Becoming a Scott

Chapter 5

"Why didn't you got to the party last night?" Christina asked as she watched her uncle cook.

He glanced from over his shoulder. "Work, mostly, there's some account that needed to be settled before sunrise. All boring stuff."

Isabela sat down beside Christina, "Your uncle has spoiled me."

Christina laughed, "In what way?"

"He always insist on cooking breakfast and since the rest of your family hates to wake up before noon then I figured I'd let him."

"It's really me who's been spoiled," he took a sip of his coffee. "Morning's are the one time I can be in the kitchen without being hounded by my brother, my sister in law, my mother, or my business partners. So, thank you again Isabella for allowing me." He raised a brow as he splattered another bit of pancake mix onto the pan, "So what were you talking about before I arrived?"

"The party," Isabela answered quickly. "It seems to have been a little too much for Christina."

"I didn't say that," Christina rolled her eyes. "Some people can just be..." she struggled to find a word.

"Annoying," Uncle Joel finished, "There's no need to be delicate about it. A lot of the people that turn up to those sorts of things can't help themselves from consuming all the air in the room."

Christina laughed, thinking that was a perfect description for Ander. "Grandmother wouldn't be happy if I said something like that."

"There's no avoiding the truth." Uncle Joel said with a shrug.

Christina nodded as she sat back in her seat. "Uncle Joel, do you know Ander Vivaldi?"

Isabela looked over at Christina, her eyes widening, but he simply plopped another pancake on the stack. "Since he was a little boy. Why have you taken a liking to him like Riley has?"

Christina cringed, "So they're getting engaged?" She asked in all seriousness, fully expecting him to say yes and let that be the end of it.

Isabela set her mug down with a thud and held her hand over her mouth to keep from laughing. Uncle Joel let out a snort and turned fully to face Christina. "I see you've been spending a lot of time with your cousin."

Christina sat straighter in her seat though she felt like a fool. "Well, yesterday the way it seemed-"

"Riley is a great girl and maybe some day she'll get what she wants but as it stands there is no hope for the Vivaldi kid to get married." He explained.

"What do you mean?"

Uncle Joel gestured for Isabel to continue on as he turned back to his cooking. "A year ago there was this quiet, inconspicuous breakup between him and his girlfriend at the time, Vanessa McNamara. It was a whole thing considering they were so in love with each other, anyone could see it. Then, after they break up she's engaged to some billionaire from abroad and married within six months. Everyone speculated that she ended it because he didn't want to get married, but since then Ander hasn't been seen with a woman."

"Let alone getting engaged to your cousin." Uncle Joel added.

"So then why is he coming for tea?" Christina asked.

"Why is he coming for tea?" Isabela sat up.

"Grandmother asked him."

Unclea Joel looked over his shoulder. "Your grandmother asked him to come for tea?" Christina nodded. "Don't think about it too much. The pancakes are ready." He said simply as he slid the plate packed with pancakes over the table. "But you better eat quickly Christina, we only have a couple of minutes before we have to meet with the others."

Christina didn't really hear his comment, she was too busy eating to register what he said or what he meant. It turned out that the Scott family made an emphasis of eating breakfast together after going out to events.

After inhaling her pancakes Christina found herself sitting in the dinning hall and watching her cousin Michael drag himself up to his seat. He sat down with a sigh and held his head in his hands, "Good morning."

Aunt Matilda watched her son with anger in her eyes as Riley simply let out a grunt and lifted her chin away from her brother. "God, you stink," she commented.

The Scott's all sat at the long dinning room table, it was set for breakfast but Christina had quickly learned that her family didn't eat breakfast. Only her Uncle Joel and her would wake early enough to do so. Instead, Isabela and one of the other house maids served tea and snacks.

Christina was still pondering over what she had learned this morning and how it would effect things going forward. It was only a day ago that her grandmother had told her about her condition to have Christina join the family but she already felt that no matter how much she wanted it, it might just be out of her reach.

"You drank over the limit last night." Her grandmother spoke from the head of the table. She didn't look at any of them, her eyes were set on the cup of tea in her hand. "No more alcohol for the next week."

Michael gave a loose nod before sinking back and tilting his head up to the roof.

"What did Mr. Mulligan have to say of about Christina?"

Aunt Matilda placed her hands over the table, "Not much, but he did reassure us he'd keep quiet over the whole ordeal. However, even his silence can't stall the rumors." She added that last comment with a tone of challenge that caused Christina's grandmother to frown.

"There are no rumors," Uncle Richard made a point to say.

"Rumors about what?" Christina asked. Her grandmother, uncle, and aunt all glared at her but none of them moved to say anything.

"Well, if that's all..." Riley started to say, "I want to go to the country club this afternoon."

Aunt Matilda turned to her daughter, "Why would you wanna do that? We should all have a peaceful evening in doors, especially after the stunt you tried to pull."

Riley rolled her eyes, "What stunt? I was only giving out helpful advice." 

Michael scoffed, "By telling Maggie that Ander doesn't talk to ugly trolls and that she should try her luck with the waiter with the chipped tooth and red face. Very funny Riley but may I remind you that I am still dating Maggie's sister."

"By a thread," Uncle Joel finally spoke up, breaking his silence. "If this is the direction the conversation is taking, I would like to continue on with my work."

"Go on," Grandmother answered simply before turning to Riley. "What's your reasoning for going to the country club?"

Riley straightened up in her seat, "See some friends, nothing more grandma."

"Take Micheal and Christina."

Christina wanted to tell her grandmother that she was more than okay not going to some pretentious country club, but she knew better than to say that. "No way!" Michael spat out. "I'm about three seconds away from shoving my head in a blender!"

Christina's grandmother didn't have to say anything. Uncle Richard banged his fist on the table causing Christina to jump, "It'll be another two seconds before I do the honors of shoving your head into a blender. Have some respect for your grandmother."

Michael let out a sigh and combed a hand through his greasy hair. "My apologies, grandma, at what time do you want us gone?"

"Within the hour,"

Riley's eyes widened, "I've got to start getting ready, may I be excused?"

Christina's grandmother let a smile play on her lips, "All of you are excused," she spoke cheerily as if her morning dread had suddenly lifted.