Devon Fox Almond Point of View

"Are you sure? You really don't want to reconsider your decision?" I could only heave heavily when I saw my cousin brimming with happiness.

My cousin, Tiny Dew Almond, is in love with Zorion Allard, one of the heirs of Allard business empire. Somehow, she was able to catch his eye as well and made him fall in love with her too.

This was the questionable part because as much as I know about him, he was never too interested my little cousin and always wanted nothing to do with her.

He was also supremely annoyed by her; however, he actually came with his sisters to our house and asked my cousin's hand in marriage from my family.

My cousin, Tiny, is an absolute amazing girl that you would meet only once every million years. No matter how established he is, how wealthy he is, how happening he is and how capable he is, Zorion is still a step behind when it comes to deserving her.

After all, we, Almonds, are not for beginners. Our family holds a history of greatness from centuries now and every member of our family is treasure of their own.

We are Almonds and we, Almonds, are the standard-bearers of excellence, and we won't settle for anything less.

"Of course not! He is for the life now. He earned it." Irrespective of how innocent, kind and warm my little cousin is, she is still proud of being an Almond the most.

It's not just her though, we all are proud of being an Almond.

"He indeed did. Alright then, I will give my green flag for this relationship. Enjoy and have a great life, little Tiny." I hugged and tapped her back in a brotherly manner.

There is a certain ritual in our Almond family; something like marriage needs majority of votes from the family members to go through with it.

Unless worst case, everyone does accept the person we like, but only after meeting them and investigating them in our own manner.

We are most supportive to our family and just blindly encourage each other in everything – legal.

Tiny jumped in my arms in glee and thanked me several times before pulling me to the main living room where the whole Almond family and the three Allard siblings are sitting.

Once Tiny told everyone about my agreement, everybody hollered and hooted in joy; including the Allards.

Only, their enjoyment was more restricted and conservative type.

Do you have to be so classy when celebrating an engagement of your own family member? This is something I don't understand about many families here.

Not just Allards but there are several other families who celebrate such festive occasion in an awfully low toned style.

And again, this is where we Almonds are exceptionally amazing. We always dared to celebrate anything to our hearts content without being conscious about others.

"Where is the dessert? Aren't we going to sweeten our day for the good news we got?" Grandma hollered with such vigor that nobody will believe the she is just past hundred years.

She is the most energetic in the whole family and also the main decision maker too.

Dad brought out small bowls of rose water rice pudding that he made for everyone to eat. This is one of the traditional desserts that came from Lebanon and tastes like heaven.

I don't know why this is so underrated but my family makes this one quite frequently and everyone loves it too.

Once we all had couple of spoons of dessert, grandma look at Allard siblings and asked, "Do you have any plans for the wedding ceremony? Any ideas or any customs you follow?"

"Nothing too particular, grandma. We don't have a family custom as such so anything meaningful is good." The oldest of the siblings, Illaria Gaia Allard spoke softly.

"Umm. What about the time, venue and other arrangements? What about engagement ceremony? Did you think about them yet?"

"A bit, grandma. We can have the engagement party by the month's end and wedding in a couple of months. We can leave the arrangements to the professionals." Uh huh, wrong thing to say.

"The time is alright dear but I'm not happy with leaving the arrangements to someone else." Allard siblings are a little perplexed now.

"We did not get you, grandma. We have the most professional and capable event planners who can bring the heaven down on earth with their skills." Anete Allard, a possible or still undetermined girlfriend of my other cousin, Cacao Ned Almond.

Huh! It's not about the capability of those professionals, Miss. You got the meaning wrong here.

Grandma shook her head lightly and looked straight at the Allard siblings. "What I mean is, engagement and wedding is a sacred, an opportunity of togetherness. If you leave these things to professionals, how meaningful it could be to just be a guest part of the events. Professionals are supposed to play the supportive role. The date, time, venue, theme, budget, food, guest list, music, attire, reception and other kinds of pre and post wedding parties, the vows; we should decide it after discussing it together, argue a bit, maybe vote to reach a decision. This is what makes event meaningful because we did it. We did everything. The process of the same will be a source of fun and education as well."

Exactly!

Event planners might be more practical and proficient but doing it ourselves is what we, Almonds, believe and love.

This improves and promotes togetherness. It will teach us a lot and is much more fun about having an argument about the color of attire, themes, venue etc., than to just nod at pre-prepared list made by those planners.

The Allard siblings' eyes widened slightly when they got the meaning and brightened a little as well. The two Allard sisters were smiling a little while the Allard brother, the groom of the event, is nodding to himself thoughtfully.

I heard from Tiny and Cacao that Allard siblings' parents were not the greatest of parents when they were alive. They died when the triplets were still young so they grew up practically without a hand of elder on their head.

Sometimes, thinking about it, I feel sorry for the three who had to look after each other at such a young age and grow up quickly. Grandma always says that an elder is like a cement between bricks. They bind everyone, provides a structure and keeps it strong from all the elements.

When I realized that such an important person is missing in their family and yet they managed to grow well and become kind enough to be accepted by Almonds, that shows how good they are.

"I agree, grandma. Sorry, we did not know anything about this but please do let us know what we have to do and we will put our best efforts in it." As diplomatic as ever, Illaria Allard expressed with a grin.

And one can see that she is happy with grandma's ideas as well.

"In that case, let's first plan for the engagement party. First list out all the formalities and stuff we need for the event and then divide them in groups."

"I will be responsible for flowers." Before anyone could say anything, Cacao already reserved a task for himself.

"Okay, in that case, flowers and food, you can form a team with Anete and interested youngsters of the family. Illaria dear, how about you take the responsibility of looking for venues for both engagement and wedding?" Grandma asked and looked around for while until her eyes stopped at me.

"Right, team up with Devon. He travels around a lot and knows more about interesting places. I heard you take a lot business trips too. It would be better to team up with each other and make a list of destinations and venues. Make a list of suitable themes will be on your shoulders as well." No, I don't want to!

I want to work alone or with other Almonds!

But before I or Illaria could express any objections, grandma decided and settled the matter once and for all.

Tiny and Zorion, the bride and the groom of the day, are responsible for let us know their ideas for us to work and then choose from the lists we provide them with.

Food and drinks testing will be done by the main couple as well.

The other rituals related stuff is mostly handled by the elders group of the family so basically the division of labor is finalized.

I looked at Illaria, who was looking at me with a smile as she approached me.

"Hi, so, can we exchange our numbers for further communication?" I only nodded and quickly exchanged the numbers.

If it was anything else. I would've not given my number but it's about planning a wedding for my member of my family, it's about my cousin so I cannot be too stiff at this time.

"So, where do you want to start from? Are we planning for a destination engagement or local engagement with destination feeling?" She asked me as she opened notes on her phone to jot it down.

"Give me a day's time, I will let you know through a message and meet accordingly." I answered and was about to turn around when she stopped me and looked at me with a hint of confusion and curiosity leaping in her eyes.

"Mr. Almond –"

"Devon is fine. Call me Devon since we will be working together for the next few months." I proposed politely.

She's now my cousin's to-be sister-in-law so she is a part of family now. For my cousin, it is important to mingle well with each other.

"Right Devon, why do I feel strange when I look you? As if – umm – as if I've seen you somewhere close but not you exactly as well. It's quite strange."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Hello Sweeties,

Next chapter is here. Enjoy!

What do you think about the chapter? Good?

What do you think about Devon and his point of view?

What are your thoughts on Devon's feelings for his Almond family?

Do you think grandma Almond is a cool elder of the family?

It's so much fun to plan a wedding together right? Agree?

Please shower me with votes and comments.

Share my books with your friends.

Lots of Love

Lady Prim