Chapter 12 - 12

"Ben, you sly dog. You have been hiding her from us?" Came a voice from behind them

Benjamin looked up to see Julian and Elena coming towards them

"Isabella . This is my best friend Julian and his wife Elena. And guys, this is Isabella ." Benjamin made the introductions

"And who is Isabella ?" Elena asked with a teasing smirk

"Isabella Benjamin Lockwood. My wife" Benjamin said as he placed an arm around Isabella's shoulder

Isabella's eyes widened at the gesture and she looked up at him with the same expression.

Benjamin grinned seeing the look on Isabella's face.

Her face is so expressive. Especially her eyes.

Her beautiful hazel coloured eyes.

Benjamin stared into those eyes, a feeling of drowning suddenly enveloping him

Julian coughed and Benjamin snapped out of his dream land.

"Uh well"

"So tell us about your story Isabella. He kept you a secret from us. We never knew Ben was in a relationship" Elena said

"Oh no. We were not in a relationship. Its a long story. Tell then Benjamin" Isabella said gently nudging Benjamin with her elbow

"Aww. Benjamin. How cute?" Julian teased making Isabella blush more.

Benjamin grinned seeing her blush

He realized he loved her blush.

Oh!! How pretty she becomes when she blushes.

Not that she is less pretty without the blush. But she turns positively stunning when she blushes.

"God Ben. Stop staring at her like you want to gobble her up" Elena teased managing to turn Isabella a darker shade of red.

Isabella hoped mother earth would split up and gobble her instead.

The new couple who had come by were mercilessly teasing them and Benjamin was simply grinning as if he was enjoying every moment of it.

He casually took her hands in his and Isabella felt her heart jumping out of her ribcage and getting stuck somewhere near her throat.

Oh Jesus. What is happening to her?

She is not seeing Benjamin for the first time. Neither is she being in close proximity with him for the first time.

But why is she suddenly feeling all these weird flip flops in her stomach.

Isabella tried to discreetly get her hand out of his hold, but he tightened his hold on her hands.

"So? Why such a sudden marriage? Couldn't wait to organize a wedding Ben?" Julian asked

Benjamin proceeded to explain whatever happened so far.

"Damn" Julian cursed

"These jobless aunties, I tell you" Elena began to curse the Sofia character in her own colourful language

"And her brother punched you too? Damn! I missed the main part of the show" Julian said in regret earning a kick from Ben.

"Oh but the guy inside didn't look like someone who goes around punching other guys. He was so sweet with Sapphire . And he happily took Juliana with him" Elena said remembering the cute guy with muscles.

She had never thought guys with huge muscles could actually look cute.

Isabella's brother seems to be an exception

"Juliana?" Isabella asked

"Our daughter. She is of Sapphire 's age" Julian said

"Anybody here. Somebody please help" they heard the frantic cries from the house

"That's Sandro Fratellone " Isabella said and ran inside with the other three hot on her heels

She came to halt seeing Sapphire and another little girl, both have their chubby little fists on Sandro's hair, pulling it tightly and Sandro trying to get out of their grip without hurting them.

"Oh god!" Julian and Benjamin rushed towards them, to pull their kids away.

Isabella squatted next to Sandro who was rubbing his head

"What happened Fratellone ?"

"I made the mistake of giving Sapphire's toys to Juliana to play with" Sandro said

"She is very possessive of her things" Benjamin said clutching onto Sapphire

"Yes. I learned the hard way" Sandro said dryly

"What happened then" Isabella asked

"Sapphire grabbed her things back from Juliana. Juliana didn't like it. She fought back. They grabbed onto each other's hair tightly. I tried to intervene and separate them. They ended up grabbing my hair instead" Alessandro said

Benjamin laughed out loud. He simply couldn't help it.

Isabella and Alessandro glared at Benjamin, whose laughter died down seeing the Carter siblings' glare on him

"Uh. Where is Mom and Dad. And your parents?" Benjamin asked not seeing them around

"They are being given a tour of the house" Alessandro said

"Okay guys. We don't have much time. Why don't we get down to planning the reception" Elena said going into her business mode

"Yeah. That would be nice" Benjamin said and they all took a seat in the living room.

Surprisingly Sapphire and Juliana seems to get on together, sharing toys and playing with each other

"Seems like they bonded over pulling my hair" Alessandro said dryly

"Okay. So tell me Ben and Isabella . Italian or Western? How do you want the reception to be?"

"I will call momma and papa. We can decide together" Isabella said

"Its our reception party Isabella . So it should be our choice" Benjamin said

"I agree" Alessandro agreed with his brother in law for the first time

"What if momma gets angry. She seems to get angry for anything and everything nowadays" Isabella complained

"Let her get angry. You are not under her thumb anymore." Alessandro said with a mischievous grin

"What?"

"You lucky girl. You escaped from momma" Sandro said acting all jealous

"Fratellone. Please" Isabella pouted

"Okay. Now decide. How do you want it to be?"

"Isabella . I have to give the office employees a party anyways. So how about we have both. A Italian style reception for the family and a cocktail party for the employees. What do you think about it?" Benjamin asked

"That sounds good. We will be inviting family for the reception. If we keep the theme western, I don't think the older aunties and uncles from our community would find it comfortable" Isabella agreed

"Great. So there are two parties to arrange. In a week." Elena said making notes.

"Yeah. It would be nice to have a two days gap between the two functions" Benjamin said

"Done. And Isabella , our main to go designer will be here by evening to take your measurements. You okay with that right?" Elena asked

"Yes" Isabella agreed

"Now. About catering. Tell me your favourite foods and sweets. So that I can give orders real quick"

"About that. A reception cake is a must in these functions right?" Benjamin asked

"Ofcourse. What reception without a huge cake" Elena said

"Isabella , why don't you make the cake for our reception" Benjamin asked surprising Isabella

"Me??"

"Yes. You love baking don't you? And obviously this would be a good opportunity for marketing. There will be lots of women from Mom's club attending the parties. We can spread the word around, that the bride made the cake. Trust me, if the cake is good, you will be showered with orders starting the next moment" Benjamin said

Isabella looked at Benjamin with her heart in her eyes.

Could she really be this lucky?

She had prayed for a husband who would understand her dreams and support her.

And here she got a man who is taking initiative to help her achieve her dreams.

"Thank you. I would like that" Isabella said huskily

"Just get me a list of things you need. And yeah, there is a baking set here. Mom bought that when we were at Paris last year. Mind you, it has never been used. She bought it because it took her fancy and then she totally forgot about it" Benjamin said with a laugh

Alessandro smiled feeling relieved.

He wasn't very keen on his sister remaining married to this impulsive man.

But he seems good for Izzy.

Maybe everything happens for a reason.