So much for a small get together.
Olivia held on tight to Rafael's arm as he led her towards the small gathering beside the beach with the soft music playing in the background. She watched her steps in her five inch heels, observing the beautiful view of the water as they both approached the gathering. She had remembered that particular resort. She came there once or twice with Andrew in the past.

Rand resort was one of the most beautiful places in the whole country and she loved that she had to revisit it again with the man of her dreams. The better thing was he practically owned the place.

The Okonkwos.

Olivia loved how the bright lights blended with the water, and how beautiful the entire setting was.

White.

The color of the occasion. The white chairs and table clothes adorned the entire place and so did the lovely bouquet of  White roses that glorified each side of the beach, right beside the traditional torches, their flames puffing up in the air.

Olivia took a deep breath. She was barely doing a good job hiding how nervous she was especially now they were getting really close to the engaged crowd.

She loved how everyone was dressed in white for the occasion, but most of it all, she loved how she was also dressed for the occasion. Her long white halter neck dress swayed from side to side with the cool breeze while her diamond necklace settled beautifully on her collarbone, sparkling under the moonlight.

Parties were never her kind of thing but she knew just how important her presence was for Rafael. She took a deep breath. The air felt so amazing, so clean, so clear.

Just right in front of the cool water, Olivia could recognize the light skinned woman who happened to be so engrossed in whatever discussion she was happening to have with the ladies in front of her.

Sommadina. Rafael's Mother.

That was the first time Olivia had seen her smile at anyone that wasn't Rafael, and she looked so beautiful. Olivia knew just how much of a positive impression she had to leave at that party, especially since many of the people there were friends of Rafael's family.

"You've got this." She heard Rafael whisper softly to her the moment they got closer. Olivia took another deep breath and forced a smile on her face the moment she saw everyone's attention slowly turn to them. Everyone including Sommy.

"Mother." Rafael slowly let go of her hand the moment they were standing in front of her.

"Rafael." She opened her hands to receive him with a warm embrace just as the women beside her walked away from them. Rafael went into her arms and then kissed her on both cheeks. "You made it."

He smiled.

"Of course I did."

Her eyes slowly narrowed to where Olivia was standing, a hard frown covering her lips quickly. Rafael noticed how tense the environment was all of a sudden.

"Mother," he walked towards Olivia and then held her hands, leading her to his mother. "There's someone I'd like you to meet." He continued, as Olivia came to a stop right in front of the woman, making sure the smile on her face didn't falter. "Someone really important to me."

"Good evening Mrs Okonkwo." Olivia stretched her hand towards her. "I'm Olivia." The smile on her face grew wider. "Olivia Kalu."

The lady blinked, examining Olivia from head to toe like she was eying her at the same time until her eyes slowly returned to the diamond on her neck. Olivia was becoming really uncomfortable. She watched Somma smirk a little as if she was trying so hard to bite back her tongue. She slowly turned to Rafael.

"What is this?" She asked him. Rafael narrowed his brows as Olivia's smile faded a little bit. She slowly dropped her hand. "This is a family party strictly by invitation, Chukwudalu, how can you invite strangers to a family party?"

"Mother," Rafael took a step closer to her. "Be nice. Olivia is my guest and she's not a stranger." He tried to keep his voice as low as possible. Somma scoffed. He slowly reached for Olivia's trembling hands, she was beginning to get super embarrassed now. "She's my girlfriend."

"Oh please. Aren't you too old to have girlfriends Rafael. "

"Sommadina." Everyone stopped whatever it was for a minute the moment they heard a deep shaky voice from right behind them. A tiny scoff escaped from Rafael's lips. Unlike the rest of them, he didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

Olivia drew a deep breath the moment she noticed the chubby man approaching the small crowd, taking one step at a time, his light cotton trousers swaying from side to side with the wind, his white shirt too. Even with the huge white hat on his head, Olivia could still notice his white beards and bright brown eyes, three slightly armed men walking in sync right behind him. Bodyguards.

Olivia had never seen someone walk with so much grace and confidence all her life. She thought Victoria did but this man was out of this world. There was something about him, something about that man that commanded respect. The same reason he had everyone on stand still as he approached them with a warm smile on his face.

She didn't need anyone to tell her who he was, she was doing so good making the guess on her own.

Mr Randy Okonkwo.

She had done all the research she needed to do, plus she had also had a great interest in social studies and politics. Every child, every adult in the entire continent knew who he was but was seen by only a relatively few, and Olivia had just happened to be one of them.

She couldn't forget the first day she realized Rafael's true identity. The first day he told her a part of his story, about his family. She could remember how her jaw dropped the entire week and now she was there, standing in front of a man she didn't think was real. He took out his cigar.

"You don't expect your son to be single forever now do you?" He had his eyes on his wife as he got close enough to them. He was standing right in front of them now. Somma scoffed out and then turned away.

"Dad," Rafael called him as they both exchanged glances. He stretched out his hand for a shake and his father took it. The men shook hands for a while right before Olivia saw the man's eyes meet hers. She swallowed hard on her saliva.

"And you must be the said girlfriend." He had the warmest smile Olivia had ever seen. There was nothing frightening about the man in front of her. At least unlike the stories she had heard. He had this stench of perfect masculinity around him. He was fine. So fine.

"Olivia kalu," she stretched out her hand to shake him before he snorted out loud and then spread his arms .

"Get in here." He encouraged her to get into his arms. Olivia looked at Rafael. She had to be sure it was okay. He nodded slightly. She took a step, and then another till she was really close to him. She went into his embrace.

"She's really a beauty." She heard him say to Rafael as he slowly let her go. Olivia was almost red in excitement. Rafael let out a smile too.

"Please make yourself welcome. Let me know if there's anything at all you need."

Olivia nodded .

"It's a pleasure to meet you." She said almost in a whisper. The old man inhaled sharply,

"The pleasure is all mine."

Olivia loved how his perfume mixed with the air as he walked away from her to where the other people were. She let out a relief exhale and then slowly turned to Rafael who slowly turned to her too.

"I told you you had nothing to worry about."

He stretched his hand just so she could place hers in his. She smiled and then took his hands. He pulled her close to him when-

"Rafael!"

They both turned the moment they heard some voices yell Rafael's name from behind them. Rafael let out a surprised gasp as the little boys ran as fast as they could to him. At first, Olivia couldn't see their faces but as they got closer, she got to see how extremely identical they were.

They had to be the twins.

Rafael had told her so much about his annoying little brothers in a joke but looking at them now, looking at the two adorable boys that ran into Rafael's embrace, there was nothing so annoying about them.

She watched them exchange signature handshakes with him. They looked so excited to see him, their bright eyes looking into his. The more Olivia looked at the boys, the more she saw how almost identical they were to Rafael. They had the same eyes. Their father's eyes.

"Rafael, " she heard one of them call Rafael. "Look, I'm growing armpit hairs now." He raised his arms up so Rafael could see the strands of hair in his armpits.

"It's just a few strands." The other one cut him off, turning to look at him. "What's there to be so excited about?"

The first one chuckled,

"He's just jealous because he's still far from puberty."

"I'm not."

"Are too." The boy turned to his brother.

"I'm not."

"Are too."

Now they were arguing again. Rafael slowly turned to Olivia. He shrugged his shoulders, hoping she could see exactly what he meant when he called them minions. Olivia chuckled just as they returned their gaze to the twelve year old boys. Olivia couldn't help but admire how perfect their neat braids looked on their long curly hair.

She could remember Rafael had mentioned to her how their Colombian mother had died a few days after they were born and how Randy had taken full custody of them ever since.

"Dude!" She watched the one at the right stretch his hands in frustration at the other one.

"Okay guys," Rafael just had to cut in before the quarrel got worse. They both turned to him. "That's enough."

He told them, bending over to hold both their arms. They slouched their shoulders in sync as a wry smile appeared on both their faces while they looked at him.

"Did you bring it?"
One of them asked in a tone of excitement. Rafael thought for a while, he looked at the both of them one after the other. They looked like they were in need of a "yes" so badly. They stared at him eagerly.

"No I didn't bring any roasted corns," Rafael exhaled. "I totally forgot." He scratched his brows.

"What?!" They chorused.

"I'm sorry."

He knew just how disappointed they were going to be. He had no idea how addicted they were going to be the first time they made him buy some for them during one of their visits to the mansion and after that, it was all they ever wanted. They loved it.

"Oh man," they both chorused in disappointment, scratching their brows too.

"But I got something better." He said standing straight, "There's someone I'd like you two to meet." He took a step towards Olivia, they both turned in the direction. it was the first time they noticed her presence. Olivia let out a smile just as Rafael wrapped his hand around her.

Their jaws dropped the moment their eyes met Olivia's.

"Edwin," He turned to the first boy, who was so busy engrossed in her eyes. "Edward," He turned to the other who was doing exactly the same. "I'd like you to meet someone really important to me, her name is Olivia."

"Hello," she leaned closer to them, placing a soft kiss on their cheeks one after the other. Edward felt so light headed all of a sudden.

"She's so beautiful." Edwin said still staring at her.

"Oh really?" Olivia chuckled. She could feel her heart flutter for a second.

"She is isn't she?" Rafael asked them, turning slowly to Olivia, he smiled. It was true. He knew that for a fact, he knew just how beautiful the woman standing beside him was and it wasn't just her face, or her body, it was her heart too, it was the reason why he loved every part of her so much.

"Can we show her around?" Edwin asked, his cheeks going red quickly as he stared at Rafael earnestly with his hands joined together.

"Please Rafael," Edward added.

"I don't see why not." She turned to Rafael. "I've always wanted a grand tour around this resort."

Rafael exhaled and then turned back to the boys.

"Okay fine, you can, but don't wonder off too far." He told them. "Take good care of her, protect her as her brave knights."
Olivia scoffed. Now he was just being cheesy. Rafael chuckled and then slowly let go of her waist.

"Have fun." He whispered as the boys hurried to her and then gently took her hands each one to each of them. They looked really excited. Olivia was too.

Rafael let out a scoff as he watched them slowly lead her away from the crowd, saying a lot of things to her that he couldn't even hear. They loved her already, he could see it. She looked really happy being with them too.

"Rafael!"

Rafael turned quickly at the sound of his father's voice. He saw his father signal for his attention as he talked to a few men close to the huge buffet table.

Rafael exhaled and then went to join them.