We reached the pasta restaurant a few minutes later than expected, but I was sure that our sisters didn’t mind since they were aware of the traffic and that I messaged them about our traffic conditions. Our sisters were already there anyway, and it seemed as if they did know each other very well, based on their gestures from a distance. I decided to not saying anything, as did Skye, since we were somewhat curious as to what our sisters had to say about us.

“I still can’t believe your sibling is getting married to my sibling. How cool is that?”

“I know, we’re going to be sisters-in-law soon. The pipeline of best friends to sisters-in-law is a very neat one.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Of course our sisters were best friends, how could we not know? I nearly forgot about the fact that Mei had a best friend named Tanya in college, from our limited but amicable interactions throughout the years. This must be the same best friend who just so happened to also be my future spouse’s sister. 

Mei and Tanya heard my laugh, and turned their heads to our direction.

“Lee, Skye, you’re here! Ah, right, I forgot to tell you that I already knew Tanya since college. She’s my best friend and she was telling me that her sibling was getting married. It was then that we connected the dots and figured that it is our siblings that we’re talking about.”

Skye chuckled at that statement from Mei. Meanwhile, Tanya came up to me and gave me a hug. It was then I realised that Tanya was the same sister that I mistook for Skye’s girlfriend at that time right before we started dating. The way she looked at me though seemed as if she already knew and patted my back as she hugged me tightly.

“Lee, I’m so sorry for scaring you the last time we met, but I’m glad you decided to give my asshole sibling another chance. I know everything, as do Mei since we don’t keep any secrets. We know Skye will treat you well, or else they’ll be getting the fists from not just me, but also Mei.”

Mei heard what Tanya said and nodded at me. 

“Don’t worry, Lee, we may not be good roommates but I still love you, and I will protect you even though you’re older than I am.” 

I laughed. It was true, Mei was more of an elder sibling than I was. If I ever got into any trouble, she would be the one to save me. Skye also heard what Tanya said, and pinched her cheek. 

“Thank you Tanya, I know I would be in deep trouble if I ever hurt Lee, because I’ve been threatened by basically everyone including our parents.”

Tanya’s eyes widened in surprise, but also laughed at the thought of Marcus beating up Skye. It was honestly funny since Marcus was usually relatively gentle.

“I am glad to have you as my sister-in-law, Tanya. Don’t apologise for the misunderstanding that I caused, I’m just glad it got resolved quickly and I have Skye by my side now. I’m also glad that you’re Mei’s best friend. This makes things a lot easier then, since you two already know each other well.” 

We sat down soon after that and ordered our pasta. As usual, Skye got a vegetarian option and I decided to get something vegetarian as well, so that we could share our food. Tanya and Mei followed suit, as Tanya was also vegetarian and Mei didn’t usually eat a ton of meat anyway. 

I was curious about the reason for this dinner, so I turned to both Tanya and Mei.

“Tanya, Mei, is there a reason why you wanted to have dinner with us? It’s a bit out of the blue for you to want to eat with us, especially you, Mei.”

They both laughed. It seemed as if I made a funny joke to them.

“Well, I haven’t seen Tanya in so long, and I really wanted to meet my siblings-in-law anyway. Really, there’s nothing else.”

That last part wasn’t very convincing to me, but I didn’t press on. 

“I see, well you have the both of us in the flesh now. What can we do for you?”

“Well, we’re wondering if you wanted to do a bach party the night or two before your wedding. It is a tradition after all.”

I pondered. Skye and I actually discussed this and we ultimately decided not to have a full-on bach (gender neutral version of bachelor/bachelorette) party. Instead, we wanted to just have a private karaoke session with our friends. I knew it was against tradition to meet your spouse the night before the wedding, so we would have two sessions at two separate places. I invited Jess and Matt, while Skye invited a few of their musician friends. 

“Ah, Skye and I decided to just do a private karaoke session instead. We’re not really big fans of bach parties.”

Our sisters nodded and understood where we were coming from.

“It’s fine then, I’ll join your private karaoke session, while Tanya will join Skye’s. It’ll still be fun anyway!”

Both Skye and I agreed with Mei’s sentiment. We didn’t need to completely follow tradition to be happy. Plus, I would rather have my future spouse be fully sober in time for the wedding.

Once all of us were done with our food, I got up to pay the bill. It was nice seeing our sisters after all, and I felt obligated to treat them for being thoughtful of us. Before I could pay though, Skye already placed their credit card on the counter. I immediately pouted at them and began to protest, but before I could say anything, they leaned in and gave me a passionate but short kiss. 

“It’s okay, my dear fiance. We’re about to be married after all. What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours.”

My babe had the whole of my heart already but every time they said these things, my heart would feel even more fuller. They knew exactly what to say, what to do. Skye Long really had me around their finger at this point, and frankly I was 100% on board with it.

We dropped our sisters off at their homes, with my sister still living at my old home, and Tanya living not too far away from her either. Then, we went home and immediately went to bed after a nice bath, with Skye being the one in my arms this time. I couldn’t wait to marry the love of my life, and hopefully the day came closer.