A Tricky Family Dinner 3/3

Tim had changed the location of their dinner with the mayor because he felt something was off with the Lane's impromptu family dinner with the Merches. Tim wanted to be close to Mia so he could mitigate any disaster that might occur. He thought that Dominic might try to push Mia and Nicholas together.

When they arrived, he had grabbed the only table next to one large enough to accommodate the Lane's party. Timothy had been dismayed by the presence of Luna. He did not want anything to do with the woman who had tried to kill his child plus she was mouthy, and irritatingly materialistic.

Mia had arrived on the arm of Nicholas Merches and his mood had turned black instantly. Listening to Luna talk about the adorable couple they made had grated against his nerves and he spent most of the time not eating with his fists clenched under the table. Caleb and Jasmine had initially seemed to hit it off but now the pair of them were mostly trying to keep him from losing his mind.

Mia and Miss Merches were obviously close and easily talked with each other but since Nicholas was in the middle it made the three of them appear to be especially close. When Mia took the food off the man's fork it showed the entire restaurant that they were intimately close. The shock of it had caused Tim to drop his fork causing a clatter.

Caleb had to talk him out of being foolish and making a scene. It wasn't until Nicholas rose pulling Mia to her feet that he knew what Dominic's game was though and it was too late to stop it. This was confirmed when Timothy looked over at the man and Dominic was grinning viciously right at him. That was when Tim went full murderous intent and only Caleb literally holding him in his chair kept him seated.

"Timothy if you move now you are going to make this worse." Caleb whispered urgently against his ear. "You need to calm down, this can be fixed but not if you assault someone in front of all these witnesses." Timothy heard the words but was finding it hard to care. Mia was his and that bastard doctor would not take her from him, and Dominic would pay for this.

"Barrett, seriously breathe man." Dominic was smirking just waiting for him to act. This helped because it meant Dominic was counting on a reaction to carry out his plan. Tim forced himself to relax, pulled at his jacket roughly and adjusted his tie. Tim's mouth was set in a grim line; he would have to endure this show for a while yet. Caleb felt relieved and took a shaky sip of his wine. Tim signaled the server requesting a change to bourbon. Dominic sat back with a scowl. No dice, buddy Tim thought.

*

"Are you crazy?" Mia's voice was loud, upset.

"About you, yes." Nicholas chuckled closing the balcony door.

"What were you thinking." Mia snapped.

Nicholas sighed; he wasn't a fool, but he cared about her. "I was thinking that I would like to marry you. I think we could have a good life together."

"Nick, I have already told you that we are not compatible." Mia said carefully.

"We could be. I can work less and spend more time with you and the children. We have been good together before Mia." Nick reasoned, running the back of his hand down her arm.

"We had a fling and it ended because we didn't have feelings for each other." Mia reminded him.

"Wrong, it ended because you wouldn't let yourself have feelings for me." Nicholas said bluntly. "You have never tried. You have always been hung up on Barrett. I am better for you and your children than him. He will hurt you. You can't trust him, Mia." Nicholas placed his hand on her cheek, "let me prove to you that we can be good together."

"I can't it's already too late for that." Mia sighed.

"Then can you at least be my fiancé for a little while until I can let Rachel down gently?" Nicholas asked desperately trying to find a way to make this work out.

"Did Dominic put you up to this and tell you to bring Rachel?" Mia asked quietly. Nicholas confirmed with a quick nod.

"I will give you two weeks and then you must call our engagement off." Mia told him feeling pressure not to let Rachel be embarrassed publicly. Nicholas pulled the ring out of the box and placed it on her finger. It was a large marquise diamond set in a plain white-gold band.

"Thank you for being a good friend Mia." Nicholas said softly. Mia took several deep breaths before placing her hand on Nicks arm so they could walk back in together. When they reentered the room, every face turned their way. They reached their table quickly.

Nick spoke in a clear voice, "I told you she was shy. She said yes." Mia gave a small smile as the restaurant erupted into voice offering congratulations and well wishes.

Mia's family each hugged her in turn and clapped Nicholas on the back. Though Jason and Nathan were more reserved. Eva gave her a hug but looked at her with confused worry. Rachel was a ball of energy exclaiming it was well past time that Mia was her sister. Mia glanced over at the other table seeing that Caleb looked grim as he spoke quietly to Tim. Tim downed an entire glass of brown liquor before standing up and striding out to the lobby.

Dominic came up to Mia and hugged her tightly. "Finally, you are doing the sensible thing. Will you need help moving home tomorrow? It doesn't look right for you to be away from Lane residence before the wedding." Mia simply stared at her brother. How could their relationship have fallen this far?

Nicholas helped Mia regain her seat and she drank her glass of wine then ordered another. After a few minutes Mia excused herself to the restroom, she needed breathing room for a moment. She didn't notice when Nathan followed a few seconds later. He wanted to keep an eye on this situation because something didn't add up.

*

Timothy paced in the lobby unable to force himself to reenter the dining room and see any more of this train wreck. He was clinging to Caleb's words telling him that there had to be a good reason that Mia had accepted Nicholas's proposal. It had to be a fake, there had to be a reason. Tim was losing his mind. He had expected them both to be embarrassed not for Mia to be engaged to that bastard. How could this have happened?

Tim spotted Mia get up from the table headed toward the restroom. He took the long way through a side door and caught Mia just as she entered the lady's room.

"Keep walking," Timothy told her quietly pushing her into the room. He bolted the door behind him going to each stall in turn and making sure they were alone in the room. Neither of them noticed Nathan as he spotted Tim push Mia into the room and then leaned on the thin door to listen.

Timothy finally turned to Mia, his face a mask of pain. "What the hell, Mia?" Mia opened her mouth to speak but didn't know what to say.

"You can't tell me that you can be with me like you were yesterday and be engaged to another man today? You can't tell me that! Tell me what is going on?" Tim demanded.

"It's a fake. Just for show." Mia finally managed to get out.

"Why?" Tim growled.

"Nicholas's sister Rachel is extremely sick, and she's always been good to me and the twins. I just want to save her public embarrassment." Mia explained.

Tim sighed, walking up to the counter that Mia leaned against and placing his hands on either side of her. "How long is this supposed to go on?"

"Two weeks, I gave him two weeks to tell his sister and call it off." Mia said, looking at Tim's angry face. He picked up her hand and examined the ring.

"This ring isn't even your style. Does he know you at all? I mean with your clothes on?" Timothy said angrily.

"Ouch, I know you are mad but that was mean." Mia said quietly.

"Mia we should be getting married in two weeks and moving into our house not dealing with your engagement. What if you're pregnant already? Huh? Two weeks is a long time. I can't even be seen with you while the engagement exists. Damn it..." Timothy cursed.

"Who made this happen? Was it Dominic?" Tim growled.

"Yes, it was Dominic who set this up." Mia admitted.

Timothy cursed, "Didn't I tell you about this this morning at the hotel, that this whole thing smelled bad?" Mia nodded. Tim cupped Mia's cheek and kissed her softly.

"I know a judge at the courthouse. Let's just get married tomorrow before your brothers find another way to keep us apart. They won't stop. It's the only way, once we are married, they can't come between us." Tim implored Mia.

"It's not supposed to be this way." Mia couldn't help the tears that fell.

"Baby don't cry. I will fix this." Tim wrapped his arms around Mia but was startled at the knock on the door.

"Friendly, I just want to talk to you both." It was Nathan's voice. Tim reached over and unbolted the door but didn't move away from the door. Tim figured he must have heard their conversation. Not knowing what to expect he eyed Nathan warily.

Nathan stepped into the bathroom and leaned against the door to keep it from opening.

"Really, I'm friendly." Nathan told Tim, "We were even allies once upon a time. At Technosphere, my security team know me as The Duke." Tim's eyes went wide with recognition then he nodded in acknowledgement.

To Mia Nathan said, "Did Dominic really do this to force you into marriage with Nicholas?"

"Yes, he knew I would protect Rachel and he thinks that will give Nick time to convince me and keep me away from Timothy," Mia said sadly.

"You and Timothy are together then?" Nathan questioned. Mia nodded.

"Jason will be on your side once I tell him about this. Does Eva know? She seemed upset." Nathan asked his sister.

"She knows." Mia took a deep breath. "I need to go back before they come looking." She looked at Tim and he gave her a soft kiss on the lips and then one on her forehead. Mia walked out of the bathroom followed by Timothy and Nathan. Mia headed back to the dining room.

None of them saw two people standing in the archway scowling at the trio. Luna looked at Dr. Merches.

"I assume if I were to contact you with a way to keep them apart, you would be interested in helping?" Nicholas asked the unpleasant woman.

"I would love to help get Mia away from Timothy." Luna smirked.

Nicholas walked away from the woman quickly. She seemed the dangerous type. He wanted to keep Mia, but he didn't want her hurt to do it.

Timothy returned to the table feeling calmer. Mia hadn't said no about marrying him tomorrow so he would ask her later.

Nathan returned to the table and sat down with a stony look on his face. Jason tried to ask him about it, but he just shook his head. Nicholas sat back down beside Mia and turned toward her brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. Tim's face turned to the predatory smirk that Mr. Barrett was known for.

The family ate their dessert in near silence. Mia picked at hers but drank two glasses of wine. Finally, they were done, and Nicholas rose taking Mia's hand and placed it on his arm. Her ring flashed in the light where her hand rested on him.

"Claude please walk Miss Merches to the cars. We should let the new couple walk together alone." Dominic declared. Mia rolled her eyes as she was buzzed and no longer cared who saw. Mia went along since there was no use fighting it. When they stepped out into the night, she realized her mistake. Paparazzi were everywhere, snapping pictures, the flashes blinding her. Questions were being yelled at her.

Dominic stepped up beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I can confirm that my only sister Mia Lane is engaged to Dr. Nicholas Merches. It happened this very evening."

Then he stepped back. It was bedlam. Nicholas gave her a sheepish expression holding her hand as he helped her into her car.

"Get us out of here," Mia told the driver, and he did.

*

Timothy was fuming. Leaving the restaurant should have been simple and he could have Mia in his arms right now but instead his car couldn't get to them because of the paparazzi. Where had they all come from? Then he thought about the way Dominic had made sure Nicholas walked out alone with Mia and he knew the answer. Dominic then personally confirmed the engagement, ensuring that this situation would not stay quiet.

The only redeeming moment this evening had been seeing Caleb swap contact details with Jasmine. Despite the train wreck of an evening, maybe some good came of it. Raymond and Jasmine of course gave the no comment response to the reporters they had too much class to talk about Mia's personal affairs. Once the lights turned on Luna, however, she lost all decorum and recounted every detail of the proposal to the press.

By the time she was done speaking, and the paparazzi finally moved enough to get his car he was once again ready to commit murder. This story would be everywhere in the morning and paparazzi would be hounding Mia. Right when they needed to be invisible. This was shaping up to be a disaster.

Tim and Caleb climbed into their car a full forty minutes after they had stepped outside. Tim poured himself another drink thinking it would be wonderful to be drunk right now but knowing he still had issues that needed to be resolved tonight. Caleb copied him his thoughts running along the same lines.

"Well, that was more fun than I ever want to have again." Caleb remarked taking a sip of his drink.

"I don't know, I saw you get her number. What do you think of Jasmine?" Tim asked, trying to distract himself from his problems.

"She's funny, smart, accomplished, and beautiful. What's not to like?" Caleb replied, "I am also taking her to dinner next week."

"You are quick. Good for you." Tim smiled a true smile at his friend.

"Not all of us need everything to be so difficult." Caleb said smirking.

"Don't remind me. That was hellish." Tim sighed looking at the ceiling for a minute before downing his drink and pouring another.

"You were gone a long time; did you talk to Mia?" Caleb asked cautiously.

"Yes, the engagement isn't real. Mia's just nice enough to allow the Merches to save face. Nice enough to give me a heart attack too." Tim groaned and rubbed his eyes.

"This was set up by Dominic and the Lane's?" Caleb asked.

"It was set up by Dominic, yes, but not all the Lanes are on board. Nathan and Eva for sure are not, Nathan said that Jason will side with Mia too. The others don't know but who knows what they will think." Tim explained. "Nathan knows we are together and didn't have a problem with it. Eva too from the sound of it." Maybe there was some hope that their lives could intertwine without all the animosity.

"So, what are you going to do, Tim?" Caleb asked plainly.

That was the million-dollar question. Timothy only had one play guaranteed to work. That was to get Mia to marry him then it wouldn't matter what anyone else did because she would already be his. There would be no way to keep them apart but first he would have to get Mia to agree to marry him.

Tim drank his second bourbon and set the glass down. He could already feel the liquor swirling through him. Tim couldn't be drunk when he got to Mia. He sat in silence for the rest of the car ride and Caleb let him be.