"Maddy honey." Philip whispered as he turned to face her in bed. They were just lounging in bed and she was reading a book on her tablet, and she stopped to look at him.
"Hi." Her soft voice immediately made him hard. Good grief, will this ever stop?
"How come I haven't met your family?"
"How come I haven't met yours?" She replied with a sweet smile. "I have none." Maddy frowned. "Philip?"
Philip sighed.
"My parents were only children on both sides, all of their relatives were gone now, I only had Mike and well, you know how that went."
"Oh Philip, we can go see them tonight, mom will love you."
"I'm not pushing for this, but … never mind." He moved to get off the bed. Maddy quickly grabbed him and rolled him to face her again.
"It's a Saturday, we will go meet them. I am not ashamed of you Philip."
Maddy grabbed her cell and called her parents and told them she was bringing Philip to meet them finally.
"Are you sure honey? I know things were moving a bit fast with the two of you and we don't want to tell you how to live your life." Mallison said softly. "I know you are still scared for me mom, but Philip is… not like that. He stands by his word, and he always treats me with respect and I'm not dancing at the clubs anymore, so that is a plus, right?"
"Tell her bring that man over tonight!" Mc Graw barked in the background.
"Hush sweetheart, and stop being a bully."
"Love you Dad, we will see you tonight." Maddy laughed as she hung up. They spent the day together, sharing memories good and bad, their love was blossoming into something neither of them ever thought would be possible. When Maddy pulled up to her parents' home, Philip frowned. "Maddy?"
She tried not to look at him, knowing what his thoughts would be. "Maddy." He said more forcefully. "Yes Philip."
"Why did you not tell me you needed help with your parents?" "It's my burden to bear."
"I thought we were moving forward, we shared so many things today and you left out THIS?" He raised his voice.
Maddy flinched and Philip was immediately sorry. He ran his hand over his head.
"I'm sorry honey but this is not something you hide from the man you love." Philip was clearly angry.
Maddy glanced at the house the lights were on and her parents were waiting on the porch.
Philip picked up his cell and pressed a number.
"Andre, get a crew to pack up Maddy's family and move them to the property in Royal Gardens, I want it done tomorrow."
'Do I need a cleaning crew?' "No, Tyla goes twice a week."
'Oh yes, okay will get it done. Don't scare the in-laws Philip.' Andre hung up and rolled over on to Jacob who moaned loudly.
When Maddy helped Philip from the car, her father ran down the footpath to help. "We got it Dad, get back." Maddy growled.
"Young lady, do not growl at your father. Philip, it is great to finally meet you. Come, let get inside." Mc Graw took the chair handles and wheeled Philip inside, leaving Maddy speechless.
"Welcome to our home Philip."
"Thank you and I hope you don't take this the wrong way but I am moving you out of here tomorrow. You are welcome to stay at one of my houses until this one is redone."
"What?" Maddy and both her parents said at the same time.
"Sir, Ma'am, I don't know what kind of people you are accustomed to but my mother taught me to always show kindness, Maddison is my woman, I want to marry her and raise a family with her.
There is no way I can allow the people responsible for her upbringing to stay in a place like this and I mean no disrespect.
" Mallison began to sniffle. "Son, as much as we…" Mc Graw began to speak.
"Sir, I wasn't asking permission. A crew will come and help you pack up tomorrow and move you to your new home. Are you renting?" "Huh? What?
Oh, yes renting." Sofia responded. "Then consider this a gift from your son-in-law, I will have the deeds prepared in your names.
The guys are welcome to stay as well." Maddy stormed out of the house,
Philip did not follow. "Ooooh sis is pissed. A deep voice came from behind Philip.
"Hey son."
"Mom, Dad, and you must be Philip."
Philip held out his hand and shook Henry's.
"Nice to meet you." Philip said.
"Let's have dinner, when she is ready, she will come back." Mallison said with a snort.
Everyone sat down and began to pass around dishes. Philip knew he overstepped his boundaries but the house was dilapidated. In his mind any attempt to repair would bring it crashing down.
"Maddy, what is your problem?" Henry said as Maddy came through the door and sat down next to him. Maddy pointed at Philip and her parents.
"Oh, I get it. Philip, Maddy has been giving our parents money from the day she started working, they never took any. You meet them for the first time and all of a sudden, they are accepting your offer. She is offended."
"I know but she has been around me long enough to know that I would do this, it's prolyl why she avoided bringing me here. I actually thought she was ashamed of me being in a wheelchair."
Maddy gasped. That's what he thought? Oh dear.
"Maddy honey, listen to me. Years ago, when a man wanted to marry a woman, her father or family had to provide her with a dowry, it had to be substantial. We have nothing to offer Philip for you. Do you have any idea how that makes us feel? Yet here he is giving us something."
"But that's just it… I love her because of who she is and you both have a hand in that. I have never met a woman like her, she gives with her heart not her head or hands. I am proud to be with her and I am glad that I have the finances to provide her family with a proper roof over their heads." Maddy began to cry. "Waterworks!"
Henry snickered. "Stop teasing your sister." Mc Graw growled.
"Maddy, you owe Philip an apology."
"It's okay, I understand her quite well, we will settle this when we get home." Philip said softly as he smiled at Maddy.
Everyone ate and laughed and talked but Maddy remained quiet for the rest of the visit. When they were ready to leave, Mallison gave Philip a biscuit tin with some of her homemade treats and watched as Mc Graw pushed him out to the car.
"Maddison Peter I am disappointed with your behavior. You have bragged to me about the kind of man Philip is and yet you get angry when he portrays exactly who you described."
"He didn't talk to me about it mum."
"You kept it from him, how do you think that makes him feel? We didn't accept to upset you; we realize the gift for what it is. He was sharing his wealth with us even though you aren't his wife. How many men do that? Go on home." Maddy hugged her mother and left.
Back at Home
"Maddy." Philip said as he pushed the front door closed. "What Philip?"
"So, you are angry with me?"
"Damned right I'm angry! You are always saying to discuss things and you show up like a knight in shining armor and my parents fall all over you!" "I'm sorry you see it that way. Would you have rather me show up, eat drink, come home and feel no guilt?"
"Guilt? Over what?"
"You think that because it's night that I didn't see the MOH spray painted on the side? I'm not blind neither am I stupid! They should not be living in those conditions, and you should have told me." Now Philip was angry.
"I didn't need you to fix my problems!"
"I see. I have work to do, I will see you at the office in the morning. Good night Maddy."
Philip rolled away and headed to his study. Closing the door, he sighed and went to his desk. He turned on the A/C and got to work.
Around 3am, he heard his study door open. He had gotten tired and lay down on the sofa and fell asleep. "Philip are you awake?" Maddy whispered. Silence.
Maddy quietly walked over to him and sat on the floor.
"I'm sorry Philip, I feel so conflicted. You know how I feel about you but sometimes your decisions make me feel inadequate. Do you know how many times I have tried to get my parents to move out? A few words from you and they were ready to leave. I'm not angry at you, I know you heart was in the right place. I'm sorry Philip."
"I'm sorry too honey." Philip said. Maddy gasped, she didn't realize he was awake.
"Maddy, am I not the one you should come to when things are rough? If you are sick, need money, a ride, if you hurt yourself, am I not on the top of the list of people you should call?"
"Yes but…" "No, that's it, full stop. I am the one you come to first.
There is no way your parents should be living in that house and I am not sorry for the decision I made. I understand your reaction, believe me I do.
Maddy surged upward and kiss Philip on the lips.
"I love you Philip, I won't worry about it anymore, thank you for looking out for my family."
"Well, you are my family now."
"Yes, I definitely am. Come to bed with me." "Okay, let's go."
They went to their bedroom, got naked and fell asleep in each other's arms.