Her Right Mistake

(18) Vren

Audrey is proficient at making conversations with his family. Vren expected uneasiness – even just a smidge. However, that's just him forgetting this is the Audrey Danler. She's flawless at pleasing his family. If anything, she's the perfect girlfriend material every parents are hoping for. Vren could never classify her as the friendly type. She surprises him once again.

He sits next to her, mesmerized at the uncharacteristic laugh she just had. Her face dramatically changes when she smiles. His parents are fond of her – even way before the family dinner. His siblings has evidently warmed up to her despite the obvious intimidated shake hands earlier in the night.

Audrey is next to him, relaxed and utterly comfortable. Their family dinner were just his father on the end of the table. Their mother is on his right, a no-nonsense Cade on his left. Vren is seated beside his mother, Andrei next to him. Their youngest sibling, Ichinandra prefers to sit next to Cade. Next to her is Christian and then Matthew whose seat has started to become unoccupied since he started going to medical missions. However, it's one of those rare family dinners where he's present on the table.

Years later, they kept the family dinners as a tradition. No matter how their children has gone to living separate lives, they eat dinner together at the house they grow up in. Once a week. Their parents made sure of that. Vren makes time to visit home. Or else his mother is going to show up in his apartment uninvited. His oldest brother, Cade never learned that lesson though. So their mother is his constant visitor. Well, before Kathie.

There's nothing old and ordinary about this particular dinner. Kathie is sitting between Cade and Ichinandra. Kathie smiles at him from across the table. He was smiling like an idiot before he even realized it. There was something about her that made her so likable in first glance. Like someone who lights up the room with a single smile. Or simply gracing people with her precious presence. Her light brown hair curtained her face, a halo hiding somewhere in that pretty head of hers. There's always light in her hazel eyes. The cheerfulness in them is so contagious that his 'smileless' older brother Cade has lighten up just a tad bit having her around.

It's hard to believe the people around this table used to be just children munching food like little heathens. Their mother has called them from the tree house where they spent the entire afternoon and would have probably stayed the night if it weren't for their mother's threat of calling their father. They gather on the table, their nice, clean clothes dirtied up from all the playing. Their mother would shake her head in dismay and tells them she wouldn't allow another playtime the next day. However, how could their parents resist six pairs of puppy eyes?

"Audrey, what does your father do for a living?" His father smiles fondly at Audrey.

She smiles back, sweeping her gaze to the interested faces around the table. "He's a dentist."

"Oh. Really? That's nice. You never talk about him," Kathie enthused.

Ichinandra propped an elbow on the table. "Does he allow you to have sweets? I'm not generalizing here but I have this friend in high school whose father was a dentist and she doesn't get to eat candies."

"I have this one friend too. She used to bully that one classmate with that nasty bucktooth. I think he used to call her beaver," Andrei butts in, heartily eating his meal beside Vren.

Matthew nods. "I think I met one of those my-daddy-is-a-dentist superior." There was sympathy in his eyes toward the mentioned classmate with the bucktooth."

Christian chuckles. "People grabs any chances to be superior."

"I doubt Audrey bullies someone dentally challenged." Mom laughs looking over to Audrey and shifted to Vren.