Ian took a deep breath before turning his hand on the door knob. Behind that door, he would have to change form. He had to be the Ian everyone expected him to be. He had to act perfect. That's the only way to convince other people that despite everything, he was getting back on his own two feet again and did not need any monitoring.
“Ian!”, Stella screamed excitedly as she ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him as soon as he walked through the door. He picked her up and spun her around on one hand, and she giggled before he placed her down again.
“So glad you came”, she said as they broke away from the hug, and she locked their arms together
“I promised I would come, didn't I?”, he said, and she nodded while smiling. Both her and their mother were blowing up his phone every day, begging him to come home to visit them for a few days. He hadn't seen them in months after his father recovered from the accident.
“Let me take that for you”, she took his small traveling bag from him, slinging it onto her shoulder. Her smile widened as she saw the flowers he was holding.
“For me?”, she asked almost jumping up and down
“You wish”, he chuckled falsely as his mother, Ruby Parker came into sight with a welcoming smile on her face
“These are for the most beautiful woman in the universe”, he smiled as he walked towards her. Ruby engulfed her son in a warm hug before kissing his cheek.
“I'm so happy you're home”, she accepted the flowers and thanked him
“It's been a while since I've seen you”, she said pinching his cheeks, titling his head side to side still pinching them
“Mom”, he growled. “I'm too old for this now”, he added in a protest and poured his bottom lip. She smiled before caressing his almost bruised cheeks softly.
“I know. That's what worries me. You grew up so fast “, she said before she looked at the flowers in her hands.
“They are beautiful”, she looked at him once more, her smile reaching her chocolate brown eyes
“I'll just put them in the water. Dinner is almost ready, you can go put your bag upstairs in the meantime”, she said as she turned to walk to the kitchen.
“Mama's Boy”, Stella cooed childishly as she pushed past him to ascend up the staircase. He chuckled before he followed after her, they chatted as they walked to his room.
“Oh I almost forgot”, he said in remembrance as he took out a blue box sealed with a white ribbon from his pockets and waved it in front of her face and her eyes widened in excitement
“Is that? “, she said eyeing the box, seeing the printed logo of her favorite jewelry store on the box
“Yep”, he grinned. “The bracelet you have been nagging me for”, he handed her the box. She quickly dropped his bag on the floor before plopping down the bed.
“I didn't really get you anything for your birthday”, he shrugged
“Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are still the best brother ever!”, she opened the box hurriedly but quickly frowned.
“But-”, she blinked in disbelief. A laugh threatened to burst from his lips as he looked at her disappointment face. “It's… It's empty”, she said quietly as she noticed there was nothing in the box. Ian started laughing.
“Gotcha”, he said still laughing, and she narrowed her eyes at him as she stood up to punch him on the chest. She winced in pain as she hit his, according to him, very hard chest, cracking him up further.
The look on her face though, priceless. He collapsed on the bed, still in stitches. He always loved pranking her, ever since they were kids.
“This is not funny”, her lips curved into a scowl, whilst folding her arms angrily
“I'm just kidding”, he said as he struggled to catch his breath. His stomach hurt. He offered her the real box with the gift inside. This time she wasn't sure whether to take it because it may be one of his sick pranks again. He kept urging her to take it.
“C'mon”, he cooed. “I was just playing with you”
“It's not funny”, she snatched the gift from his hands and opened it. She grasped in awe as she saw the actual bracelet in the box.
“It's beautiful”, she said as he helped her put it on, and it glittered on the heel of her hand. She hugged him.
“You know I could never forget you”, he admitted and she smiled
“Thank you”
“Look who finally made it”, his father, Paul Parker stood at the doorway, with a crutch in hand to support his weight. He hadn't fully recovered from the operation after the accident, as soon as he could feel some motion on his legs, he pushed himself through physiotherapy. Sitting around and doing nothing wasn't in his vocabulary.
“Hey Pops”, he walked towards him and extended his arm for a handshake
“Does this look like a boardroom to you? Where you have to greet me with a handshake?”, Paul rose an eyebrow at him.
“Ouch”, he coughed before laughing to himself with Stella snickering loudly in the background
“Stop being formal around my son. Come here”, his father gestured for a hug and messed up his hair after they broke contact.
“C'mon dad”, he growled as he ran his hand through his hand to fix it again, which he was used to by now. It didn't matter how old he was, his father still treated him like he was little, it got to him sometimes but also didn't want to think about it that moment.
“Dad look what Ian bought for me”, Stella skipped happily next to him whilst showing him her bracelet
“It's beautiful honey”, he smiled at her as they all descended the stairs, finding Ruby already setting the table. Today her son was home, she had put all stops.
“This looks lovely Mom”, he complimented, noticing his mother had used her finest cutlery for this occasion
“Thanks honey. Please sit down, dinner will be served soon”, she smiled at them before to the kitchen.
“How long are you here for?”, Paul poured himself a glass of juice
“I'm just here for the weekend. I'm leaving bright and early Monday morning”, he reached to pull his phone from his pocket so that he could send Abigail a quick text to let her know he got home safely, just as he promised he would.
Ruby walked back from the kitchen, catching him red-handed as he was typing on his phone
“Ian, no cellphones at the dinner table. You know this”, she warned just when he finished drafting the message and quickly pressed sent.
“I'm sorry Mom”, he placed the phone back into his pocket, avoiding his mothers piercing stare
Dinner was shortly served and Ian remembered why he missed home so much. His mother's cooking was simply just the best.
“So Ian, how's the business?”, Paul questioned as he took another mouthful of his wife's roasted chicken into his mouth
“Good”, Ian responded quickly so that they move on from it. “I'll tell you all about it later”, he said to his mother's nod of approval. She didn't like when they discussed business on the dinner table. It was their time to bond and enjoy each other's company as a family.
“Stella tells me you have a girlfriend”, Ruby spoke, seemingly glad to have started this conversation. Ian threw Stella a glare to which she just shrugged in response. He wanted to be the one to break the news that he had started dating again to his parents. Stella surely beat him to it.
“Yes mother, I am seeing someone”, he turned his gaze to hear, her smile running from ear to ear
“Stella also showed me her pictures. She's beautiful”, Ruby announced, causing Ian to look at Stella again.
“What the fuck?”, he mouthed slowly so that she read his lips
“I'm sorry”, she mouthed as she pouted her bottom lip
“When do we get to meet her?”, Paul interrupted the intense staring contest Ian and Stella were having. Ian cleared his throat.
“At the gala. I'm going to ask her to be my date”.
“Well that's something to look forward to”, Ruby clapped her hands in excitement. Paul sat uncomfortably in his seat before pushing his plate away from him to place both his elbows on the table, fixing his gaze onto his son.
“Are you sure you want to attend this year's gala? After what happened the last time-”, he started before earning a quick nudge from his wife, warning him not to continue.
“Ian is old and capable enough to make his own decisions, Paul. If he wants to attend the gala, he can do so without worrying about what people will say of what happened at the last gala he attended three years ago”, Ruby quickly intervened on his behalf.
Stella wiggled her eyebrows at him. “Momma's boy”, she teased to dissolve the tension that was growing between the three parties and to distract his older brother from thinking about that day for a second.
“Shut up”, he hissed playfully at her, and they laughed. Paul suddenly felt bad for bringing up the unfortunate incident that happened a few years prior that landed his son in hospital and rehab a few weeks later. He knew his son was trying by all means to move on from all that's happened. He was owning up to his mistakes.
“I'm sorry Ian-”
“It's okay Pops. I understand where you're coming from. I'm not planning to make a complete fool of myself again this time, so don't worry”, he reassured him and Paul nodded his head in agreement. He couldn't stop thinking of that day. It was the day Christian cut all ties with him.
“Is Christian going to be at the gala?”, he was curious to know whether his older brother was going to show face this time. He always tried by means to avoid attending the same events with him. Ian knew he was an embarrassment to Christian but there was no need to give him the cold shoulder each time he tried to reach out to him.
“Yes. He and Alexa have RSVP'ed already”, Ruby responded, to which Ian gave a nod. It would be the first time after three years they would see each other. He was definitely looking forward to the gala now. All that was left for him was ask Abigail to be his date.
“So...”, Ruby held his arm after dinner as they sat in the lounge. It was their time to catch up.
“Tell me more about Abigail”, she persisted as they sat down. Stella sitting beside him shortly, with him sandwiched between them. He let out a soft chuckle.
“Where do I even begin?”