Gate Guardian - Song Of The Frozen Soul 258 Meet The Eisenhowers

So here we are, in front of the gate of my two-story house here in Mirose Grande. The Eisenhower residence has an above-average cla.s.s in terms of finance, so we have quite a big house. This is nothing compared to the mansion-like house of Amy though, so I'm quite confident that Tiara will feel comfortable at home.

"U-Um, Rikkun… Are you sure I'm ready for this?" Tiara is blus.h.i.+ng, shaking, and uneasy. Her eyes are opened round and wide as if she's already shocked even though nothing has happened yet. 

Ignoring her nervous distress, Tiara is indeed in her best shape and form. She's wearing a black silk s.h.i.+rt underneath her blazer, and she has this knee-level black pleated skirt, dark leggings, and black shoes. She even has a white headband that has a white b.u.t.terfly ribbon in it. She looks decent and adorable. I feel like I'm introducing her to our marriage or something.

"Of course you are," I said with a smile to ease her emotional breakdown. I touched the gate of our house and then pushed it. "Here we go!"

Tiara followed me like a loyal dog as I walked towards the front door. With a gentle opening of the entrance, I immediately showed my presence and shouted: "I'm here!".

"Oh, so big brother is here!" My youngest brother Vince who is now in sixth grade was the first one who noticed us. He immediately ran towards the stairs to get the attention of our parents. "Mom! Dad! Big brother is here, and he's with a beautiful lady!"

I can hear the commotion upstairs, and I can't help but feel offended.

"W-Whaaat!?" My mother's voice echoed.

"Are you sure it's not a j.a.panese cartoon girl printed in a body pillow he ordered online!?" My father's voice followed.

"No, it's a real girl!" My brother defended me. 

"IMPOSSIBLE!!!" Both my mother and father cried.

"Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds…" I muttered to myself while gritting my teeth.

"Ahahaha…" Tiara forced a laugh.

<>

It's already night when we came here, so my parents immediately readied the dining table. We have a seafood hotpot for this evening and I see that they are quite prepared for a guest. Well, I texted them before I came here home so that gave them time to be ready.

Here in our round dining table, the Eisenhowers sits ready. We are complete and there's five in this family. My father, my mother, my younger brother Vince, and my bratty younger sister Ca.s.sie. Everybody's attention is on my beautiful girlfriend who continues to bloom like a flowery star in the middle of the skies.

"So, you're the girlfriend my son is talking about." My father said. "You're Tiara Hikari, right? I never thought he would introduce us to a real girl."

"U-Um… Nice to meet you, Mister Eisenhower… Mrs. Eisenhower…" Tiara's shyness dominated her but she still managed to pull out a greeting.

"What made you fall in love with an arrogant b.a.s.t.a.r.d like Alaric?" My mother asked with a cold glare. "With his personality, only an idiot would get along with him."

"W-Well…" Tiara scratched her cheek. "I-I think Rikkun is not that bad. He's arrogant, a pervert, and a big-time weird nerd, but I really love him the way he is… ahahaha…"

"You…" My mother and father became astounded as they heard Tiara's answer. Their eyes became heart-shaped when Tiara's words entered their brain and their heart. "You're really an idiot! A good kind of idiot that our useless son needs!"

"Hey! Who's useless!?" I pounded the dining table as I protested, but n.o.body gave their attention to me. They continued to discuss it as if I'm not here.

"I-I'm grateful for your praise, Mister and Mrs. Eisenhower! U-Um, please take this!" Tiara immediately presented a box that contained her homemade chocolate cookies. Baking chocolate-based sweets are Tiara's ultimate talent, and it ought to sway anybody who has eaten it.

The first one who got the box was my little brother, and he was also the first one to take a bite. "Mmmm! It's so good!" My brother said.

The second one who tasted the chocolate is my bratty little sister who is still on her phone even when in front of the dining table. "It's good, I guess." She uncaringly said.

But when it's my mother's turn to get some chocolate cookie from the box, she pulled out something that ought to be not there. She pulled a dumbbell disk.

"H-Huh?" My mother made a cold glare at the disk. "What is this?"

What the heck is a dumbbell disk doing there anyway!?

"Waah!" Tiara cried. "I-I'm sorry, Mrs. Eisenhower! I accidentally mixed a dumbbell disk when I was baking! I was doing my daily exercise routine when I prepared the cookies this morning, so I never noticed it! I-I-I-I'm so sorry!"

"Hooo…" My mother squinted her eyes. "So you work out to stay fit. You're so dedicated. You would teach my son a thing or two about keeping your body healthy. Good job."

"T-Thank you, Mrs. Eisenhower!" Tiara joyfully bowed. 

"And you're so polite too. My son would really need a good example like you." My father cried, wiping his tears with the table blanket.

"Thank you, Mister Eisenhower!" Tiara bowed once again.

Is it just I or this scene is so plotted that Tiara is open-heartedly accepted by my parents regardless of her flaws?

"Hey, Alaric," My father called my attention to a serious face. Finally, I'm no longer an invisible man at this dining table. "What are you going to discuss with us and your girlfriend again?"

"If it's marriage, then we'll approve." My mother cried. "We'll have the diamond rings ready."

"IT'S NOT THAT!!!" I cried out loud. "My goodness, I just turned eighteen!"

"Hey, Rikkun…" Tiara whispered at me. "Don't shout at your parents. Be polite!"

Wow. Just wow. My girlfriend told me to be polite to my own parents. Remember, it was said by the girl who beat her long-lost father to a pulp during the last book. I wonder who's more polite between us.

I sighed to calm myself down and then said my true intentions. "I have a plan on moving to Tiara's place. She has a condominium unit near the school so it will be convenient for me to live there."

"Oh, so you're going to be live-in partners!" My brother said.

"My, my. I forgot that marriages are now old fas.h.i.+oned. Millennials don't do that anymore." My mother said as she touched her blus.h.i.+ng cheek. "You're taking the practical approach, huh?"

"My son is now a man… MY SON IS NOW A MAN!!!" My father cried out loud. "Finally, his lonely r.e.t.a.r.ded days as a j.a.panese cartoon sympathizer is over!"

"THAT'S NOT IT!!!" I cried out loud once again. But I was ignored once again.

"Okay, that's settled! We're going to approve your relations.h.i.+p and your future plans, Tiara!" My mother immediately shook my girlfriend's hand.

"T-Thank you, Mrs. Eisenhower." Tiara was pumped up. "I-I promise your son will be in great care."

"Don't worry about that, my cute Tiara~" My mother said as if she already accepted my girlfriend as my bride. "To show you our approval of your relations.h.i.+p, we will permit you to sleep in Alaric's room."

"Eh!?" Tiara went full red. "R-Really!?"

"Hey, hey!" I stood up and rioted. "You're taking it too far! As I just said, we're still high-school students! A girl and a boy of such an age sleeping in the same room is improper!"

"Tiara is sleeping in your room. Period." My father said, "If you're not going to sleep in your room, then you can sleep in the dog house instead."

At that moment, I completely zipped my mouth. I can't believe that Tiara has brainwashed my parents already. They're so mind-controlled that they don't know who's their son anymore.

I really think that they wanted Tiara as their child more than me.