Bird

xxxii

"Don't worry she'll like you", Scott reassured as I treadfully looked at the door.

"Don't you think we're moving too fast?", I smiled nervously.

" We don't have to do this if you don't want to",he smiled and held my hand. I didn't want to disappoint him but I wasn't so sure about meeting his aunt.
I took a deep breath and drew him for a kiss.

"Let's do this' ',I smiled and pulled him to the door. Scott rang the doorbell,it only took a few seconds and the door opened,more like they were expecting us.
The older man standing behind the door warmly smiled up seeing us,he looked to be in his late fifties.

"Scottie",he joyfully laughed and pulled him in for a hug.
I chuckled when I heard the way he called him.

"And you my dear must be Bird",he warmly said and pulled me in for a hug. "I'm Franklin, Scott's Dad",he proudly said.

" It's nice to meet you",I smiled in return.

"Please have a seat I'll go and call you mother down",he said and let us in.

The house had a modern industrial touch to it,in shades of gray and white. Only part of the house seemed to be different,it was covered with childhood pictures of Scott.
I felt a little envious of him,I could certainly see how much his parents loved him.
There was another picture of him and two ladies that looked so much alike I guessed they were twins.

"When my mother died,my aunt and uncle adopted me,they are the only parents I've known",he says, taking the frame from the wall into his hand.

"What about your dad?",

"He was married when he and my mother had me. He couldn't leave his family, I never knew him",he blankly says. I felt bad for him but at least his father left him part of his huge fortune for being a bastard father. And I'm glad he at least had a family that loved him and took him as their own.

"About time you showed up", a voice said, we turned to look at his aunt as she came down the stairs.
I nervously shifted on my feet and held my shaking hands.I knew from a glance she didn't like me, because she gazed at me with the same look I'm so familiar with from Carolyn. Today was going to be a long day, Franklin escorted us to the table where the food was laid out.

"So Raven ,what do you do for a living?",she asked and the atmosphere at the table changed.

"I'm a ballet teacher",I said.

"I now know why you are holding onto my son",she mumbled but just loud enough for all of us to hear,the food in my mouth turned into sand and my stomach tightened. His aunt doesn't have children of her own and she has raised him as her own so I kind of understand the overproduction but to just assume I'm after his money? I don't want to go through this again.

"Aunt please!", Scott warned.

"Scott come on,the woman has two children go knows where she came from!",

" I see you have already done your homework",I chuckled" yes I have two beautiful children and I'm a ballet teacher,I have to be ashamed of ",

" You want me to believe that? Scott, is this some kind of fetish?. She is a woman with know class anyone from a kilometers away can see she is only after your money",

"Enough!", Franklin banged the table."don't disrespect the woman our son loves,he is a grown man and he can make his own decisions",

I'm madly in love with Bird,I don't care what anyone says and if she is not welcome here then I'm not welcome here either",

" You will pick this shameless woman over me?",

" Yes , you two are the most important women in my life, not forgetting Merce. But if you can't accept the woman I love then I'm sorry but I'm picking her",he said. And I was reminded of the first time I met Carolyn,she humiliated me but William didn't stand up for me. Instead he told his driver to send me home but reassured me he loved me and that he'll marry me anyways.

"Thank you for the lunch but my girlfriend and I are leaving",

" Scott please don't leave", Franklin said and turned to Gloria" aren't you going to apologize to her?",

But she ignored him and instead glared at me " Scott if you walk out of that door you can forget about me!",

"No! You can forget about me. My girlfriend and I are leaving",he said and wiped the tears I didn't know fell from eyes. He held my hand and we left.

"I'm sorry I didn't want to put you through it,I swear if I knew this is how she was going to react I wouldn't have brought you here",he said but I just pulled him in for a kiss.