Chapter Twenty

Miles opened the door and we were met with silence. I looked at him and he didn't look unbothered, he shifted to the side and ushered me in and I stepped into the warmth of the house.

"Is it normal to be this quiet?" I asked as my eyes scanned the foyer.

He chuckled, "not really, either they're all up in their rooms or in the game room. Come on."

I followed him into the living room then dinning room then into the kitchen where we found his mother. She was dressed in a black flowing dress that had slit on the left. She was taking a pot off the stove when we walked in.

She looked up and she smiled, "Victoria, you came." She dropped the napkin she was holding and ushered me to a hug which I stepped into.

"Happy Thanksgiving ma," I said with a genuine smile on my face.

We don't talk often but we're not on bad terms.

"Happy Thanksgiving my dear, I'm sorry if this is wierd for you, your mum mentioned that you guys don't really celebrate it like we do." She held me at arms length as she spoke.

"No it's fine," I shook my head then showed her the bag I was holding. "I  hope you like wine," I smiled.

She took the bag and peeped into it then a grin broke out on her face, "of course. This is lovely, thank you."

"Mother did you forget that I'm right here?" Miles grumbled from behind me.

"I see you almost all the time Miles, shut up." She said while dramatically rolling her eyes then she set the bag on the counter.

"Because I'm not your favorite," he mumbled under his breath but it was still loud enough for both Beverly and I to hear.

Beverly ignored him, "the others are upstairs, your dad is in the office. Please call everyone down for dinner," she began to dish the food from the pot to the serving dish.

"Come on let's go wake the house," Miles said with his hand on my back, leading me out of the kitchen.

I followed him back to the foyer and he screamed, "Dinner's ready!"

For the first five seconds silence was in the air but it broke when two doors opened at the same time and voices filled the air. Their loud footsteps echoed throughout the house and soon they all came to view, all five of them.

It was easy to know who was who from their faces. The first person I recognized was Dorothea, she was slim and tall and her face was glued to her phone even as she descended the stairs. Her hair was blonde and it flowed down to her waist. Though they all had variance in hair color but one thing was certain, they all looked alike and you could easily tell that they were all family.

I recognized Noah next, his phone was pressed against his ear as he spoke to whoever was on the other side with his other hand tucked into his pant pockets. He was like the older version of Miles, their hair color was exactly the same thing.

Maeve looked like the female version of Miles, long brown hair and probably as big as I was. She was talking to who I recognized as Millicent. She was obviously the youngest but if you didn't look well you'd think she and Maeve were twins. She was slightly shorter than Maeve and her hair was just on her shoulders, authenticating her round face.

The last person had to be Caden and I wondered what he was doing here if he mentioned he wasn't going to be here tonight. His blonde hair was in a scattered mess atop his head and like Miles had mentioned, he really looked like the crazy one. He was talking to Dorothea who was nodding at whatever he said while she still pressed away at her phone.

"What are you doing here Caden?" Miles asked from beside me when they had all gotten to the bottom of the stairs.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at us or rather me. Their eyes scanned me from head to toe and it was hard to read what they thought.

"I didn't exactly lie, I had a little free time on my hands so I decided to show up," he shrugged then faced me. "And you must be Victoria," he beamed as he stretched out a hand for me to shake.

I shook his hand and smiled, "yeah and you must be Caden?"

"I see Miles has filled you in already," he looked at Miles for a second and still held unto my hand, shaking it.

Miles cleared his throat, "okay that's enough." He pulled Caden's hand from mine and glared at him which caused him to laugh.

"Hi, I'm Maeve, fourth child," Maeve stepped forward and surprised me when she opened her arms for a hug.

I smiled and hugged her back, "you have a beautiful name Maeve."

"Thank you," she wiggled her brows, "I get it a lot."

I chuckled then Millicent stepped forward, "hi, I'm Millicent, absolutely love your hair." She smiled shyly and I felt my cheeks flush.

"Thank you, yours really suits you," I complemented and she turned to Maeve with a smirk on her face. "I told you," she said and that caused everyone to laugh.

"Hi, I'm Dorothea, second child, I'm so glad that it's you and not those other bitches he had as girlfriends," she glared at Miles then opened her arms for a hug. "Please call me Thea."

I nodded and hugged her, "thank you I guess."

She chuckled then the last person Noah stepped forward. "I'm Noah, first child, it's nice to finally meet you, Miles has told me a lot about you," he offered a hand shake which I took and smiled at him then looked at Miles who avoided eye contact.

"Great you've all met yourselves, it's time to eat." Miles said then placed his hand on my back again, leading us to the dining room.

"So Victoria, what do you do? For fun," Maeve asked as she stepped in line with Miles and I.

"Read books, I play basketball also but I haven't had the time for that in a while," I shrugged.

"Great, you're a sports person," she did a little victory dance.

"Are you a sports person?"

"Yeah, swimming. I hope to get to the Olympics some day," she grinned and I loved how her face lit up as she spoke.

"That's great, you'll get there someday." I smiled.

"Milli, can you go call Dad?" Miles said as he took out a chair for me to sit at the dining.

It was a ten seater dining and Miles chose somewhere in the middle. I sat down and he sat to my left while Maeve took my right. Noah sat beside Miles, Dorothea opposite Maeve, Caden opposite Me and Millicent opposite Miles.

The table was already set and just as I was about to ask about Beverly she appeared from the other side of the room with a smile on her face.

"Why must I do it?" Millicent grumbled with a scowl.

"Because I don't want to," Miles shrugged.

"You're only sending me because I'm the youngest," she rolled her eyes and began to the direction Beverly was coming from.

Miles didn't bother responding and we all watched as Millicent walked away but I didn't miss the little bird she flipped at Miles and we all chuckled.

"So, you got any siblings?" Noah asked.

I nodded, "an elder sister."

"I wish I had your life," Dorothea said with a wishful look. "I'm tired of my siblings."

"You wish you were the only one?" I chuckled, finding it a little funny. I've always wanted another sibling, just one, but my parents didn't want to have  another child after their third attempt failed, so they just gave up completely on having any more kids.

"Yes, at least I can manage with another one but that's all," she dramatically rolled her eyes.

"Who would you pick if you had to choose just one?" I asked and everyone had Dorothea's attention.

"Miles," she said not skipping a bit.

"Why me? I thought you hated me?" Miles spoke with pure shock in his voice.

"You're the most reasonable. Caden and Noah are too loud, Millicent is too quiet for me, I'm already quiet, I don't need another like me, I would have chosen Maeve but she's a girl and since I have the male version of her so Miles," she shrugged.

Everyone looked hurt and Miles that I expected to have a smirk on his face was still confused.

"Why do you treat me like shit then?" Miles chuckled.

"Because, I like you better, it's called tough love." She smiled.

"I like you," I said and meant it.

"Thank you, I like you too," she wiggled her brows. "Watch out Miles, I might take her from you," she joked and everyone laughed.

Beverly cleared her throat from the end of the table she sat at and everyone stilled when they realized what she was trying to tell them. Mr. Jacobs was making his way over to the table with Millicent in front of him.

The way the air in the room shifted made me extra uncomfortable and I suddenly felt out of place.

I looked at Miles and he had this look I had never seen on him before, it was so serious. From under the table Miles held my hand and I let him.

"Victoria, you made it," Mr. Jacobs said as he took his seat at the other end of the table.

I had never met him in person all these while and meeting him for the first time definitely matches my imagination. Miles always spoke of his father as a very serious person but I didn't know this serious, the stiffness on the table was choking.

"Yes sir, you have a beautiful home." I said in the most polite way possible.

"Thank you," he smiled stiffly at me and looked at Beverly. "Shall we?"

She nodded, "Dorothea please pray."

Dorothea said a quick prayer, blessing the food then we all started serving ourselves. Miles helped me.

What caught my attention most was the jollof rice on the table. I looked at Beverly and smiled, she smiled back.

"Your mother taught me, I absolutely love it." She said and I nodded.

We ate in silence and I felt like dissapearing into thin air with how everyone ate in silence. I know it's etiquette not to talk while eating but there has to be a few exceptions sometimes, times when you have a guest, you'd just bore them to death and make them feel really uncomfortable.

Halfway through my food Noah started laughing, then Dorothea, then Maeve, Millicent and Caden, then Beverly and Mr. Jacobs. I looked at Miles with a confused look on my face then he started laughing too.

"I can't do this," Noah said then stood up walking away from the table.

"What's going on?" I asked Miles and he had to take a sip of his water before he could speak.

"It's a prank," he couldn't stop laughing and I was still confused.

What exactly is a prank?

"We're never this serious, especially during dinner. We just wanted to see your reaction and we got you good." Miles pointed to the CCTV camera at the corner of the room and my mouth dropped.

"We do that to everyone who hasn't met our father personally, everyone always falls for it," Maeve added, still unable to control her laughter.

"Of course we'll fall for it," I started laughing at myself.

Mr Jacobs stood up and made his way over to me. "I'm Emmanuel, nice to meet you Victoria." He offered a hand shake.

I shook his hand, "likewise."

"I apologize Victoria, it's just a family tradition." Beverly said still laughing lightly.

Noah came back to his seat and we continued eating this time making small talks and I must say, they got me good.

I officially like them.

***

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