Enchanted N.H

Chapter 35

Niall is blossoming in his families presence and I watch the dark circles under his eyes disappear while the smile on his face grows bigger by the minute.
It looks like a huge burden was taken off of his shoulders as soon as he was pulled into his mother's loving embrace.
I am still nervous to talk to his parents, they are so loving and not at all like mine.
Maura insists on taking me to the market today and Niall has repeatedly asked me if I was okay with it, I said yes even though my heart it racing.
Why the hell am I nervous to spend one afternoon at the market with my boyfriends mother?
The answer lays in the question, I love Niall so much, what if his mother doesn't like me? what if she just pretend to like me while we were being with Niall?
I play with the thin bracelets on my arm as I sit next to her in the car.
"Thank you so much for bringing him home", Maura speaks up and smiles at me with tears glistening in her big eyes.
Gently she reaches over and squeezes my hand while keeping her eyes on the street in front of us.
"He needs this", I reassure her and I get another smile from her.
"When he told me he had met a girl, I was so scared that he would get his heart broken again but now, seeing how much you are doing for my boy, shows me that you really love him".
I blush at her compliments not really knowing how to respond, but she doesn't need me to.
"He really loves you", she says while pulling into the crowded parking lot.
"I really love him too", I tell her and there is so much honesty in my words that I feel them dripping with love.
We stroll over the market and I am being introduced to several of Mauras friends who all start to gush once Nialls name is being mentioned.
He is really loved here and it is a different kind of love than his fans have for him.
The women and men in his hometown have known him since he was a little boy and they have seen him grow up, a tight knit bond to a home that only some are lucky enough to have.
A red head woman takes my hand and frowns in disappointment "She dosen't have a ring! Maura tell your boy he needs to pop the question soon or someone else will take this beautiful girl from him", she inspects my fingers before taking me to her stand on the market.
I look for Maura but she is talking to her friends, laughing about the whole ring situation.
"I have something for you", she speaks with a calm voice and I nodd slowly.
After a second of looking around in a brown leather bag, she pulls out a small silver ring with a tiny shimmering stone on it out of the bag and quickly pushes it on my finger.
I am speechless, is she trying to marry me now?
"The Moonstone holds protective powers", she speaks and points to the shimmering gemstone.
"Niall has a stone like this in his room", I remember and she nods with a wide smile on her face.
"Gave it to him before he went on his first tour, boy he was scared and I told him that nothing bad would happen if he keeps this stone", she explains and now I understand her strange behavior.
"You are too kind, let me pay you for this", I start but she shakes her head quickly.
"You are making our Nialler happy, that's enough!", she insists that I don't give her any money and leads me back to Maura who is now inspecting a pumpkin that she wants to buy for dinner.
"Your future daughter in law", the woman winks at both me and Maura and disappears into the crowd.
I raise my eyebrow and she chuckles.
"I see she gave you a ring", gently she takes my hand in hers and inspects my new addition to my jewellery collection.
"Maybe Niall will take it as a hint", Maura says, smiling sweetly before turning to the salesman in the stand to buy the vegetables.
I stare at my hand, it sounds like she wants me to marry her son. She accepts me and likes me.
A smile grows on my face and I can't help but pull the smaller woman into a big hug, relieve washes over my body and all the doubts that were rushing through my head in the past days seem to be gone just by her words.
"You are a wonderful girl Vicky", she smiles when I let her go again and we head back to the car.
I offer to help her with dinner and she happily agrees, if there ever was an awkward  atmosphere between us, it is now definitely gone.
Wishing that my mother and father would have been more loving towards Niall makes me a little sad, at some point I do have to accept the fact that my family is just simply not very loving.
But that doesn't mean my future family has to be like this!
I can raise my future children different, teach them that being loving and giving is so much more importance than being successful!
Niall is still out with his father, his brother, his wife and his little nephew and Maura and I head to the kitchen and begin with dinner preparation.
I have never cooked with my mother, she would just yell at me for doing things wrong or rolling her eyes when I asked her for help I should know how to do this by now and be a little more independent.
Maura is patient and teaches me how to properly season the vegetables and I watch as she cuts the meat, following her skilled hands with my eyes.
Dinner is ready when the rest of the family tumbles through the door, Niall laughing loudly at something his brother said and then rushing over to me.
"Had a good day?", I ask him with a smile and he nods eagerly before kissing me sweetly.
I blush when his brother whistles and Denise jokingly hides theo behind her back.
"What's that?", he asks now noticing the ring on my finger and I look at Maura for help, who quickly steps in and helps me explain.
"At the market we ran into Eloise, she gave her the ring to match the moonstone you got years ago", she talks and Nialls eyes widen.
"She said you should put a proper ring on her", she adds and I turn bright red, now having all eyes on me.
"I definitely will", he smiles and holds me tight, shielding me from the eyes of his loved ones.