The Right One

Five

Hope didn't think there was anything special about having dinner at her sister's house. After all, it was just family gathering to eat, but it was clear Sophie thought different with how fussy she was being. Then again, that was Sophie -- always a bit extra.

"Is everything okay?" Sophie asked for the third time.

Hope's eyes scanned the meticulously set dinning table that was filled with different delicacies. Hope was very much confident that there was more food than they could finish. Replying Sophie, she said, "Madam, I don't think it's okay at all. You should discard all of the food and prepare another afresh since it's like you sha like to work."

Hope hadn't been expecting it and that was what made the knock that landed on her head much more painful. She yelped as she turned around to cry at the culprit, "Mummy, why!"

"O ti baje ju," (you're too spoilt,) her mum replied simply. She proceeded to throw Sophie a big smile, "Everything is perfect, my darling."

Sophie returned her mum's smile, not neglecting to give Hope the stink eye. "Thanks mum."

"The food smells wonderful," Val affirmed, joining their conversation. "Thanks for inviting me, Sophie."

"Oh, please," Sophie shrugged it off. "Everything is set, all that's left is for the others to come down."

Hope wished there was a way to telepathically convey the message to the others, she wanted to eat already. Angel was busy entertaining Ella in the nursery and Alex had pulled Raymond upstairs almost immediately he'd arrived and neither of them had set foot back down since then.

"One second," Sophie said as she climbed up the stairs, presumably to get the others. A few minutes later, they all came down -- except baby Ella who Angel said had fallen asleep at some point.

"Wow, this smells really good," Raymond complimented, flashing Sophie a grin.

"We all know it's going to taste even better," Alex stated, leaning down to give his wife a quick peck on the lips.

"My innocent eyes," Hope wailed, covering both eyes with her right palm. "Can we stop with all the PDA and just eat?"

"Aunt Hope is hungry, let's eat," Angel declared, grabbing a seat at the dining and planting herself in it. Grateful, Hope blew her a kiss which Angel gladly returned.

Hope's mum shot her a dirty look which Hope blissfully ignored. Her mum hissed out, "If you're not careful, you won't even get to taste out of this food."

That definitely sobered Hope up. She knew her mum well enough to know what she was capable of. "That's a really expensive joke, mummy."

Her mum shot her another look that just urged Hope to dare her. The others started settling in, having had enough of the mother-daughter drama. Hope pulled a chair out and was about to sit when her mum stopped her. "Kilo fe se yen?" (What are you doing?)

That caught everyone's attention as they all paused to see what was going on.

"I want to sit quietly," Hope replied in a 'duh' tone. What was this about?

"Not there," her mum gritted out, making weird facial gestures that Hope found hard to interpret. Her mum let out a frustrated sound as she not so discretely pointed at Val then Raymond.

Her mouth formed an 'o' when she finally realized what her mum was hinting at. There were eight chairs in total and Alex had taken one end while her mum had taken the other. Sophie and Angel were on either sides of Alex and Val had sat down next to Angel. Hope had been about to take the seat next to Val but her mum obviously wanted Raymond and Val to sit together.