"Geez! I told you not to do that, now look what you've done!" Stella complained while shushing Roserie who cried from being startled.
"Ladies", Amy greeted after regaining her composure but got no response. Most of them had their jaw dropped not because of Amy but the god-like man behind her.
"Amy", Adrianne moved forward and gave her a bear hug.
She wanted to do the same with the ladies but none of them made a move, still in a trance. She smiled awkwardly, "okay."
The couple settled on a double seated sofa. This was the most quiet the book club had been, no, the only time they were rendered speechless. Amy felt awkward that she run into them without being prepared, their trip was short after all, while Adrianne felt embarrassed by association seeing how her friends were reacting to Amy's fiancé. It's like none of them wanted to breath too loudly or it would either offend the man before them or it would all end up just being an illusion.
"How was your trip coming here? Wasn't Roserie fussy?" Adrianne asked, trying to break the silence.
"It was alright. She was asleep most of the time", Amy replied.
"Great. Great, great, great", she nodded. They fell quiet again. Roserie had stopped crying and what followed were cluttering sounds coming from the kitchen. Adrianne felt she would soon suffocate with the strange atmosphere and quickly made an escape. "I think Stella needs help, I'm going to help. Stella you need help?"
"No, I'm good!"
Even so, Adrianne was already running in the kitchen's direction. She could not stay a minute longer. Amy saw right through her and wished she could make a run for it too, but she could not leave Zach alone. She needed to break the ice, so she smiled at them.
"Ladies, this is my fiancé, Zachery Frost", Amy introduced, taking his hand in hers. "Babe, this is everyone." She introduced them one by one to him. "And that was Adrianne, I sat with her at the funeral. Remember her?"
He nodded in response and gave a curt, "Hello."
"My gosh! What's with the mood? Did somebody die?" Stella asked, walking in with a calm baby in hand while Adrianne brought in a tray of refreshments.
"I'm saying! What's with you lot? Dorothy? Didn't you say you'd have a lot to say once you see Amy?" Adrianne smirked in her direction while putting the tray down. "Amy, Mr. Frost, help yourself."
"Thank you." She turned to Zach whispering something and he responded in the same manner. The women watched the exchange in awe. Seconds later, she helped herself to a drink. "Where's everyone?"
"Nora is manning the library with Ian, and Richard must be on his way from picking up Stacy from school", she replied.
"Alex is out of town?" She guessed and she got a hum in response. Amy got a taste of her drink when the front door sprung open and in came running little Stacy. Zach was quick to take her glass away before Stacy launched herself into Amy's arms in a hug.
"Aunt Amy!!!"
"Stacy?" Amy pulled away to have a good look at her. The little one's excited face quickly turned into a cry and tears trickled down her cheeks. Amy pulled her into a proper hug and patted her head. "Awwwww."
"You leeeeeeeft", she sobbed into the embrace.
"I'm so sorry sweetheart, I won't do it again, I promise." Amy let her cry her heart out while Richard dropped her school bag on the kitchen counter before rejoining the group.
The room was still quiet with just the sound of Stacy crying. It was such a heart warming scene seeing how the little one had grown attached to Amy over her short stay and never forgot her.
"If I didn't see the cars outside, I would've thought they had left already. What's with the silence?" He asked, standing next to his wife's seat. Stella scoffed in response, still bewildered by the ladies's reaction. Minutes had passed and they still had not warmed up to the couple.
Stacy soon stopped crying and Amy wiped her tears. It was then she took in the man who was sitting next to Amy staring at their exchange. She shrinked into Amy's embrace and whispered, "Who is he?"
Amy smiled when she realized who she was asking about. "You haven't met Roserie yet."
Stacy shook her head. "But grandma showed me her pictures."
"Okay, well that's her Daddy", Amy said gently.
She gasped and whispered all too loudly in Amy's ear. "He's so handsome!"
"He is, isn't he?" Amy chuckled. "Why don't you say hi?"
She extended her little hand in his direction but still in Amy's embrace. Zach's countenance softened at this and he shook it in greeting. "Hi Stacy."
"Hi!" She quickly retracted her hand and shrunk back in Amy's hold to hide. Making Zach and Amy smile at this.
Thud! Everyone turned to the source of the sound only to start freaking out the next second.
"Emma! Emma!"
"What's going on?"
"I think she fainted!"
"Someone bring some water!"
"Emma!"
"This brat, is it her first time seeing a gorgeous smile?! How could she faint like that!"
Everyone after hearing Dorothy's rant: "..."
A glass of water was brought in and Adrianne splashed good amounts on her face. Not long after, the girl finally came to. Richard signaled for Zach to follow him out, giving the women the space they needed. The ladies helped Emma sit up in her seat.
"Are you okay?" Amy worriedly asked.
"You scared us! Dorrothy was going on about you fainting because you saw Mr. Frost smile", Anastasia shook her head.
Emma anxiously looked where Zach and Amy had been sitting, but the ladies surrounding her obstructed her view. Adrianne shook her head, "He's out with Richard. So what, was Dorothy right?"
Emma sighed in resignation against her seat, averting her gaze from Amy while she complained. "I can handle one gorgeous smile, but not two side by side. My brain couldn't process what I was seeing."
"Hey, you're not serious, are you?" Amy smiled thinking she was pulling her leg only to realize she wasn't. The ladies went back to their seats while Stacy sat next to Amy.
"You can't blame the girl. It's bad enough when he's not smiling but when he did.....", Dorothy sighed. "Are you sure he's human?"
"He can't be human! Have you seen a man with godlike proportions?" Meredith complained. "Look at how tall and mascular he is. He's as tall as a basketball player."
"I think he's taller than most of them", Anastasia corrected.
"You're talking about his proportions, all it took was one look at his blue eyes and I couldn't remember how to speak!"
"Speak? I had to constantly remind myself to breath!"
"Those eyes froze us in time and space! Oh my God, he would totally pull of Thor the god of Thunder if he had long hair and blonde", Emma said excitedly.
"Look at you, already recovered from your fainting spell", Stella gave her an accusing gaze.
"Oh I can definitely see it! The shape of their bunda is the same", Dorothy gestured with her hands as though holding something squishy.
"What's a bunda?" Stacy turned to Amy with curious eyes.
"Yeah, what's a bunda?" Adrianne asked too. Emma leaned in and whispered something making her gasp in realization. "Dorothy that is inappropriate!"
"Nothing about this meeting is appropriate!" Emma replied with a shake of her head.
"Ladies!" Amy shouted, growing frustrated by the minute by their comments. "That's my man you're talking about!"
"Exactly, your man! Seriously Emily, couldn't you find someone more..... basic?" Dorothy now started her attack on Amy, who had her jaw dropped. "You embarrassed us by bringing in someone who could shut us up with just his looks."
"You embarrassed yourselves. Stop blaming her", Stella cut in, annoyed.
"You're acting like that because you're used to him but I don't think that would be the case had this been your first time meeting him", Dorothy countered.
"At least I wouldn't be openly drooling over him you old hag! You're old enough to be his mother goodness's sake!"
"So you agree that he's drool worthy?" She replied cheekily.
"Mind your words from now. There are kids in the room", Stella warned.
"Whatever. But seriously, how could you run away from this fine specimen of a man?? I cannot wrap my head around this", Dorothy gave her a disapproving gaze.
"Leave them alone!" Stella shouted.
"Noooo, Dorothy has a point", Anastasia cut in. "I understood Emily completely, but that was before I saw him. Now I don't understand at all. Look at him!"
"Anastasia, you're awfully in a chatty mood today", Stella warned with a glare causing the girl to shut her mouth.
"Don't blame the girl! It's Emily's fault that we couldn't even spare a moment to look at this beauuuuuuuutiful baby! May I see her?" Dorothy's annoyed countenance turned into a happy one, as she sought Amy's permission.
She nodded and they all stood to gather around Stella and admire the little one. She sneezed and the ladies 'awwwwed' in unison at how cute it was. Stacy was not left behind as she also was curious to see Roserie. Thinking back to how the meeting went, Amy could not help her amused smile. She had really missed the ladies!!!
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