Page 111 of Forever Entwined

"Apologize now, young lady! Who do you think you are?" her father fumes. His nostrils are flaring, and his face is so red, it looks like he’s about to burst every blood vessel in his face.

"I’m Isabella; nice to meet you!" Bella sneers back sarcastically, and it takes everything in me not to laugh. "Now you either get to know me or walk away because, if you can't accept me as I am, you don't deserve to know me at all," she snaps again.

"Well, it seems like there's not much more to say," her mother replies as she gets up to follow her husband, who has already begun walking away. I see her mother peer back at Bella briefly, and I can't be certain, perhaps it's just a fake, uncomfortable reaction, but it almost looks like she's smirking as she turns back to look at her husband.

As her parents walk away, I see the way Bella's lip quivers, and she looks like she’s about to collapse. I scoop her up in a reassuring hug and allow her to cry into my chest. "Did I really say all that?" she sniffles.

"Yes, baby, and I'm so fucking proud of you for it," I reply.

"Damn, my bestie is a badass!" Ava hollers.

"I am so sorry for ruining this moment," I apologize, turning to her grandparents.

"You do not have to apologize. If anyone should be apologizing, it's Mike. We may have to love him as our son, but that doesn't mean we have to like him," Nana confesses.

"I was hoping one of you were going to hit him too," Pops smirks.

"George!" exclaims Nana.

"What? It’s what everyone was thinking, or was it not?" states Pops.

"Actually, yeah, I was too." Tucker nods. "How about we go inside now and get this party started?"

Then Ava turns to Bella, squeezing her hand and asking, "How about we go fix your makeup? I love you, but panda eyes are so 2000s," she jokes.

***

The rest of the party goes smoothly. Bella has a great time dancing and catching up with friends and family. I even get to meet her cousins, who are thankfully much more welcoming towards me, despite the initial teasing about how they all thought I was Bella’s imaginary friend for a while when we were growing up. And of course, the odd "hurt her and die" threat that I fully expected and kind of respect. Her parents decide to stay, but they barely say a word to anyone throughout the evening. Meanwhile, the rest of us enjoy ourselves and the 'epic takedown of Bella's dad’' as it now seems to be called, has somehow become the topic of conversation for the evening. I swear, each time I hear Ava or Tucker tell the story again, it gets funnier and more dramatic. Although, what can you expect from the most over the top and dramatic couple we know?

The party is coming to an end, and everyone starts heading home. Bella's parents left hours ago, but me and the rest of the gang stayed until the end.

"We're leaving," Ava and Tucker say as they hug us both goodbye.

"Do you want a ride, girls?" Tucker asks the twins.

"If you don't mind," Harper and Riley reply.

"Do you need help putting everything away?" I ask Bella’s grandparents.

"That would be great, honey," Bella's Nana smiles. "If you're sure you don't mind, after all, you helped set this up as well."

"Of course not. I'm always more than happy to help you any way I can. That's what families do." As soon as the words fall from my lips, I want to swallow them back down. What if I freak them out by calling them family?

I needn't have worried though because Nana smiles so widely that on anyone else it would look like it hurt, before replying, "Me and George are so proud to call you family as well."

"How about we go home? Nana has a surprise for you when we get there. That is, if you don't already have something planned with your friends," her Pops asks us both. As tempting as it sounds, I feel like Bella could use some time with her grandparents for a change, especially after all the hard work they did to make today perfect.

"Actually, I'm truly sorry, but I've got something I need to do tonight. Maybe we can reschedule?" I ask apologetically. I see Bella's eyebrows raise slightly, especially since she knows I've nothing else planned for tonight. So I give her a small smile before I say, "But I know Bella was just saying how much she wanted a night in with you both."

CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

ISABELLA

"Bella was just saying how much she wanted a night in with you both," Nate says, and it melts my heart to think about how thoughtful he is not only to me, but to my grandparents as well. Plus, he's correct. I do need some family time, especially after everything that happened earlier with my parents.

"He's not wrong. An evening with you and Nana is exactly what I want tonight." I smile at them both.

Nate finally says goodbye, and we head back home. As I walk in the door, I see that Nana and Pops have balloons and congratulatory signs spread around the room. There are also homemade chocolate cupcakes in the refrigerator.