Chapter 136 The Joining of Two Families
The next day, Sylvia came over for lunch, and the meeting of the parents took place. Emily found it amusing to see her parents and Byron’s mother side by side.
Emily mother didn’t look as polished as Sylvia, preferring to wear no makeup and casual clothing, but she had natural beauty and much more warmth and laughter than Sylvia did. Her father looked like a macho, slightly balding, and not too sophisticated guy, but he too had a lot of charisma, even if he was at times overbearing. He was almost as bossy and opinionated as Sylvia.
Emily couldn’t wait to see who would win in a battle of wills.
“It’s great to finally meet you,” Emily’s mother gushed.
“Yes, I’m glad,” Sylvia said in her reserved way.
Emily detected a note of snobbishness. She didn’t take offense because it was not as if her parents were singled out by Sylvia to be looked down on. She was snobbish when speaking to anyone. Maybe if Queen Elizabeth came to visit, Sylvia would have been slightly less arrogant.
“You’re both engineers, are you?” Sylvia said as the family sat around in the living room having snacks, “How cute!”
“Yes,” Johnny said, “though our daughter clearly doesn’t take after us. I wanted her to get into engineering, but she’s always walked her own path.”
“That reminds me, Emily. I’ve always been meaning to ask you, why do you never have your own car?” Sylvia asked. “You’re an entrepreneur with a successful company. Surely, you can afford one.”
Emily shrugged. “I usually get a lift to work from Byron or one of the bodyguards. And I’ve got my motorcycle if I need to get somewhere on short notice. I don’t need another car that pollutes the environment.”
“We do get worried about you dashing around on that motorcycle,” her dad said.
“I worry about both of them,” Sylvia agreed, “riding around on those speeding machines when they’re about to get married and start a family. You’d think they’re a couple of teenagers.”
“Mom, it’s okay,” Byron said, “we know what we’re doing.”
“Have you seen the statistics on motorcycle crashes?” Sylvia argued.
“Yeah, they mostly involve people being reckless with their bikes, which is not us,” Byron replied, patting his mom’s hand in a comforting gesture.
It seemed like the parents actually bonded over criticizing and worrying about their kids, which was not how Emily expected it to go, but it was probably a good thing.
After everyone started on their lunch, Emily’s mother brought up the wedding ceremony.
“Emily and Byron are very interested in keeping their wedding a little bit smaller. Speaking for myself, I can relate to that. Maybe we could negotiate a number of guests that works for everyone?”
“Clearly, you have not been in the public eye like we have,” Sylvia said grandly, “and you don’t know what’s expected of a family like ours.”
“I’ve been in the public eye,” Emily’s father spoke up self-assuredly, “I won my company’s ‘rock paper scissors’ contest two years in a row, and let me tell you, it’s not easy. So I know what it’s like, being in the limelight.”
To Emily’s glee, Sylvia was taken aback by this, probably because it came across as too ridiculous. For once, she didn’t have a clever retort.
“And I’ve got to tell you, Sylvia,” he continued, “I heard you didn’t want Nick to be the MC at the wedding, but you’ve got to reconsider. I don’t know if you’re aware, but my son is a famous rapper selling out concert halls in Toronto. Last week, he opened for Duck.”
“Oh really?” Sylvia sneered, “So he’s an appetizer?”
“An appetizer for one of the world’s top-selling artists!” Johnny fought back.
“If he ever becomes a main meal, then maybe we’ll talk about him performing at my son’s wedding,” Sylvia concluded.
“All right then.” Johnny seemed impressed and slightly intimidated.
“The wedding is all about Byron and Emily,” Chiara said soothingly, “Shouldn’t we let them decided what they prefer?”
“The wedding is about family,” Sylvia replied, “It always has been. It’s a matter of tradition. What they do as a couple is their own business, but a wedding is about two families joining together, and I would like to have it done properly.”
Even long after Sylvia left, Johnny was quite peeved. “Are you sure you want to marry into this family?” he whispered Emily when they were left alone. “I mean, Byron seems nice, but his mother is bat-sh*t crazy.”
“I’m used to her,” Emily said. “Usually I can get her on my side, but this wedding… she’s been high and mighty about everything, and I don’t want to antagonize her.”
“Well, we tried our best,” Emily’s mother said, “but she’s a tough one.”
Emily was almost resigned to having a really boring and impersonal wedding with hundreds of guests… but she wasn’t ready to quit yet.
