Destined

Chapter 10 ~ Meeting The Parents

Chapter 10

"Giagia [grandma]!" Yuri suddenly jumped down from his chair and ran to kiss the woman who just entered the dining room. "Pappous [grandpa]," turning to the older man, kissing his cheeks as well.

"Kalimera, mama [good morning, mom]," Luca stood up and embraced the woman. "Pateras [father]," embracing the older man, too.

Both were handsomely dressed. The woman was gorgeous and has a kind smile, while the man's eyes looked calculating and cold. He looked like an older version of Luca except for the color of his eyes which obviously came from his mother.

They continued to speak in Greek when the woman suddenly whipped her head in her direction and gasped.

"O thee, Mou [Oh my, God]!" She ran to her, hauled her out of her chair and hugged her so tight she was gasping for breath.

"Meli [honey], the poor child cannot breathe!" The man laughingly scolded her.

"Sorry," she said letting her go and she was snatched by a laughing Luca. He embraced her and spoke in Greek to his mother.

"Parakalo min tromaxei, mama [please do not scare her, mama]."

"Baby, this lovely woman is my mother, Helena and this is my father, Geovanni." And to his parents he said, "this is Michaela, my fiancée."

"Oh, dear," she said with tears in her eyes. "I didn't believe Luca when he called me and told me he has found you and was bringing you home. You looked so real, so -- ," she paused trying to find the best words to describe her, "so like his drawing."

"Drawing?" She asked confused. This is the second time she's hearing about this mysterious "drawing." She turned to him with raised brow. But his father saved him from explaining.

"Here, let me look at our future daughter-in-law," he said to his wife. "You are so beautiful, dear. No wonder our son was in a hurry to bring you home."

"Papa," he groaned.

She blushed. "Nice to meet you, ma'am, sir," she said extending her right hand to Helena first. But she was engulfed in another tight embrace.

"None of these "ma'am" and "sir" thing, Michaela," his dad said joining in their embrace. "Call us mama and papa. After all, you are now part of our family."

"Welcome to the family, dear," his mom said.

"Thank you. In that case, please call me Kayla." She was getting emotional but she held herself in checked. No matter how touching the situation is, she has to remember that it was just temporary. No matter how good his parents are to her, they can never replace her own and everything will end when she leaves later on.

"Kayla, it is," agreed Helena. "I'm going to show you the house after breakfast so you will feel more comfortable and at home here."

"I already promised to do that, mama. In fact, we're about to start now," he said winking at her.

"Fine. But we are going to go shopping together. Oh, we are going to have so much fun together. I always wanted a daughter, you know."

"Yuri, too," said the pouting boy. "Of course, agoraki [baby boy]." Helena smiled down at him.

When Luca led Kayla out of the room, Yuri ran to them and held Kayla's skirt. "I'm going with you, mommy."

Luca was about to object but Kayla shook her head at him. Helena, however, saved them by saying, "Yuri, don't you miss giagia and pappous? Mommy and daddy will be back later. Come and sit here," she said patting the chair next to her. He nodded and raised his head to Kayla who bent to his level and gave him a kiss.

"Meet me in my office later, son." Geovanni patted Luca's shoulder when they passed him by the door.

"Nai, papa."

~~

Geovanni was silently eating and appeared to be listening to Yuri's chatter with his grandmother. But he was deep in thought and when he failed to answer Yuri's question, Helena gently touched his arm.

"What?" He asked. "Your grandson has been asking you something and was quite worried why you were not answering him," she stated. He looked at Yuri and smiled.

"Isn't my mommy so pretty, pappous? And she loves me lots," he happily repeated for him. "Yes, she is. Done eating, engonos [grandson]?" At Yuri's nod, he gestured for Mona to come and take Yuri.

"Go with nanny and get cleaned up, okay? I'm sure your mommy doesn't want to play with a smelly Yuri," he said tickling him.

"Okay," he giggled trying to dodge his grandfather's hands.

They happily watched him leave with Mona. Helena turned to him with a serious look. "What were you thinking earlier?"

"I'm worried, for our son and grandson, and now, for Kayla, too. We both know we're still trying to find a lead to solve the cases of our sons."

"For a minute there, I honestly forgot about that. I was just so excited to see a picture, more accurately, a drawing came to life. You saw how happy your son looks and she seemed to have a close bond with Yuri. You can see she genuinely likes the boy, love even. Luca told me over the phone that he took to calling her "mommy" the moment he laid eyes on her. Isn't that amazing?"

"We cannot take the situation lightly. In as much as I want them to be happy, their security is also as important. I don't want to lose another son."

"He is the only son left to us!" She turned teary eyes to him. "Geovanni, I won't ever forgive you if we lose Luca, too."

"I know. I won't forgive myself, too. I will do everything in my power to put a stop to this vendetta that's going on," he promised her. "But I am going to need your help. In fact, we need all the help we can get."

"Don't you think it's about time Luca knows the whole truth?" She questioned.

"I believe you're right. He has to be told especially now with Yuri and, of course, Kayla. It's time we straightened things out with him."

"I think Kayla has to be told, too. Unless she knows, she might do things that will endanger her and Yuri without meaning to. She has to know. But I don't also want to scare her away. I don't think Luca can handle that."

"When it comes to her, it's Luca's decision. We must not meddle." He paused and contemplated whether he should voice out his thoughts. "I might be wrong, but I think Luca is not telling us something."

Helena smiled at that. "Yes. I can feel the tension. But as you said, we must not meddle. You know your son. He always gets what he wants. Everything he does is carefully calculated to work to his favor in the end. I'm sure, she will share his feelings in no time at all. Leave it to me," she winked at him.

"I thought we just agreed not to meddle?"

"Who said I am going to meddle?" She said with a mischievous smile. Geovanni just shook his head with a tolerant smile. He knew there's no stopping his wife in whatever it is that she's planning.

His thoughts drifted back to the "situation." The sooner Luca knows the truth, the better. This has to end now. He cannot afford to lose anymore member of his family.