Not Too Late

Chapter 19

Amaya's POV

I stood beside Luca at the end of the stairs. "Get this over with", I gritted at him. I didn't want to be in his presence any longer especially with how angry I was at him.

"So what's your decision? Are we making arrangements?", Mrs O'Brien asked us.

"Yes mum", Lucas replied with a fake smile plastered on his face or at least it looked fake. I couldn't think of any reason it'll be real.

"Yeeee", Mrs O'Brien and my mum squealed in unison. They were behaving like they were the ones getting married. "We have a lot to do, dress fitting...."

"....event venue..."

"....invitation cards..."

"....cake and event planning..."

".... Stylist and makeup artist..."

"....dress fitting again, because your dress has to be perfect. I can't believe my baby is getting married", Mum and Mrs O'Brien finished each other's sentences as mum concluded. Their husbands just stared at them non-chalantly. It wasn't a new thing once the two women got together.

"We've got to celebrate to this", Mrs O'Brien said as she passed out the cups and poured us some wine.

"Calm down mum. You don't have to worry about all that, I got it covered", Lucas replied typing on his phone. Yeah, apparently I don't have a say in all this. "Let's at least ask Amaya what she wants"

That totally caught me off guard. I almost choked on my wine, Lucas tapped my back as he was closest to me. I looked up at him like he had grown to heads because apparently he had because what the hell is wrong with him. One minute he's all overbearing overdominating CEO on me and the next minute he's being all caring and asking for my opinions. 'It's because we're in front of our parents' was my conclusion.

"That's true Amaya, where are our manners, how will you like your wedding?", Mrs O'Brien asked.

"I dunno. I'm sure anything you guys pick will be great", I smiled at them.

"You don't want anything special included?", Lucas asked. What's with him?

"I've actually always wanted a sunset wedding and i'lld love to design my dress myself", I smiled dreamily as I thought about it. It's always been my dream to have a sunset wedding, walking down in aisle in my wedding gown getting married to the man I love. I frowned when I thought about that. Seems like it's not going to be as dreamy as I thought.

"That's beautiful darling and it's perfect", mum smiled at me with glossy eyes.

"Then a sunset wedding you'll have. Done", Luca said. "If you would excuse me", he said as he headed upstairs probably to his office.

Mum's phone also rang and she excused herself to answer it. I think the men also slipped out sometime between our talks to about hearing about the bills they'll have to pay😂. So it was just I and Mrs O'Brien now.

She turned to me smiling. "Follow me dear, I want to talk to you", We walked through a long hallway, pictures of the family together or separately. They were three side to side pictures that caught my eye, the first was a big portrait of Mr and Mrs O'Brien with Lucas who I assumed was the one not smiling and the other two boys who looked like identical twins, Mrs O'Brien was carrying a smiling baby Lia in her arms. The picture beside it seemed to be on the same day but in this one, baby Lia was crying stretching her arms out to Lucas, he was making goofy faces at her as he reached out to take her from her mother's arms, the third was the whole family smiling with Lucas staring at his little sister in his arms with so much love in his eyes. Mr O'Brien had his arms over his wife, they all looked so peaceful and complete.

"Those were one of the happiest days of our life's", Mrs O'Brien was beside me now, also staring at the portrait. "His smile is still there though but it's very rare to see, it's buried somewhere inside him though", I knew she was talking about Lucas. I wanted to ask her about her comment but I decided against it and kept walking.

She led me into what looked like a library. It was very beautiful with two love seats and a table at the side. Mrs O'Brien must have noticed my astonishment. "You like it?", she laughed.

"Like it? I love it", I gushed at the beauty. A mini library just completed my love for this place. I walked around the place running my hands on the covers of the books, the library had it all, from fantasy to action to horror and my favorite, romance. As I ran around the library, another picture caught my eye. This one was of a beautiful woman, I could tell that it wasn't Mrs O'Brien, she was sitting down with the twins on her laps and Lucas standing beside her. He looked so happy here, his teeth on display and his smile so big. Now I understand what Mrs O'Brien was talking about. But who was this woman?

"That's Lucas and the twins biological mother", Mrs O'Brien answered my unasked question. I was visibly confused and she seemed to realize it because she continued. "She died when Lucas was 12. This was her library"

"Ohhh", was the only thing that came out of my mouth. I didn't know what to say, I couldn't even imagine how Lucas felt at the moment.

"Lucas was really devasted when his mother died, he didn't speak to anyone for a week. His father wasn't any less though, he resulted to drinking and was rarely at home with them, the twins were still young to understand anything then. Lucas had to take over the responsibility of his siblings at a young age, for a 12 year old, that was a lot. He shut out all his feelings, the day his mother died was the last day I saw him cry. No matter how big the injury or how much it hurt, he just wouldn't show his pain. When I met his father and came into the house, Lucas was the angriest. He thought I wanted to take his mother's place, we got off on a really bad start but I got to understand the poor boy and his grief. He really went through alot. You'll wonder why I'm telling you this", Mrs O'Brien questioned me to which I nodded. I was still trying to digest everything she just told me.

"What do you think about my son?", She asked.

"I think that he's a very complicated person", I said truthfully. "but I can also say that he's a very caring and protective person", I said remembering Lia.

"That's not what I'm talking about", She smiled at me. I understood what she wanted to hear from me but I didn't know how to put it.

"If it's about loving him, I'm not so sure about that. Love comes with time and the last thing i'lld want to do is mistake pity for love. I don't want to pity him because of all I just heard, I think that he's really strong for everything he passed through and I see him in a different light now but that isn't going to change the way I feel", i'lld say I'm actually going to try to give this marriage a chance but moving forward is all up to Lucas. He has to learn how to open up to me.

I wasn't sure if that was the response Mrs O'Brien was looking for but I was surprised to see her smiling. "I know I made the right decision when I chose you for my son", I wasn't sure I was hearing properly until she grabbed my hands.

"I didn't say all those things just for you to have pity on him. That's the last thing your marriage needs, I just wanted to see your reaction. Take it as more of a test. Lucas isn't the most perfect person, he finds it hard to show his love and care but he's a good person. You just have to be patient with him. Can you do that?", If I wasn't sure before then I was sure now, something about Lucas just didn't add up and I wanted to figure it out. I was going to make this marriage work.

I smiled at her nodding. "Yes"

1430 words 👍

Hmmm🤔

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