"So how was your meeting with Julian's parents?" Eden had barely made her step into the apartment before being questioned by her mother. She glanced at her mother who was still awake this late.
"You're still up...this late?" Eden said and shut the door behind her. She sighed in relief as she took off her heels and tossed them towards the corner before bouncing on the couch. Lucia sipped her coffee and walked from the hall into the living room.
She took a seat opposite Eden. Eden gave her mother a look and she knew her mother was dying to hear what happened. "So tell me dear, how did it go?" Eden held her forehead and looked exhausted. All through the drive home, only Clara's words were echoing inside her ears. She was shaken to the extent of having kids in her thoughts. After Mia, she told herself she wasn't going to go through the trouble of having another child and struggle all through that process again.
The fact that Clara was quick and clear to dismiss Mia as an outsider was an insult towards her. She didn't like her words not once and it so happened she was the mother of the man she was currently dating.
"I'll be honest and tell you. I know you won't let me be without knowing it all. The dinner went horrible. It was a bad idea." Eden spoke out not caring about her words. Lucia nearly choked on her coffee and narrowed her brows. "How so?" She asked.
"What can I say mom. His parents are wonderful people and of course I respect them for raising a kind person like Julian and raised him well but..." Eden paused.
"But?" Lucia pushed her to go on.
"It's Julian. He surprised me over at dinner." Her voice was low and it held hurt and betrayal. "What do you mean by he betrayed you?" Lucia placed the mug on the center table and seemed interested in the topic more seriously.
Eden didn't know how to start. Julian had completely swiped her off her feet with his plans. Plans that she wasn't even called for agreement. She wasn't getting why he was in a rush when they just started dating.
"What's the matter Eden? Did Julian do something wrong?" Eden shooked her head feeling unsure if what Julian did was the right thing or not. "He's going too fast mom. We just started dating and he's already planning so much. I didn't want to go to the dinner but I did for his sake and then he plans to get married at the soonest and even wants to give Mia his last name. It's absurd mom." She replied.
Lucia's eyes widened and her face marveled in excitement. "And what's wrong with that dear?" She asked. "What's wrong in that? Are you serious mom. Didn't you hear what I just said? He is planning things that we didn't discuss as partners. He didn't ask for my consent before planning all these and with Mia having his last name...."
"And why can't Mia have his last name when the two of you get married?" Lucia cut her off and Eden gasped.
"What do you mean by that mother? Mia has a dad and she'll have his last name." Eden spoke, upset that her mother couldn't understand or rather didn't want to understand. She had already seen Julian as the perfect man for her and Eden could tell at this point that Julian couldn't be wrong in Lucia's eyes. She practically gave up in that aspect.
"If you've forgotten Eden then let me remind you that before Mia was born, that idiot Lionel didn't want her to have his last name. It seems you've completely forgotten about that. You should be happy that Julian wants to give Mia his last name." Lucia huffed and grabbed her mug to drink a bit of her coffee.
Eden didn't respond. She remembered meeting up with Lionel a few days ago. He had shocked her with the news of wanting Mia to have his last name. It was a real shock for her and never did she realize he would one day do that. She hadn't told Julian nor Lucia about that and didn't want to either until the document and procedure were finalized.
"But understand my point mom. Mia is not his daughter. And if you heard what his mom said after Julian announced wanting to give his last name to Mia." Eden didn't want to even think about Clara's harsh words. It was evident she didn't like her for the fact that she was a divorcee and a single mother as well but of course had to bear that for her son's happiness.
"Who cares what his mother thinks. The bottom line is that Julian adores you so much and this gesture of his proves he's the right man for you. Majority of men out there won't even want a child that isn't theirs to live in the same house let alone give the child their last name but Julian's the exception here. And I wonder what's the big deal about all this." Lucia didn't care about any attached family members belonging to Julian.
Eden shooked her head realizing their conversation was a lost cause and was going nowhere. "You really don't see my point here, do you mom?" She asked. Lucia shooked her head. "To be honest my dear I don't see your point of not agreeing with Julian's decisions. He's doing a noble deed after all. All for you."
"I didn't ask him to do me a favor by giving his last name to Mia. And besides about getting married, it's way too soon as well. I've just kick started my career and would prefer to focus on that for now. Am not in any mood for romance nor those types of sexy stuffs." Eden shrugged off.
"And why can't you marry him at the soonest?"
"Mom!" Eden gasped.
"If he's wanting to marry you at the earliest, it means he's serious about you honey. You know very well that you're not on the good side of finding a man for yourself." Eden knew what her mother meant but did she care? She was happy being independent and able to raise her daughter on her own. All she wanted in life was to be independent and become her own person. She had always had this stand of not being dependent on anyone at a young age and she was still firm on that. Sure she wanted a companion and someone who would understand her fully and try to give her space to move with the flow.
She wasn't the type to be all about sex in a relationship, especially after she and Lionel parted ways. Her sexual drive had reduced a lot after her divorce and Mia's birth. She wasn't ready for that and luckily Julian understood and gave her space.
She wasn't ready to dive into a fully legal bond called marriage anytime soon. It might have sounded weird but Eden had developed a phobia regarding getting married again over the years. She stopped believing in the sacred and strong bonds of marriage and hoped never to marry in the future but after hearing Julian's sudden plans leading to that, she wasn't sure anymore. She needed to clear things with Julian.
"Don't waist this opportunity that life has offered my dear. I don't want you to end up alone and you know not many men will want to be with a single mother. I know it's not your fault but circumstances were forced to put you like this and you have to merge with the changing times." Lucia advised affectionately and drank the remains of her coffee.
"He's offered marriage and you better take it." Lucia leaned forward and looked seriously into Eden's eyes. "Listen to me on this one my dear." With that, she got up from the couch and headed for the kitchen. She returned and changed directions towards her room to retire for the night.
Eden inhaled and leaned deeper into the couch slightly rubbing her forehead. She had a little headache from the thinking and what had transpired over at dinner tonight. She closed her eyes and was feeling how everything was going so fast around her. She was afraid inside of how fast Julian was in their relationship.
Her phone beeped in a message alert from Lionel. She opened the message. She had still gotten in touch with Lionel for Mia's sake. Lionel was now willing to be there for his daughter. He vowed to her never to let Mia lack anything in life as long as he was alive. Deep down she was happy that Mia was getting the love not just from anyone but from her father. Her biological father.
She read the messages and she smiled. Lionel informed her about his outing with Mia to the amusement park tomorrow afternoon. She recalled Mia getting excited to go to the amusement park. It was her first time going to the amusement park and she was squealing for days. He texted her to remind her about the outing.
Lionel had been nice and calm around her ever since she and Julian became a thing. Infact he never again brought up the topic about getting back together with her. What shocked her most about him was that he was keeping his distance away from her and showed up to visit Mia mostly when she wasn't around.
She could say she was relieved he was off her back but that didn't stop him from being there for Mia. The anger and hatred she had for him wasn't there again for him especially the day he told her about giving his last name to Mia. He also refrained from filing any custody case against her and kept things on mutual grounds concerning Mia. She had to let go of the hatred sooner or later at least for Mia's sake.
She texted him back stating Mia was excited for tomorrow's outing as well. She then saw a message alert from Julian and for the first time since their relationship, she didn't want to talk to him. She didn't know why he was rushing things with her without even consulting her. Perhaps he's feeling insecure? Her subconscious spoke the answer to her and Eden wandered what could make Julian feel insecure. The only reason which she could think of for Julian being insecure was Lionel but again, she thought. Lionel wasn't even after her any more so she was contemplating why then he was in a hurry.
Her subconscious didn't answer her and she gave up in thinking about it and stood up from the couch before walking to her room. Her new apartment was much more spacious than her mother's apartment. It was more convenient and everytime she looked at the house, she saw how far she had progressed.
Eden left for work very early in the morning because she had appointments scheduled from 8am. Many people were packed at the company and Eden was busy with styling many clients' hairs. She practically had no break and more of the clients had booked for her services making her work tedious. As they say, good and hardworking talent always bring forth more work.
The many clients had heard a lot about her and only wanted Eden to style their hair. Her popularity had also given a boost to Souqeline's fashion company in general. Celebrities were visiting the company to have their hair and makeup done by Eden herself. She was making it big in the fashion industry and maybe soon she could gather enough to start her own fashion business.
Anne came to see her occasionally but Eden didn't have time for chatting. By the late afternoon, she took a break and walked to the cafeteria to get an energy drink. Her phone buzzed an incoming message. She picked out her phone from her apron side zip and saw it was Lionel confirming picking up Mia and taking her to the amusement park. Lucia also confirmed his arrival despite her disagreement with Lionel getting close to Mia.
"Eden," Eden turned around to find Katherine. She had called for her. "Hold on," Eden got her energy drink and walked back to where Katherine was standing. "What's the matter Katherine?" She asked and opened her drink can to sip. She sighed out loud in content letting the cold and chilled drink work it's way down her body. It gave her body a good soothing after the hours she had worked on many clients.
"Someone wants to see you, please come." Katherine turned to the door leading to the cafeteria and Eden narrowed her eyes towards the door. She saw Julian stepping into the cafeteria. His wide smile on his face instantly turned into a faint one seeing Eden's expression. She was still upset about last night's incident at dinner.
"I'll take my leave." Katherine walked out and Eden led Julian over to a table by the window side. "Do you want something, I can order?" Eden asked. Julian shooked his head in denial. "No thanks. Am not hungry at the moment."
"So why are you here? As far as I know, you don't get off from work this early. Or is there some time interval at work that I don't know about?" Julian could clearly hear the sarcasm in her tone of voice. He could tell she was upset by what he said at dinner last night.
"I know you're very upset about last night. I can clearly see that too in your expression." He said. "Oh really?" She feigned being surprised. "And that's why am here. To talk about it and make up my love. I don't like seeing you distant with me at all Eden. It hurts me deeply." Julian stared longingly into her eyes and held her hands into his.
"I know that I should have...."
Eden's phone began ringing cutting off Julian's statement and Eden excused herself and saw the call was from Lionel. She picked up the call and her heart weaved hearing Lionel's panicked voice over the phone.
"E..Eden...Mia...It's Mia," Lionel was panicking over the phone and made his speech inaudible and breaking. "What happened to Mia?" Eden's voice got agitated and Julian got up and walked to her. He was also worried after seeing Eden's anxious face. Eden gasped and held her mouth in shock and terror.