Is this destiny?

Bridgette steadied her emotions and smiled while walking to her mother. "Maman, it\'s nice to see you."

Bridgette held Sylvie under her arm for support and internally sighed in relief that Sylvie didn\'t push her away or say anything rude.

"I\'m sorry we didn\'t come earlier. You remember Steve, right? How are you doing?", Bridgette said while helping Sylvie sit.

Sylvie ignored Bridgette\'s question about remembering Steve. She saw him at Felix\'s wedding. How can she forget that wretched wedding and torture she went through? She does not want to remember it. Any memories of Stella or her daughter (aka Sophia) who stole Felix away from Sylvie is making her insides churn painfully in rage.

Sylvie focused on Bridgette\'s question about her wellbeing. "As you can see… I am good. Nothing new. How about you?"

Bridgette smiled. It seems that this is one of normal days for Sylvie. Bridgette reminded herself not to be judgmental. She didn\'t see her mother in a long time, and her mom is in a good mood so she should relax and not worry about what might happen if things get worse.

"A lot of things…" Bridgette started telling about her life in Los Angeles: work, friends, trainings…

Steve sipped his tea and observed this mother-daughter pair in silence. He can see that Bridgette is nervous and he does not want to add to it. They came to tell Sylvie that they are engaged, and he will let Bridgette do it in her own way, just how they agreed previously.

Steve is vexed that Sylvie is practically ignoring him, but he told himself to calm down and not be bothered by it. After all, Bridgette warned him that Sylvie is not stable and can snap into rage at any time. If her crazy is to ignore him, he will take it over causing a scene.

"You should see me now. I can run few miles and I barely break a sweat.", Bridgette said proudly.

"Good, good. Being in a good shape will help during pregnancy."

Bridgette straightened her back. That was an unexpected comment. But then Bridgette remembered how her mother always thought that a man should go to work and earn money, while woman should stay home, clean, cook and have kids. Yup. That is her mom.

Bridgette forced a smile. "Yes, I am preparing for pregnancy, but we are not in a rush…"

"Not in a rush?", Sylvie interrupted Bridgette. "You will be twenty-four this year! I was married and I had Felix at that age. Speaking about pregnancies and settling down, you need to find yourself a man. I hear that Louis and Dennis are single. They both have stable jobs and they are still in their twenties. I can call them…"

"Maman!", Bridgette exclaimed in panic and then cleared her throat in embarrassment while avoiding Steve\'s gaze.

She was talking about her life and friends, slowly building up the story to the point where she will say that Steve is her fiancé. And now it seems that the build-up part took too long and it\'s… awkward! Well, there is no need for that slow introduction.

"Maman, Steve and I are dating for more than a year, and we are engaged."

Sylvie paused and her eyes darted to Steve before returning back to Bridgette. Sylvie\'s eyes flashed for a second when she saw the sparkly ring on Bridgette\'s left index finger.

"Since when?", Sylvie asked.

"We got engaged recently…", Bridgette answered ambiguously. "I wanted to tell you in person. That is why we are here. And of course, to see how you are doing."

Sylvie took a deep breath to compose herself.

"Congratulations.", Sylvie said with an awkward smile. "When is the wedding?"

"Oh, we are not there yet.", Bridgette said in a hurry and added: "We just got engaged and there are so many other things going on…" Bridgette was telling Sylvie about their engagement and upcoming weddings.

Steve was observing Sylvie and the more time passed, the more unsettled he was. He is by Jeff\'s side for years and he learned to keep his composure dignified and expression stable while reading others. He can see that Sylvie\'s eyes are flashing with malice occasionally and it\'s making his hair stand on ends. What kind of a mother is this?

Steve wondered if Bridgette does not see how unstable Sylvie is or she refuses to acknowledge it. He sighed. Bridgette is so kindhearted that she probably rejects to see the evil in people. That is why he loves her, and he hopes that he can preserve that innocence.

Bridgette ended the talk with the latest news from Felix and Sophia: "Felix will be a father again. They are very excited and if all goes well, both of their kids will have birthdays in the same year…"

Sylvie listened with an unreadable expression without any comments.

Bridgette could not gauge if Sylvie is happy or not, but the fact that she is not raging is good enough.

Bridgette knows that Sylvie does not have anything against Sophia. Sylvie does not like the fact that Sophia came suddenly without much warning and took Felix away (from Sylvie\'s point of view). Also, Sylvie believes that women should stay home and take care of the husband and kids, and Sophia as a successful career woman goes against that.

Bridgette hopes that Sylvie will soften up at the fact that even though Sophia came in Felix\'s life without Sylvie\'s blessing, they are doing fine. And that despite both of them working, Sophia and Felix are perfectly capable of having a warm home full of love and kids and everything else a picture-perfect happy family should have.

"I am happy for them.", Sylvie said when Bridgette ended her talk about Felix and Sophia and Cecilia and the upcoming baby.

"Oh, I am glad to hear that.", Bridgette smiled brightly. "You know, maman… I feel guilty for being so far away, and I would like that we are closer. When the time comes, I will let you know how the wedding preparations are coming along and maybe you can help me pick a wedding dress?"

"That would be nice.", Sylvie responded with a small smile. "I would like to be more in touch with you as well. Both you and Felix are settling down and I feel… left out."

Bridgette\'s mood dropped when she heard this. "Maman… I am sure that we can work on that and fix it."

Sylvie sighed. "I am not sure that Felix feels the same way."

"I am sure that he does. I will talk to him. OK?"

After some more chatting, Bridgette and Steve said their goodbyes to Sylvie and Camille and left. Sylvie didn\'t invite them to stay for lunch, but they didn\'t plan to anyway.

…

In the car…

Bridgette smiled while waving at Sylvie and Camille while Steve drove away.

"This went better than expected.", Bridgette said when they turned at the corner.

Steve\'s expression didn\'t crack to show his displeasure. That woman barely spared him a glance! What a mother-in-law! Even if she does not like him, she should be at least curious about the man her daughter will spend her life with, right?

Steve is happy that they are so far apart and when he heard Bridgette say that they should be closer, he cringed internally. Now he understands Felix. Totally. Ah, he needs to warn Felix that this silly-always-carefree girl by his side (aka Bridgette) wants to bring into their lives a woman (aka Sylvie) who reminded him of Pandora\'s box: deceptively docile from outside, but full of misfortune and misery on the inside.

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