Chapter 138 Arriving

Chapter 138 Arriving
Leo couldn’t keep still. He bounced back and forth from his chair to the table, like he had ants in his pants and sitting still was some kind of crime.

“I’m engaged now,” he announced over and over, each time with a new twist, like he was checking which version he liked best.

Elena eventually handed him a glass of water. “Engaged doesn’t mean what you think it means.”

“It means we’re happy,” Leo shot back, almost before she finished.

Alexander paused, a fork halfway to his mouth. “…That’s not entirely wrong.”

Elena gave him a warning look.

He put his hands up. “I’m not encouraging him.”

Leo nodded, gravely serious. “We are happy.”

And just like that, the debate ended.

Dinner went on in its usual, uneven way. Nothing dramatic. Food barely cooling, talk drifting from nonsense to things that almost mattered, and that strange silence you only ever get after something big happens like the room still needed a minute to catch up.

Elena noticed it most in Alexander. He wasn’t anxious anymore, wasn’t far off in his mind. Not exactly relaxed, just settled. Like he’d come to some quiet decision inside himself.

Leo finished before everyone else, of course. “I am done.”

“You’re never actually done,” Elena corrected him.

“I am done done.”

“That’s not a thing.”

“It is for me.”

Alexander leaned back, eyeing him. “He’s getting almost too persuasive.”

Elena let out a sigh. “That’s your doing.”

“I deny everything.”

“You can’t.”

Leo hopped up. “Bedtime?”

“Yes,” Elena told him.

Leo gasped. “Already?”

“Yes.”

“This is not good.”

“It’s called rest.”

“I refuse.”

Alexander stood up too, already half on his way out. “You can refuse quietly while you walk.”

Leo pondered that, then caved. “Fine.”

Getting Leo to bed always took longer than you’d expect. He didn’t fight sleep he just always had something more interesting going on inside his head.

Tonight? Weddings. Again.

“Will I wear a suit?” he asked.

“You’ll wear something nice,” Elena said.

“Will I carry the rings?”

“That’s… not your job.”

“I could get promoted.”

Alexander stayed in the doorway, arms crossed, watching them both like they were his favorite show. “Honestly, you’re already promoted past your pay grade.”

Leo nodded, pleased. “Okay.”

Elena sat on his bed while Leo built a fortress out of his stuffed dinosaurs.

“Mama.”

“Yes?”

“Are you and Dad married now?”

She hesitated. “Not yet.”

Leo frowned. “Feels like unfinished business.”

Behind them Alexander made a small, quiet sound almost a laugh.

Elena aimed another look at him.

“I’m really not encouraging him,” he insisted, but too late.

Leo yawned, right in the middle of the conversation like his body just decided it was done.

“Okay,” he muttered. “But don’t take forever.”

“We won’t,” Elena promised softly.

That seemed to do it. In a few minutes, he was asleep, arms around a dinosaur.

Alexander switched off the lamp. Suddenly, the room turned gentle. Calm but not empty.

The apartment was quieter than before, the halls almost too peaceful. Elena paused, looking back at the closed bedroom door.

Alexander joined her.

“He told us ‘don’t take too long’ like we’re late to some meeting.”

Elena let out a breath. “He’s got his own way of doing everything.”

“That’s one name for it.”

She turned. For a moment, neither moved. The whole place felt soft lights low, the city outside just a smear of color.

Elena slipped her hand into his. Just like that not dramatic, just easy.

Alexander immediately laced his fingers through hers. Like he’d been waiting to do it forever.

“You okay?” he asked, quiet.

She nodded. “Yeah.”

After a second, a little softer: “It still feels kind of unreal.”

He searched her face. “Good unreal or bad unreal?”

Elena’s smile was small but real. “Good.”

That was enough.

Alexander bent and pressed his lips to her forehead. Not showy just steady.

Elena closed her eyes. When she opened them, she was still smiling.

“You seem calmer,” she said.

“I should probably be nervous you notice every pattern I have.”

“I notice everything.”

“That’s terrifying.”

“It’s love,” she corrected.

He went quiet, easy and happy.

He nudged her gently toward the living room. “Come on.”

“Where?”

“Balcony.”

She eyed him. “Again?”

“Yes.”

“This a new habit?”

“Looks like it.”

The balcony still held onto a trace of the afternoon’s warmth. No candles now, just a few string lights glowing like they’d decided to stick around.

The city stretched out below them alive, distant, constant.

Elena walked out first and leaned on the rail. Alexander followed and hugged her from behind, arms slipping around her waist. She just leaned back, right into him.

“You know,” she said, low, “I used to think moments like this only happened in movies.”

Alexander rested his chin near her shoulder. “Feels fake?”

“No.”

“Then what?”

Elena thought about it. “Feels like it took way too long to get here.”

That tightened something in him a gentle ache, almost.

He kissed her bare shoulder. “We’re here now.”

Her hands covered his. “Yeah,” she breathed.

Then she laughed under her breath. “Still can’t believe I said yes that fast.”

“You paused for a second.”

“That was me being polite.”

“That was terrifying on my end.”

She turned, just barely, to face him. “Were you nervous?”

He answered simply. “Completely.”

Elena smiled. “Good.”

“Good?”

She nodded. “Means you cared.”

Silence settled. Not awkward just right. The city below, stars above, nothing else to add.

Alexander finally spoke. “I don’t want this to change us the wrong way.”

Elena shook her head. “It won’t.”

“You sound pretty sure.”

“I am.”

“Why?”

She turned to face him fully. “Because this isn’t about the proposal. We were already us before all of that.”

That landed. No need to explain further.

Alexander studied her for a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”

Elena raised an eyebrow. “Just—okay?”

He grinned a little. “Yeah. I like your answer.”

She smiled back. “Good.”

They stood that way, quiet and close. Silence with no expectations.

Morning showed up too soon. The world didn’t care about last night. Phones rang, emails piled up, everything barreled ahead.

Alexander was in the kitchen when his phone buzzed.

He picked up. “Morning.”

Richard’s voice came through: “Good morning.”

A pause.

“I assume you told Elena.”

Alexander leaned against the counter, tired but amused. “Yeah.”

“I’d like to officially welcome her,” Richard continued.

Alexander blinked. “Officially?”

“Yes. As your fiancée.”

The word sounded strange, a bit unreal out of someone else’s mouth.

Richard pressed on. “I want us to actually discuss the wedding. No more snippets between meetings.”

Alexander straightened. “You mean it.”

“I’m always serious,” Richard said. Then, softer: “This matters.”

That was new. The seriousness wasn’t, but the way he said it felt different.

Alexander glanced across the apartment Elena was working at her laptop, Leo drawing with wild colors beside her.

“Alright,” Alexander said. “When?”

“Saturday. All of us. Family.”

Alexander let out a slow breath. “All of us?”

“Yes.”

A beat.

Then Richard added, careful: “I want us to do this right.”

Something in Alexander’s chest eased. “Okay.”

“Good. And tell Elena I’m inviting her as someone I respect, not someone I tolerate.”

That hit differently.

He was quiet for a moment, then said, “She’ll appreciate that more than you know.”

Pause on the other end. “Good,” Richard said, then hung up.

Alexander just stood there, phone in hand.

Elena looked up. “Who was that?”

He walked over. “My Dad, he's talking about Saturday,” he said.

She raised an eyebrow. “What’s Saturday?”

“Family meeting.”

Her face shifted wariness, curiosity. “For what?”

He sat beside her. “For us.”

She paused, then closed her laptop. “…That sounds serious.”

“It is.”

Leo looked up in a flash. “Is it for the wedding?”

Alexander sighed. “Yes.”

Leo nodded. “I support this meeting.”

Elena laughed, and Alexander leaned back to watch them both. And for the first time since all of this began, the future wasn’t something far away or out of reach. It finally felt like home.