Her, My Husband

CHAPTER 18

FREEN

"How about this one?" I asked as I point towards the elegant-looking bag inside one of the shop that we passed by. Becky took one look and shook her head. "I don't really think my mom, or anyone in my family, would need a designer bag at the moment" she commented as she look me in the eyes, seeming to tell me to stop. "I'm pretty sure that they have enough" she added. I do understand what she's saying but I can't really go to their house empty-handed. This is going to be my first time to actually meet them, aside from that time during the wedding of course. Still, I can't shake away the feeling that I need to somehow look the part as her husband and show them that I could provide for her. I don't want nor intend to show off my wealth, all I want is to show to them that I am capable of taking care of their daughter. "We can't just go there empty-handed, you know" I told her and she immediately looked at me, dumbfounded. "Empty-handed?" she exclaimed with a tone of disbelief. She stopped on her tracks along with myself that was holding her. "You call that empty-handed?" she asked as she points behind us where Ritt and Aroon, my driver/bodyguard, was holding a couple of carts (yes, carts) of gifts.

"You really are taking this too far. We are just going to visit for the weekend. You didn't have to buy half of the entire mall just to bring as a gift. We even stopped buy a grocery store earlier and you almost bought the entire stock" she said continuously. "I know that you're nervous but I'm telling you, you don't have to. I know for a fact that they are going to like you and I'll be with you all the time" she continued, trying to sooth my feelings. "So can we please stop buying everything that you see and go. I'm sure that Mom and Dad is already waiting for us" with that I immediately sobered up. What was I thinking? We shouldn't be loitering here, we should go quickly and not make them wait.

We hurriedly went to the parking lot and into our car. Ritt and Aroon took care of all the bags and placed in the car that they were driving while Becky and I went in to my car. As we continue our journey, Becky never stopped trying to sooth me and ease my nervousness. It did help but I was still shaking. In less than an hour, we finally reached their house and we were welcomed by their entire family. I can see Mr. Armstrong alongside Mrs. Armstrong and just a little bit behind them was Richie, Becky's brother, and right beside him was his wife, Mai, who seems to be quite a few months pregnant now. Quickly, I got out of the car, went to Becky's side and helped her. We walked up the front porch and exchanged some greetings with the entire family.

"We better go inside, I already prepared lunch" Mrs. Armstrong said as the entire family started to move but I told them that I would be a minute. I rushed to our car immediately and took all the bags that I put on the back seat. "This is too much. You didn't have to buy all these" Mr. Armstrong said as they accept the bags that I was handing to them. "That's not true, I actually didn't know what to buy so I just bought whatever we found" I revealed as Ritt and Aroon brought the bags that was in the other car. The whole family was shocked while Becky was shaking her head, still in disbelief. "I told you it was too much" she whispered to me. 

They led us inside while Ritt and Aroon took care of the rest of the bags. It took them a total of three round trips to bring everything inside, eliciting another round of shock from the family. "I really hope that you'll be able to find something that you'd like" I told them sincerely as Ritt and Aroon put down the last few bags. "This is a lot" Mrs. Armstrong exclaimed. "but thank you. We truly appreciate the sentiment" she added and I was truly glad to hear that. "Don't you think that it's kind of impossible to not find something that we'll like with all of these. It's like you bought the entire store" Richie commented, making the rest laugh. "Almost" Becky commented. "I had a tough time preventing him from doing so" she complained and I only gave an awkward smile.