Queen II Barzal

Chapter Eight: Mat

I put on a nice white shirt and a navy tie to match Bela's dress. I combed my hair in the bathroom while Bela was getting dressed.

"Maty, give me a hand?" She asked from our room, holding the zipper to her dress.

I zipped up her dress and put my hands on her waist.

"You look gorgeous, love," I kissed her neck. "Happy birthday,"

"The dress is beautiful," She smiled. "Thank you,"

Bela let me braid her hair. I've been practicing on Tyler for the longest time and I think I finally perfected it. She looked at her hair in the mirror and smiled, putting on her earrings.

While she was doing her makeup, I got Tyler and Riley ready. Tyler didn't want to wear a dress and Riley hated his tie.

"Tyler, can you please wear the dress?" I asked her. "Just for today,"

"How about a top and a skirt?" She asked.

She found a white top with a short, navy skirt.

"Damn, that does match, doesn't it," I mumbled.

"No dress?" She looked at me with puppy-dog eyes.

"Fine, wear the skirt," I said. Damn, being a girl dad is so hard.

I went over to Riley's room where he was playing video games without a shirt on.

"Yo, Riles," I said. "Get dressed,"

"After this game," He said, not looking away from his TV.

I picked up his other game controller and started playing with him. I always give in to video games and it isn't good.

Riley and I are pretty good at video games. Bela doesn't like them too much and Tyler would rather play with her friends. She does like the NHL games, but she doesn't play them often. Since Riley quit hockey, video games are one of the only things that connect us, otherwise, he completely shuts me out. I'm a cool dad, right? At least Ty thinks so.

Tyler came into Riley's room and saw us playing video games.

"Dad," She said, crossing her arms.

I paused the game and scoffed.

"Riley, playing video games?" I looked at Riley. "The hell are you doing, man, get dressed,"

"C'mon, Dad," Riley said, getting up from his bed.

"Wear the tie," I told him.

"Fine," He said.

I led Tyler out of the room while Riley got dressed. We met up with Bela in the hallway.

"You look pretty, Mom!" Tyler said.

"So do you, Ty," She smiled. "I'm so curious what your dad has planned,"

"It's a good one," I smiled.

I heard the doorbell ring a few minutes later. I told Tyler to get the door while I was cutting vegetables.

She went to the door and in came Shreya and Ethan.

"Happy birthday," They both said, giving Bela a hug.

After, they went to Tyler and Riley.

I washed my hands before going to say hello.

"Hey, guys!" I said, giving them hugs.

My attention went straight to Shreya's hand as she handed me a bottle of wine.

"Holy hell, Shreya, I'm blinded," I said, looking at her ring.

"Is that a ring?" Bela asked.

"Surprise," Ethan and Shreya said in unison.

"You're getting married?" Tyler asked.

"Who said anything about getting married?" Riley asked Tyler.

Tyler pointed to the ring on Shreya's finger.

"Wait, you," I looked at Shreya. "And you?" I looked at Ethan.

"I proposed yesterday," Ethan said.

"Since when were you guys even dating?" Bela asked.

"Since today, I guess," Shreya said.

"Okay," I said. "You guys are extremely odd, but I'm here for it,"

"I've shipped it from the beginning," Bela said.

"Enough about us," Shreya said. "It's not that important anyway,"

"Happy birthday, Bela," Ethan handed her a gift box.

"You didn't have to," Bela said, putting the box in the kitchen. The four of us adults went to the kitchen as Tyler and Riley went to the living room to watch TV.

"So, this was your surprise?" Bela asked, smiling.

"Do you like it?" I asked her.

"I love it," She kissed me on the cheek.

"Tyler, Riley, you want a snack?" I asked the kids from the kitchen.

"Yeah," They both ran up to the counter, taking fistfuls of chips.

"So, Tyler, are you still playing hockey?" Shreya asked.

"Yeah," Tyler replied. "I just played this morning,"

"How'd you do?" Ethan asked.

"Good," Tyler said. "I scored two goals!"

"That's awesome!" Ethan said. "You think you could become an NHLer like me and your dad?"

"Yup!" She took a bite of a baby carrot.

"You'd be a good addition to the Canes, don't you think?" Ethan asked.

"Or the Isles," I added.

"How about Toronto, baby?" Bela asked.

"Or maybe the Rangers," Shreya added.

There was a swarm of "eww"s from the whole table.

"Since when are you a Rangers fan?" I asked Shreya.

"Hockey?" She asked. "Oh, I thought we were just saying random teams,"

"Not the Rangers," Tyler laughed, rolling her eyes.

"So the Isles are on the table?" I asked.

"Geez, I'm not even in the juniors yet," Tyler laughed. "Don't get carried away,"

"How about you, Riles?" Shreya asked. "Still playing lacrosse?"

"Yup," Riley said.

"How are you doing at it?" Ethan asked.

"Good," Riley told them with no emotion.

"When's your next game?" Shreya asked.

"Tomorrow," He told them.

"Can we come?" She asked.

"Sure," Riley said.

"We'll be there," Ethan said.

"Cool," Riley went to Ethan and gave him a fist bump before going back into the living room.

"So, when's the wedding?" Bela asked as the kids went to the other room.

"Oh, yeah, there's a wedding," Shreya looked at Ethan.

"We didn't really discuss any of this wedding stuff yet," Ethan said.

"Like you were there for our wedding, we'll be here for yours," I told them.

"Thanks, man," Ethan said.