The Lion's Cat | Completed

48 ⚡ Lyon

Chapter 48

In the middle of August, exactly a year from now, Xavier and I will have our perfect wedding. I want it to be as humanly possible. We're taking our time with the preparations, and after announcing it to the Clowder and my father, only one part is missing. The Lyons.

Xavier goes out of his way, booking two tickets to Africa. Angola, to be precise. He wants to see his parents' reactions live, and I can't say no to that. I don't want to, anyway, so a month after his proposal, we fly from Ontario to Angola, leading us here.

Xavier's driver picks us up from the airport, leading us to his family's house. The sun is up, the wind is non-existent, and the traffic is endless. We've been stuck in it for at least an hour now. "Why is there so much traffic?" I ask as I look out of the window seeing cars dirtied in mud slowly moving forward with music blasting out of their speakers.

Not going to lie, I'm loving the chaos.

"There's always traffic. You'll get used to it," Xavier says, pushing his dark shades up his nose. The driver says something in Portuguese, making Xavier laugh before getting a proper reply from him.

I've never really heard Xavier speak his mother tongue, and listening to it now makes me wonder how many more things I don't know about the man I'm about to get married to. His voice seems even lower when he speaks Portuguese. I like it.

"What did he say?" I whisper to him.

"Just that my English got better since the last time we saw each other," he says.

"Now that I think about it, you've been in Ontario for over ten years now, and you still can remember Portuguese?" I ask with a frown.

"Yeah, well, my parents always check up on me, so maintaining that constant contact never made me start forgetting it. That's been very helpful."

For the rest of the slow ride, we chat about his Portuguese knowledge, and he tries to teach me a few words about it but fails because of my awful accent.

When we arrive at his house, two large wooden doors automatically open, and we drive inside, parking beside the front door. There's a beautiful garden surrounding us, and when we get out of the car, we're greeted by barking dogs. I jump at the sound and quickly lace my arm around Xavier's, hiding behind him as the two Dobermans approach us.

He laughs at my reaction. "They don't bite," he says as he pats their heads. Their heavy breathing is loud, and I freeze when I feel their noses around my legs. Foxy is on alert, making my eyes glow as she holds back a hiss.

They're going to kill me in my sleep tonight. I can feel it.

"Let's just go inside, please," I quietly say, pressing my body against his back, trying to escape their invasive noses.

Xavier laughs, leading us to the front door that opens with a beautiful, elegant black lady who has the same eyes as Xavier. They're a constant golden glow. Her dark hair is straightened, falling over her covered chest. Her make-up makes her brown face smooth and natural. Xavier definitely received his plump lips from her. She says something in their mother tongue that leaves me with a question mark in my head.

He effortlessly replies before abruptly switching to English. "I hope you don't mind our new guest," he says, looking at me.

I smile at the woman, handing her my hand to shake. "It's an honor to meet you, ma'am. I'm Alexa Reeds."

She tilts her head to the side, eyeing me up and down. I'm wearing a simple black summer jumpsuit, so there's not much to see. "I'm Alicia, your friend's mother. Come inside, please," she says in a thick adorable accent.