Ethan ducked out of the car and approached the victorian end terraced house, holding in the urge to scout his surroundings.
Martin had offered to come to the door for him, but he thought it was best he'd fave the music and do it himself.
He was dreading it!
From what he heard during the phone call, her dad hated his guts, and there was nothing more terrifying to him than a father in law that hated you.
He knew that from Bianca. Her dad had tried to sue him for the bad press, attempting to gain nothing short of one billion pounds, but it was thrown out of court when Ethan was cleared from having any contact with any of the media.
That had been the first and only time the media hadn't been against him.
He climbed the few stairs until he reached the door and pushed the doorbell, hearing it ring loudly from inside.
A door opened, but it wasn't the door he was waiting for. It was the neighbour to the left of him.
A man in his late forties appeared and put the key in his outside postbox when he caught sight of Ethan. His jaw dropped when he recognised him, but it quickly shut and switched to a sly sneer.
"Morning..." he drawled, folding his arms and leaning against the porch.
Ethan nodded back politely but didn't say anything.
The neighbour didn't continue his attempt to have a conversation. He fell silent, just snidely watching and waiting...
Ethan tried his best to ignore his staring, feeling increasingly exposed and vulnerable. He didn't want to come across rude because he knew that's what the neighbour was likely wanting. A bit of drama for him to sell to create more unwanted difficulty for Ethan.
The correct door finally opened, and Hannahs dad arched a cold eyebrow at him.
"Yes?"
Ethan inwardly breathed a silent sigh of relief and smiled as warmly as he could against the cold gaze of Hannah's dad.
"Good afternoon, sir. I'm Ethan." He introduced himself quickly, wanting to get inside as soon as possible.
"I know who you are."
To his dismay, her dad came out of the doorway and pulled it to behind him, stepping off the front step and facing Ethan, his back to the nosey neighbour. "So you got my girl back in your trap, huh?"
Ethan held a stoic expression on his face the best he could.
"With all due respect, I'm not trying to trap her at all. She has trapped me, and I've never been happier!" He replied bravely.
Dad scoffed at him. "She is my only daughter now, do you understand me?"
Ethan nodded, noticing the neighbour peering at him from over dad's shoulder.
"I will protect my girl with everything I have."
"I know you would. I wouldn't expect otherwise." Ethan said. "You should know that I would absolutely do the same. It's what I tried to do the last time. But I do think we need to disc -"
"What are your true intentions with my Hannah?" He asked bluntly, his face giving away no emotions.
"I love her." Ethan replied without hesitation before pointing at the door. "If we could -"
"You listen to me!" Dad threatened. "If you ever hurt my daughter or granddaughter, let's just say I will not hesitate to go to jail for killing the worlds richest man! Do I make myself clear?!"
Ethan stared at him in alarm, highly aware that the neighbour was still listening in with ever growing interest.
"P-perfectly." He stammered. "But can we go inside now, please?"
"Why? Need my daughter to protect your cowardly arse?!"
He shook his head and secretly pointed behind dad at the neighbour.
Dad slowly turned to face them.
"Hi Graham." The neighbour smirked evilly.
"Don't you have anything better to do, you nosey shit?!"
The man sneered back before taking his mail and shutting the post box.
"I'll be seeing you." He said, slipping into the house and closing the door.
Dad snapped his head back round to confront Ethan.
"Why didn't you tell me he was there?!"
"I tried!" Ethan drawled, defensively.
Dad sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Hannah said you had some stuff coming with you. I don't see it?"
"It's still in Martins' car."
"Well, don't just stand there," Dad urged him, gesturing angrily at the car. "Let's get it inside before anyone else realises you're here!"
The two men went back down the steps, and Martin came out, looking as nervous as Ethan.
"Good afternoon, sir."
"Who the fuck are you?" Dad asked rudely.
"Ahh, may I introduce Martin, my good friend and personal assistant." Ethan introduced.
"Ohhh, you're the one going out with Lisa, huh?"
Martin nodded. "I am."
Dad narrowed his eyes at Ethan. "You can tell your personal assistant the same things I told you then! No one hurts this family!"
Martin visibly gulped, guessing correctly what the threats Ethan had been asked to pass on were.
"Hurry up then!" Dad exclaimed impatiently, secretly enjoying that he had both men cowering before him. "Get the fucking stuff in and you can bugger off!"
It only took Martin and Ethan a couple of minutes to empty the car of Ethans belongings under dad's watch. They were rushing a little because Martin wanted nothing more than to get the fuck out of there.
They brought in the coffee machine last, and Ethan chose to put it on the kitchens counter island that thankfully had a plug socket.
"Right, I'll be off then. Lots of things to do! Nice meeting you all." Martin blabbered quickly and made his exit.
Dad stood in the kitchen doorway, arms folded and a permanent scowl on his face as he watched the man run out of his house, closing the door behind him, before looking back and giving the giant coffee machine an unimpressed look.
"This better be fucking worth it." He grumbled sourly.
"Graham!" Mum scolded from her chair.
Ethan turned round to introduce himself to her, grateful to see at least one of Hannah's parent were on his side.
"Hello, ma'am. I'm Ethan."
She gave him a wide smile as he took her hand and planted a kiss on her knuckles. It made her feel like royalty.
"It's wonderful to finally meet you, Ethan. I'm Hannah's mum, Kay, but you can call me mum like Lisa does." She looked down at her legs apologetically. "I'm sorry I didn't get up to meet you properly, they've really seized up today."
"That's not a problem, you shouldn't apologise for something you can't help." He grinned at her.
"Ethan!" Hannahs voice cried.
He straightened and turned back round to see her. He felt a lot better now she was here with him. He quickly made his way towards her, noticing and frowning at the handful of magazine pages she was holding.
"I'm sorry! I was just sorting out the rubbish." She explained when she caught him looking. She kissed him tenderly and slipped into her favourite place at his side. "Mum, I took out the puzzle pages for you so you can still do them."
Mum smiled at her as dad took the pages and took them to his wife.
"Thank you darling. Oh, Ethan. Would you like to have dinner with us tonight? Hannah tells us you're a whizz in the kitchen, so it'd be lovely to have someone help me... for once." She cast her grumpy husband a narrowed side eye.
Dad rolled his eyes but stayed silent and returned to his newspaper, deciding that was the safest option.
He may have Ethan cowering before him, but he was more afraid of what the women in his life would do to him.
"I'd absolutely love to!" Ethan grinned widely, seeing his golden ticket and grabbing his chance. "How about I give you all a taste of the coffee first?"
Mum and Hannah eagerly accepted the offer but dad stayed silent.
"Dad?" Hannah sighed exhaustedly.
"Fine." Was all he replied with.
Ethan set up the coffee machine and set about putting the expensive filtered coffee into the strainer while the women watched.
"That bag is tiny!" Mum cried when she saw it.
Hannah widened her eyes at mum and nodded. "He told me yesterday, that one bag is seventy five quid, mum!"
Dad scoffed but stayed behind his newspaper.
"Oh wow." Mum smiled, ignoring her husband. "I'm looking forward to this then. Is it worth the hype you're building, Ethan?"
Ethan chuckled as he placed the small cups that were especially for the machine in their places. He was thankful he got the machine that made four cups of coffee at once.
"It sure is." He boasted and pressed the button.
The machine surprised the family by how quiet it was. They had expected it to be loud and obnoxious like the machines in the coffee shops, but his was much quieter.
Hannah mused to herself that it sounded like a vibrator had been left on laying on the bed.
The machine stopped humming and Ethan watched it drip the last few drops before setting about adding the milk and sugar to their tastes.
Hannah and mum took their first eagerly anticipated sips of the expensive coffee and took a moment to consider the difference from what they were used to.
"Ok, yeah. I can't go back to my usual now after that." Hannah concluded. "That's good!"
Mum nodded happily. "It's so smooth, almost creamy!"
"That's probably the milk, dear." Dad scoffed. "Did you bring your own milk too?"
Ethan cast him a bland look. "The milk is the one you had in the fridge."
Dad faltered. "Oh."
"Dad, stop making everything uncomfortable and just taste the damn coffee!" Hannah said after draining her cup. "Can you show me how to use the machine so I can get used to it?"
Ethan gave her a grateful smile and gestured for her to join him.
Dad picked up the tiny coffee cup. "That it?!"
"Just drink it, you sour sod!" Mum snapped, now losing her patience.
The single sip he took emptied his cup in one go, but he couldn't help the impressed noise that followed once his taste buds had caught onto it.
"Yeah. OK. You win this round." He relented. "Try and find a machine that makes bigger cups!"
Ethan smirked in victory while he helped Hannah work the machine and decided this wasn't turning out as bad as he'd expected.
After their third cup of coffee, it was nearing two o clock and Ethan was now struggling to keep his patience.
He excused himself from the family and made his way to the living room to call the company regarding the wheelchair.
He had just hit the call button when the doorbell rang.
"Oh that must be the wheelchair!" Hannah squealed, rushing past the living room doorway.
He put the phone down and went to the front door with her.
"Good afternoon. Delivery for Ethan San..." the delivery man trailed off when he saw Ethan standing behind Hannah.
"Yes, thank you." He said, sliding past Hannah to help get the wheelchair.
He realised the house wasn't exactly wheelchair accessible, something he would have to arrange to fix for them pretty quickly, but Hannah called down to them.
"The wheelchair access is down the drive on the right side of the house." She said with excited eyes. "You can drop it down there."
Ethan nodded and turned back to the delivery driver.
"You are cutting it pretty fine here." He said coldly. "I was just about to call your office."
The man winced apologetically. "I had to go to the main office to collect it in Bristol. I'm sorry it took so long."
He sighed and nodded. "You made it in time. That's what matters."
He let the driver back his van down the narrow driveway the stretched alongside the house to the back garden before walking down himself to meet him.
Dad was standing by the back door, his arms folded as he waited to see his wife's new wheelchair.
"Here we are." The driver announced as he steered the new gadget onto the ramp for them.
Ethan figured it was alright but still felt the option he'd wanted to get was better. Hannah's mum seemed really sweet, and she deserved to have something that would make her life a lot easier.
Ethan said goodbye and thanked the driver while dad inspected the chair.
"Looks good." He admitted, looking through the instruction manual. "I'll stick the spare battery on charge while she gives this one a test run."
Ethan nodded and followed him inside, pushing the wheelchair up the ramp into the kitchen.
"Oh, mum!" Hannah cried in delight. "This is going to be so much easier for you!"
Ethan pushed it close enough for Mum to get on by herself, and she began working her way around it.
Dad returned from putting the battery on charge and couldn't help the smile at seeing his wife so happy. Her eyes were glinting as she tested it going forward, then trying out the reverse. She then tested out the turning circle, which was surprisingly small.
"It has up to twelve hours usage on a full battery. I made sure they put a fully charged battery in this one so it was ready for the school run." Ethan was explaining to her. "There was also an ulterior motive for getting this..."
Ahh, here it comes, dad thought. His real reason for getting the wheelchair for his wife.
"Bea wants to go to the funfair this weekend and wanted you to come with us."
Dad was floored!
He decided to get the wheelchair because Bea wanted them to go to the funfair together?
He stared at his daughter for confirmation.
"She did." She smiled warmly. "She mentioned it while we were having ice cream after pick up yesterday. I think she's realising that Ethan is going to dote on her."
Fuck!
Ethan 2 - dad 0
"Shouldn't we be getting ready for the pick up anyway?" He said curtly.
Hannah looked at the kitchen clock on the stove.
"Shit, yeah. Ethan, did you want to -?"
"Yeah. I'll go and get them on." Ethan nodded, picking up a small duffle bag on his way out.
"Get what on?" Dad asked flummoxed.
"His wig and prosthetics, dad. We don't want unwanted attention while we're out with Bea. It was bad enough what happened to me when he took me to the hospital."
"So we're going to see what he looked like as Robin?" Mum said in intrigue.
Hannah nodded, and dad smirked.
He was looking forward to this.
Fifteen minutes later, Ethan came back from the upstairs bathroom as Robin. His blonde wig was on, his fake nose tip and the ear cuffs.
He entered the kitchen and grinned at Hannah.
"All done."
Hannah looked at him from where her and dad were getting a closer look at the wheelchair and smiled.
"It's so strange seeing you as him now." She breathed as she approached. "How the wig never came off during our kissing sessions, I'll never know."
"Ahh, it's pretty well glued into place." He winked back and watched dad turn around to get his first look at Robin.
He froze, staring at him for a split second.
"HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!" He threw his head back and roared with laughter.
Ethan scowled a little at that. It made him feel even more stupid, but he had to do what he had to do to keep his girls safe!
"Dad!!" Hannah shouted furiously.
Dad didn't care. He bent forwards, clutching his stomach.
"Are you kidding me?!" He wheezed between his laughing. "You walked around like that?!"
"Graham! He was doing it to protect our baby girl!" Mum snapped, whacking dad on the head for being so rude.
"But he looks like Barney from the Flintstones!!"
Ethan had never thought of that and couldn't help but start to laugh along.
"You know, he's right." He chuckled when Hannah gave him a worried look. "You fell in love with Barney."
She bit her lip to hold back her laughing, not wanting to join in with her dad's cruel bullying.
"I still think you look handsome." She complimented, sweetly kissing him on the cheek. "As Ethan or Robin. I'd still say yes."
Thankfully, dad was too far gone to hear what she'd said, having to hold on to the wheelchairs handle bars to stay standing.
"Let's get going then. We will be late otherwise." Hannah suggested, feeling overwhelmingly excited to see how Bea was going to react to all of them being there to pick her up.
***************************
The family approached the gates where the other mums were waiting for their children to emerge, excited to see Bea's reaction.
Thankfully, they had made it in good time, even though mum had had some teething problems getting to grips with the new wheelchair.
She couldn't work out how to go faster and almost toppled over when she twisted the know Ethan pointed out to her, and she suddenly jolted forward.
Dad was still chuckling about how Ethan now looked like Barney, but he had to admit, the guy could take mockery in his stride.
Ethan had made a joke along the way about how they should dress up as the Flintstones this coming Halloween, something dad was planning to hold him to.
If Ethan had thought he was safe from unwanted attention, though, he was dead wrong.
Instead of getting attention for being rich and famous, he was now earning attention because he was Hannahs new boyfriend.
"Ohhh, Hannah! Is this who you told us about?" One mum, who was gathered with a group of others, asked eagerly.
"Umm, yeah. This is him." Hannah smiled awkwardly at the ladies.
"You never told us how good looking he was!" Another added, eyeing up Ethan like he was a piece of meat.
"Aren't you going to introduce us?" A third asked.
Hannah cast Ethan an embarrassed glance. "Ladies, this is Ethan."
Ethan waved at them in greeting but didn't say anything.
"I thought his name was Robin?" The second mum asked snidely.
Hannah flinched but shook her head, choosing to remain silent now.
The group of mums gathered closer together so they could discuss them further without them hearing. Unfortunately for them, Ethan and dad were standing the closest to them and overheard every word said.
"Maybe he's a different man?" A fourth chimed in quietly.
"She said they had been dating for a few months... if this is a new guy, how come he's coming with her mum and dad to see her daughter?" The first hissed suspiciously.
"He must be a new guy." The third agreed.
"How many men is she dating?"
"Oh my god, do you think she's seeing them at the same time?"
Dad leaned into Ethan. "I want to go over there and show them what for!" He murmured under his breath, a lot quieter than the women behind them were trying to be.
"Don't tempt me." Ethan replied. "If this is how bitchy they are with me as Robin, imagine what they'd be like if I was seen without the disguise."
Dad nodded thoughtfully, jutting out his bottom lip. "Makes sense. But then it would shut them up for branding my little girl a whore."
"The way those ladies are, they'd likely brand her as a gold digger instead. Jealousy is a strong emotion."
"Makes you wish there was a way to deliver Karma to them, doesn't it?"
Ethan left the conversation there.
The days he used to call women out on this kind of shit were over. He had Hannah now, and that was what mattered the most.
He looked at Hannah who was standing beside her mum, happily being shown all the buttons. He was delighted they liked the wheelchair so much.
The doors to the school opened and out came a frazzled looking teacher followed close behind by Bea.
"NANNA!" Bea squealed, bolting over. "You have a motorbike!"
Mum laughed and hugged Bea tightly. "It's my new wheelchair. Do you like it?"
The little girl nodded eagerly, spinning round to be picked up by dad and squeezed.
"This is the best day ever!" She cried, leaning out of dad's arms and reaching for Ethan. "Now we can go to the funfair!"
Ethan picked her up and pecked a kiss on her temple.
"Did you have a good day, Princess?" He asked, watching Hannah come round to say hello to her daughter.
"Yep! It's much better now!" She replied as her mum kissed her cheek and they family started to move off back home.
"What did you learn about?" He grinned at Hannah as he stretched his arm around her, protectively.
"I dunno." The girl replied.
"Ha!" Hannah jeered. "She does the same to you too!"
He chuckled and put Bea down.
"How did she recognise you?" Dad asked.
Hannah shrugged. "She saw pictures of him before."
"You didn't show me them!"
"No, because you sometimes act like a twat!" She snapped, referring to his earlier behaviour.
"Nanna, can I have a go?" Bea immediately begged mum.
"Come and sit on my lap then."
Mum felt like all her dreams had come true! She hadn't been able to go on the school run since Bea started nursery, and to see her precious granddaughter running towards her with such excitement, answered all her wishes at once.
Bea was helped onto mums lap by dad and the family walked home, happily chatting away.
*************************
Later that evening, the family sat back after their roast meal, that had pretty much been cooked entirely by Ethan.
Mum had tried to help, but her wheelchair got in the way and she kept running over his toes, so he'd kindly offered to take over and she could have a night off.
Dad was the only one who had anything to complain about the exquisite meal, saying there was a bit of gristle in his bit of pork, but that was no fault of Ethan's.
Even Bea, who had been a picky eater all her short life, had polished off the meal and asked for more potatoes.
Hannah didn't think the afternoon could have gone any better! She was overjoyed that he'd made such a great first impression with her family.
Ethan was relieved the day hadn't turned out as bad as he'd expected it to go. It had actually been quite entertaining.
He knew it'd take dad time to warm up to him. He fully understood his reasons behind his behaviour and could sympathise. He guessed he would have been more scared if he had met him when he wanted to carry out the plan for the website.
"I couldn't eat another bite!" Mum sighed happily. "Ethan, you have to tell me what you did to get those potatoes so crisp. Mine always end up going soggy."
Bea yawned widely.
"Tired, buzzy Bea?" Hannah mused, but the little girl shook her head.
"I want to do some drawing!" She said, looking around for her pens and paper.
That reminded Ethan.
"Oh, Bea! I remembered my sketchpad. I'll show you." He got up and searched through the bag, returning to his seat and putting Bea on his lap once he'd retrieved it.
"Let mum have a look, too!" Hannah prompted him, taking Bea's now empty plate to the kitchen.
"Mummy! It's you!" Bea squealed when they opened it.
Ethan smirked. "It is! And, if we just turn the page..." he flipped the page over to show the pigeon. "There she is again."
Dad was watching with secret interest but glared at him now.
"I beg your pardon!"
"It's a joke, dad. When he showed me the pad yesterday, I made a joke that he'd filled the notepad with pictures of me. He turned the page and said the likeness was uncanny."
Dad stared at her for a moment before snorting.
"Ok, I'll allow that." He sniggered, returning to pretending he wasn't interested.
"Ethan, this is amazing!" Mum breathed in awe. "They're absolutely incredible! You would think it's more one of those... oh, what are they called? On Facebook, you can add them to the pictures you add..."
"Filters?" Ethan said.
"Yes, that's it! They're like filters over pictures. They're so realistic."
They took their time admiring all the pictures Ethan had drawn.
Bea was getting more and more excited to find her pens and paper. Once the last picture was shown, she bounded off Ethan's lap and ran to get them.
"Did you actually draw them?" Dad asked suspiciously.
"He did. He even drew this just this morning." Hannah defended.
She went into her bag and pulled out the drawing he'd done of her and Bea.
"Oh, would you look at that! I'd love to keep this!" Mum looked pleadingly at her.
"No way. That's mine." She shook her head. "But it's amazing, isn't it?"
Dad arched an eyebrow as he took in the drawing of his daughter and granddaughter.
His wife was right when she said it looked like a picture with a filter over it. He studied his wife's disappointed look after she was told she couldn't keep it and hatched a plan.
"Hannah, can I speak to you for a moment?" He asked, getting off his chair.
His daughter rolled her eyes and scowled at him. "Depends what it's about." She quipped coldly, expecting him to start begging her to leave Ethan.
"Just come on!" He snapped, leading the way into the living room.
Hannah sighed and gave Mum and Ethan a flat look. "I'll be right back." She said, leaving them alone at the dining table and joining dad.
"What is it?"
"Shut the door first." Dad said slyly.
She frowned and closed the door. "Ok, done. What is it?" She repeated.
"That picture Ethan drew. Your mums birthday is in a couple of months... do you mind if I borrow the drawing long enough to get a canvas made of it?"
Her jaw dropped, and she stared at her dad, unsure if she'd heard him right.
"You... you want to get a canvas made of his picture for her birthday?"
"Yeah." Dad gave up his tough act and smiled. "Your mum adores that drawing, and I have to admit it, so do I."
She stared at him, half expecting him to say he was joking. When she realised he'd meant it, she nodded.
"Sure, dad. Although, he'd likely be happy to put a new one of canvas for you."
Dad shook his head immediately. "Look, he needs to see me as an arrogant arsehole. The last thing I need is him thinking he's won me over, which he hasn't... not quite yet."
She smiled and came closer, looping her arms around his shoulders and hugging him.
"Thanks, dad." She whispered. "That means a lot that you're giving him a chance. I love him, and he does love me. He's sacrificing a lot to give this a go."
"I saw." Dad replied just as quietly. "We will see how he manages my intimidation tomorrow. I won't be holding back, you know."
She tutted and pulled away, giving him a fed up look. "You were so close! So close to fulfilling my wishes, and you had to go and ruin it, didn't you?!"
"I have to test him. It's my duty as your dad!"