"Since when did you get a girlfriend?"

"Congrats man."

"When do we meet her? What's her name?"

"Colton, why did you throw the spoon on the floor?"

"No, papa!"

"Man, I did not see that coming."

"Thank you Lord for answering my prayers and letting my baby not live his life alone."

"Fucking finally."

Xavier closed his eyes and let out an annoyed sigh as everyone's voices overlapped one another. It was as if they were competing to see who could talk the loudest. He rubbed his temples tiredly, looking around at the chaos that had begun to take place in the large dining room.

"I can hear the wedding bells ringing."

"Oh, their babies are going to look so beautiful!"

"Ma, you don't even know who she is or what she looks like."

"I bet she's hot."

"Really Elijah? How many times do I have to tell you to stop using that term to describe women!"

Everyone continued to talk over each other until their mother's loud authoritative voice immediately silenced the room, her commanding presence demanded everyone's attention. Similar to Xavier, their father sat quietly on the sidelines— and yes, in this household, Isabella was the one in charge.

"Quiet!" Shouted Isabella. Even though she was a small woman compared to everybody else in the room, she was someone you did not want to go against. She was able to make all the men in the family listen to her because, in this household, her words were declared final. Even Colton stared up at his grandmother, giving her his undivided attention.

As the head of her own high-end fashion brand, none of her employees dared to go against Isabella Knight. She was a force to be reckoned with, but only if you get on her bad side. Her husband, the great Alexander Knight, original founder and CEO of Knight Industries, made sure to keep his wife happy because if she was happy, then he was happy.

It was silent again until Elijah decided to speak up again, not paying his mother any attention.

"You never answered my question. Is she hot?" Asked Elijah, completely ignoring his sister's request. He looked around as everyone groaned and looked at him with disbelief. "What? It's an innocent question."

"Innocent my ass," muttered Maddie, reaching over to wack the back of his head with her hand. "Don't talk about my best friend like that."

"Ow! What was that for?" Complained Elijah. He looked up to see Xavier glaring at him, causing him to throw his hands up in defense. He was giving Elijah one of his infamous Xavier Knight glares that made the latter back off immediately.

"Your mean Aurora?" Asked Isabella, looking wide-eyed at her daughter. "Did you finally introduce them?"

"No ma, she didn't introduce us," he sighed, running his hand through his hair before giving Maddie a pointed look. "How come everyone here knows about that?"

Maddie shrugged and then cheered with excitement, clapping her hands together. And like usual, she chose to ignore her brother. "They're finally dating!"

"It's not like you had anything to do with it," grunted Xavier, rolling his eyes when Maddie looked at him with an unamused look.

"What do you mean I had nothing to do with it? I had everything to do with it!" Argued Maddie, giving her brother an accusatory glare. "I was the one who pushed you to go talk to her that day."

He rolled his eyes, causing Maddie to roll her eyes as well. "I've been talking to her before we even made the connection that you were her best friend."

Everyone looked back and forth between the two bickering siblings, not quite understanding what was going on, but kind of getting the gist of everything.

Isabella looked at her children with a small smile because, even though they were two grown adults arguing, it brought her back to their teenage years where they often argued over the smallest things. Alexander took his wife's hand in a gentle hold as she thought of how time passed by so quickly.

"I guess," muttered Maddie stubbornly. "But if it weren't for me, who knows how long it would've taken for you guys to get together."

"It would've happened eventually," mumbled Xavier with a disgruntled expression on his face. In a way, it may have been because of Maddie that they were together now. Not that he was ever going to admit that to her face.

It was quiet again until Megan spoke up with a soft voice. "What's she like?"

She loved her brother and to hear that he had finally found someone that made him happy made her happy. But there was still a small part of her that was worried— worried because there were a lot of women who would take advantage of Xavier's trust for their own selfishness. And not just Xavier, but all of her brothers. She was glad she didn't have to worry about her sisters since they both had found loyal and kind men.

Even though Maddie had talked about Aurora a lot of the time, her family had never met her in person. But based on what Maddie had said, it seemed like Aurora was an angel— always thinking of Maddie's family despite never meeting them before.

Back when Maddie and Aurora were roommates, there would be instances where Maddie would stay the weekend at Aurora's home. She would come home with a bunch of snacks and fruit that Aurora and her family insist she brings home to share.

Xavier thought for a moment before speaking up. "She's amazing and beautiful. I think you'll like her."

His answer was simple, but there was so much he could say about Aurora. He could go on about her all day and it still wouldn't be enough. Aurora was more than just amazing and beautiful. She was quickly becoming his everything.

Isabella looked at Xavier with happiness, watching his facial expression soften as he talked about his girlfriend. Isabella had always been worried about Xavier, especially since he was very similar to her husband. She was afraid he would only focus on work as a way to cope with the loneliness he was feeling inside.

She knew how tough it was taking over the family business— knowing that people would take advantage of his trust just to ruin him. It was one of the reasons why he had to create a coldhearted facade to protect him and his close ones from vicious people.

Feeling her husband's soft gaze on her, she gave him a beaming smile, squeezing his hand under the table. Aurora was often brought up in this family because Maddie would never stop talking about her amazing best friend. Based on what she's heard, she was delighted knowing that Aurora was the one making her son happy.

"Trust me, you guys will love Rory," added Maddie."I think I've talked about her a couple of times before, but she is the sweetest person you'll ever meet."

Xavier gave her a grateful smile, knowing that Maddie would have nothing but good things to say about her best friend.

"You've definitely mentioned her more than a couple of times Mads," Elijah interjected his sister sassily. She looked at him with an unamused look that made him immediately shut his mouth.

"She is amazing though," agreed Liam, speaking up after a while of staying silent. "She works for me and there's nobody at the company that doesn't like her. She's incredibly talented and kindhearted. Although Xavier, as one of your friends, well to be fair, one of your only friends, I am kind of hurt, you never told me about her."

Lucas decided this was the perfect time to chime in as well. "I would also like that add that I am too, kind of hurt that you never told me either."

Both men crossed their arms and turned to look at Xavier at the same time. Xavier rolled his eyes. It was creepy how despite not being related to each other at all, they managed to sync up their gestures and have a similar look on their faces.

"Hi, I'm here too," proclaimed Damien, munching on a piece of meat as he reminded everyone of his presence. "I'm feeling kind of betrayed because I should've been the first one he told."

"No one asked you, idiot," Liam muttered.

"What makes you better than us? We should've all been told at the same time," argued Lucas.

Liam nodded in agreement, clapping Lucas on the back. "All four of us should've been told at the same time. Right, Ethan?"

Ethan looked up at the other men with a guilty expression, pausing in the middle of feeding Colton. "Sorry guys, I already knew. I was with Steph when we saw them at the restaurant."

All three men voiced out a sound of disapproval, proceeding with sending their friend a glare.

Xavier rolled his eyes at the 4 grown men who were now arguing. "You guys are a bunch of idiots."

"I can't believe my baby found someone," murmured Isabella. "Can you believe it, honey?"

"Of course I can, my love," Alexander gave his wife a loving smile before turning to look at his son. "It just took a little time that's all."

Alexander gave him a warm smile that spoke more than words. If anything, Alexander understood his son more than other people. It felt as if he was staring at his younger self.

Alexander Knight was a quiet man— one who would do anything for his wife and family. As Xavier grew into the man that he is today, Alexander often saw himself in Xavier. It was why he understood where Xavier was coming from. Being in this business himself, he knew how tough it was to be able to trust the right people. Although never voicing his worry, he was always afraid Xavier would be more closed off than he was when he was younger.

Stephanie took over with feeding Colton as her husband continued to childishly argue with the other men. You would think that they would behave like adults when they were all either over or almost 30 years old. "I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw them together. But, I'm happy for you Xav."

"Me too," chirped Megan, the happiest she has sounded the whole day. "I'm really happy for you big brother."

"Mwe too," repeated Colton, not knowing what he was saying, but repeating it regardless. "I real hap fo you big bwoter."

Chuckles rang out throughout the dining hall as they looked in awe at the toddler who was happy he was receiving everyone's attention.

"Thanks, Steph. Thanks, kiddo," Xavier leaned over to ruffle his baby sister's hair to which she quickly protested. Colton giggled happily as he pressed his tiny knuckles against his uncles' in a fist-bump. "But is it really hard to believe that I have a girlfriend?"

A chorus of 'yeses' rang out, causing Xavier to roll his eyes as he disagreed. Even Colton screamed out a 'yes' when his favorite word was 'no'. Was it that hard to believe? Apparently so.

"Did you already meet her parents?" Asked Ethan, taking Colton out of his highchair and settling the squirming toddler onto his lap. Stephanie wiped Colton's mouth and removed his bib. Xavier couldn't help but think that they were amazing parents.

"We just started dating two weeks ago," replied Xavier to which his mother voiced her disappointment in him that he didn't tell her. "But, I did meet her mom accidentally last weekend."

Maddie beamed. "Mama Young's the best. She makes the best homemade popcorn chicken in the world."

"Her popcorn chicken is the best," agreed Liam, salivating as he thought of it.

"How would you even know that?" Asked Lucas.

"Her family dinners."

"You're really attending everyone's family dinners?" Damien was in disbelief as he raised an eyebrow in question. Liam nodded enthusiastically.

Everyone shook their heads. As a billionaire himself, one would think he had the money to provide himself with food, yet he enjoyed going around attending all his friend's family dinners.

"I was at your parents' house last night," Liam looked at Lucas with a slight smirk on his face.

"But our family dinners are on Sundays," Lucas looked at his friend with a mixed expression of confusion and betrayal.

Liam shrugged causing his friend to glare at him. "I know."

Isabella spoke up before the arguing continued.

"Well, now that Xavier's all settled, it's time for my oldest son to find a girlfriend," Isabella leaned forward with a sparkle in her eye that screamed that she was up to no good. "One of my designers just got out of a relationship and she's very single at the moment. Plus, she's a very smart and pretty girl."

Damien gave his mother a flat look. "Really ma?"

"I mean, if Damien doesn't want her, I'll take her," offered Elijah with an innocent tone in his voice. But they all knew he was far from innocent.

Groans erupted from the room as they all disagreed with Elijah's idea.

Elijah pouted, digging his fork into his food. "It's like you all hate me or something."

"We don't hate you. You're just an idiot."

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Happy Friday, loves! I hope you guys didn't wait too long for this update. We're almost at 10k reads! Can yall believe it? This is so crazy and I would like to thank each and every one of you for reading. It really means the world to me. (update: 1 hr after posting this chapter, we reached 10k!!!!! <3)

Some exciting news: I have a few new story ideas lined up and I actually finished the outline for one of them. I'm really excited because I actually thought them through and I think you guys will really like it. I'm not sure when it'll be out since I am still working on planning the storyline. I probably won't start it until I'm done with this story because I don't think I can handle consistent updates if I were to start a new book and I really don't want to give up half way through.

Also, I was just wondering: Do you guys prefer reading in first person or third person?

On that note, please let me know what you think about this chapter! Thank you for voting, commenting, and simply reading Yours, Forever. I hope you had an amazing week and I hope you have an lovely weekend! Sending you lots of love <3