𝟐𝟕

ELSIE

Two hands wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me into a tight hug.

I circled my hands around her as well and smiled.

Alannah, Fenix's sister, immediately jumped to hug both him and I as soon as we arrived at their parents house.

"It's so nice to meet you, Elsie." She exclaimed and pulled away slightly and then hugged me again for the second time.

I was afraid that she might not like me because from what Bridget told me, she was very protective of her brother.

"Nice to meet you as well." I said back and looked up at Fenix who was grinning at us.

When we completely pulled away, my gaze flew to the man beside her. It must be her husband. He had a dark hair that was longer on top. A small diamond earring shone on his left ear and he was dressed just like Fenix, with a suit.

One of his hands circled around Alannah waist while his free one extended to greet me.

"David." He said, his eyes radiating nothing but kindness.

"Elsie. I'm happy to finally meet you." I spoke to both of them. Alannah was dressed in a pink summer dress that reached down below her knees and had puffy long sleeves.

Her brown hair was down, it had lighter strands which we probably caused by the sun. Fenix did say she lived in a town by the beach in Spain.

Alannah then proceeded to hug Ian as well.

"And you must be Ian. Fenix always talks about you whenever I call." Ian's eyes sparkled with joy and happiness when he heard that Fenix mentioned him to his sister.

"Let's go by the table. I'm sure you're hungry." Bridget said and we nodded. Fenix took my hand and we walked over to the dining room behind everyone else.

We sat by the table and Fenix pulled my chair close to him. His hand went over the top of my chair and his fingers grazed my shoulder. I had a purple pencil skirt that reached mid thigh and a yellow top that had short sleeves and had small line of diamonds on the neckline.

My hair was straightened and pushed back with a hair clip. I had pink heels that Ian actually liked. He said that they look good on me. Of course I had to wear them.

Alannah seemed on the edge by happiness when she turned her head to her husband who smiled at her.

"Should I tell them now?" She mouthed and grinned with so much joy. David shrugged his shoulders.

When we were all settled, Alannah turned to us.

"I have something to tell you. I was going to wait after the dinner but I'm too excited."

We all turned our attention to her and her husband.

When her hand flew to her stomach, I immediately knew what she was going to say.

"I'm pregnant!" She exclaimed and clasped her hands together as her eyes filled with tears. Bridget's lips parted and she placed her hand over her mouth in surprise while Cillian stood and went to hug his daughter.

Fenix was the next one to congratulate them after his parents and then so did I.

Alannah was now crying while David held her close to him.

Fenix looked happier than ever finding out that he was going to be an uncle.

When we sat back down, everyone was in a better mood than few minutes earlier.

"Eli, I want a brother as well. Please!" Ian took a hold of my hand and I shushed him quietly from embarrassment.

I felt my face burn and I definitely looked like a tomato.

Everyone's eyes pointed to me and all I wanted to was crawl into a hole, disappear and never come out.

Why did he have to ask me that in front of everyone? Kids really knew how to put you on the hot spot.

"Don't worry, Ian. Soon." Fenix said and I felt him suppress a laugh when he saw my face. He was definitely teasing me on purpose.

I pinched his thigh and awkwardly smiled.

Thankfully, Cillian changed the topic. He must have sensed the what his son was trying to do and saved me from the torture.

The maids brought us the food and everything dug into the delicious looking dinner.

"What are you trying to do? You embarrassed me in front of everyone." I whispered to Fenix and nudged his stomach with my elbow.

"Well Ian has been asking quite a lot about it. We really should get to work." His lips almost touched my ear as he said the words with a low voice. My face started to burn again and I turned my face to him while chuckling.

"Shut up!" I murmured.

He smirked and we continued to eat. My peaceful time was cut short when Fenix placed his warm hand on my thigh. His thumb circling my skin.

His hand moved upwards till he reached the hem of the skirt. Thankfully no one was able to see what was happening under the table. They were preoccupied with the pregnancy talk.

"Fenix stop!" I tried to push his hand away but I failed. He tightened his fingers around my thigh and his vain popped up on his hand even more, the wedding band on his finger shining on the light.

The sight didn't help the tingling sensation in my lower stomach either.

He was enjoying this way too much.

Somehow with my heart racing like crazy, I survived the night and the dinner.

⋆˚✿˖°

"I have been buying clothes since I found out about the baby, but it's never enough." Alannah said while she took a sip of her drink.

This morning she called Fenix and requested to talk to me because she didn't have my number.

When I picked up the phone, she asked me if I was willing to accompany her to the shopping mall.

Of course I said yes. I wanted to have a good relationship with all of Fenix's family members.

"David always brings a new item whenever he's getting back from work. We already filled the nursery room with random things for the baby." Alannah was too excited about her pregnancy and it was beautiful to see.

"How did you and David meet? Fenix briefly told me."

As soon as I asked, she dreamily sighed and rested her chin on her hand.

"We met in college. It wasn't really love at first sight for me but I knew that I wasn't going to be able to stay away from him." She smiled.

"The first time we saw each other, he said that in the future he was going to marry me and give me a beautiful family. I mean who doesn't like a man who knows what he wants?" Yeah, her brother was pretty straight forward with me as well when he asked me to marry him.

"True. You two look really happy." We continue to talk and Alannah told me about her life in Spain and how hard it was for her to get away from her family.

She told me everything and anything. She had a very bubbly personality and quite opposite of Fenix.

Guards followed behind us as we started to walk around the mall after we finished our drinks.

She visited every store and I wondered where she got all of that energy from. I was basically breathless when we ended up in a store for baby's clothes.

I ran my fingers over the tiny onesies. Then the small miniature socks.

I can't even imagine the joy Alannah felt at the moment. She will soon have her own little baby in her hands.

I lifted the white onesie and held it in my hand. It had giraffe prints all over it.

"Elsie?" Someone called out for me. It was not Alannah because it was a male's voice.

I turned my head to the side and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

It was a man close to Fenix's age and there was a pregnant lady next to him. His hair was pushed back and he was dressed casually in a t-shirt and shorts.

When he was how confused I was, he introduced himself.

"I'm Cedric. I was Aiden's friend. This is my wife Isolde." He pointed to the lady who was smiling at me.

Aiden's friend...

Cedric.

The name was somehow familiar. Aiden must have mentioned him before.

"I'm sorry that I just came up to you like this...But I actually have something from him for you." He hesitantly said.

Winston started to make his way towards us but I gave him a nod in reassurance. He stopped but he was close to us, making sure that everything is okay.

"Aiden left something for you and he said that I should give it to you when you are twenty-five. You were young when he died." His eyes started to gloss when he mentioned his death.

His wife took a hold of his hand.

My chin almost trembled but I still continued to listen.

Alannah was talking to one of the shop assistants at the cash register.

"I tried to look for you but I couldn't find you. I'm sorry. I couldn't find nor you, nor your sister." I nodded my head. We did change our last names.

"Your husband is a very known man. That's how I was able to find you somehow. I tried to call someone at his company but I couldn't really get a hold of anyone that was able to contact you." They probably aren't really allowed to give any information about me or Ian for safety reasons.

I didn't know what to say.

"We're really sorry to stop you like this."

"It's okay. It's fine, really."

"He left a letter for you. I don't know what it is but,... he said that it was really important. He gave it to me when I visited him for the last time."

"I'll give you the address and you can send it." I dug into my pocket and scrabble the address on the small piece of paper that I found.

I'm sure he would not lie to me. And I really needed to see what Aiden left for me. It really must be important.

"I will. And Elsie, your brother really loved you and your sister. He always talked about you." He said with a sad smile and I bit the inside of my cheek to prevent tears from welling up in my eyes.

"Thank you." His wife, Isolde also gave me a smile for the last time before they turned around to leave.

I fished my hands and all I wanted to do was cry.

"Are you okay?" Alannad rushed towards me and placed her hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah I just... I'm kind of tired." I chuckled in hopes of not ruining her mood.

"We should leave then. I'm also starting to feel light headed." She hooked her hand over my elbow and we walked over to the cash register to pay for the things she got.

New update!! <3

When I finish this book and when I find time, I'll write a bonus chapter for Ian when he gets older.

I found a girl for him from one of my other books ;)

🤍🤍