Roses || durm

.vier.

.vier. 

The children were so excited to hear the rest of their parents' story, that they jumped into bed as soon as it became bedtime. Normally, Arabella would need Erik's help chasing down Max and Anneliese. It was usually a nightly struggle in the Durm home as they both tried to dress their smal children into their pajamas, helped them brush their teeth and put them to bed.

But this night was different. 

Arabella was in the kitchen, preparing tomorrow's lunch for herself, as well as her husband and their children. It was her routine, since she wouldn't get home from the news station until seven at night and she wanted to have food prepared. Erik had various compromises to tend to that were part of his football career, and while their parents were away, his parents and her parents took turns taking care of the children until Arabella or Erik returned.

When Erik returned early, he would take the children out for icecream or all kinds of junk food. He said they needed to have fun, they were only children. When Arabella would arrive early, she often made them a homecooked dinner with lots of vegtables, which they weren't too thrilled about.

Just as she was finishing their lunches, she turned the stove off and placed each item in its lunch bag. "Maximilian! Anneliese! Its time to go to bed, go change into yout pajamas."

She grabbed the four bags off the kitchen counter and went to put them in the fridge. As she opened the fridge door, she looked to her left, where she could see into the livingroom from the kitchen. She hadn't heard any groans or complaints from them and it puzzled her. The livingroom was dark and there was no one there.

"Kids?" She called.

Faintly, from upstairs, she heard, "We're in our room, mama!" It was Anneliese's high pitched voice.

Arabella smiled to herself and quickly put everything away before heading up the stairs to continue telling their story. She grabbed the music box off the nighstand and twisted it to produce the beautiful sound the children loved. 

"It took us a good few months to tell our parents we were married..."

-

It had been four months since the church carnival and they both knew they needed to tell their parents eventually. But Erik and Arabella were afraid, so they thought to make their announcement in the most public way possible, that way it would somehow subdue their parents' wrath. They chose a nice restaurant, and it was a busy afternoon.

Erik's parents arrived first. They were thrilled that Erik and Arabella were together. 

Both greeted them and his parents sat down to wait for the announcement. It was another few minutes before Arabella's parents arrived. Jurgen looked from them, to his parents, and was instantly suspicious that something was up.

Still, Arabella greeted them like it was a normal family get together.

The six of them sat around the table, and both Erik and Arabella, tried to put off the announcement as long as possible. They ordered their food, they had dinner, dessert, a few drinks. Finally, her father blurted out, "Are you going to tell me why we're all here? I doubt you called us for a friendly visit." He said bluntly.

Arabella cleared her throat. "You're right, dad. We gathered you all here because we have an announcement."

"You're getting married!" Erik's mother blurted out with excitement.

"Mom..." Erik glared in embarrassment.

Still, Arabella smiled, "Close, but no. We're already married by the church! The priest got us married and he wants us to go see him in a few weeks to plan out a grand ceremony-"

"No." Her father shook his head.

"But we're already married." Arabella said again.

"No. We're going to go to that church and undo this right now." Her father shot up from her seat and went around to grab her arm.

"You can't undo a church marriage." Erik spoke up, wrenching Arabella from her father's grip and standing in front of her protectively. "We're both adults and this is what we decided. And we'll be married until one of us dies."

"Adults?" Her father laughed. "You're both children. You don't know what you want."

Arabella looked to her mother, who was still in her seat, watching everything unfold in utter shock. "Mom," Arabella began, "Say something."

Her mother shrugged, "What do you want me to say? I agree with your father, but what can we do? You already fucked up your life."

"Fucked up her life?" Erik's mother was the one getting on her feet now. Her eyebrows knitted together in anger as she defended her son. "Erik is a good boy, and he loves Arabella. I don't see what's so wrong about that."

"Mum relax." Erik told her.

"How can I relax when these people are saying horrible things about you?" She continued.

"What's so wrong about it?" Jurgen said bitterly. "Other than the fact that your son is five years older than my daughter is the fact that they're both too young to be getting married. Its crazy and its ridiculous to think this marriage can last long."

"We're not you and mum, dad." Arabella finally snapped at her father. "I love Erik, and he's my husband, and you're going to have to deal with it."

"I give this marriage six months." Her father warned. "Six months before it falls apart."

As her parents left the restaurant, his mother reached for her hand and held it in hers. "We'll support you, darling. You're Erik's happiness and we thank you for that."

Arabella sniffed, giving her mother-in-law's hand a squeeze. "Thank you."

-

ayyyye an update. i know i haven't posted on here in forever, so that's why i thought an update should be posted. so here you have it, i hope you like the chapter. thank you so much for reading it means a lot!

-clary xx