The Best Man novel Chapter 70

"Where's your parents though?", I asked curiously and just when he was about to answer me, the front door was pushed open and they both walked in, holding grocery bags in their hands

"They had to do some last minute shopping for the braai", Nathan whispered near my ear as we walked down the staircase again and approached them

His mother's face beamed instantly from the sight of us as she hugged both of us individually, my hug was longer than Nathan's though and for some reason I thought that was a good sign that it wasn't going to be all that bad after all

"Liv, this is my mom and stepdad, Violet and Joseph Carter"

Nathan didn't actually have the greatest relationship with his biological father, even though they sometimes talked his dad wasn't playing an active fatherly role in all their lives because he was always away on business

When Joe came into their lives, he gave them all the love and affection they could only imagine getting from their father as he treated and made them feel like they were his own

Even though Mr McCarthy was also invited to the braai today, Nathan doubted he would show up...and by the looks of it, it seems he was right

Nathan pulled me closer to him. "My lovely parents, this is my girlfriend-"

"Olivia Davis, we know", Mrs Carter briefly interrupted him, still smiling at me

"It's nice to meet you both Mr and Mrs Carter

"No, it's nice to finally meet you Olivia", Mr Carter gave me the ordinary, not too awkward side hug and squeezed my shoulder gently. "And please call me Joe"

"Got it", I gave him a thumbs up, and he laughed as he took the shopping bag Mrs Carter was holding

"I'll take these to the kitchen"

"Nathan, why don't you help Joe with the braai fire outside?", Mrs Carter suggested and Nathan hesitated a little as he turned to look at me, twisting his lips a little in worry. He had warned me beforehand that his mother was a bit of an over sharer and a talkative conversationalist, leaving me alone with her only meant that she could also bring up events from the past.

"I was hoping I could give Liv a tour of the house first"

I could feel 'the talk' was coming....

"You know, the first time Nathan told me about you was during a phone call one evening. He told me he couldn't sleep and when I asked him why; he said to me, "It's because of a girl" and I was like oh a girl?. He sighed heavily and said, "I don't know mom, there's just something about her" and that later progressed to "I can't wait for you to meet her"

I smiled a little, but inside I was like jumping in joy. I didn't even know he was talking to his mother about me.

"Nathan was in a dark place for months after Kathy's passing, distancing himself from all of us by studying for his degree as a diversion from reality, and it was like I couldn't even recognize my own son anymore. He seemed and acted okay, at one point I was convinced he was because he's always been good at hiding the hurt from everyone. I didn't think he'll ever be the same again, until you came along"

The first time Nathan opened up about Kathleen was a few weeks into our relationship, it was supposed to be her birthday and I realised something was wrong. He wasn't himself at all. When I confronted him about it, he was hesitant at first telling me about Kathy because he hardly ever did, he was just trying to cope as good as he could, and I understood that people grieved in different ways and Nathan was no different.

His description of Kathy was that she was a wonderful person, free-sprited and was loved by everyone. They got married really young, in their early twenties and like any wedded couples, they loved each other right to the moment Kathy drew her last breath. The reason why he didn't want to talk about her was because he didn't want me to feel like I was in some kind of competition with Kathy whereby I would feel threatened by her because the truth was, she was his first love.

He was only afraid that talking about her would change things in our relationship, but this wasn't a competition at all. I respected that she'll always be a part of him, and it wouldn't be easy for him to just shut her out of his life like she never existed. It would always be hard to come to terms with her death because Kathy didn't just choose to leave him.