By the time, Anna and Aaron are back home, the first thing that she heard is that their uncle James and his wife came over for dinner.
"Brother, I think I just lost my appetite." Anna thought that she would never hear her uncle James' name for the rest of the day, but she thought wrong. Her uncle and his wife are shameless enough to stay over for dinner.
She regrets not recording the conversation between her uncle James and his wife. If she and her brother did not focus on listening to them, they would have to record it and show it to her grandfather. But then again, Anna is not sure that her grandfather would believe it.
It's obvious that despite being not the real son of her grandfather, Anna can tell that her grandfather really loves her uncle James. With that fact, Anna believes that everything is not about being blood-related. Sometimes the bond is much stronger than blood.
"Anna, just bear with it. We need to act as if nothing happened. Besides, you're gonna hurt nanny Tess' feelings if you don't eat her cooking." Aaron said nonchalantly. Just like Anna, he also lost his appetite when he first heard tonight's guests. But what can he do? They are already here, and he does not want to act rude to them all of a sudden.
"Fine."
With a heavy heart, the twins arrived at the dining room where everyone is waiting.
"Finally, you guys are here! Don't you know how long we have been waiting for you guys?" When the twins heard the voice, their mood had plummeted very deeply. They expected their uncle James and his wife, but they did not expect to see their annoying cousin too. "It's very rude to keep your guests waiting, you know?"
"Sharon is right. You two shouldn't keep your guests waiting for you. Especially you, Aaron, you are going to be next in line if the future, and you must stay on task." James said coldly towards the twins. He's acting like a strict uncle who only wants the best for his nephew and niece.
The twin's lips twitched in annoyance when they heard what their shameless uncle just said. Aaron knows that he promised to himself that he will not be rude to his uncle James for tonight, but he thinks that he won't be able to keep that promise if his uncle James keeps on being a shameless bastard.
Sensing that her brother is getting annoyed, Anna held her brother's hand tightly and spoke to her uncle James in a calm tone. "Uncle, why do you and your family refer yourself as a guest? You guys are family. The way you said it makes me think that your an outsider of our precious family."
As Anna said her words, she watched her uncle James' every reaction. It was only for a second, but Anna is sure that she saw an angry expression on him the moment she said the word 'outsider.'
"And you hurt our feelings, uncle." Aaron started. "You and cousin Sharon accused me and my sister of being late when we didn't even know that you guys are coming over to dinner." Aaron and Anna exactly know what they are trying to do. They are trying to ruin their image in front of Marcus. But it seems that their effort is not working. "Besides, the usual dinner time in this house if an hour from now."
Aaron made is clear that the ones at the wrong is them and not him and his sister. There was no notice of them coming over for dinner, and James knows this. James could not help but put on a forced smile. "I see. Then, this uncle apologizes for accusing you two."
"Now, now, let's stop this talk, and start our dinner," Marcus said, and he also gestured the twins to take their seats.
They ate in silence and sometimes the family prefers to eat this way. However, it seems like Gloria took this moment as her chance to attack the twins. "Oh my goodness, you two, where are your manners?"
"What?" The twins said at the same time, they have no idea what Gloria is pointing out.
"Don't 'what' me. Look at your appearances! You two are dirty! Where on earth did you two go?" She said as she points out how dirty the clothes the twins are wearing.
Anna and Aaron look at their dirty clothes and remembered where they got dirty. 'That damned closet. This is my favorite white shirt, and it got stained!' Aaron growled inwardly. The only people he would for what happened to his shirt is his uncle James and the closet.
"Oh. This? Hmmm, how should I explain this?" Aaron contemplated on what kind of excuse should he use to fool his uncle James' annoying wife.
"Yes. How should you explain that, Aaron." Marcus was somewhat surprised to see his grandson looking like that. Aaron is one of those people who dislikes getting themselves dirty.
Gloria frowned at the way Marcus spoke to Aaron. She expected the old man to scold the twins for their unruly appearance, but her expectation betrayed her. 'Do you favor the twins that much?!'
"We stopped by at the park where there's a lot of children, and we somehow got caught up in the moment and played with them. We didn't realize that we got ourselves dirty. I apologize for that grandfather." Anna knows that her brother is bad at making up excuses, so she spoke instead of her brother.
"Played with them? Ridiculous! You two are a Coleman, and as a Coleman, you two must act like how our family name is portrayed."
"Gloria!" With her name being called by Marcus, Gloria immediately shut her mouth. "There is nothing wrong with them playing with children. Our family is not all about cleanliness or other matter that is related to that."
For a while now, Marcus can tell that his son's family are trying to find faults towards the twins. At first, he ignored it because he thinks that it will only his imagination. But after he hears Gloria, that is when he noticed the change in them.
His son and his family were never like this before, he wonders what changes them.
"B-but, father-in-law..."
"Wife, that is enough. You're the one being unruly right now. We are in front of the food and you keep on shouting. The twins can do whatever they want as long as they don't put shame into our family name." James coldly said to his wife. At the moment, it's not the twin who is putting shame into the Coleman family, it is his wife instead. Also with his wife's behavior right now, she is making it obvious that they pushing the twins into a corner.
"Y-yes. I apologize for my behavior, father-in-law."
James sighed, then looks at Marcus' direction, "Father, I would like to speak with you after dinner."