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“Holy shit, you seeing these numbers, Ma?” A stunned Luxy called out to his mother as he stared wide-eyed at the tablet screen showing the increased number of sales he's made in the past two weeks. Bryce came up to her son from behind and rested her chin on his shoulder, peering down at the screen with a proud smile and letting out a pleased hum.
“At this rate, you might just surpass me, sweetheart.”
Luxy felt himself swell up with pride at his mother's comment. He smiled and gently leaned his head against hers.
“You'll always be the one on top, Ma.”
“Ooh, I certainly wouldn't be opposed to that~” piped in a horny terrorist as he entered his son and wife's shared office and hugged them both from behind. Luxy fondly rolled his eyes at his father while Bryce greeted her husband with a kiss to his cheek.
“That wasn't what I meant and you know it, Pops.”
“Eh, still.”
Bobby suddenly caught a glimpse of the tablet screen and perked up.
“Well fuck, that is more fucking money than your mother will ever allow me to have.”
Bryce snorted. “Only because I know you'd try purchasing a goddamn nuke off of the internet if I gave you that much money, you fucking menace.”
The terrorist chuckled and winked at his wife.
“Maybe I just enjoy being reprimanded by my hot sexy wife.”
Bryce raised a brow and pulled Bobby closer to her by his harness, dragging a perfectly manicured finger down his chest and making him shiver under her simple touch.
“Is that so?”
Luxy sighed. “Guys, I'm still here, you know?”
“And you wouldn't be here if it weren't for my nut!”
Sometimes Luxy regretted making amends with his parents.
“Your father's nut aside, I believe your rising sale numbers are worth celebrating, Luxyboo,” Bryce said confidently, turning back to her son and ignoring her husband's disappointed pout. “How about this weekend? We could rent a private yacht or host an exclusive party at our mansion. I'll even let you invite your little friends and family.”
Luxy crossed his arms as he leaned against the desk behind him. “The second one sounds nice, but Cathy's taking the kids camping this weekend and Sam went on a trip to Universal Studios with his roommate. Carol and Helen… well, I can only guess they'll be busy testing out those new toys they ordered from me with a 35% discount.”
“Ah, well, that's alright. How about we have a celebratory dinner instead?”
The young businessman snapped his head up as an idea suddenly came to mind.
“We could have a family dinner.”
“Sure, sweetheart–”
“You could invite grandma and I could phone up aunt Delilah and grandpapi.”
Bryce's eye twitched. “Sorry, what?”
“I'd ask Pops to invite his folks, but I don't think he has any…?”
The terrorist shrugged nonchalantly.
“Never bothered to know or find out. But hey, if you want a family dinner, we'll make it happen, bud. Right, Bryce?”
The former CEO forced on a smile.
“Of course. Anything for my Luxyboo.”
Completely oblivious to his mother's tweaking, Luxy smiled and pecked her on the cheek before pulling out his phone to contact his aunt and grandfather.
Bryce slowly turned to her husband as her smile faded into a look of terror.
“This is going to be a fucking disaster.”
—
Saturday evening came, and Luxy couldn't be happier to see all of his family members in the same room together. He was seated at the front end of the long dining table. To his left sat his aunt Delilah, her daughter Rebecca, and his grandpapi Daniel. To his right sat his father, mother, and grandmother Tammy. The only ones really engaging in conversation were his aunt and father. Rebecca was too absorbed on her phone, and Bryce was making sure her mother didn't try jumping over the table to attack her father.
“Dinner is served!”
Bobby visibly sighed in relief, as did Delilah. The two were well acquainted enough from their several encounters a couple of years ago during Bryce's book tour. The two half-sisters had made a deal around the time Luxy was surrendered to Delilah and Daniel's care. The deal was: in exchange for updates on little Luxy, Bryce would ensure employment for Delilah’s future kid, which led to Rebecca becoming Bryce's temporary assistant during her tour.
Once the food was set on the table and served on their plates, Luxy cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.
“Before we dig in, I'd like to take a second to thank aunty Del, grandpapi, and grandma Tammy for agreeing to have dinner with us tonight. I understand that there might still be some tension present between our families, but I just really wanted to see us all together. Even if it's only for one night.”
A small smile appeared on Bryce's lips as she felt Bobby give her hand a comforting squeeze from under the table. She'd been avoiding her father's gaze since he and Delilah arrived. He'd tried making conversation with her, but she made it very clear that she wasn't in the mood to talk to him with all the short answers she was giving him. Tammy had on a fake smile the whole time, wanting to appear civil per Bryce's request (for Luxy's sake) despite having the urge to strangle her ex-husband. Seeing Delilah didn't help, either. Because why did that bastard treat her better than the daughter they had together? Why was he able to raise another woman's child but walk out on the one she had with him?
“Thank you for inviting us, Luxy,” Delilah said gratefully, “Your grandpapi definitely needed an excuse to get out of the house.”
“Huh, he never needed one before,” Tammy muttered. Bryce nudged her with a stern look.
“Mother, please. You're going to cause a scene.”
“No, no, it's alright,” Daniel suddenly spoke, meeting Tammy's gaze. “I think it's about time you and I had a proper chat.”
Despite not being very close, Delilah and Bryce shared a nervous look with one another.
“Pa, maybe it can wait after dinner?”
“Mother, please…”
Tammy let out a frustrated huff. “Ugh, I can't do it anymore, Brycey!”
Everyone went silent as Tammy slammed her hand on the table, glaring angrily at her ex right across from her.
“Alright, asshole. You want to tell everyone here why you decided to abandon your wife and daughter?”
The older man pointed an accusing finger at his former wife.
“Don't you twist the story, woman! I never left on my own volition. You kicked me out, remember?”
Bryce, for the very first time that night, finally looked her biological father in the eyes. Daniel offered her a weak smile before turning back to Tammy.
“Call me a good-for-nothing cheater all you want, Tammy. But I never would've left you and our daughter if you hadn't asked me to.”
Tammy's glare softened when she felt Bryce's gaze turn towards her.
“Mother, is that true…?”
“Well what was I supposed to do, Brycey? All he ever cared about was making money and getting his dick wet!” Tammy stressed, “I was just saving you from having to deal with a deadbeat father!”
“Eh, she ain't wrong.”
“Delilah!” Daniel frowned at his other daughter, who simply shrugged her shoulders.
“Pa, no offense, but you weren't exactly the best father to me, either. Even my own mother had to walk out on us.”
“Aww, see! The guy's a piece of shit!” Bobby suddenly butted in. “But everything worked out in the end, didn't it? So let's all just let bygones be bygones and move on now before the chicken gets cold.”
Luxy nodded in agreement, relieved that his father was able to find a way to defuse the situation before things got even more out of hand.
Tammy and Daniel didn't say anything else as they settled into their seats and silently ate the food on their plate. Delilah had to snatch her daughter's phone away just so the teen could focus on eating her food.
By the time everyone was able to digest their food and the words exchanged between Tammy and Daniel, the tension in the room had dissipated enough for them to finally engage in more playful and light-hearted conversation.
“Oh, there was this one time when I caught Pa having sex with this random chick in our living room and he accidentally moaned another woman's name when he climaxed,” Delilah smirked at her father's horrified face.
“You were home that day?”
“Pa, it was a fucking Saturday.”
Bobby chuckled. “Whose name did he say instead?”
“Funnily enough, he said Tammy.”
The woman in question looked at her ex-husband smugly. Daniel sunk into his chair, red in the face.
“When are you and Rebecca flying back to Italy, aunty Del?” Luxy curiously asked.
“Ugh, not anytime soon, hun.”
Bryce raised a brow.
“Trouble in paradise?”
“Hmm, yeah. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't bag a keeper like you, sis.” Delilah answered, gesturing to Bryce and Bobby's intertwined hands resting on the table.
Luxy smiled as he watched his family interact and converse with one another like they'd been doing this for ages. He knew the risk of bringing them together when they'd barely spoken or acknowledged the other's existence. But hey, if he and his parents could make amends, he knew there was hope for his other family members.
And boy, was he right.