Episode 803: Treacherous

“This is weird, “Bas muttered. “What brings you by?” He couldn't think of any time they'd dropped into his life with good news.

“We're here for coffee and pastries,” his mother said, her voice more brittle than hungry.

“Sure,” Sebastian replied. He busied himself putting together their order, taking his time with it as he wondered why they would show up like this? His dad tended to do all his pressuring and blackmailing alone, so maybe it wasn't anything too troubling if he brought mom along.

Then again, after the way his mom had brought such misery down on Lila's life, she clearly wasn't a stranger to messing with people, so he should probably be concerned that his parents were about to join their potentially evil forces against him.

“Well, son, I suppose it's a good thing you hardly have any customers, if this is the rate of speed you conduct business,” his dad said.

“Just looking to make sure I serve you the very best, Dad.” And avoiding whatever this was for as long as he could, though, now that he thought it over, maybe delaying wasn't such a good idea, Ava's lunch with her dad could end anytime, what if she walked in at the exact moment his parents were lording it over him that they'd helped him out financially. With that thought in mind, he hurried up, determined not to let everything blow up in his face mere months from marrying the woman he loved.

He slid two coffees over to his parents, along with the two most perfectly formed pastries he could find two pastries. “So, what's up,” he asked.

“Your sister and her husband were over to dinner last night,” Katherine said. “Adria told us that she's having a baby.”

“Yeah, I know,” Sebastian replied with more than a little relief, thinking they'd come to invite him to a fancy baby shower and naturally, since they thought people had to be strong-armed into everything, including family time, they'd decided to deliver the invite in person. But he wasn't like that, of course, he'd be there for his sister. “Whatever you have planned to celebrate, I'm good with it.”

“So, your sister let you in on that news,” his mom remarked.

“Apparently he's the only one who leaves people out of the loop, Katherine,” his dad said. “Your sister also asked your mother if she had any ideas for what a pregnant lady might wear to a wedding, how big your mother thought she might be by then. Naturally, we said, what wedding? It turns out it's your wedding, Sebastian, and we didn't know about it. We haven't received an invitation. Why is that?”

Episode 804: I Never Told You