With Or Without You (Completed)

Chapter 25

Oliver walked out the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist and another rubbing furiously at the back of his head. He was whistling away, clearly in an excellent mood. The credit goes to his earlier romantic action scene where he saved his heroine from falling down the stairs.

Misha walked in then and Oliver grinned at him. However, Misha didn't share his excitement.

"Please refrain from walking in the nude in my room," Misha said seriously.

Oliver winked at him and yanked away the towel from his waist and then threw it at Misha's scrunched up face with eyes tightly closed. The guy walked out in reverse triple the speed he came in with.

Oliver cackled alone in the room and proceeded to get dressed. He guessed Misha had come to call him for dinner downstairs, but there was no need for that regarding the awesome smell of chicken wafting around.

With the most polite expression and an even more polite smile Oliver walked down the stairs. He needed to charm his in laws and his girlfriend and then bride to be.

And now, settled in his seat with the wole family, Oliver found that he was the only one in the table who was smiling.

Misha was staring a hole down the table, still red faced - Oliver could only guess (with another mental cackle) why. John was half asleep, his head lolled to the side. Jim looked heavily depressed and waiting for his death.

And then there was Elli, who looked anywhere but at him. But it was getting quite impossible for Oliver was sitting right across her and was constantly but secretly trying to grab her attention.

At the head of the table, Daniel looked pointedly at all of his children and the unwanted one too with a scowl. He showed his teeth way too much and that seemed suspicious to Daniel. "Let us thank God before we eat...,"

"Holy shit!" Oliver said. "You still do that, I thought only kids do that this days."

Daniel threw a disgusted glare towards Oliver. "Leave the table and find your food outside my home if you don't like the idea of saying the grace before dinner."

Oliver smile fell, he cleared his throat and mustered up the courage to smile again though. "Uh... relax, I didn't mean to offend you. In fact," Oliver thought for a mini second. "I was wondering if I can say the prayer tonight, I mean It seems awesome - this tradition of yours. I was just surprised." He finished awkwardly.

John groaned, trying to peel open his half closed eyes. "Just get done with it and let's eat, dad... let him do it, you can always use your shotgun if he says anything out of the line."

Daniel seemed to like that idea. In serious sense, it'd been a while he brought out his prized shotgun.

But Oliver assumed it a joke of some sort, and unfazed but awkward, began his prayer seeing Daniel nod in positive.

"Dear God...," Oliver began.

Daniel raised his brow.

"Thank you for this wonderful food ?" Oliver ended the prayer.

But it seemed like people had yet to know the fact that prayer had ended. After a long awkward moment, Elli who had been silent the whole time, cleared her throat.

Oliver looked at her with confusion. Was he suppossed to say some more? And then he clicked his fingers almost screaming, "Amen!"

Daniel slammed a hand down on the table. "You call it a prayer?"