Convincing her

The party did not have too many people and only had people that were close to the two families, so there weren't that many unfamiliar faces. Hellen immediately whisked the couple away, and she took them to where Diane was standing with her son.

"You came?" Jen said in surprise as she went to hug her little brother. She had asked him to attend but only replied vaguely, so she assumed that he wouldn't be able to come. Seeing him now, she felt a bit emotional and a big smile graced her face.

"I had to surprise you," Jake said with a chuckle. The smiles of the two siblings were very similar, even though Jake had his mother's eyes and hair. 

"Mmmh," Jen responded and furiously blinked her eyes as she pulled away from him. She didn't catch a breath before her own mother pulled her in for a hug. It wasn't casually and Jen felt the weight of that hug as she had seen her mother's expression earlier. 

When she separated from her, her mother's eyes had reddened a bit and Lucas only stood next to Jen with a warm smile. He had only been away from home for two months, but he had really missed his family.

His mother had almost jumped into his arms when she saw him earlier that day. He could imagine how it was with Jen who had exiled herself away from home, felt now that her whole family was standing in front of her.

What he had not expected was for Diane to also pull him into a hug. Lucas was a bit flustered but did not show it in his expression. Only Diane felt him stiffen after she had surprised him.

"Take care of each other in the future. Remember, we are all a family," Diane said before releasing Lucas and smiled at him. Lucas felt like he was being blinded by her. 

"Call me mother in the future," Diane said and patted the side of his arm. Jake (the low-key mama's boy) resumed his position next to his mother.

"Yes, I will mother," Lucas said smoothly, and the happiness in Diane's eyes was almost tangible.

"When will you call me mother?" Hellen whispered at Jen, and her cheeks slightly reddened, making her laugh in amusement.

"From today… mother," Jen said, and even though the mother was not very audible, Hellen felt ecstatic. 

"Don't just stand there come here," Hellen said to her husband who was watching his wife with indulgence filled in his eyes. She pulled him over and encouragingly looked at Jen. Jen looked at Noah and for once he did not look detached. It was like he had begun fully embracing her as a part of his family.

"Don't be intimidated by his frozen expression, he has always wanted a daughter," Hellen said and pointedly looked at Lucas who had been her last hope.

Lucas felt that it was unfair. The one who looked the most like a daughter was not him! James who was on the other side of the room sneezed, not knowing that his youngest brother thought that he should have been the daughter of the Lewis family.

"Father," Jen said in a small voice and resisted the urge to bury her face in Lucas's face to hide. Why was she crossing so many boundaries today? Does this mean she also gained two brothers as well?

"Mh," Noah responded, and a hint of a smile appeared on his lips. Anyone could tell that he was in a good mood and liked this potential daughter-in-law. He felt Hellen nudge his side and his smile grew wider as he looked down at his wife.

"I want to steal you, but Lucas should take you around and introduce you to the guests," Hellen said before pushing the couple away.

"Let's go," Lucas said and offered his elbow, which Jen held before they walked away. The three parents and one young brother watched them walk away, Jen with her forest green gown, herself being decorated by both diamonds and emeralds. No one could pick out a flaw.

Hellen thought that she would need to treat her friend, who had even been particular about what kind of jewellery was supposed to adorn her.

Of course, Hannah, who was also at the party, was very pleased when she saw Jen come in that she could not stop smiling. It was too bad she could not brag to everyone that she had made that dress!

She looked at her daughter that was standing next to her who managed to look tomboyish even in the evening gown and felt her heartache. What did she do wrong that she turned out this way?

When her daughter saw her mother's lamenting expression, she just pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh. Wasn't she the one who had hammered into her to have her own style? Her go-to style was always C O M F O R T.

"Mom, rather than look at me like this, why don't you try to make people like me clothes that make us elegant?" she provoked.

"Elegance is not in what you are wearing, you don't know what you are talking about," Hannah said and turned on her heel to leave. She knew that her daughter was provoking her, but she couldn't help but fall for it.

She used to be a diva when she was younger, her daughter used to be similar to her, but one day she just stopped. She didn't push her to tell her anything and let her do whatever she wants. It's not like she was hurting anyone anyway.

Jen and Lucas went around the hall and greeted the guests and their friends, they kept asking them how they first met and their love story which was embarrassing to say, so Jen said that she had collided with him on her first day of university and spilt coffee all over him.

It was a very cliché plot, but she was not going to say that they had what was supposed to be a one-night stand and Lucas clung to her afterwards, was she?

Jen met Brian's father and brothers who she had never met. One of the two brothers was in uniform, which made him look charismatic, and the other one was in a suit.

They were both handsome, and she got the hint of how Brian probably looked without the addition of his tattoos. This was what Rachel also thought once she had met them later. 

What she was not expecting was Brian's father being friendly with her. The man was as tall as his sons and had salt and pepper hair.

The rest all had jet black hair and pitch-black eyes. His wife had run away from her uptight husband and gone to join Hellen. So there was only Rachel, who looked like a ray of sunlight as she stood with them.

Unsurprisingly, she was not intimidated and managed to charm them. Even Brian's father wondered how his irresponsible son was able to attract someone who was the opposite of him.

After chatting for a bit, Brian took his girlfriend away before his father started lecturing him while gloatingly looking at his older brothers. The two brothers also sighed when they saw their young brother slip away so smoothly. If they had dates, they would have probably escaped from their father as well.