Charlotte

I woke up to the sound of the doorbell. Ian hadn’t given me a tour, but I knew this had to be his room. Well, ours now. Ian made his intentions very clear about what he wanted. I climbed out of bed and quietly crept towards the bedroom door. “Where is she, bro?” I heard some guy ask.

“What the hell? How did you know?” Ian asked.

The other guy laughed then continued. “Come on, you think I’d let you get away with it. I had your neighbor next door let me know. That little old lady likes to gossip.”

I heard a bunch of footsteps which confused me since I could only hear the two of them. “She’s sleeping right now,” Ian whispered.

“It’s okay, son, we’ll be quiet.” Oh shit. His father was here? I guessed the other voice was his brother, Nick. I looked down, glad I had to dress nicely for work.

“Ooh look, pizza. Excuse me, I’m starving. We missed lunch being nosy,” he mumbled the last bit. I couldn’t see, but I bet he’d started eating the leftovers.

“So, when is the wedding?” A woman asked. Damn it, his mother was here too. It seemed like a reasonable question, especially because I’d soon be visibly pregnant. For now, I could pass for bloated after a heavy meal.

“Whenever she wants, as long as it’s sometime this week.” Was he afraid people would see?

“Ha. Bro, you’re so in love with her. Man, you fell for the girl who took your V-card.” His brother is a shit, but I wish I had a brother. Then at least it wouldn’t have been so lonely.

“What are you sixteen, dickhead? Who cares about that?” I wanted to believe him before, but it had seemed too unrealistic. Yet it had been the truth.

“Wow, so sensitive. Chill out.”

“Speaking of, have you heard from your girl?” Ian asked him. My ears perked up as I listened in.

“No, she’s been avoiding me.”

“Well, she put in that she’s opting out of her renewal. She doesn’t want to work with Knight Publishing any longer.”

“What!” he roared. “No way. That’s not happening. She’s not leaving me.” He stormed out of the house and I exited the bedroom quietly.

“You’re a liar, son. I just saw the paperwork. She signed again for two more books,” his father said. I got to see them without them noticing me. The resemblance between father and son was remarkable. They could pass for twins if it wasn’t for the gray around his temples and the slight wrinkles around his eyes.

“I know, but he needs to get it over with. I can’t be the only one bringing grandkids into your lives,” Ian remarked nonchalantly. My eyes bugged out, seeing Ian staring at me.

“You’re going to start soon?”

“We already have,” I said, entering the room after spending all that time eavesdropping and finally getting caught.

“Mother, father, this is my fiancée, Charlotte, the one I told you about,” he said with great pride in his smile.

“Hello, I’m Nicholas and this is my wife, Rosalyn.” His mother came to us and hugged me close. I was surprised but welcomed it.

“I’m so glad he finally found you, and I can’t wait for the baby,” she squealed, touching my belly. For over three hours, we sat there talking about the future. The hardest part had been when they asked about my parents.

“Dad, that’s something we need to talk about. They won’t be coming. I met Charlotte again because she was the supposed Charlie Cross. Her adoptive parents faked the whole information while they plagiarized our books. We’re not the only company, but they will be apprehended very soon. Jax made it clear they’d have it done for us.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. We don’t want to come between you and your parents,” his mother responded sweetly, pressing her hand on my knee.

“You’re not. There’s nothing to come between. Ian and I met because they ditched me in Italy. I’d decided to take a tour of the ancient ruins and not let my disappointment get me down.”

Ian’s phone pinged with a text that said, “Fuck you.” Nick apparently found out Ian had been lying.

“We’re going to leave you two. We’ll get all the arrangements settled in the next two days. It won’t be fancy, but it will be nice.”

“Thank you,” I replied, hugging his mother. She gave us both a kiss on the cheek and they left.

As soon as he closed and locked the door he slipped his arms around my waist and leaned down for a kiss. “How are you feeling?”

“Perfectly wonderful,” I answered, smiling up at him.

“Look, it’s raining outside,” he pointedly remarked.

“Well, then I see no point in wasting a good rainstorm,” I murmured with a smirk. He bent down and slipped one hand under my knees and the other on my back, then swiftly lifted me into his arms.

“We better get to it. I’ve missed you so much.”