7. Saturday 7:30 a.m.
Isaac led Gwen to the downstairs banquet room his family and the tour entourage used for breakfast. He opened the door to the room to reveal a flurry of activity. About 30 people were seated around 6 tables, chattering away. In the back corner was a buffet table decked with every breakfast food known to man. Children darted in and out of the chair, tables and adult legs. It was a pretty live party for 8:00 am in the morning.
Gwen smiled, loving the sight of all these people having such a good time. She was a little overwhelmed but was instantly comforted when Isaac squeezed her hand to remind her of his presence.
“Why do you play with those?” a little blonde girl said, more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “Barbies suck. G.I. Joes are way better!”
“You are such a tomboy, Avery. Barbies are cool,” an older little girl replied. She had the same platinum hair as her sister.
“Good morning, girls,” Isaac said. “I want you guys to meet someone. This is Gwen,” he tugged on Gwen’s hand. “Gwen, I’d like you to meet my sisters. This is the beautiful Jessica and the gorgeous Avery.”
“Hello, the beautiful Jessica and the gorgeous Avery,” Gwen said, shaking both of their hands. “I take it Jessica likes Barbies Avery doesn’t.”
“Barbies suck!” Avery repeated. Jessica shot her a dirty look.
Gwen smiled. Ah, sisterly love. “You guys wanna hear a cool story about Barbies?”
Both girls nodded. “When I was little, my little cousin Bethany stole all my Barbies and drew mustaches on them. She got in so much trouble. Her mom made her buy me a new one with her own allowance.”
Gwen received very different reactions from her story.
Avery said, “Cool! I want a Barbie with a mustache!”
Jessica said, “Whoa, I can’t believe she did that! It’s good she got in trouble.” Both girls began bickering about the story. Isaac shook his head. He leaned to whisper in Gwen’s ear, “Look what you started.”
Gwen only smiled mirthfully and shrugged her shoulders.
“Okay, girls, enough,” Isaac said, halting their arguing. “Come on, Gwen. I’ll introduce you to mom and dad.”
“But, Ike! We want Gwen to play with us,” Avery said, grabbing Gwen’s other hand. Gwen bent down to face Avery at eye level.
“I promise I’ll play with you later. I want to go say hi to your parents first, okay?”
Avery accepted that answer and her and Jessica bounded off to continue their bickering/playing.
Suddenly, they heard a shrill voice shreik, “Ikey!” A little toddler rumbled across the floor and slammed into Isaac’s right leg. The little girl was beautiful. Perfect blonde ringlets framed a tiny face. She had Isaac’s brown eyes and Zac’s pudgy cheeks.
“Hello, Zoe,” he said, peeling the little girl off his leg. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a sloppy kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you, baby,” Isaac said in a high-pitched, baby voice. Gwen’s heart melted at the sight. “Gwen, I want you to meet my favorite girl, Ms. Zoe Hanson.”
Zoe hid her face in Isaac’s neck. Gwen smiled.
“Hi, Zoe,” Gwen said. “It’s very nice to meet you.” She tried to shake her little hand, but Zoe stayed hidden in her brother’s embrace. “Aw, Zoe, you don’t have to be scared of me. Can I have a hug?” Gwen asked, holding her arms out.
“Come
on, baby. Give Gwen some sugar,” Isaac urged.
Zoe reluctantly left her brother’s arms and went into Gwen. Gwen grinned as the little girl wrapped her arms around her neck and gave her a sweet kiss on the cheek. Gwen held her for a moment, then returned her to Isaac. Zoe whispered in Isaac’s ear, “I like her. She smells like flowers.”
“I like her too, “ Isaac replied, smiling at Gwen. Carrying his baby sister on his hip, Isaac made his way to the table where his parents were sitting, motioning for Gwen to follow. Gwen took a deep breath, preparing herself to be the most polite and charming she could be.
“Good morning, Mom and Dad,” Isaac said, giving his parents hugs. “I want you to meet someone. This is Gwen Rizal. Gwen, meet my parents, Diana and Walker.” He placed Zoe carefully on the floor, and she toddled off to play with Jessica and Avery.
There was a brief moment of silence when Diana sized up the girl her son was introducing her to. Diana thought she was very pretty, petite and exotic-looking. She found it strange that Isaac was attracted to her. Taylor was usually the one who went for the exotic ones. Yet Diana could see why Isaac would have noticed her. Gwen smiled warmly at her and Walker, not afraid to make eye contact. She carried herself with confidence, but not so much to seem snobby. From first glance, her bright eyes and beautiful smile were insitantly inviting and friendly.
“Good morning, Mrs. Hanson,” Gwen said, giving her a warm hug and a kiss on the cheek. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
“Oh, call me Diana, sweetie,” Diana told her with a wide smile. I like this girl, Diana thought.
“Hi, Mr. Hanson,” Gwen said, turning to Isaac’s father and shaking his hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Gwen,” Walker replied. “You can call me by my first name too, dear. We’re usually not that formal.”
“Okay,” Gwen replied, smiling shyly.
“So, are you still in school, Gwen?” Diana asked.
“No, actually, I graduated with a B.Comm in Marketing,”
“Wow,” Walker said. “Maybe you can
convince our Isaac here to go to college.”
“Dad!” Isaac cried, exasperated.
“Honey, you know Dad is just kidding. We’re proud of you, whatever you want to do,” Diana said, ruffling her son’s hair.
Gwen smiled. It was a sight to see. Diana, all 5 foot 3 inches of her, patting her tall son’s head.
“Okay, enough of this. You guys can give Gwen the third degree later,” Isaac said. “We’re going to sit with Tay and Zac.”
“Nice meeting you,” Gwen said as Isaac took her hand and pulled her to another table.
Isaac’s mother and father watched the couple walk away hand in hand. “Nice girl,” Walker said to his wife.
“Yes, she is,” Diana replied.