Chapter Nineteen

CHAPTER SONG: DONNE-MOI TON COEUR BY LOUANE

"You didn't cause too much trouble while I was gone, yes?" He asked.

"No!" They chirped in unison with a shake of their head.

Kylian grinned and said, "Great! I have someone I'd like to introduce to you. Isayah, Lana, this is Sapphie. She's my special friend," He winked at them before saying, "So be nice, okay?"

They nodded while peeking at Sapphie.

"Sapphie stepped forward and smiled.

"It's so nice to meet you. I've heard wonderful things about you both from your uncle."

The children looked up at her with wide eyes, and Kylian chuckled. "Go ahead, say hello."

He nudged Isayah in her direction, causing him to unwind his scrawly arms from around his neck and take a shy step in her direction as did his sister.

They both shyly uttered, "Hello."

Sapphie knelt down and reached out her hand for a handshake, "It's really nice to meet you two. You must be..." Kylian watched her look up as if to think hard before saying, "Lana, right?!"

Isayah's eyes grew into saucers as he gaped at her.

"No!" He laughed whilst shaking his head vehemently. His sister laughed out loud beside him. Kylian shook his head as he joined in on the laughter.

"He's Isayah and I'm Lana, silly." She laughed.

"Oh! My bad. Hi Isayah, I'm Sapphie." She stretched out her hand and shook his hand.

"And you must be Lana!" She smiled, "It's really nice to meet you two and I'm looking forward to getting to know you better."

Kylian patted their heads and said, "See? She's not so bad. Now let's all go see what everyone else is doing!"

He walked down the short hallway that would lead into the living room and dining room what his hand on the small of Sapphie's back, feeling more nervous than he had ever before. His palms were sweaty and his heart was thumping, but he tried his best to put on his poker face for her. He knew it was important for Sapphie to feel comfortable when meeting his family. The last thing that would help with that was her seeing him fearing his own family in any way.

He walked anxiously into the living room with Sapphie by his side. His two brothers, Jires and Ethan, were sitting on the same sofa while Brice, his best friend, was sitting with his dad. Then mom and Melissa, his sister-in-law were in the corner with their aprons still on with a glass of wine each in their hands. They were all watching a football match, completely engrossed.

"Papa, look! Uncle Kyky is back!" They ran up to their father, pulling everyone out of their trance like state.

"Hey, guys." He said with a small wave. Everyone got up from their seats and got closer to them.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in!" Said Melissa with a huge smile on her face.

This was it...the moment of truth. He breathed in deep but couldn't stop the big grin that grew on his face, "Mom, dad, everyone. I'd like you to meet Sapphie."

"Sapphie, is...my girlfriend."

Wait, WHAT?!

Sapphie was so taken aback she almost broke her ankles in her heels. The next step she'd been expecting was to meet his family and maybe hake some hands, but here he was, introducing her as his girlfriend.

Had she heard that wrong?

Reminding herself to close her mouth, Sapphie stared at him then his family. Her heart skipped a beat as all of his family members looked her up and down with curiosity.

She definitely had heard him say girlfriend.

Only heaven knew how she managed to quickly put on a brave face and smile through the shock. She clasped the handles on her small gift bag and looked around the room at everyone who was cheering for them.

"It's nice to meet you all," she said softly.

She noticed Brice, Jires and Ethan grinning mischievously and she had a feeling that something funny was about to happen.

"Hey, Sapphie, I'm Jires," Kylian's older brother said as he gave her a small hug and kissed her cheeks. "It's about time. We thought he'd never find someone to love him."

"Hey!" Complained Kylian as everyone erupted in laughter.

"Oh, stop it. You boys behave yourselves." Said Melissa as she swatted Jires' arm.

"Sapphie, great to finally see you here." Said Ethan as he too hugged her. Like with the rest of the guys on the team, Sapphie and him occasionally talked at work during training or in the gym.

"Ethan, likewise."

"I just can't believe it took him this long. But it's good he found his way to light before it was too late." He laughed.

"You guys are the worst," Kylian shook his head, "at this rate you'll chase her off!"

He then introduced her to Brice, his long-time best friend before introducing him to Melissa. Before she knew it, she was standing before his parents with her small gift clutched to her chest.

"Sapphie, I'd like you to meet my mom and dad." He gestured to his parents.

Sapphie curtsied before greeting his mother first as was in custom back in her country in Zimbabwe. She breathed easier when his mother smiled and greeted her the French way.

"It's nice to meet you both. This is for you, some Beaujolais." She presented the bottle of wine inside the gift bag to Kylian's mother.

"Thank you darling, this was thoughtful of you. It will go well with the meal tonight." She accepted it with a polite smile.

The rest of the introductions went smoothly, and Kylian could finally relax and enjoy the evening. As Sapphie became more comfortable talking with everyone, he noticed a relieved look on her face and he knew he had made the right decision in introducing her to his family.

A little later, after the guys went back to the game while both Melissa and Kylian's mother disappeared into the kitchen to continue preparing for dinner. Feeling a little comfortable that she was the only one left while the other women worked in the kitchen, Sapphie excused herself, sat down her non-alcoholic wine and got up from where she was sitting beside Kylian. If only she'd know how much she'd regret making that decision, she probably wouldn't have stood up. But then again, she hadn't wanted to give Kylian's family a wrong impression of her so probably would have made the same decision either way.

She stepped into the kitchen, unsure of what to expect. Kylian's mother stood at the counter chopping vegetables while his sister-in-law stood nearby, stirring a bubbling pot on the stovetop. Seeing them like that remined her again of the surprise she felt when she saw them for the first time. Earlier, when she and Kylian walked into his apartment, she hadn't been sure what to expect in terms of what his mother usually wore while with family or at home. But whatever it was, it defiantly wasn't the floor-stained apron and jeans paired with knitted tops beneath. The same applied for Melissa. It was surprising and strangely soothing to see that they dressed exactly how she would dress if she were at home too.

Sapphie smiled shyly and greeted them before saying, "Ms. Lamari, I came to see if you guys needed any help in here."

Kylian's mother smiled at her with a wave of her hand, "Sweetheart firstly, call me Faizah. Only the press and the people at work call me Ms. Lamari. Plus, it's unacceptable for me to ask a guest to join in on the work."

"Please. I insist, I feel like a sitting duck in there with those guys. I mean, I'm really into football and they were already dragging me into discussing the game stats."

That had Melissa bursting out in laughter at the stove.

"That's first for Kylian," she turned to wink at Sapphie, "I like it."

Sapphie blushed. "So, what's the verdict?"

Kylian's mother seemed to think for a bit then asked, "How good are you with a knife?"

Sapphie shrugged with a smile as she stepped deeper into the kitchen, "I mean, I'm no Padma Lakshmi but I can hold my own."

"Good, we're making. I'll move to the salad, why don't you finish up with the vegetables here. We're making Salmon en papillote with brown rice for the main course." Said Faizah and pulled out an apron.

"I won't have you messing up that beautiful dress."

Sapphie, with a smile, accepted the black garment from the older woman and set to work on the pile of vegetables, her mind racing as she tried to anticipate what they were thinking of her.

She felt their eyes constantly on her, watching her every move as if they were expecting her to slip up in some way. Though this feeling of being judged wasn't new to her, it made her feel uncomfortable. She kept her head down and worked diligently, determined to make a good impression as they all worked in silence. That was until Kylian's mother spoke first.

"So Sapphie, why don't you tell us about yourself? Where did you grow up? What do you do for a living?" She asked. Though her tone was friendly, Sapphie couldn't help but hear an underlying edge of distrust.

Sapphie took a deep breath and began to recounther tale.