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Aurora truly was the most precious thing in this whole world.

As London sat there in Andrew's living room, the three of them having tea with biscuits and talking about the scary movie they had just finished watching after lunch that Sunday afternoon, she could not help feeling like she finally found a place where she belonged.

Her eyes trained on Aurora, watching as the little girl interacted with herself and Andrew, the conversation light. Not a dull moment.

"You should have seen, London," Aurora laughed, her baby teeth shining through that wide smile. "Ba looked absolutely ridiculous."

"Next Halloween let's try to get him into a more ridiculous outfit," London proposed, her eyes glinting with mischief.

Aurora grinned in agreement and when London lifted her eyes to see if Andrew was enjoying this time as much as she was she found him, his daughter in his lap, but paying no heed to her. His eyes were on London, his mouth slightly open, surprise on his face.

Her words finally clicked in her head.

Next Halloween. It was months away and they would be pretty long-term by then. London wasn't sure how serious their relationship was. She wanted it to be serious, to think long-term, but did he? He knew her intentions of wanting a solid relationship but as of late, they hadn't really talked about it. Was he getting second thoughts? Did he not want to be serious? After his divorce and the way he still had to figure out how to navigate through this new life, he might want something light and casual. London understood that, though it was far from what she yearned for.

Andrew smiled, his lips slowly lifting up. London felt nervous as her heart fluttered. The moment didn't last long though as his phone buzzed and just like that the spell was broken.

"Mummy is here, princess," Andrew said, looking at the text he got. "Come on."

Aurora rushed to her room to fetch her things while London and Andrew stood up, the air tense with Aurora's absence.

"Well," London said, patting her palms down against her black jeans, trying not to exude any awkward energy that she was feeling inside of her, "I better go open the door for Talia."

Seeing Talia was never pleasant, especially after that bitter phone call they both had on Monday. London thought that they were on good terms, given the conversation they shared after the dinner where she announced her enagement, but apparently not. London's empathetic side was not enough and perhaps Talia best dealt with things by pushing people away. But, it was all just speculation.

Andrew had mentioned that he had something important to discuss from that day of the phone call and London assumed it had something to do with Talia but Andrew hadn't mentioned it since, so London let it slide, patiently waiting for him to bring it up.

Later that evening, when Talia had taken Aurora back to her place — Andrew's old house — and the two of them made dinner, Andrew struck up a conversation, breaking the thin ice.

"I'd love to see what you and Aurora get to wear next Halloween," he said, his words making her pause. "But before we get to next Halloween I think we should talk about something else."

"You want casual, not serious," she blurted out, suddenly upset. All those emotions she kept inside of her — worry and doubt — surfaced and she turned back to the stove, adjusting the heat, hoping that it would stop the prickle in her eyes.

She felt large hands on her shoulders, a light squeeze before his hands slithered down her arms and came around her body, pressing her back to his chest. His lips pressed against her shoulder blade before he pecked her neck with a quick kiss. She could feel the smile against his lips and it made her angry that he was acting all happy and jolly when she was upset, and she hated how her body reacted, instantly melting into his arms and letting him support the majority of her weight.

"London," he said, his voice gravelly smooth, another kiss to her shoulder blade. "You already established that you wanted something solid, something serious. I want what you want. I am serious with you, London Liang, which is why when I meant we should talk first, I was going to ask you how you felt about meeting my parents."

Whatever tension was left in her body vanished. She turned in his arms as they loosened around her and dropped to take hold of her waist. Her eyes were wide, surprised by what he had just said. He wasn't doubting their relationship? He was actually serious about them dating? He wanted her to meet his parents?

Oh God, he wants me to meet his parents!

The reality of his words struck and now a different kind of worry filled her. What would his parents think of her? Would they approve?

She bit her lip, unable to give him an answer right at that very moment. Instead, she turned around, checked up on the curry that was on the stove and satisfied, she switched off the heat. Aware that his eyes were on her, confused by her reaction, she gave him a reassuring smile but she still spotted the slight line of worry on his forehead. He must be thinking that he said the wrong thing when he actually said the right thing. London just needed a moment to process her thoughts, and she did that as she made the table. Andrew helped setting up the table and once they sat down, hot food on their plates, London spoke up.

"You want me to meet your parents?" she asked, her lips lifting up into a small smile.

"I do," he replied and she could sense the undertone of nervousness in his voice. "Listen, if that's not what you want then we can—"

"I want to meet your parents," she effused, smiling, the excitement finally shooting through her system.

"You do?" he questioned, his eyebrows raised.

"I do."

"What was all that about then?" he asked, referring to her silence a few minutes ago.

"I just needed a moment to process it," she answered, her fingers reaching out for his. His hand met hers halfway, his fingers slipping through hers with ease. "I'd love to meet your parents and I'm very happy that you want to be serious with me."

Her finger brushed against his ring and her smile faltered. He must have noticed it because his eyes momentarily avoided hers.

She quickly went back to the topic, before her mind had a chance to go down that rabbit hole about his wedding band ring. "When will we be meeting them?"

"Next weekend, if that's okay with you."

"It's perfect, but wait — what about Aurora? The weekends are the only time you get to spend with her." London would never want Andrew to give up his weekends, precious time with his daughter, for her. She spent her Sunday afternoon with Aurora and Andrew but Andrew never made her feel like she imposed herself on them. She was always welcome and it felt like she was part of the family.

"Aurora's coming too. She hasn't seen her grandparents in a while and Mama wants to see her soon. And you. I've been waiting to ask you since Monday but asking you to meet my parents was a huge step and I was nervous," Andrew blabbered, his words running over each other.

She squeezed his hand and gave him a smile, one that told him that they were on the same page and neither of them should worry.

She took a deep breath and looked at him, his eyes instantly hooking with hers. Her stomach twisted but she knew it was because she was nervous. His parents were... normal. Her dad was... complicated. "I want you to meet my dad too," she finally managed to get out with some level of difficulty.

"I'd love to," he said instantly and his words gave her some relief. It made her wonder how anxious it must have made him feel when her answer was first silence before she told him she'd love to meet his parents. With this thought she leaned across the table and as if reading her mind, he leaned in too so that she wouldn't have to strain her neck so much.

Her lips brushed against his, the light sensation sending chills down her spine — the feel-good kind.

London pulled back slightly, leaning against the table with a dreamy smile. She loved that she was almost always smiling whenever she was with him. "I'm going to London to spend Christmas with my dad. Gwen, my sister, will be there too. Inesh might come along with his parents, but that part isn't set yet. His parents and Gwen aren't on the best of terms right now. Do you want to spend Christmas with me?"

"Meeting the father and the sister?" Andrew said, eyes sparkling with mirth. "Can't wait."

Laughing, she met him halfway again for a quick kiss. And then another kiss. And another.

"Maybe we should eat dinner first," he said, pulling away so that she could glimpse the mischievous hint in his devilish smile. "You'll need all the energy for what I plan to do to you tonight."

"Hmm," she said, trying to keep her giggle in, both amused and pleased with his words. "I look forward to it, Andrew Cai."

A peck on the lips, an enjoyable dinner, and a very very pleasurable night was all London needed to wake up happy that following Monday morning.

Oh, and not to mention, it was her first official day as sous chef at Tollerz.