Fine as Wine

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Ambrose's POV

I was unsure of why Victoria was not happy to see her parents until Vincent explained the situation to me. The age gap didn't sit well with them at first until Vincent told them to give it a chance and at least meet me before judging my existence. This is why I'm trying my level best to behave the whole day and by the conversations we're having I think it's safe to say all is good.

"So I heard you have four kids, I only see three how come?", Miguel asked making me swallow hard. "Well, I'm not on good terms with my firstborn son at the moment", I said hoping the conversation would end there but I was wrong. "Why is that?", Kendra asked and I was about to answer when Victoria joined the group.

"What are you guys talking about?", she asked with a huge smile. "Well your boyfriend was about to tell us where one of his children is", Miguel said and I watched the smile on Victoria's face disappear. "I don't think that's any of your business", she said going on defensive mode but I knew we needed to come clean if there was any chance of having them on our side. "I'm Allen's father", I said and watched a smirk appearing on her father's face. "You don't say", Miguel said sarcastically while looking at Victoria who looked pissed. "I am", I replied and waited for his reaction.

"Ambrose, we know exactly who you are, we just wanted to put a face to a father that is selfish enough to break his own son's heart. No wonder Allen looked lost when he came to talk to us and said it was revenge. Victoria, you have to stop this, he has learned his lesson. I raised you better than this", her mother said with so much pain. I saw Victoria's eyes start to water and I knew I had to intervene.

"Kendra, your daughter didn't break anything I can assure you, Allen lied to you. We love each other and it has nothing to do with him. She didn't even know that he was my son until our first anniversary", I tried to reason with her mother only to see her father picking up his things, ready to leave.

"Miguel wait", I followed him. "Don't you have any shame at all? Fighting with your son over a woman! Are you insane?", he barked making me furrow my brows. "Miguel, I get that this is all very shocking but I do not appreciate being disrespected in my own house. I love your daughter and if you don't accept what we have then walk away", i said with as much calmness as I could master. He looked at me as if he wanted to kill me then left.

"Ambrose, please... You above all people should know how hard this is for us. She's our baby girl", Kendra said with tears in her eyes and I know I was supposed to feel sad but I honestly didn't understand what she meant by me knowing better. "What do you mean Kendra?", "I mean, you're the adult, instead of keeping her to yourself you should be helping your son get the love of his life back", she pleaded.

"You know he was treating her like crap right?", I asked hoping that I heard her wrong. "He is young, he needs you to guide him. You can still fix this Ambrose. Our children's happiness should be our priority", she said making me huff. "And how is any of this going to help Victoria huh? Would you be saying that if I was the same age as her or is it just because I'm the one on this end?", I asked and saw guilt in her eyes. She didn't say anything but walked away looking down in shame.

I found the girls sitting by the pool. Victoria was in the middle of a conversation with her brother, it looked tense.

"Dad, I heard what they said to you. Look, what you and Victoria have is not something that everyone will accept easily, I hope you're not planning on giving up", Raphael said when he found me hiding in my office. Their words were eating me up that's for sure. I know the media was harsh on Victoria and the fact that somehow they found out that she dated Allen too made it worse.

"I just need time to think son", i said hoping he would take a hint and leave me alone, but like everyone else today he sat on one of the visitor chairs and started scrolling on his phone. "Raph I need to be alone", i said and he ignored me. "What's wrong with him?", Frank asked entering the room and all hope of getting personal space died with him. "Victoria's parents said some shitty stuff about the age gap and he's entertaining it for some reason and now he wants us to leave him alone so he can destroy his relationship", Raphael said making me look up to find him looking at me with determination. I swear I hate the fact that he is so much like me.

"Well, we can't have that now can we buddy", Frank said looking at me with a raised brow. "Look, none of you know how I feel, have you seen the things they write about her on social media? the names they're calling her?", I asked feeling my insides boiling with rage. "We have so what are you going to do about it? Are you going to hide her like your son did or are you going to show them what an amazing woman she is?", Frank challenged me and something in me clicked.

If my son was using social media against Victoria then it was time for us to do the same. "I want to show the world what an amazing woman and girlfriend she is", I said with a smile. "That's more like it and I have just the thing", Raphael said showing me a charity gala that was happening in a week. It was about supporting women who were struggling in the corporate world. Raphael made a call and when he mentioned my name his face lit up making me and Frank wait eagerly to know what they said. "They want you to be the guest of honor. You up for it?", he said making me smile. I agreed right away. I just hoped that Victoria would accept to go as my plus one.