18 She's lovely

Nicklaus carried an eerily quiet air around him, such that when he entered the room with his hands around Tiana, everywhere became quiet. They watched them as though they were some alien.

What made them quieter was the fact that Nicklaus had come with a woman! Nicklaus has never been seen with a woman before, so the sight was shocking to them. It took about thirty seconds for them to leave the slight daze they were in, but the shock could not leave their faces.

He barely came for the dinners and whenever he did, he was always quiet and alone; he was so quiet that no-one even noticed him, but today was different, they suddenly couldn't keep their gazes off him, or more like off the woman that he came with.

Nicklaus pulled Tiana close to him as they sat down on a couch in the living room. He intentionally pushed some strand of her hair behind her ear, knowing that they were watching.

Grandpa had two sons and a daughter. His late father, Douglas, and Elizabeth; Douglas is married to Michelle, and they have a son, Richard. He was the heir to the Douglas Corporation. Elizabeth had a daughter, Diana, who was an actress.

Elizabeth and Douglas weren't in the living room it was only the children, who sat on a couch saying some jokes but glancing at Nicklaus once in a while; Diana grew up with Nicklaus, but although they lived together for years, Nicklaus barely spoke. Diana could count how many times he talked to her in a whole year, it was worse in the first few years of his living with them, at first she thought he hated her until she knew that he was just like that.

So even now that he had come in, she still didn't know how to talk to him, so she remained there talking with Richard.

''Nicklaus, is that you? '' Elizabeth, Nicklaus Aunt exclaimed as she entered the living room; a brilliant smile on her lips; she had raised Nicklaus after his parents died, although he barely spoke, he was a little different with Elizabeth, he respected her a lot, so when he saw her come into the living room, he stood up from the couch and held a hand to Tiana;

''Auntie, how have you been? ''

Nicklaus asked; a clear expression on his face. That was the mildest Tiana had seen him. It was close to a smile but then it wasn't.

''I'm fine! '' She replied and looked towards Tiana.

''This is Tiana, my girlfriend. ''

He said, putting his hand around her waist;

Tiana forced herself not to appear nervous but her red ears were almost giving her off; luckily, Elizabeth was more interested because she was his girlfriend than her red ears;

''It's nice to finally meet you, Ma'am, Nick has said a lot about you. '' She said with a sweet smile;

''It's nice to meet you too dear, hope my nephew is treating you well? '' She asked, holding Tiana's palm tenderly.

Tiana blushed; she noticed that the two people on the couch were keenly watching them;

''He's trying his best, Auntie. ''

She replied; but just when Elizabeth was about to ask another question, grandfather called Nicklaus, interrupting them.

''Nicklaus, you came for the family dinner, hmm… surprising. '' Grandpa walked into the living room with the aid of a walking stick and when Diana saw him, she hurried over to him and helped him into the living room.

''It's nice to meet you, grandpa. ''

Nicklaus said;

Grandpa chuckled lightly as he sat down in front of the huge fireplace, Diana stood beside him.

''I see you came with a guest, don't you want to introduce her to the family? '' Grandpa asked; Nicklaus sighted Douglas and his wife Michelle walking into the living room; his eyes swept past them but he didn't fail to notice the shock on their faces when they saw him, well more like when they saw him with a woman.

''She's Tiana Peters, my girlfriend. '' He said, leading Tiana to greet his grandfather.

''It's nice to meet you, grandpa.'' Tiana greeted with a smile; grandpa nodded with a grin on his cheeks;

''Well, you might be cold and ruthless, but at least I'm happy that you have eyes for beautiful things. Isn't she lovely Maria love? ''

Grandpa asked when he saw his wife walk towards him; she looked at Tiana and smiled prettily;

''Yeah, I said the same thing when I saw her, Nick really has good eyes! ''

Grandma commented;

''They'll make beautiful babies, don't you think? '' Grandpa said;

Tiana nearly choked on her saliva; 'Make what!! Even in her next world she would never marry someone like Nicklaus!!' but although this was on her mind, there was the most beautiful smile on her cheeks;

''Grandpa! Let's go eat, I'm famished! ''

Diana interrupted when she saw that nobody was talking about the food that was already served; she was the youngest child in the house, so she was naturally doted on and it made her act immaturely sometimes.

Grandpa and Grandma laughed when they saw her scrunched up expression;

''Okay, let's go eat then. ''

Grandpa said;

Tiana heaved a sigh of relief as the topic shifted away from her. Finally, she could breathe.

The dining room was very long and different sweet smelling delicacies were lavishly placed on it; the servers were still placing red wine on the table as they walked into the dining room;

''Wow! Italian Cuisine! My favorite! ''

Diana exclaimed when she saw the contents of the porcelain bowls as the servers opened them; she rubbed her palms together, swallowing hard.

Tiana looked at the bowls of food in front of her; there were many assorted foods that she didn't know the names, but they looked delicious.

She watched everyone serve themselves as they engaged in a minor discussion;

She had eaten none of those dishes before, so she didn't know what to choose, but then she couldn't disgrace herself in front of so many people;

''What do you want to have? ''

Suddenly she heard Nicklaus ask, she turned to look at him;

His expression was mild, not as frosty as he always looked; she turned back to the table and pointed at the bowl of sausage dipped in pepper and onion sauce. He took a plate and placed some food on it, then placed it in front of her; in the process, his hand brushed against hers.

Her hand shook reflexively, and she quickly brought them down to her laps. Nicklaus noticed her reaction, but he didn't say a word. After placing the food in front of her, he took another plate and served himself the same food.

Tiana waited a moment before she picked up her cutlery and began eating. She was glad that the other members of the family were laughing over something so they did not notice her flinch.

But someone on the table, who had not spoken since the very beginning, didn't fail to notice the little exchange.