The keys shown by Nix made her parents knit their brows.
"Nixie, did you rent a house?" Isla asked.
Nix shook her head. "No, Ma. I bought one."
"WHAT!?" David and Isla were both shocked.
Not just them, Josh and Janet were shocked too.
Nix grinned as she watched her parents' reaction. "I did good, didn't I?"
Isla couldn't get herself to digest this and holding Nix's shoulders, said, "Nixie... you bought a house in this economy? Here in the states? Why? Do you not know the prices have been inflated too much?"
Nix rolled her eyes and put her hands on her mother's shoulders. "Ma, you worry too much. It's just a few hundred grand."
"Just a few!?" Isla shook Nix's body. "Are you hearing the things you're saying?"
"Nixie, why?" David just asked this.
Nix looked at her father with a disappointed expression and asked, "Pa, you too? I thought at least you'd understand."
David shook his head. "Honey, this is a bad financial decision."
Nix didn't understand her parents. "Why is it bad? Don't you guys tell me real estate is good?"
David sighed. He was so done with this conversation that he said, "Angioletta... come posso farti capire questo?"
[TL: Little Angel, how do I make you understand this?]
Josh at the side, even though he didn't know Italian, could guess what his friend may be saying in Italian.
Turning to Nix, he said with a smile, "I believe your Ma and Pa are unhappy because of a few things."
Nix turned to look at Josh. "What things, uncle Josh? Do tell."
Janet said in Josh's stead, "Nixie, honey, Austin is really not the place to buy a house in. There's a lot of risks as well as the prices have inflated quite a lot due to it being the capital."
Nix was confused. "There's risks even downtown?"
"You bought a house in downtown Austin!?" Isla was even more shocked.
"I mean... uh..." Nix tried to hide it, but sucked at acting.
"Since when did we have so much money!?" Isla couldn't help but ask her daughter.
Janet shook her head and continued, "Nixie, the terror attack you saw a while ago... such things aren't uncommon in Austin. Houses get blown up due to the fights between Blesseds and there's no insurance as well for that. If you lose your house, the money is gone."
"Ah..." Nix finally realized it. So these guys were worrying because some stupid guys would blow it up in their meaningless fight.
Clicking her tongue, Nix looked at her parents and said, "Ma, Pa, you guys are worrying for all the wrong reasons."
"How is it wrong?" Isla asked.
"See..." Nix tried to explain herself.
Alex and Melissa, sitting at the sides, were just spectators who didn't want to involve themselves in this and silently sipped on their drinks while watching the two families.
Since Melissa had a few screws loose, Alex believed Nix might be the same. Talking to her at the dining table might cause trouble, so it was best that he didn't poke the bear.
Silently watching her was a fun experience as Nix's acting skills were absolutely crap. She was struggling to explain herself and not just her father, even her American mother's inner angry Italian rose up due to the stupid financial decision she made.
Nix was juggling between English and Italian while talking to her parents and then Alex's, it was really fun to see it.
At the end, she had to accept defeat and got an earful from her parents about buying a house.
Finally, being done with this, she banged the table a few times and said, "argh... Ma, Pa, stop it now. I already paid the whole price, there's no going back. Since we have a house, we might as well enjoy it."
"We live in Italy, amore mio," reminded David. "A house is of no use for us here."
Nix harrumphed. "What's the use of so much money if we don't even have houses in the two countries we belong to?"
"Honey... we don't live in the states anymore, you know? Even though we have citizenship, we live in Italy for the most part." Isla's tone had softened by now.
Nix swirled the keys in her hand and said, "Ma, do you know how much money I make now? The cost of this house is nothing to me now. You guys are reacting as if we have gone broke."
"Have we not?" Isla asked. "Didn't you exhaust all your savings into buying this house? The last time we talked, you said you were doing something related to banking, which doesn't make a lot of money."
Nix clicked her tongue. "Yes, I wasn't making a lot of money, but I was still making six figures a year. Six figures... in not dollars... but pounds!"
Gasp!
Isla and David both were shocked.
Josh and Janet were surprised too, but not as much. Their son was already a multimillionaire from what they knew, so they were apparently really rich now.
"You were making this much money?" Isla asked.
Nix nodded her head. "Not only that, last year I changed the company and got into Swiss banking. Now... I am making more than five million dollars a year."
GASP!
This time not just David and Isla, even Josh and Janet were shocked.
So much money!
Nix smirked. Now this was a good reaction these guys were having.
"Is it still a bad financial decision?"
David sighed and said softly, "mi dispiace, amore mio."
Isla nodded her head and said, "I am sorry too, honey. We overreacted, it seems."
Now Nix felt bad to see her parents apologize like this.
Flashing an awkward smile, she said, "you guys don't have to apologize, I understand. Anyway... our house is ready to move in, we should go tomorrow."
David and Isla nodded their heads.
Nix then turned to Josh and Janet and said, "uncle, aunty, you guys were really hospitable. Now give us a chance to show our hospitality. You can't say no, by the way."
Josh and Janet laughed.
David and Isla did so too.
"Nixie is right, Josh. You guys are coming over to us and staying for at least a week." David said.
Josh laughed and flung his arms around David. "Sure, buddy."n0veLuSb.c0m
Isla then turned to Alex and Melissa and said, "you two have taken great care of us while we were here. Now it's our turn. Be sure to come, okay?"
Melissa smiled happily and said, "don't worry, aunty Isla. We are definitely not skipping on this."
Alex nodded. "We'll be there."
Isla chuckled. "Good. We await your arrival."
With hearty laughs and giggles, the dinner table livened up further.
After a while of talking and celebrating things by eating desserts, they all went to their rooms.
***
Next day.
Alex was out in Austin for business, driving his Urus, when he suddenly got a call.
"Hey! Did you forget about me!?" A woman's voice resounded in the car as Alex had put it up on speaker.
Alex chuckled and said, "I don't forget my patients, Miss Nicole."
"We are on a formal name basis now? Doc, pick one side."
Alex smiled and shaking his head, said, "let's go with normal names then. Anyway, what's up, Nicole? Bored from your FBI work?"
"Not really. I love my job. I called to ask, when are you removing these stitches? I haven't bathed in more than a week now, you know?" Nicole complained.
"Ah... you didn't get it removed?" Alex asked, concerned as well as surprised.
"Obviously. Didn't I tell you, you're the one who's gotta remove it?" Nicole reminded.
"I am sorry, I got caught up in work. Anyway, where are you right now? I'll come take it off."
"I am glad you said that. I am at home, drop by anytime you want." Nicole answered.
"I am coming now. I've got a bit of free time. Get the following things ready..." Alex gave a few instructions.
Once he was done, Nicole answered, "Alright, I'll get the things ready."
"See you later." Alex said and hung up.
Once the call was disconnected, he took out his phone to get a few things done.
But in a moment of distraction...
HONKKKKKK!
A car honked loudly in front as it was trying to overtake another car in a two-way road.
Screeeech!
CRAAAASH!