Chapter 17.1

As Tina sat there with her sister and mother, she wondered why Jeff was taking so long.

"Do you want to go check on him?" Her mother asked, showing a bit of worry for Jeff.

"Okay," she replied.

Just as she was about to stand up, she saw Jeff coming back, and right behind him was her father. They both had smiles on their faces, and their relationship looked cozy.

Mrs. Lawrence conveniently ignored her husband who took the seat next to her. She couldn't be bothered at all with him.

"Tina was just about to go in to look for you," she said as she handed him a glass of chilled water.

"Will you be staying for lunch?" Lina asked.

"If you welcome me to, I definitely will," he said with a smile on his face.

The little gathering was so harmonious as everyone made small talks with Jeff. Tina felt very proud of her boyfriend. She was also thankful to her family for welcoming in, just as his family had done.

After they shared lunch together, Mr. Lawrence was the first to leave the table because he was driving his mother back to her apartment. Tina and Jeff left soon afterwards with Mrs. Lawrence reminding him to come over anytime he was free. She even went as far as exchanging numbers with him.

When they got in the car, she had the urge to give him a hug, and she followed through by pouncing into his embrace.

"Thank you for today, and sorry about my granny," she said as she rubbed her face into his chest.

Jeff placed his large palm on her head and consoled her.

"I should be thanking you for bringing me to meet your parents. Don't worry about your grandmother. I'm sure she'll come around one of these days."

Since the day was still young, the couple went around to date for a while. As Jeff delivered her ice-cream cone to her, she looked at his handsome face.

"We don't have a picture together yet," she muttered, looking at him with grievous eyes.

"We've been dating for a while now, but I had no picture to show my mom when she asked if you were pleasing to the eyes," she pouted sadly as she complained. She was not going to tell him that she showed her mother a picture she stealthily took of him.

Jeff's hand made its way to her face and gave her left cheek a quick pinch. Feeling a bit of pain, she smacked his hand away.

"I couldn't resist. Who made my girlfriend to be so cute?"

"Let's take pictures now. Some with our phones and some at the photobooth we walked past not quite long ago."

Tina nodded to his suggestion.

After they took their affectionate pictures, they both put their favorite ones in their wallets, and changed their contact pictures and wallpapers on each other's phones.

"Did you talk to my dad?" Tina suddenly asked out of nowhere.

"You guys looked like best friends when you stepped out together to the garden," she added when she noticed his hesitation.

After a while, she heard him answer.

"He apologized for what happened during breakfast and mentioned that he wanted to do better for the family, but he didn't know where to start from. So, I linked him up."

Tina was surprised by the words spoken by Jeff. Did her father finally want to take a stance for family? The reason why nobody bothered when he scolded Martha at the table was because it wasn't the first time.

Each time he scolded Martha, he'd tell them to forgive her because she was an elder. So, although she got the scolding, they were the ones who had to forbear because she was an older woman.

As the cycle repeated itself, the expectations they had towards Mr. Lawrence lowered and lowered until they became insignificant. Even though he took Martha back to her home, it wouldn't surprise anyone if he brought her back next weekend because she complained of loneliness.

"My dad really said that to you?" she confirmed with him again and Jeff nodded in assurance.

She sighed.

"Honestly, I don't expect much to come out of his actions, so I won't bother with whoever you linked him with. Lina and I just want our mom to be happy. She deserves it and I hope my dad can man up to his responsibilities as a family man. He's been a son for too long," she said solemnly.

"I'll try my best to fulfil my girl's wishes," she saw Jeff salute her as if taking on an order.

The couple soon forgot about the topic that always weighed heavy in Tina's heart and spent the rest of the day having fun.

Jeff had her home by 10pm like they had talked about and bid his final goodbye to her family.

The pleasant sight was Tina didn't get the chance to see him off as Mr. Lawrence had volunteered to do so.

She watched as her father hung his arm around Jeff and the two sashayed to his car like brothers who grew up together.

Hopefully Mr. Lawrence remembered that Jeff was HER boyfriend.