The Pretend To Be Agreement

Chapter Twenty-Nine

"Same here."

But before any of us go inside I'm pulled into a hug by Will's grandmother, Vivien. She scolds Will about how he should've introduced me first, but then I tell her its okay and she reluctantly lets it go. Inviting us in, we head towards the living room for coffee and treats. Scanning my surroundings the big, much decorated Christmas tree doesn't go unnoticed, but the mistletoe does.

Vivien points it out for me, whispering it in my ear, and I pull Will by the arm and plant a kiss on his lips. He kisses back, smiling when we pull back and then we go sit down on the couch, near the fire place. Putting his arm around my shoulders he tugs me into his side and I rest my head against his chest.

As were all sitting there awkwardly until Vivien went to the kitchen to go and get us all something to drink. I got a coffee mixed with marshmallows, Will got hot chocolate with a peppermint cane, and Henry just had straight up black coffee, but with a peppermint case just like Will. I had, of course, offered to help, but Vivien had declined.

"Grace, not to be rude or intruding in your personal life, but what do you do for a living?" Asks Vivien as she sips on green tea, a soft smile on her face that looked identical to Samantha's.

I shake my head, resting my cup of coffee on my leg. "I don't mind, not at all. I'm ... a photographer."

There's a sort of sadness in my words and the air in my lungs hitched as I attempted at a smile, but it failed as I stare down at my coffee. I feel Will squeeze one of my shoulders reassuringly and I pat his leg as a thank you for the comfort. Vivien lets out a gasp and then asks, "Did I say something wrong?"

Again, I shake my head, giving her a half hearted smile. "No, you did nothing wrong. Just that my ... my father died a little while ago, and he was inspiration for taking photos. Taught me everything I know today."

She sighs, relieved, but still has a look of concern playing on her facial features. "I'm sorry to hear that, Grace. Our prayers to you and your family." Her eyes then dart over to Will and my eyes glance down to his feet when I hear them tapping on the floor nervously. "Are you treating her well? Because, I swear, the last time I checked I raised a gentleman out of you. Not a barbarian."

"Nothing of the sort, Grandma. Even if I did ... actually, I don't want to think about that. But, if I did, I'd be ten feet underground." He tells all three of us slowly, taking a swig of his hot chocolate.

"Alive," I add, smiling oh-so sweetly at my darling boyfriend.

He coughs and I look him in the eye see the glint of fear in his eyes. "Don't kill me."

"I don't plan to." I say, but then mumble under my breath, "Not yet, anyway."

He hears me and chokes on his drink. I suppress a smirk as Vivien starts asking me if I brought my camera, which I had, and when I say yes she proceeds with: "Can we use it to take family photos? Because the one Henry has is a piece of sh—trash."

***

Washing the dishes that been used to make and eat lunch off of, I put them in the dish rack while Will dries and puts away. He didn't even have to stretch to get to the top shelf, which was attractive by itself, but I really wanted to see his search move upward. It would've revealed his abs, too.

Vivien was in the dining room talking to her son, Mr. Reed, over the phone in hushed whispers. Apparently, from what I could decipher between Will gushing over about how he wanted me to see his room, I caught onto how she was defending me to Will's parents. She argued with Mr. Reed for a while a longer, but that was enough time to finish all the dishes and for Will to put them away.