“Hi. Nice to meet you, Niall.”
“Good to see you again, Ev. You have a wonderful daughter,” Callie gushes to my mother.
Niall huffs, and Mom puts her hand out for Niall to shake, but he ignores her hand and simply sits at the table. “Can’t even be on time,” Niall mumbles under his breath.
“Charming,” Mom mumbles while looking at me.
I shrug, and we make our way to the table.
Mom sits next to Niall, which I know is a bad idea, but I can’t say anything in case Niall overhears. I sit next to her and Aiden next to me.
“Ev, I want to thank you for having such a wonderful daughter. She truly has made my Aiden happy,” Callie says.
“Yes, she has.” Aiden takes my hand and kisses it.
Mom smiles. “I can’t take all the credit. She’s a very bright, independent young woman, and she’s made herself into the person she is today.”
I shake my head and roll my eyes.
“Yes, she’s incredible.” Aiden takes my hand under the table.
“Are you kidding me?” Niall mumbles.
“Niall, behave,” Callie snaps at him.
I look at Mom who doesn’t look the least bit amused. This is the first time she has heard his taunts, and I know it’s not going to end well.
“We should order,” I blurt out, interrupting the staring contest between my mother and Niall. The tension is filling the air much quicker than I anticipated.
“Yes, good idea,” Aiden agrees, while looking at me apologetically.
Chris calls over a waitress to take our orders, who then promptly brings our drinks.
“Chris, it’s nice to meet you. Jeni’s told me so much about you. It’s great Sarah has finally found someone worthy of her,” Mom boasts, making Sarah blush.
“Great to meet you, too, Ev. And thanks,” Chris replies.
“Whose stupid idea was it to come to this dump, Aiden? Guess it was hers?”
My eyes widen at Niall’s sudden outburst.
Chris glares at Niall, shaking his head. “Not even worth it.”
“Father, for your information, I love it here. It was my choice, if you don’t like it, then leave. No one is stopping you,” Aiden retorts.
I bite my lip, holding back a smile. I feel proud of my man for sticking up to his arrogant ass of a father.
Niall huffs, folds his arms, then sits back in his chair. The tension mounts as silence engulfs the table. Everyone exchanges glances as we’re waiting for someone to say something. I take a sip of my wine and look at Aiden, opening my eyes wide and tilting my head in a gesture for him to say something.
Anything.
“I want to thank everyone for coming tonight. It means a lot to Jeni and me that our families and friends could meet.” Aiden raises his glass.
“Happy birthday, Aiden,” Brielle chimes, raising hers.
Everyone except Niall raises their glasses.
“Happy birthday,” we say in unison and clink our glasses together in celebration.