"What's is it?" The three elders looked up at him.
Harry put down the chopsticks before he replied, "You have seen the video in which I proposed to Lola, Nicole's mother." he paused before suggesting, "So, I thought maybe you could go to A Country with me over the next few days, for dinner to meet Lola's parents." Honestly, he thought, he should just be calling it an engagement party.
Bang! the sound startled him, and he looked over at Rose. Rose slammed her chopsticks onto the table, her face dark with anger. She hadn't planned on discussing the video today; however, since her son brought it up himself, she would voice her thoughts.
"How dare you!" she began, "Did you even bother consulting the elders about this proposal? Is that woman worthy of such a magnificent and luxurious wedding?"
Harry's heart sank at his mother's criticism.
Kevin put his hand on Rose's and reminded her, "Don't be so tough on Harry. Let him do what he wants."
Harry's grandfather did not say anything.
"You may accept this but I can't. I would accept anyone except Lola as my daughter-in-law." Rose raised her voice as her frustration grew.
She thought Lola was a calculating woman and had something to do with what happened when Yolanda did not marry Harry. Rose would not abide that woman as her daughter-in-law.
Nicole looked at the elders with curiosity at the mention of her mother.
Kevin noticed and looked at his wife. "Rose, did you see how grown Nicole is now? You would not want her to leave her mother or live with a stepmother." he calmly stated.
He thought Lola was a fine choice and was happy for his son.
Rose glanced at Nicole affectionately responding to her husband, "What's wrong with a stepmother. If we can find a good daughter-in law, who treated her even better than her biological mother."
"I do not want a stepmother." Nicole added. She finally figured out what the adults were discussing. She slammed her spoon down. Her mouth turned down as she pouted.
Harry's mood immediately turned and he smiled. She was so like Lola.
Rose hurriedly lulled her granddaughter, "My little baby, grandmother doesn't mean that. Grandma was just saying..."
Nicole cut the words off, covering her ears willfully, and shook her head, "I'm not listening; I'm not listening. I no longer like grandma." she chanted over Rose's words.
When Harry saw Nicole getting upset, he took her from the high chair and sat her on his lap, pulling her close.
"Don't worry, daddy would not replace mommy with some stepmother." He gently held Nicole in his arms, reassuring her.
Nicole stopped pouting, but she didn't like grandma anymore, because grandma didn't want her mother.
"Mother, if you don't want to go, we will go without you." He would live with Lola and Nicole in the mansion.
"How dare you." Rose looked at her son, too angry to complete her thought.
Harry's grandfather, who had remained silent till now, put down the chopsticks slowly. He wiped his lips before adding to the conversation, "Harry, you are 30 years old now, and mature enough to make your own decisions. I support whatever choice you make."
"Thank you, grandfather." Harry beamed.
Since his grandfather has voiced his approval, Rose could no longer object to Harry's resolve to marry Lola.
She would never go to A Country, because She didn't want to see Angie and her daughter Lola.
After the matter was resolved, Nicole refused to respond to Rose, regardless of how hard her grandmother tried to coax her.
Nicole pushed her father to take her back to the mansion.
Later that night, when they were about to go to bed, Kevin looked at his wife sitting at the dressing table and sighed, "You were rather unreasonable today."
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