Epilogue (1)
Epilogue (1)
Iris raised her hand and brushed dark locks from his eyes. Was he in-love with his new style or just never got around to visiting a hairdresser? His hair was getting quite long.
"Good morning," she whispered and kissed his nose, but he didn't react. "Sleepyhead."
Carefully, she made her way out of the bed and got dressed. It was already almost nine in the morning, so she went to check up on Mila, but the girl was also still asleep. She was curled up with Lucy on the sofa and was smiling in her dreams.
In a good mood, Iris went outside to buy some basic stuff. After the long time they hadn't been in the apartment, there was nothing at home but the furniture, and she wasn't hungry enough to eat wood yet.
On her way, she met up with Rachel. The middle-aged woman was walking her giant mastiff Bobby. "Hey! You're here again! How are you doing?"
"Hey, great."
The woman wanted to talk more, but Iris ran away after exchanging a couple more polite phrases. She didn't want to discuss her and Kyro's future. Not with a neighbor at the least.
When she returned home and started on making pancakes, the people in the house started stirring. The first one to get up was Lucy who came to demand food. He was then followed by a sleepy Mila who kept on rubbing her eyes in a daze.
"How did you sleep?" Iris asked, crouching down to pick up the girl and put her on a tall chair.
The girl blinked at her, clearly not yet awake enough for human speech. However, the moment a plate of pancakes appeared before her, she changed. Clapping in excitement, she grabbed the strawberry jam and covered the whole plate in it.
Some fifteen minutes later, when Iris was about to lose her patience, Kyro graced them with his presence as well. His first point of interest was the coffee machine, but Iris pushed an already steaming cup to him. He nodded in appreciation and downed it like it was bitter medicine.
When they finished eating and Iris got ready to take away the plates, Kyro spoke up. "We'll need to go to my parents now."
"What?" Iris almost dropped the plates she was holding. Meeting his parents was inevitable, but so soon? They had just returned the night before!
"I worry for their sanity…" He then presented her with his phone.
After the picture he'd sent them, there were dozens of messages.
[Kyro, what is this? Who is that child?]
[Why are you taking photos with someone's child?]
[Is it your child? But it doesn't look like you… And you haven't known that girl for long enough…]
[Kyro, why would you be so careless? When did this happen?]
[Is she blackmailing you? Is that why you were so angry when I tried to push you together? She is blackmailing you, right… Mom is sorry.]
[What should we do? Is there really no way to escape? If you told mom the details, I'm sure we could think of something.]
[Son, how are you? You look tired in that photo. Are you eating well? Don't worry, tell mom what's going on and I'll make it all right again.]
While reading through the log of messages, Iris didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Kyro's mom sure had some wild imagination. From questioning who the child was, she had instantly come to a decision that it was Kyro's illegitimate child and that he was being blackmailed to accept it.
Once she accepted that they really needed to go, she put on some better clothes and they left. Nervous energy coursed through Iris, but she couldn't do anything about it. She was going to meet Kyro's parents for the first time as her real self. Although she knew them from her stay with them as a fox, but it was short, and they didn't know her.
"It's going to be fine," Kyro promised with a glance her way at a red light. "You've met them before; they're not monsters."
"I know, but..." It didn't change anything!
When they finally arrived at their large house, Mila was full of interest and ready to jump out the window to get exploring, but Iris didn't dare to open the car door. She could see two figures standing in the doorway, watching them.
Kyro stepped out first and came around the car to open her door. He then pulled her out against her token resistance. "Come, it's going to be fine."
"If you say so…" she whispered back. Behind him, she could see his mother's expression sour.
It stole the last bits of her confidence, but she allowed Kyro to lead her forward after taking Mila's hand. Together, the three of them approached the two gray-haired elders at the door.
Before Iris could greet them though, Mila let go of Kyro's hand and rushed forward. She looked up at couple's faces with interest. "Are you going to be my grandpa and grandma?"
Their expressions could have won Oscars. Father seemed on the verge of a heart attack while mother froze, her face going blank before barely suppressed excitement began to shine in her eyes.
"Grandma?" the little girl asked, tugging at the older woman's skirt. "Are you my grandma?"
Kyro's mother was about to melt on the spot, so her son stepped in to pull the girl back a step. "Yes, they are. They're out of words from how happy they are to have a cute little thing like you for a granddaughter."
Mila's frown turned back into a smile, and she rushed back to her new grandmother. "Grandma, grandma! I always wanted grandma!" When she hugged the older woman's leg, all of the latter's resistances evaporated
There was no way she could fight back against the little girl's charm. In no more than a minute, she was a lost cause.
While Kyro's parents fussed about the girl, he returned to her side. "See? It was easy."
Iris couldn't help grinning at him. "You're horrible. Who uses such techniques against his parents?"
"As long as it works…" he said with a shrug and led her into the house where grandmother was already interrogating Mila on if she was fine, if she'd eaten well, if she had enough toys to play.
In time, Iris also received her spotlight, but his parents were too happy with the little girl sitting in mother's lap to drill her. They just asked what she thought of their son, what were her plans for the future, if she planned to stay in the states, and so on.
There was some embarrassment involved in answering some of those questions, but Kyro was always by her side, holding her hand. With his assistance, she managed to survive without making a total fool of herself.
Or so she thought. Later on, when they had all went out to the lake, Kyro's mother fell back a little to talk to him. Iris was in the front, walking with Mila and Queen, but she slowed down to hear what will be talked behind her.
"Son, you can tell mother the truth. Do you really like this girl, or should we shun her since she's blackmailing you?"
Iris stumbled, almost falling over. That mother! Was there anything besides contrived drama plots in her head?
"Hey! Iris!" Kyro shouted out, and she turned to see him grinning at her. "Did you blackmail me into bringing you along?"
"What?" Iris raised her hand to her mouth in mock horror. "How could that be? It's because you love my daughter that you couldn't let us go!"
The little girl next to Iris didn't really understand what was happening, so she just ran to Kyro's side and grabbed his hand. "Love, love!"
They burst out laughing while his mother's expression went dark. "You children, playing with this aged woman. You've got no conscience!"
Kyro then explained what had truly happened, amazing his parents. He didn't really speak about every little detail, but let them onto the main things, like that Mila was their adopted child. The parents were a little worried about them doing it before they were even engaged, let alone married, but they let it go after being subjected to Mila's 'Grandpa, Grandma!'.
When they returned home and decided to watch TV to pass the time together, Iris received a call. It was from Elise.
"Do you think we could meet up now that you're back? I badly need an ear, but everyone else would call me mad..."
"Sure."
Iris had a very good idea about what they would talk.