Chapter 23: Parents Arrival
Morning came and everyone was still in sleep. Gray on the on the other hand was awaken when his phone suddenly went on. The sound surprised the teen making him jerk up from his bed. He searched for his phone in his bed until he saw a light in his table. He stood up and glanced at Loke and he found him still asleep.
"Hello?" Gray answered as he pressed his phone to his ear
"Gray-sama? Did I wake you up?" The voice asked on the end of the line
"Juvia? Why are you calling? Are you alright?" Gray then left the room and headed to the veranda and inhaled the morning air in the beach
"Yes I am…Well, I'm not there in the hotel right now. I'm on my way to the airport."
"Airport? Why? Are you leaving?" Gray then raised a brow as he tried to look at the veranda of Juvia's hotel room
"Of course not! I'm picking up some people…" Juvia sounded enthusiastic making the male teen curious who his girlfriend was going to pick up in the airport
"Do I know them?"
"Technically no…Well you do, it's just that you haven't met them."
"Okay would you stop making me guess, who are they? Who's coming?" Gray then stood up straight as he stared at the scenery
"Mom and dad are coming…Well they surprised me about it and just told me their arrival day is today and I should pick them up at 10." Juvia then went silent as she tried to wait for Gray's reply but she didn't hear anything, "Gray-sama are you still there? Hello~"
"…Yeah, I'm here…What time are they coming?" Gray suddenly felt agitated as he began to pace back in forth in the veranda
"Probably we will be there by 2…we might grab late lunch there though."
"Alright, then I'll be…preparing their rooms." Gray replied as he tried to calm down his breaths
"Aww~ Thanks baby! I'll see you then in what…6 hours?" Juvia then giggled at the other end before she said her good byes to the nervous male teen
As soon as the call ended, Gray felt his knees go weak making him grip the ledge of the veranda and inhaled exhaled really deep. "I'll be meeting Juvia's parents…" He mumbled to himself once more making him more alive as if it was his energy power. But the more he said it to himself the more he became anxious.
When Gray entered back to his room, he saw Loke was beginning to wake up so he sat in his bed and waited for the orange haired teen to look at his way. When Loke did Gray greeted him with an unusual greeting.
"Dude, Juvia's parents are coming."
Loke groaned first as he stretch sitting up from his bed, "Good for you man…"
"I don't think so…"
"Why? It's not as if you haven't met them yet…" Loke remarked as he stood and walked towards his table
"I haven't." Gray admitted as he stared at Loke who gave him a surprised look then a smile appeared in his face
Loke tried to stop his small laughs as he tried to warn the teen, "You're a dead meat…that's all I could say." Loke then let his laugh ring out the whole room making the other teen growl in anxiety
"Thanks for reminding huh!" Gray shouted as he slumped himself to his bed
"You're welcome…" Loke then continued his laugh as he left Gray in pure worry
Everyone was now out in the beach when Gray decided to tell his friends about his dilemma. Sting was the first to notice him as Gray walked up to them.
"What's with that face?" Sting commented as he stretched his arm then rested it to Lissana's shoulders
"Some shit coming…" Gray replied as he sat himself down in a beach chair
"Hey, Juvia left this morning…Do you know why?" Levy said as she leaned forward to see the ink haired teen that covered his face with his forearm
"Yeah…" Gray groaned then sat up straight, "She went to the airport to pick up her parents…"
"Parents? They live in France…Are you saying their visiting Juvia this summer?" Lissana exclaimed as she sat up straight too due to excitement, "That's exciting!"
"Well not for him…" Loke suddenly said as he walked hand in hand with Aries who wore a sheer top covering her bikini
"Why? Seeing your girlfriend's parents is like being part of the family." Levy commented as she looked at Loke then to Gray who was still not in a good mood
"Well yeah it's nice to be part of your girlfriend's family- if! You have met them already…" Gray then stared at the beach still sulking
"I get it...You haven't met Juvia's parents! That's why you're acting like that!" Lissana revealed as she pointed at the teen who just grunted being busted
"As if you met them too!" Gray retorted as he looked at the silver haired beauty
"F.Y.I. Gray, I did meet Juvia's parents… All the girls did…and some of the guys. Her parents came last summer break to have one week vacation with their daughter in Magnolia until they went back to France for the rest of summer break" Lissana then smiled mischievously as if she won a debate
"That is why you were unable to see Juvia last summer… She was in France." Levy added before she joined Lissana in giggling
"Fine! I'm a dead meat. What do I do?" Gray asked in exasperation
"Do what?" A familiar female voice then asked making the group shift their attention
Erza arrived all wet from swimming in the beach along with Jellal who was trailing behind the scarlet haired beauty. As soon as the two arrived, everyone smiled and waved at the two.
"Alright, what were you all talking about before we came?" Erza asked again as she grabbed the towel from Jellal
"Well Fullbuster here is frustrated because Juvia's parents are coming. And too bad for him, he hasn't met them yet." Sting answered calmly making everyone nod
"What are you waiting for then?" Erza then gaze a hard look to the problematic teen
"Huh what?"
"Seriously Gray? You don't know what to do?" Erza asked with an inquisitive look
"Do I look like I know what to do?!" Gray asked as he raised his arms in frustration
"Alright man come on I'll help you out…I know how it feels." Jellal said as he pulled the ink haired teen out of the crowd and went back to their hotel rooms
Afternoon came and it was already 2 o' clock. The group of friends were now prepared for the arrival of Juvia and her parents. Everyone was wearing their Sunday's best as they walked the hall way down to the restaurant of the hotel.
"Alright guys, let's show good behavior…We don't want Juvia's parents having an impression that her friends are wild or whatever." Lucy stated as she kept her gaze to Natsu making sure he was listening making the said teen look at her back with a questioning look as if telling, what? I'm a good kid!
"Right. After all we want to help Gray be in the good side of his girlfriend's parents…He needs to impress them." Erza added as she faced everyone
Soon enough the group entered the restaurant and looked for Gray and Jellal who has been fixing all the things need to be done.
Jellal wore sky blue long sleeves polo with ironed black pants along with his leather shoes. Gray on the other hand wore dark blue folded long sleeves with black jeans and leather shoes too. Everyone was dashing and somehow formal which made Gray somehow relieved everything is going well.
Soon enough Juvia entered the restaurant with a bright smile plastered in her gorgeous face as she raced towards Gray. As soon as they were close, Gray lifted Juvia and twirled her around making the beauty giggle in excitement. Once the male teen put Juvia down, he pecked a kiss to the blue haired beauty and whispered to her, "Missed you…"
"Aww~ missed you too…" Juvia then kisses him in the lips then pulled back to look at her friends, "I'm back! Sorry if it took some time…" The girls began to walk towards Juvia and greeted her with a hug.
The small reunion was suddenly stopped when a beautiful blue haired middle-aged woman walked in along with a serious looking middle-aged man. Juvia then walks towards them with a smile then she locks her arms to the man and brought them closer to her friends.
"Maman, papa, rencontrer mes amis(Mom, dad, meet my friends)" Juvia introduced her friends in French, then she pulls Gray making the male teen stumble a bit, "Maman, papa, c'est mon copain Gray (Mom, dad this is Gray my boyfriend)"
Gray then smiled weakly trying to hide the nervousness until Mrs. Lockser embraced him which surprised the teen, "Oh! plaisir de vous rencontrer!"
"Mom said nice meeting you…" Juvia translated as she locked her arms to Gray making him smile and look back to Juvia's mother, "Nice meeting you too Mrs. Lockser…also to you Mr. Lockser" Gray then extends his hand to shake the hand of the middle-aged man
"Papa…" Juvia called as she eyed her father
"How old are you boy?" Mr. Lockser suddenly asked surprising everyone for he spoke in English with French accent
"Um...18 years old sir." Gray then swallowed hard because his nervousness came back double. But Gray's anxiety dispersed when he heard Juvia giggle.
Juvia then cleared her throat and smiled towards her dad, "Bel essai papa! (nice try dad!) mais je sais (But I know) vous avez limité Anglais (you have limited English)"
"La peine d'essayer! (worth the try!)"
"Papa!" Juvia then laughed as her father smiled towards the group.
Everyone then had a curious look at the two making Juvia stop from laughing and cleared her throat, "Don't mind us…Well dad's good. Right papa?"
"Oui (yes)"
Everyone then sniggered as they walked to their chairs. Juvia and Gray stayed behind as they stared at everyone laughing and smiling to one another.
"I'm sorry I suck…" Gray stated as he faced his girlfriend
"Suck? Why? You did great…"
"Juvia, your dad hates me. It's in his tone in French. I don't understand but it seems like it"
"Since when did you translate French, huh? He never mentioned anything like it." Juvia smiled at him as she planted her hands to her hips
"But-"
"Uh! No…It's the truth. Dad didn't say he hates you or like you though. But he's cool with it. Get to know him…"
"How? There's not a minute I get nervous with his eyes on me." To stop Gray from ranting nonsense Juvia leaned up and kissed him in the lips then looked at him in the eyes, "You'll do fine…"
The whole group decided to continue the celebration outside the hotel so they went out to the city and engaged themselves to some karaoke. Everyone was having fun and time didn't seem to matter. But when Gray stepped out of the room to take in fresh air, Mr. Lockser eyed him intensely before following him outside.
Gray was outside the building as he took some air because he suddenly felt too crowded inside. Surprisingly, a serious tone called out to him which made him nervous instantly.
"Gray Fullbuster…"
"Mr. Lockser…" Gray called out in nervousness as he stood up straight as the man walked up to him
"I…have…limited English." Mr. Lockser gestured making Gray nod and let him continue, "but I want to ask…you…do you love my daughter?"
"Of course sir. All my heart." Gray's shoulder suddenly relaxed as he recalled his past with Juvia, "We may have not been the loving couple from the start but I'm sure to myself that I love your daughter. I might have avoided her before but she melted my cold heart. No other girl can do that but her."
"Très bien" Mr. Lockser then exhaled deep making Gray nervous again thinking he said something wrong
"Look sir, I do love your daughter and there is nothing I would want but your approval and so as your wife's." Gray stood up straight again as he tried to show how sincere he was making the father copy his gesture.
"Eh bien ... vous avez ma benediction" Mr. Lockser said with no expression testing for the last time the male teen
"I'm sorry sir…but I don't understand French." Gray uttered as he tried to cover his embarrassment with a crooked smile
"I said…well then, you have my blessing." Mr. Lockser answered but was surprised after when Gray suddenly jumped in excitement and hugged him in reflex. But soon enough Gray pulled back and cleaned an invincible dust in his shoulder
"Sorry sir. But thank you so much. You won't regret it. I promise."
"One more question?" Mr. Lockser raised a finger and gained the attention of Gray
"Avez-vous eu des rapports sexuels avec Juvia déjà?"
"Again sir, I don't understand…" Gray then smiled weakly making the middle-aged man smile wickedly
Mr. Lockser shook his head then taps Gray's shoulder before walking off, "Never mind…I think I know the answer."
When the man left, Gray just stared at the door where the man has entered. Gray had a snooping look on his face when Juvia suddenly stepped out of the building.
"Hey Gray-sama what's with the face?"
"What does this sentence mean?" Gray took a deep breath then looked at Juvia, "Avez…vous eu des… rapports…sexuels…avec Juvia…déjà?"
Juvia suddenly turned red despite the darkness of the street making Gray look at her with a curious look, "Why are you red? Did I say something embarrassing?"
"…where did you hear that?" Juvia finally asked after being totally shock with his words
"From your dad…he asked that to me as a question."
"Did you answer it?!"
"No…how am I suppose to answer when I don't even know what he is talking about!"
"Good…" Juvia then relaxed as she walked away then walked back to Gray who just stared at her
"So what does it mean?"
"Seriously?!" Juvia was red again but then stormed away and went inside the building
It was late at night when Gray sat in his chair in front of his laptop. He began to type Google translate and typed the words that has been bothering him all night. When an answer came up, he turned all red and closed his laptop and walked away. He slipped under his bed sheets and stared at the ceiling, "Good thing I didn't answer that question…"
-End of Chapter 23-