FAMILY

"Mr. Ashton."

"Macy, please inform everyone I'll be out of office. By the way, were they delivered?"

"Yes, Mr. Ashton," Macy replied.

XY XX XY XX

At 3 PM, Xenia got up; she slipped on her gown. The once busy consultant now majored in afternoon naps. Carrying a baby was one thing, but two wasn't a joke as her reflection attested she could play in the remake of The Nutty Professor and star as the Professor.

Xenia prayed and hoped she would recuperate her figure ASAP after the twin's birth. Especially her butt, which she knew would sag as soon as the babies were out. Each phase had its endeavors, and Xenia already dreaded it. Oddly enough, it was not the same type of fear as with Sia. Here she could think of such details as her figure or decorating the twin's room. Whereas before, her fears revolved around being a single mother.

"When will this be over," Xenia muttered as she stood up, stared at her swollen feet, which she attempted to squeeze into her slippers. She gave up and put on one of Gregory's as hers begged her feet to spare them. Xenia left the room, bouquets of red roses paved the hall.

"Okay, he has gone overboard this time," Xenia mumbled as the road of roses continued down the winding stairs.

"The man is crazy," Xenia exclaimed as she reached the bottom of the staircase.

"Good morning, Madame."

"Please, my name is Xenia, Xenia."

Maids still circulated installing the roses.

Xenia stood in the middle of the hall, where she watched the women and men dart in all directions. The whole mansion was filled with flowers, which announced a beautiful spring, "okay, everyone, stop moving. You are making me dizzy," she took her phone from her gown and dialed.

"GREGORY"

"Good afternoon."

"WHY IS THE HOUSE FILLED WITH ROSES?"

Gregory, who anticipated the scream, brought the phone back to his ear, "woman, appreciate my romantic intent without whining."

The man promised himself he would woo Xenia as if they were in the courting stage untilㅡ, there was no expiry date. Gregory, who was a locked diary of words, found another way to show the woman how much he valued and cherished her. Gestures, sometimes big and other times small, Gregory, was full of ideas. Margaret knew her grandson well. Gregory was indeed a hopeless romantic. If someone watched him, they could think the man waited to meet a person on who he could spill his love and spoil.

"It's too much," Xenia walked up to one of the vases to look at the colorful red petals.

"It's never too much for the future Mrs. Ashton and mother of Ashton IV and V."

Xenia muffled a giggle, "don't say that. It sounds like a Star Wars Saga. Don't call my babies like that," Xenia, while she looked down at her huge stomach imagining herself having R2D2 grandchildren, "what are you doing, when are you getting off work?"

"I'm going to pick up Sia."

"What are you guys going to do?" Xenia asked as she advanced to the dining room, which was also colorfully decorated with roses for the occasion.

"It's between Sia and me," Gregory replied.

"I see you are leaving me out."

The tone employed alerted the man, who immediately rebounded.

"Are you sulking?" Gregory asked, amused.

"Yes, yes, I'm complaining. You don't love me like you used to."

This time it was Gregory's turn to stifle a laugh, "oh, my goodness, I would have heard everything in this lifetime."

"Je t'aime," Xenia whispered loud enough for the man to hear.

"That's my favorite, though," Gregory replied. The sentence was like music to his ears. If he could only hear one sentence, the man wished Xenia's voice would play the same song of words forever.

"Je t'aime, Xenia, I'll be quick."

There were chauffeurs, maids, all the hands needed to help them with daily things, but this Gregory made sure not to miss the part where he spent as much time with Sia. Gregory loved her; Sia was an essential piece of the foundations of his happiness.

The child had her father, Sia knew where Mark was if she needed him, but this other man was not a substitute in her eyes. Gregory fulfilled the role entirely Sia had no objections.

"Gregory," Sia yelled as she waved frantically at the man who searched for her.

The little blonde girl with her two pigtails next to Sia looked in Gregory's direction and stared back at Sia. Her eyes searched for a resemblance before asking, "c'est ton papa?"

"Oui," Sia got up to run to the man who outstretched his hands to grab her in a hug.

Sia took Gregory's hand, and they walked to where the Black Bentley Mulsanne that waited for them, "where's mom?"

"Your mom woke up an hour ago; I thought we might spend some time together."

A few waffles and ice cream later, Sia found herself in a famous Italian jeweler's store where she helped Gregory pick a present.

"This one daㅡI mean Gregory, she'll like this one," Sia said."

"Okay, I trust you, Sia. If your mom says no this time, it will be because you chose the wrong ring."

The girl's face darkened.

"I'm only kidding, "I'll take the Ginevra ring, please, and the Little Daisy earrings."

The sales assistant withdrew the items from the tray where they were presented and took them to wrap.

"Are the earrings for mom too?"

"No, they're for another important little lady in my life who is having to have a huge responsibility of becoming a big sister."

Sia smiled; they took the packets and left the store.

"Daㅡ, I mean Gregory, do you think I can work for the MI6 later like Jaila?"

"Anything is possible as long as you put your mind to it, Sia."

The man's optimism reassured Sia, who felt she could conquer the world with his encouragement.

"Sia, I know your mom, and I don't have a legal status yet, but you can call me Gregory or ㅡhe paused to ponder and weigh the consequence of his words before saying " or you can call me dad if you like, call me the way you prefer. I just want you to be comfortable and to know that I consider you as my child."

"Okay, dad."

Sia didn't hesitate; happy memories began to pile up when the man walked into Xenia's and her life. Gregory saved her mother and Sia, who started to sketch a negative image of men as she saw how Xenia suffered. Now she knew one good man was enough, one who assumed both mother and child. There were a few good men out there with even more idiots, but Gregory was the living testimony that good ones existed.

Gregory's heart skipped; the man never thought about the impact of a word such as dad.

Yes, it wasn't his little soldiers who won the battle to conceive Sia, but for Gregory, the young girl was his first child if Sia decided to call him dad, perhaps somewhere along the lines, he earned the name like a medal.

The feeling Sia's words procured were more than satisfying; Gregory was proud and relieved to know that she considered him in the manner.

XX + XY

Once home, they found a Xenia ready to erupt.

"What took you so long?" Xenia asked them as they entered the house.

"We ate waffles," Sia replied.

"I see."

"Good evening," Gregory came to plant a kiss on her cheek before sending away the maids so they could prepare dinner.

Xenia grinned as she thought of all the doubts she had and how Gregory swept them away. His speech when he said no one tells you about cinderella's or snow White's part II and their up and downs with their Princes came back to mind.

Love was frightening, but when Xenia stared at the man who opened the fridge to grab the ingredients for the evening meal, she recognized it was worth taking all the risks.

"Okay, Xenia, this is my last attempt after this. Well, you will never hear me ask you this question agaㅡ."

"Yes."

"What?"

"The answer is yes."

"Wait, you haven't seenㅡ," Gregory hurried to fetch the ring."

"Yes, mom, wait till dad shows you the ring."

Xenia blinked twice in shock, unable to utter a single word.

Gregory smiled, "just go with the flow, Xenia."

"Go with the flow, huh, okay, so as I was saying, my answer is yes. Yes, Gregory Carlton Asthon III, I'll marry you. We've got this far might as well go all the way. Wait a minute, was it truly the last time you were asking?"

"Well, I had to make it dramatic, but I would have asked again next week," Gregory gave Xenia a wink.

Xenia sat at the kitchen's counter, "you are impossible."

"Look who is talking."

"Meow."

Gregory looked at the cat who rubbed herself against his leg, "I know Oasis; she's crazy about me."

"Meow."

"Yes, I'll keep my promise."

Xenia rolled her eyes, "you talk to cats now?"

"Yeah, Oasis is my homie."

"Meow."

They all burst into laughter.

Gregory gave Oasis a wink, "what, it's true, though."

After all of Gregory's attempts, it was that day in the kitchen Xenia decided to accept his proposal to become his wife, and the day Sia made enthroned the man as her father.

A family, the notion which for centuries was in a blockchain of standards, found a new meaning. For the couple and Sia, a family was this unit where odd pieces slotted together to become a whole.

So this was what a happy end looked like in real life. It was a moment that Xenia wouldn't have imagined in thousands of years the day she shook Gregory's hand after the meeting.

The man who refused to be called Greg and the woman who desired her name to be well pronounced were now the gems of each other's pupils.

They had been through a lot, and they stood in front of the pages of a brand new book where the chapters were still to be written—episodes with twins, marriage, and other shenanigans that they would face together.