JoAnna and Sophia held their breaths and pped enthusiastically when Sarah and Aiden emerged behind the wings at the beginning of the runway.


    "Look at her… fierce!", Sophia eximed.


    "Yes. I was afraid that she will be a nervous wreck." JoAnna beamed, proud of her baby sister. Few secondster she leaned closer to Sophia. "Doesn''t she look… angry?"


    Sophia shrugged. "Maybe… but I would still call it fierce."


    When Aiden and Sarah made their round and disappeared behind the wings Sophia leaned toward Felix. "Did you get that?"


    "Yes." He was in charge of recording Sarah and Aiden on the catwalk.


    Sophia praised her husband. "Great! Send that to mom and dad and to nor and Oscar as well. They will be proud to see them. Do it quickly, so that you can record their second appearance."


    …


    After the show, backstage in the dressing room…


    "You did that on purpose!", Sarah used Aiden.


    "What?" He tried to appear innocent, but one side of his lips curved up involuntarily.


    "Sent that girl to me.", Sarah rified even though she is confident that he knows what she is talking about.


    Aiden smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist loosely. "Did it work?"


    She leaned her forehead on his chest. "Yes, it did."


    Aiden leaned his head slightly and spoke into her ear. "I would do anything for you. Even make you angry, if needed."


    Sarah smiled helplessly and looked into his dark eyes. "You know me best."


    "That''s how it should be." He touched her chin, tipping her head up and kissed her on the lips.


    "You really are a couple!", girl called Crystal eximed.


    Sarah looked at the girl who was one step away and gawked at them. The girl can''t be more than 17-18 years old, but she is definitely old enough not to be treated like an ignorant kid.


    "Crystal, do you even have a brain? If you do, start using it or you will get hurt.", Sarah did her best to control her temper.


    "And who are you to give such warnings?", Crystal defiantly lifted her chin.


    "What is going on?", Ellie asked, but just by looking at the Sarah''s expression, she can tell that Crystal crossed the line again. "Crystal, I told you to stay away from him."


    Ellie decided not to bother with Crystal. She took a mental note not to hire her again. "Will you two join us for the afterparty?"


    "Thanks for the invitation, but we can''t.", Sarah responded while leaning on Aiden. "We are having dinner with our kids."


    Ellie nodded in understanding. "Oh, well… next time. Thank you for tonight."


    They said their farewells and headed out.


    Ellie turned back and saw that Crystal is still standing there, staring toward the door in disbelief with her mouth slightly open.


    "Did they say that they are having dinner with THEIR KIDS?", Crystal asked while holding her cheeks in her palms dramatically.


    "Yes." Ellie responded andughed at Crystal''s stunned expression. Well, she is not the one to go and exin that those are not their biological children. And it''s not Crystal''s business anyway.


    Ellie reminded herself to tell her assistants not to hire Crystal. She is very immature and not professional. Anyone who causes drama backstage is not wee.


    …


    When they walked out, Sarah and Aiden were weed by Sophia, Felix, JoAnna and Jeff.


    They congratted them as new models in the rising.


    "Look, you two are trending!", JoAnna showed social media feed on her phone. "I would not be surprised if Ellie wants to book you as her regrs."


    "OK… OK… Rx…" Sarahughed. Only she knows (and maybe Aiden) how stressful that experience is for her. If it''s up to her, she would not repeat it. But she knows that if Ellie asks her again and it''s with Aiden, she will not refuse. After all, with him by her side, anything is possible, even conquering her fears.


    Sarah decided to change the topic. "Will you join us for dinner with the kids?"


    Jeff and JoAnna exchanged nces and Jeff''s expression told JoAnna that it''s up to her to decide.


    JoAnna knows that Jeff is not willing. Jeff said more than once that he wants to maximize his time with her (only her) before Oscar leaves and Jeff needs to return to full work hours. And JoAnna is aware that he attended this fashion show only to be with her. She sighed and hugged Jeff.


    "Not tonight. But next time, count us in."


    Jeff''s lips stretched into a smile at JoAnna''s response. He expected that she will insist for them to join. Now he feels guilty for pulling JoAnna away from her sister-time. But not guilty enough to ept the dinner invitation.


    Jeff has several topics to discuss with Felix and Aiden, but he will do that some other time.


    "We will see you tomorrow.", Jeff told everyone and turned to Sarah and Aiden: "Come to office noter than 10 AM. There is still number of things we need to finalize before thepany event."


    "You are joining us for dinner, right?", Aiden asked Sophia and Felix.


    "Of course…", Sophia confirmed andughed. "You know that we live in your house, right? We would be foolish to ignore the inviting smell of the barbeque."


    "Great!", Aiden eximed.


    Sarah observed Aiden''s expression and she can tell that he is up to something. Why is he so excited?


    When Sarah and Aiden were in the car by themselves, driving back to their Cliffside vi, Sarah decided to ask: "What''s with the enthusiasm of Sophia and Felix joining for dinner?"


    They shared so many meals together and Sarah didn''t understand, why is this one making Aiden so happy?


    "Remember the boy-girl talks we n for tonight?", Aiden asked.


    "You want Felix to do the talk with you?", Sarah guessed.


    Smug smirk on Aiden''s face answered her question.


    Sheughed.


    "Stopughing!", Aiden wanted to sound serious, but he ended upughing as well.


    He exhaled, his expression showing how helpless he feels about the situation. "I really don''t know how to talk with the boys about that. I mean… Jesse knows all about it, he is not a problem. Haru didn''t grow up around girls, so he is probably clueless. And Jamari and Ade are too young to think about romancing a girl and what it means. Ugh..."


    Sarah knows that he is right. Jesse spent most of his post-teen life in Germany and he had at least one girlfriend. Jamari and Ade are twelve and eleven years old respectively, so that leaves only Haru. But Aiden needs to talk with all of them at the same time in order to make sure they all have the same understanding of the rules of pursuing their love interest. Especially if it''s one of their girls.


    Sarah decided to encourage Aiden. "You will do great. You can always use us as an example..." Sarah paused at the thought how they very quickly progressed from ssmates to cohabiting. And passion was nevercking. Is that a good example for their kids? "On a second thought, don''t use us as an example."


    Aiden chuckled seeing that Sarah is now concerned.


    "That was not helpful.", he stated the obvious. "Give me something I can work with."


    Sarah puffed her cheeks while thinking. After some time, she came up with one thing: "Felix can help."


    Aidenughed. "That is exactly what I was thinking."


    ---


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