of the woman and how Stewart was awkwardly trying to avoid everyone’s gaze.
“Who is she?” Andrew came to ask his daughter, who gave her an answer with her repeated word. “Mother.”
“Whose mother, child?” His question was soon answered as Lauren stood up with little Samantha in her arms. “Mother! What are you doing here!?”
And that is how the Payne family found themselves being left speechless.
“Mother?” Everyone was confused as to how such a youthful looking woman would be a mother, and a mother of Stewart and Lauren at that too. Surely, it was a joke, but it wasn’t.
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