"Can I be of any assistance?" A blonde haired woman asked as she entered the kitchen.
"No thank you, we've got it all sorted." Esmee replied. "Go back and enjoy the party." She said as she shooed the strange woman out of the room. She turned back to her sisters. "Any idea who that was?" She asked.
"It looked like Peia Jet." Claudia replied as she finished wiping down the bench. "She certainly didn't look like a man."
"No, she certainly didn't." Esmee said as she picked up the tray of kebabs and took them outside. "Here you are Dad, something for you to cook." She said as she placed the tray down on the table next to the barbeque.
"Good, I was getting impatient." Jonathan replied, taking a swig of his beer. "Where are your lazy sisters? You three should be out here, entertaining your fiancées', rather than hiding." Esmee gritted her teeth.
"We are working as fast as we can, Dad. Savannah and Claudia will be out here as soon as they have finished in the kitchen." She replied as an olive skinned man approached them.
"Ah, Theo." Jonathan greeted the man. "This is my daughter and your soon-to-be daughter-in-law, Esmee."
"It's nice to meet you, sir." Esmee said, bowing slightly.
"Not as nice as it is to meet such a beautiful rose." Theo replied, smiling and holding his hand out to her. "Why don't you come and meet my son, Hunter?" He asked as Esmee, only too glad to get away from her father, took his hand.
"What is taking her so long?" Savannah asked, concerned as to Esmee's whereabouts.
"She apparently has been kidnapped by who I can assume is her future father-in-law." Claudia replied, looking up from the sink full of dishes and out the window as Esmee walked past holding the hand of a much older man. "Unless that is her fiancé."
"I doubt it." Savannah replied, drying the last of the dishes in the drying rack. "Are you okay with finishing the dishes? I need to get the rest of the table set."
"Yes, go and finish laying out the food." Claudia responded as Savannah put her teatowel on the oven door and took the pulled pork and it's flatbread out of the fridge.
"I will be back soon."
"Go and set the table before Dad gets even more pissed than he already is." Claudia retorted, annoyed that Savannah was stalling to put off socializing.
Savannah took a deep breath and opened the door into the crowd of people. Trying not to panic, she made a beeline for the table outside that people were crowding around.
"Excuse me." She called, as she tried to squirm her way through the table.
"Guys, please let the lady through." A black haired man said, apparently noticing her plight. "She's bringing food through."
"Thank you." She said to the man after she had placed the food on the table.
"What is your name?" The man asked.
"Savannah." She replied.
"Is that so? I'm Fletcher." Fletcher replied, smiling.
"Well, it's nice to meet you Fletcher, but I am afraid that I must continue setting the table for dinner." She responded, smoothing the skirt of her apron in nervousness.
"Then I guess I will see you around."
"Excuse me, miss." Jeremy said as he tried to squeeze past the same blonde haired woman that had asked his sisters whether they needed help, Peia Jet.
"Oh, certainly." She said, jumping out of his way so that he could set his stack of plates down on the buffet table.
"There you are, my son." Sadie called from across the room, as she strode over to him. "I was wondering where you and your brothers had gotten to."
"We are just trying to make everything perfect for you, Mom. We know how much you hate having things go wrong while you are entertaining."
"Is that why the fancy silverware is out?" Sadie asked in mild surprise. "Evidently I taught you kids well. I see you have met your fiancée, Peia." She said, turning to the woman. "Peia, this is my son Jeremy."
"Nice to meet you."
"Right, I'm back." Savannah said as she walked back into the kitchen. "Do you need any help with the clean up?"
"No thanks, I've done most of them." Claudia replied, draining the sink. "How is it out there?"
"It appears to be going well." Savannah replied. "I met my fiancé."
"Really? What is he like?" Claudia asked.
"He appears to be really sweet." She replied, getting the last of the salads out of the fridge. "He cleared a path to the table for me."
"So he's gentle enough to do that." Claudia replied, helping Savannah with getting the ambrosia and tarts out of the fridge. "That has to count for something, right?"
"It does, but something about his whole demeanor just seemed off."
"How so?" Claudia asked, slightly alarmed.
"It's like he has such a big secret that he has other, smaller secrets covering it up." Savannah sighed as she put the last of the salads on the cart. "But I wonder how much of that is just me being terrified of people in general."
"Well, whatever it is, you are going to have to get over it." Claudia replied, opening the door separating the kitchen from the rest of the house. "Now, it's dinner time."
Jonathan, seeing that dessert was being set out, rang the bell for dinner. The guests, brought out of their conversations by the sound, swarmed around the table and one of them was about to grab a plate, when he spoke.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, My wife and I would like to thank you for agreeing to come to dinner tonight. Marriage is an important stage in an individual's life, and we are deeply honored that you have agreed to share in the marriage of our children. Speaking of said children, I would like to introduce you to my daughters, Esmee, Savannah and Claudia," He motioned for the girls to come forward, which they did dutifully. "And my stepsons, Jeremy, Joshua and James." Jonathan repeated the motion for them to come forward which, just like their stepsisters, they did obediently. "It is thanks to them that such an impressive house is kept in good working order."
Esmee froze. Never, in her eighteen years of life, had her father been grateful to anyone, much less his children. She looked at her sisters, both frozen with the same shock as she was.
"I would like to take this opportunity," Jonathan continued. "To formally invite Mr. Hunter Bell to take my Esmee as his fiancée." The green eyed man that Theo had tried to introduce earlier (they were disrupted by the dinner bell) came forward and offered his arm to Esmee, which she took.
"I would also like to invite Mr. Fletcher Eclipse to take my Savannah," Jonathan continued as the same dark haired man that Savannah had run into came up to her, "as his fiancée. Finally, I would like to invite Mr. Angus George to take Claudia as his fiancée. Does anyone have any issue with these pairings?" He asked the crowd as an Asian man with electric blue hair offered Claudia his hand. Apparently unsure of the protocol of the current situation, she took his hand. No one answered Jonathan's question. "Good. Now, for the boys."
"I, Penelope Sachi," A red haired woman, Penelope, declared. "Would like to invite Mr. Jeremy Walker to take Miss Peia Jet as his fiancée." Jeremy, in a silent acceptance of his fate, came up to where Peia and Penelope were standing, and offered his hand to Peia (which she took).
"I, Bella Hampstead," A mixed race woman with hazel eyes stated in a slightly quieter voice, "would like to invite Mr. Joshua Walker to take my dear sister Genifer Hampstead as his fiancée." Joshua, knowing that he had about as much chance of surviving a severe case of frostbite as he did getting out of this place with his (nonexistent) marital status in tact, dutifully walked up to the beautiful younger sister and offered her his hand as if he were offering her a piece of candy. Smiling, Genifer took his hand and let him lead her away from her sister.
James could almost taste the tenseness of the situation, as if it was a pressure plate explosive device that he had activated, where one wrong move and it was all over.
"I, Eric Vanguard," The brown haired man (who James thought looked like he had seen one too many suntan beds) declared, placing his hand on the shoulder of the young girl that was apparently his daughter, "would like to invite Mr. James Walker to take the light of my life, my beloved daughter Skylar Vanguard as his fiancée." Feeling as if he had no choice, like none of them really did, James reluctantly offered his hand to Skylar, who refused to take it.
"I will not marry someone I do not care about!" She cried in protest.
"Skylar." Eric said in a warning tone. "You do not get a choice in this matter. Take James' hand, or you will be financially cut off."
"But I want to go to college!"
"I am only commanding that you get married, not that you will make me a grandfather." Eric replied. "Now, take your fiancé's hand."
"Fine! But I am not happy about any of this." Skylar relented, taking James's hand reluctantly.
"Now that is dealt with," Sadie, who had been unusually quiet throughout the entire ordeal, made her presence known. "Let us now serve dinner, and then I think that the new couples should have their meals together in peace."