The Art of Loving

[28] Meet the Parents

Right, a little heads up. Ellie's family obviously is Scottish, and I've tried to bring that across here. I hope I managed to find a good balance between making it as realistic as possible while still keeping it understandable for everyone who's not used to hearing that variety of English. I'm not going to bore you with details on my thoughts behind this, but if you have any question please feel free to leave a comment or send me a message and I'll tell you more. I hope you enjoy this chapter and the ones to come.
Thank you for always reading and voting, and please don't be shy to leave a comment or two, I always enjoy that and your feedback is what keeps me motivated to write 😊
Enjoy, Nina x

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The two of them made time pass by rather quickly with stories like that, discussing whatever was on their minds so when the conductor announced Stonehaven as the next stop it took them by surprise. Quickly they gathered all their belongings, having to dig free their suitcases before they waited in the hallway by a door for the train to come to a stop.

Anyone could see that in these last few minutes Brian's nerves returned because he was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, shifting his weight from one foot to the other constantly.

"Brian," Ellie eventually said and placed her hand on his arm. "Relax, okay? It will all be fine. They're looking forward to meeting you, really. And other than Patricia's parents they don't have any negative expectations."

Brian took a deep breath and nodded slowly. "You're right. I'll try."

"Good, that's all I'm asking for. Alright, here we go." She smiled at him when the train stopped and helped him open the door. Brian got off first and helped her lift out their suitcases before he held his hand out for Ellie so that she could get off too. Surprisingly many people got off at Stonehaven, more than the usual handful as it had been the case the last few times that Ellie had come home during the summer. That was why it took a moment before Ellie spotted her parents, and the other way around. However it didn't really take that long at all before Ellie could hear a very familiar voice.

"Eleanora, ma dear!"

Smiling widely, she tried to find the source of the voice. "'At's ma mum," she informed Brian quickly before she started pushing her suitcase towards the exit where she could see both her mother and father waiting already. Brian followed her, staying behind her a little so that he could observe the situation before he acted.

"It's good tae see ye again," her mother spoke up again when they had gotten a little closer, and enveloped Ellie in a warm welcoming hug. And when she let go of Ellie, her father hugged her too, welcoming her back home.

Ellie pulled away with a smile on her face and turned around, gesturing for Brian to come a little closer before she looked at her parents again. "Uhm, Mum, Dad, 'at's Brian," she introduced her boyfriend, a hint of pride swinging in her voice. "Brian, these are my parents, ma mum Katherine and ma dad Philipp."

Brian nodded with a smile and extended his hand to Ellie's father. "It's very nice to meet you. Thank you so much for letting me tag along," he greeted him, a surprisingly shy smile on his face.

"It's our pleasure," Philipp replied, smiling back at Brian.

Brian turned to Ellie's mum but before he could extend his hand or something like that, she surprised him with a welcoming hug. "It's so wonderful ta meet ye, Brian. Ye're very tall," she pointed out the obvious, making Brian laugh softly.

"Uh, I suppose I am, yes. Thank you for letting me join Ellie this time."

"Oh of course. We were starting to think the day where our dear Eleanora brings home a young man would never come," Katherine teased with a smile.