Chapter 29: The Reception

Azalea Johnson's POV

It has been a week since Amber's wedding. She and Ian had been to French Polynesia for their honeymoon. I looked at the picture that they took and sent it to the family group. I was happy for them but I have other things to worry about other than my honeymoon.

we might not be going on a real honeymoon as we were busy with Alex's classes and Chemistry department meetings as he was the chairman of the department. I was busy with my classes and my labs that I assisted in undergrads. We were burnt out when we got home that we just when back to sleep and did not do anything more than that.

it was probably on Thursday that I got a phone call from my mum. I was surprised to see her number on my phone. I answered it immediately as I know she hated to wait for me to answer.

"Hello, mum. What's up?" I asked her as I was shuffling through the samples that I just used for my labs today. The classes were finished and I was ready to go home now but I needed to clean it up before I went home so that they will not be displaced.

"so, do you like the beach or antiques?" She asked me. I knotted my eyebrows together.

"what are you talking about?" I asked her. She sighed.

"Just answer the question,"

"beach of course," I answered. She should know that I loved to swim in the ocean.

"perfect then, why don't you and Alex came over for dinner. We miss you guys," she said as she was whining at me. I laughed. Since Amber was still on her honeymoon, she had nothing to do anyway.

"Okay, I told Alex about it—"

"I already have. You will come straight after work. I see you soon, bye," she said before she hung up on me. I stared at my phone before I shook my head and put it on my back pocket. I was putting the last sample into the drawer before my hair on my neck shivered.

"You're ready?" Alex asked me when I went to the table to get my stuff.

"Almost," I said before I closed the lights and air conditioning and went out of the room with Alex as he was just getting out of his office.

"do you know why mum asked us to go there today?" I asked him as he held the door for me. I thanked him before getting inside and he closed the door. He went to the driver's side and get in. He put his bag on the backseat before started the ignition.

"don't know. I just got a call from her and told me that they needed to meet us today," he replied.

"they?" I asked him.

"your dad and mum. duh," he said as he laughed at me. I nodded.

"right. Don't it's weird that they have called us in the middle of the afternoon? My goosebumps were not settled right now. I think it might be something to do with our wedding," I said as I crossed my arms before Alex laughed.

"sure you did, darling," he said before he went to sped off from Campus and went to my parents' house in the speed of the light in his car.

we arrived an hour and a half later and there was another car that parked in front of the garage. I was thinking about Ian's car but he did not use a sleek black Lamborghini. then, Alex cursed under his breath. yup, it was his parents'.

"I told you it was about our wedding," I whispered to him as we went to the back door to get inside the house.

"yup and I think Emily and Riley did not like it much when we lied to them and eloped," he said.

"What about your parents? How do they react to this elopement?" I asked Alex. He just shrugged.

"They were fine. My father congratulated me for tying you down quicker than he was," he said as he took my hand before squeezing it. I smiled at him before we went inside the kitchen.

There were waves of laughter and some good smelling food that made my mouth waters. When I was inside, it was everyone from our family and friends. I can see that Barb was talking to Colin before Amber spotted us coming inside.

"there they are!" She shouted before everyone stared at us and coming to kiss us welcome. I laughed before I hugged everyone and Alex was being hugged even though he was awkward at first but then, he gets used to it. My Nana also here.

"nana, how are you?" I asked her as I went to kiss her.

"never been better that you and Amber are now married but I was only disappointed in you as you eloped with your husband," she said as she looked at Alex.

"you should be ashamed of yourself," she said to him. He blushed before she can say anything, I stopped her.

"nana, leave him be. I was the one that persuaded him," I said as nana looked at me before grunting.

"Okay, enough mother," my mum said before she turned me toward the backyard when there were more people. Aunt Maeve was even here.

"here's come the bride and groom!" My mum shouted that made all the eyes turned to us. Even my advisor/father's friend/my godmother. Damn it.

"Well, look who's here," Aunt Maeve said as she went to kiss me and kissed Alex on the cheeks.

"you young man should be told me about this arrangement," she pointed at Alex. He laughed before he snaked his arm around my waist.

"well, I did. In the email that you sent me," he replied. Aunt Maeve laughed.

"yup, that's right." She said before Barb came to take me away for a second. I left Alex to talk to my dad and his parents as Barb dragged me to the side of the house where I had first kissed Alex. I blushed.

"so, listen. I have to go to the Bay Area after this," she said as she looked at me. I looked at her as she was nervous as a wreck.

"Okay, what for?" I asked her. She laughed before she told me the exciting news.

"I got into the program that I applied to. Hard but I got in!" She shrieked before I shouted as well. We were screaming as hugging and I cannot tell how happy I was for her.

"Yeah, so I will leave immediately tonight," she said as she was tucking her hair behind her head.

"hey, they wanted to see us now," he said as he touched my shoulder.

"oh, yeah. sure." I said as I went inside the backyard, wondering who could be the one that picked Barbara up.

"Alright, I have some good news for the couple," my mum said as she was toasting for us. Everyone laughed as I was smiling at her. She held her champagne glass.

"to my eldest daughter who did nothing as I said. I know that I can be hard sometimes but that will help you to endure the hardship that you will face when you were doing your Ph.D. this year," she said.

"Amen to that!" My dad shouted and everyone laughed. I laughed as well as Alex draped his arms around my shoulder.

"so, I would like to toast for good health and happiness for Azalea Johnson and Alexander MacWatters for making our lives even better," she said before everyone shouted and their shout can be quite demanding.

"Kiss the bride! Kiss the bride! Kiss the bride!" They all shouted. I can sense that blush was permanent on my face. Alex was laughing but he looked at me as he raised an eyebrow. I scoffed at him before I snaked my arms around him and pulled in for a good amount of kissing. Everybody cheered.

It was almost 8 PM when my mum suddenly came toward us as we were about to leave the house. Most of the guests lingered but we have some work to do tomorrow, so we might need to get a head start to our house.

"Wait, Alex, Lea. I still have one more thing to tell you that I forgot," my mum said as she came to us. I looked at her before I laughed.

"Wow, mum, you have been forgotten. That's never a good sign. It means you're aging," I said before she slapped my arm playfully before she gave me an envelope. I looked at Alex before he went to my side and I opened it. No way!

"what? Mum, this is flight ticket that leaves tonight to the Caribbean, we can't just go there without leaving a notice," I said as I looked at her. Horror was definitely on my face now.

"We can, darling," Alex replied. I glared at him. He just smirked at me.

"mum, I can't—"

"it was a gift from Alex's parents and we tried to chip in as well but they just wanted to give it to their daughter-in-law in full payment. You only need to bring your passport and phone. They have taken care of the rest of it," she said as she looked at me. I arched my eyebrow.

"what do you mean by that?" I asked her.

"It means that we are late and we need to go now, darling. Come on, let's go," Alex said as he went to help me to get inside the car after I kissed my mum. Alex did the same before getting inside the car.

"bye, mum!" We waved at her before Alex sped to the airport.

"so, you know about this?" I asked him. He shrugged. I punched him and he laughed.