Fake Fiancée

Chapter 12: Enjoying The Day

I noticed April called her mom ‘mom’ and her dad ‘father’ but decided not to say it aloud. The word ‘father’ was more distant than ‘dad.’ Then I realised I had to get a present for Mr and Mrs Parker’s wedding anniversary and a birthday present for Mr Parker! Crap!

“Hey April?”

“Yeeeees?”

“Do you think you could take me shopping sometime before your dad’s birthday? I haven’t gotten him a present, or a present for the wedding anniversary.”

“You don’t have to! Mom and Dad are not expecting anything,” April said with a snort. “Mom already thinks you’re a gift anyway. You’re the key to giving her lovely grandchildren.”

I grimaced. This girl. I never ever wanted Henry Parker’s babies. Ever. Not in a billion years. I decided to skip the awkward subject of making babies with my fake fiancée and onto the subject of buying presents. Presents were much more pleasant a topic if you ask me. “But I should buy them something! Take me out shopping so you can help me pick something out!” I begged.

April sighed. “It’s already done. We’re going out tomorrow because Mom needs to buy some things for the anniversary party. Oh, and she also wants you to see the ‘beauty of Newport.’ Oh, you want to go to the beach sometime? Maybe tomorrow or the day after? It’ll be fun, I promise!”

I laughed inside my head. April was so talkative and bubbly.

“Oh and maybe I could grab a hot surfer,” April mused.

“Sure that’d be fun,” I replied, giving her a smile. I never had anything against the beach … “Flirting with surfer dudes.”

“Lainie, you’re engaged!” April squealed, nudging me in the rib.

Ouch. I always managed to forget I was engaged to an arrogant jerk. “Oh yeah,” I replied, managing a weak laugh.

“Oh well. A surfer dude is way better than that cad of my brother. And btw, which means by the way, I can’t believe you just said surfer dude,” April said with a giggle.

I laughed with her. She was so entertaining. It was too bad I hadn’t met any girls like her back home. I think April got her friendliness from her mother. 
“Well … I can’t believe you said btw,” I shot back, sticking out my tongue.

“I’m having an influence on you,” April said approvingly and looking a bit smug.

“No you aren’t.”

April put a hand to her heart and grinned. “Well, might as well play something since there’s nothing to do. Up for Wii?”

“Your parents have Wii?” I asked dubiously. I couldn’t imagine Mr and Mrs Parker playing Mario Kart.

“It belongs to me and Henry,” April explained, getting up from the sofa and going to set up the Wii. “We keep a Wii here to entertain ourselves whenever we stay here. Oh, and Mom uses it for yoga.”

We ended up playing hours of Wii. I won against April in tennis and boxing in Wii Sport and I was horrible at golf. I had no idea how to play golf and ended up getting bogeys. Meanwhile, April was an expert and had cackled evilly every time I had gotten a bogey. We played other games too such as Kingdom Hearts III (which was kind of addictive to me). But of course, in the end we played the classic Mario Kart for hours. Henry had joined to play too. In the middle of a race on Rainbow Road (which I was coming sixth by the way), the doorbell rang. April paused the game to look out the window.

“Ooh dinner’s here!” April exclaimed, turning back to us with excitement in her brown eyes.

“Finally,” Henry muttered.

After Bernice opened the door and helped Vivian bring in the dishes from her car, we all helped set up the table. That included Henry, who was absolutely clueless. He put the spoon on the left side of the plate, to which April Gibbs smacked him.

I ended up sitting next to Henry of course. On my left was Arianne, who was the head of the table. April sat across from me, looking excited to be trialling Vivian Re-whatever’s dishes. Steve sat next to her, laying a napkin on his lap. I snickered at that. We had to practically drag him out of his room to come downstairs to eat. He really needed something to take his mind off work. As I came up with possibilities, Vivian came out with the dishes and her eyes widened when she saw me and Henry.

I guess she must be a fan of Henry and I. Or maybe just Henry.

I had to admit, dinner was very nice. And the black forest cake April had mentioned had been a little taste of heaven. Seriously. It was my new favourite cake.

After Vivian had left, we all trooped to the lounge and debated on what movie we should watch. In the end, we agreed on Inception. I was made to sit next to Henry.

Arianne was the only one who was lost, and kept asking Steve (who was sitting next to her) to explain to her what was going on. For me, it was kind of confusing too.

I was suddenly feeling very sleepy and my eyes started closing. Henry somehow noticed and pulled me against him. Maybe it was because I was only half awake because Henry was a very good pillow. As my eyes started to droop, I smiled. I smiled because all of us – me, Henry, April, Steve and Arianne, sitting in the lounge room watching Inception … I don’t know, but we felt like a family.

A real family.