Pride

Chapter 14

"Don't call her ma'am or she'll ask you to leave. It makes her feel old. And my mother is absolutely stunning, but she doesn't care for compliments and will get annoyed if you give her more than one. Just tell her she looks nice when you walk in and leave it at that" Bay rambled. "Also, my mother has this superiority complex so if she says anything condescending just brush it under the table. It's way better that way"

Scooter rolled their eyes but couldn't suppress a smile as Bay helped straighten out their outfit. They had been informed that even a casual family dinner was business casual attire at the very least. So, Scooter had found a Navy blue dress shirt with buttons going halfway down and thrown it over a white knitted turtle neck, leaving the buttons undone. They had added creme-colored pants and a nice belt alongside two frog earrings, a few rings, and navy nail polish. When Scooter dressed, they always leaned toward masculine clothing and colors but more feminine accessories. They found it balanced things out best.

"Relax, I'm sure everything will go fine" Scooter chuckled. Bay nervously glanced over at his door before letting out a long sigh and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I don't know... You don't know how my family is" Bay mumbled. "Actually, you know what. Scratch that. It isn't my family it's a fucking business meeting" Scooter snorted at that and their aunt finally climbed out of the car after adjusting her makeup. Scooter had always been envious of their aunt. They weren't a huge fan of the fact that they had red hair... It didn't just come with the color, it came with pale skin, too many freckles, instant sunburns, and overall made Scooter incredibly insecure. Yet somehow their aunt always managed to pull it off.

She was shorter and very pretty with soft feminine features and neat straight hair that was a pale red. She had beautiful blue eyes and a polite smile. She wore a simple black dress Scooter had only ever seen her wear to weddings since she was always too busy working at the hospital to have nights out and rarely went to any events.

"You look lovely" Bay commented with a polite smile. He gave Scooter's hand a quick squeeze. "So do you" He added before heading toward the door and pulling it open.

"I like him" Their aunt mumbled as she nudged them with a small, teasing smile. Scooter glanced down at the floor with a small blush before following Bay inside. He led Scooter and May down the long hallways and into the nice dining room Scooter had only seen a handful of times. The seats were mostly filled with teens and young adults that looked similar to Bay and two much older adults that still managed to look young.

"Mr. And Mrs. Sandros, it's really nice to meet you" Scooter forced a small, yet polite smile as they reached over to shake their hands. Their heart stopped as Mrs. Sandros gave them a once over before returning the smile and shaking their hand.

"You too, dear. Please take a seat. Food should be served any minute now" Scooter hesitantly took their seat between May and Bay before glancing around at all of the eyes on them. "Bay, introduce them please" She gave Bay a stern look making Bay jump and the boy quickly forced a wide smile.

"Right... Scooter, May, this is my mom and dad" Bay began as he nodded toward the elegant middle-aged woman and a middle-aged man who looked nearly identical to Bay, only darker and with rounder eyes. "Then there's Emilio, Aline, Gloria, Rafael, and Clara. Unfortunately, Davi is still in Paris, and Denis is busy in Arizona" Bay briefly explained.

Scooter hesitantly glanced over the siblings in pure astonishment. Emilio seemed to be the eldest and he looked the most like Mrs. Sandros. He had neat and loose curls, dark olive skin, and almond-shaped brown eyes. He looked as if he walked straight out of a magazine. Then there was Aline who looked most like Bay with long curly black hair and pretty dark eyes. Then Gloria was practically a duplicate of Aline only with pencil straight hair and more makeup. They both had the same rich brown skin and black hair, the same shaped eyes, and plum-colored lips.