t w e n t y t h r e e

"So, you're dating my daughter?"

Xavier sat rigidly in his seat, feeling his girlfriend's mother's stare on him. To say he was nervous would be an understatement.

"Yes, ma'am," Xavier replied politely, masking his voice with confidence. What he was feeling on the inside was the complete opposite of what he was portraying, a trait he had taken years to perfect.

He had never been put into this situation and the fact that Aurora had gone to put her things in her room, leaving the two alone, did not help the situation at all. This just made him ten times more nervous and he just hoped his girlfriend would come back soon.

A small smile began to form on Aurora's mother's face as she continued to stare at Xavier, making him shift uncomfortably. Yes he was Xavier Knight, the ruthless and cold billionaire, yet sitting in front of his girlfriend's mom made him feel incredibly small.

"Mom, stop staring at him. You're going to scare him away," muttered Aurora as she came back into the room, taking a seat besides him at the dining table. Xavier let out a sigh of relief as he laced their fingers together and giving it a squeeze.

Aurora squeezed his hand back, as if apologizing for leaving him alone with her mother. She was still wearing his clothes, but had slipped on a pair of shorts and fuzzy socks.

"Am I scaring you, dear?" Her mom asked with an all too innocent face, causing Aurora to close her eyes with embarrassment. Aurora knew her mom was doing this on purpose.

"Of course not, Mrs. Young," he denied quickly, wanting to get on her good side.

Aurora gave her mother a glare as a small chuckle left the older woman's mouth, her eyes crinkling with amusement. "Enough with that nonsense. You can call me Heather."

Xavier's mouth opened and closed in disbelief, his shoulders sagging with relief. It seemed like Aurora's mother liked him, which was a good start.

"Did you two have breakfast yet?" Asked Heather, as she began to take the small takeout boxes out of the bag and place them onto the table. "I bought your favorite."

"Not yet," murmured Aurora, leaning over to open the boxes. Her mouth watered as her favorite dim sum dishes sat in front of them. "When did you get here?"

Xavier watched as Aurora's eyes sparkled with happiness before turning to look at the dishes in front of him with curiosity. A delicious smell filled the space and as he looked down, he noticed that it was quite different from the breakfast he would usually eat.

"Right before you two came in," Heather placed 3 plates and chopsticks in front of them. She began to pile food onto Xavier's plate as he graciously thanked her. "I thought you were still sleeping in your room and I was planning to wake you up at 11. Xavier, dear, eat up."

Wanting to be polite, Xavier clumsily picked up what looked like a shrimp wrapped in translucent edible paper and placed it into his mouth. His eyes widened with surprise— the flavor deliciously filling his mouth. Although he wasn't use to using chopsticks, he still wanted to impress Heather.

"How is it?" Aurora looked at him with hesitancy. She was sure it was his first time tasting dim sum and wasn't sure how he would like it.

"It's delicious," he reassured, continuing to eat with his humble attempts at using the chopsticks. He wasn't exactly sure what he was placing into his mouth, but all that mattered to him was that it was tasty. "Thank you, Heather."

"I'm glad you are enjoying it, dear," Pleased, Heather gave him an approving nod, before she began to eat. She was glad her daughter's boyfriend wasn't picky and was open to eating foods from their culture. "You picked a good one."

Her comment made Aurora blush as she turned to look at Xavier with adoration. She bit back a smile as she watched him continued to struggle with the chopsticks. "I did, didn't I?"

Heather watched as Xavier repeatedly dropped the egg roll onto his plate, before trying to pick it up again.

"Hold your hand higher— kind how you would hold a pencil," instructed Heather, leaning forward to move Xavier's hand up on the chopsticks, placing his fingers in the correct position. "Now, try it."

With her instructions, he successfully brought it up to his mouth. He smiled with triumph as he bit into the crunchiness of the egg roll.

Nodding with satisfaction, she turned to scold her daughter. "Did Aurora teach you how to use chopsticks? No wonder you're struggling— she's absolutely terrible with them."

"Excuse me, I've been holding them like this my whole life," Pouting, Aurora brought the chopsticks up to show her mom.

"And I've been telling you your whole life that you've been holding them incorrectly," rebutted Heather, shaking her head with disapproval.

"At least I can pick things up," muttered Aurora, as Xavier stared at the mother daughter duo with amusement. Now that he was seeing them up close, Aurora was like a younger version of her mother.

Heather was a small lady, standing only a bit shorter than Aurora. She had a commanding presence to her and seemed to speak her mind often, but he could tell she was a sweet and caring lady. He could also see many similarities between Aurora and her mother, one being that both of their eyes crinkle when they smile or laugh.

"I remember when she brought her best friend, Maddie, home for the first time and tried to teach her how to use chopsticks," Heather shook her head at the memory. "Even Maddie holds them better than Aurora now."

"She does not," argued Aurora, feeling betrayed by her own mother. "And you should know that Xavier is actually her older brother."

"Maddie is a Knight?" Looking surprised, the chopsticks long forgotten, Heather did a once over at Xavier's appearance. "Now that I think about it, you and Maddie do look alike."

"Maddie used my mother's maiden name growing up," explained Xavier. "She wanted people to treat her normally."

"No wonder," Heather nodded with understanding. She could see why Maddie never explained who she was related to.

"I want to thank you and your husband for looking after my sister so kindly," Xavier added, giving Heather a kind smile. "She says many great things about you whenever she comes back from a visit from your home."

Heather waved him off. "No need for any thank yous, dear. Maddie is like my second daughter and I should be the one thanking her for taking care of Aurora after all these years."

"My siblings are often jealous every time she comes home with the big bag of treats you send her off with," continued Xavier. Aurora shook her head as he exposed her best friend. "She never shares."

"That foolish child," muttered Heather with a shake of her head with amusement. "I told her to share. I'll be sure to remind her to share next time."

"I'm sure my siblings will be very happy," Xavier turned to look at Aurora who was gnawing on what looked like chicken feet. His face scrunched with confusion and a bit of disgust. "What is that?"

"What? This?" Aurora held it up and moved it closer to him, causing him to move away immediately. She looked at him with innocent doe like eyes. "It's chicken feet. Want to try?"

He stared at it with horror. "No thanks, love."

Heather chuckled with delight at the scene in front of her. She hadn't seen her daughter this carefree with a man in a while and seeing her daughter happy made her happy.

Aurora leaned closer, teasing him with the chicken foot. "It's really good though."

"You stay away from me," shuddered Xavier, causing Aurora to giggle. She continued to taunt him with the chicken foot, as he moved his body away to try to dodge her.

Aurora pouted when her mother scolded her. She shrugged and plopped it back into her mouth. "Alright, your loss."

Xavier gave Heather a grateful smile, sitting back comfortably onto his seat. He continued to hold the chopsticks to the best of his ability, enjoying the variety of dishes in front of him.

He learned that dim sum was a general term that was used to describe a Chinese meal of small plates eaten typically for breakfast. Tea was usually served along with the meal and when dining at the actual restaurant, these plates were stacked on mobile carts that went around to the seated customers.

There was a large variety of dishes when it came to dim sum, but the ones in front of him were just some of Aurora's favorites. Again, Xavier made sure to take mental notes.

Heather had generously explained each dish to him— Aurora's attempt to explain failed miserably as she basically just said, "This is um, I'm not really sure how to say it in English, but you should just try it— It's good," for every dish.

On the other hand, Heather made sure he knew what he was putting into his mouth since she knew some dishes might've seemed a bit odd. He was definitely not putting pigs blood into his mouth no matter how much Aurora tried to convince him to eat it.

"At this rate, you'll be better than Aurora at holding chopsticks."

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"Why didn't you tell me you were dating someone?" Asked Heather, accusingly once they finished breakfast. They were still seating at the dining table, enjoying the coffee Aurora brewed. Heather turned to look at Aurora, feigning disappointment. "A very handsome someone."

Aurora groaned, taking a sip of her coffee. "Because it literally just happened."

"Still," continued Heather, excitedly, acting like a middle school girl. "You're boyfriend is Xavier Knight. No wonder he seemed oddly familiar when I first saw him."

"You knew who he was?"

"Of course," Heather looked at her daughter with appall. "Everyone knows who he is."

Aurora turned to look at Xavier with furrowed eyebrows and a pout. "Am I the only one who didn't know who you were?"

He chuckled, placing a soft kiss on her lips, causing Heather to let out a small squeal of excitement. "I guess you really do live under a rock, love."

Aurora rolled her eyes, grumbling under her breath.

"Don't mind her, dear," chirped Heather. "Now, tell me how you two meet? Did Maddie introduce you two? She did mention to me how she wanted to set you up with one of her older brothers last year."

"I sure hope she was talking about me," murmured Xavier as Heather gave him a knowing grin.

"We bumped into each other, mom," Aurora scrunched her face with an unknown expression. "When did Maddie tell you that? She never mentioned anything to me."

Heather looked away from her daughter. "It's a secret."

Aurora shook her head knowingly. "You two talk to each other way too much."

"Who else would I gossip with?" Questioned Heather, throwing her hands in the air. "Try being with your father for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. All he talks about is hockey this, hockey that, blah blah blah. At least Maddie keeps me entertained. Did you know Lucas ripped his pants the other day while—"

"I'm sorry about her. She gets really excited sometimes," Aurora whispered into Xavier's ear as Heather continued to talk about how Lucas, a grown man, ripped his own pants.

"I like your mother," Xavier chuckled, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "I can see where you get it from."

Aurora paused, thinking for a second. "Is that suppose to be a good thing?"

He gave her a teasing grin, not giving her an answer.

"If you think about it," continued Heather, excitedly. She was practically oozing happiness. "Isn't it kind of cliché that you're dating your best friend's older brother?"

"Mom!" Exclaimed Aurora with horror.

"What?" Shrugged Heather, clearly enjoying herself. "I've watched a few dramas where the girl ends up with her best friend's brother."

"You watch too many dramas, mom," Aurora grumbled before getting up to take the now empty mugs to the sink. Unlike most, she hated not doing the dishes immediately after a meal. As soon as she was out of earshot, Heather turned to look Xavier in the eyes.

"Thank you for taking care of my Aurora," Heather took Xavier's hands into hers. "You're a good man, Xavier. A way better man than that son of a bitch who hurt her. Excuse my cursing, dear."

Xavier shook his head. "It should be a given that I take care of her. I would never hurt her."

Heather gave him an approving nod, feeling a weight lift off her shoulder. She was glad her daughter found a caring man who would take care of her properly.

"And I believe you. I'm just happy she's happy," Heather kept her voice low, glancing over her shoulder at her daughter. "I trust that you will keep her happy."

"I will," he promised, putting her mind at ease.

"Good, although I should warn you, my dear," Heather continued in a not so quiet voice. "If you know what's best for you, keep her out of the kitchen."

"I can hear you mom," grumbled Aurora from the sink, turning back to glare playfully at her mom.

"Trust me, Heather, I know," And Xavier did know. Maybe he knew too well. Heather patted his hand softly, giving him an understanding nod.

"I can hear you too, Xavier."

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Hello lovelies! Thank you so much for all the love and support you've all been giving me for Yours, Forever. I really appreciate it and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you think and have a lovely Friday! Sending a ton of love to each and every one of you because you all deserve the world <3