88 Nervous?

"Yea, yea, I see I'm not needed around here," Julian huffed.

"Of course you are love, who told you you weren't needed?" Gradis smiled, reassuring Julian, "you know I like it best when you're smiling so why would I do something that does otherwise?"

"Sure," Julian puffed.

Gradis turned back to the watch on her wrist and looked up at Julian, "What are you doing here?"

"Just came to pick you up," Julian grinned, adjusting his tie.

"Came to pick me up? It's still hours before the meeting though," Gradis muttered, checking the time on her desktop to make sure she wasn't behind or ahead, "you don't need to pick me up."

"That's exactly the reason why I'm here," Julian grinned, walking up to Gradis and placing his hands on her shoulders, bending down to lock eyes with her on eye-level, "let's get a headstart shall we?"

"Wha-" Gradis began, before Julian's grip on her shoulder tightened and he pulled her up, "what do you mean-"

"I want to stay with you," Julian smiled, pulling Gradis into a hug and squiching poor Matheio in the middle, "I want to be with you at the beginning to the end of this so I can remain unscratched."

"AISH!" Gradis groaned, a blush spreading on her face as she pushed Julian away, "did you eat something sweet today? you make it sound so sugarcoated, my teeth hurt just from hearing you. Also, don't stifle Matty."

"It's true I can't live without you though," Julian pouted, pulling Gradis closer by the waist.

"H-have you lost your mind?" Gradis stuttered, hitting Julian on the head, "I have one kid here, I don't need another."

Julian patted his head in the same spot Gradis hit, putting on a fake frown for a second before grinning. "For now…" he teased.

Gradis blinked for a second and then blushed immensely. She turned him around and started pushing his towards the door, "That's it, out the door you go. Matehio can stay."

"Excuse-" Julian yelped as Gradis shoved him out of her office and into the hallway.

"Goodbye," Gradis smiled, mockingly, Matheio sharing the same cheeky grin.

"Wow..." Julian sighed, slamming his hand on the door as Gradis closed it. He looked up at Gradis and a low growl could be heard at the pits of his voice, "how disrespectful."

"Ah…" Gradis flinched, taking a step back.

"Run mommy!!!" Matheio screamed, hitting Gradis's arm repeatedly, pure glee dancing on his face.

"Eeeeeeeek!" Gradis turned sound and ran into the room, giggling with Matheio as they ran with Julian in close pursuit.

They circled the room twice before Julian had her pinned on her sofa. Luckily, Matheio had already escaped before she was trapped.

"Got you now," Julian whispers with a smug smirk on his face as he leaned into her ear, "still going to push me away?"

"J-julian…" Gradis muttered, her voice trembling slightly, "get off me."

��Not in front of Matheio!" she scolded, twisting her wrist to get out of Julian's hold and then pushing Julian away.

"Hmph!" Julian pouted, crossing his arms.

Gradis chuckled, standing up and reaching up to ruffle his hair, "you're so childish. It's adorable."

Julian flinched, his shoulders rising and one eye closing as he stood there accepting her touch, "don't call me that…"

"Yea yea, sure hun," Gradis smirked, pinching his cheeks before turning back to Matheio and lifting him up. "I'm not sure you should be talking about that place like that if you don't want to be called childish."

"But it's true though…" Julian sighed, "I don't want to see them, talk to them, or even have to smile at them."

Gradis eyed him and then let out a sigh, 'that makes two of us… although I'm going to keep smiling.'

Julian looked up at Gradis shyly, a bit of mischief gleaming in his playful eyes, "I only want to go if you're going to be there…"

"Geez…" Matheio grinned, looking away from Julian with a puff, "I wanted to say that."

Julian smirked, "gotta be quick Matty, someday you'll reach my skill level."

"Pfft-" Gradis burst into laughter, pressing her forehead against Matheio's, "he's perfectly charming without the cringe lines. Don't learn from him, hun, he'll spoil your mind."

"Hey! Why am I getting trashed on today?" Julian argued, his eyes dimming with sadness for a moment.

"Because I want to," Gradis shrugged, turning around and walking to her desk. She flopped down onto her chair and swiveled around once, before hugging Matheio tightly and resting her chin on his head.

She looked up at Julian, her eyes making a direct contact so strong that Julian felt a shiver run down his spine. 'How scary…' Julian thought to himself. The edges of his lips curled up into a smile.

"Nervous?" She asked.

"Nervous…" Julian muttered, breaking eye contact with her for a moment before turning back to her with a brave smile, "how could I not be?"

"Hmm…" Gradis sighed, leaning into her chair, "same… it's my first time after all. And to be surrounded by people like that… it's scary." A smile tugged at her lips and she pushed down the urge to grin. 'Makes it all the more fun…' she thought to herself, looking up at Julian's blank face and put on a nervous smile on her face.

"It is quite a big gathering. The big hall, long lines of cars from lingering civilians to watch the red carpet entrances to the nobels who grace them with their presence," Julian muttered, giving a strained chuckle when he noticed Gradis' eyes on him, "sometimes I wonder how I got that high title."

"Yea.." Gradis chuckled, "I do too." She looked down at Matheio, nuzzled calmly on her body, 'it's a shame I know exactly how I got here. The issue is finding the right exit.'

"And your family are gonna be there too… with the media and so on… it's basically like coming out as a couple before announcing it," Gradis sighed, hugging Matheio tightly, "it's definitely going to be overwhelming… The cameras, gatherings of people and the big surprises of finding out what the media wrote up by reading the news reports tomorrow."

"Hmm.. but I'm going to be right beside you, so don't worry," Julian smiled, reassuring Gradis.

"Of course," Gradis huffed, "if you aren't, I'd find you and beat you up right there and then."

They both burst into laughter, floating on a light atmosphere before a thought hit them both.

In a synchronized motion, they both looked at Matheio, laying in Gradis' arms. 'He's what we need to be really worried about.'