Instead, Mary and Charles threw up their hands and grinned. “ Atreus! ” They cried, rushing the bronzed Greek man in the same fashion they had Carla. Mary kissed both his cheeks while Charles excitedly shook his hand.
“Are you sure they are not Greek?” Atreus laughed amid all the affection. “They would fit right in at the villa!”
“It’s so good to meet you, sir. I read all about Kostas Shipping and your stock holdings in the paper, I do. You’ve made some wise choices, wise choices, my boy.” Charles was still shaking Atreus’s hand.
“Sir?” Atreus asked, incredulous. “It’s I that should be calling you sir. And the wisest choice I’ve made yet is this woman here.” He gestured to Carla, but she was utterly distracted by Mary cooing over Dios.
“Look at you, little fellow! Aren’t you handsome? Would you like to have a new great-grandmummy? Would you like that very much indeed?” Mary played with the child’s toes, and he seemed smitten. “Can you say ‘great-grandmummy’? Can you, my darling?”
“Gwee gwah-moo!” Dios said, and Mary’s enthusiastic response made him smile and clap.
“Mary, for Heaven’s sake, let’s take them inside. We can’t stand about the garden all day.” Charles had finally let go of Atreus’s hand, and Atreus gave Carla a highly amused grin.
“Of course, you must be exhausted! Come in, come in. Do you want some tea?” Before they could answer, Mary had swept them inside the house and into the kitchen, where she started pouring four cups from the kettle on the stove.
“Welcome to England,” Carla murmured as they settled themselves around the simple dining table. “I think you’ll really like them, if they let you get a word in edgewise.” Atreus was only half listening, his eyes scanning the walls that were laden with photographs from Carla’s childhood. There she was, resplendent in her Year Three photograph, and there she was again, covered in leaves and beaming towards the camera in an autumnal jumper at the playground. She was adorable, and Atreus had fallen even more in love with her just for knowing her family.
“I think I already like it here,” Atreus said, graciously accepting the cup of tea from Mary’s eager hands.
*****
Chapter 4
The older couple spent the afternoon around the table with the younger, talking of Greece and love and marriage. Mary desperately wanted to know if they’d set a date yet, and when the pair admitted they had not, she plunked a calendar onto the table and offered to help. Charles had to practically pry the tome out of her hands, and Carla felt a wave of emotion at the sight of her gran so willing to plan her wedding. They told Atreus stories from Carla’s childhood, like the time she lost a tooth eating naan at the local Indian restaurant, and stories about her parents.
“They would have loved you,” Mary said earnestly, her eyes growing wet. “My son was a gentleman, just like you, and my daughter-in-law was as gentle and beautiful as Carla. They would have seen themselves in the two of you, they really would have.” Carla had to hold back tears, only able to nod in response to her grandmother. Atreus seemed genuinely touched.
“I only wish, for Carla’s sake, that they could have been here for our wedding. And for my sake too – I would love to meet the people who raised such an exquisite daughter. But then, it seems those people may be sitting right in front of me,” Atreus said, and Mary and Charles exchanged a bashful look.
“We only watched Carla when she was small. Everything she is, everything she does . . .” Mary looked at Carla with the utmost fondness. “That’s all her parents, completely.”
“I am lucky to have you both,” Carla said, moved. “No matter what.”
“No matter what,” Atreus echoed softly. On Carla’s lap, Dios cooed, and tried to chew on Mary’s necklace. The group laughed, endeared by the boy. Charles rose from
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