"We'll leave at half past two and be there by three. Is that ok?" he asked her.

She nodded. "I would've loved to go on a Saturday though."

"I know, same here, but my mother insists that the best time to go is during the week. I didn't bother fighting the logic," he chuckled as she fixed his tie.

"Well, she does know best, so we'll just have to follow her advice. Does she know what our intentions are?" she asked.

"I think she's pretty much guessed it by now. I told her that you wanted to be a part of the foundation, and I think she believes that, but I don't think she believes that that's entirely our reasoning for going to the orphanage," he explained.

"Do you think I should have lunch with her?" she asked worriedly.

"I mean, it would mean the world to her, but only if you want to," he replied quickly.

She raised an eyebrow, amused. "You've wanted me to for a while, haven't you?"

"I know you guys bonded and all, but I just want you to be able to look to her for advice and what not. I know she'd like for you to see her as your mom too," he responded.

"I already see her as a mother to me, but I get what you're saying. I'll call her when we get to work. Speaking of, we should probably head out. It is after all our official first day working together," she reminded.

"How are you feeling about that?" he asked as they headed downstairs.

I'm a bit nervous, but going in last week helped with settling in. I at least have an idea of the kind of environment I'm heading into," she replied.

"Well, I for one am excited to see how this works out. How is my schedule looking for the day?" he questioned.

"It's thankfully not that busy, so we should be able to head to the orphanage with no hiccups. Most of your meetings are in the morning," she informed.

He grabbed them some breakfast to go. "Am I meeting with any departments?"

"Yep! The marketing team is pitching a brand-new campaign to you at nine," she said, looking at her tablet.

"That's better than listening to the human resources department give back a report. Those people have allowed me to perfect my skill of sleeping with my eyes wide open," he joked.

She laughed. "May they never find out that you don't listen to their poor souls."

They headed out in his sedan and it was a car ride filled with mundane conversation before they reached the partly empty parking lot. It was six in the morning and not a lot of people had arrived yet. They'd gone in that early in the name of settling in before things got too hectic.

They both agreed that they'd eat breakfast separately since Xavier needed to check his emails, while she wanted to make sure that everything on her laptop was up and running. Xavier had instructed Emery to get it to the IT guys to set up.

Xavier's day kicked off with a meeting at seven. Diamond successfully lead his clients to the boardroom before giving them their space. She felt giddy about completing the task successfully, but she quickly admonished herself.

The meeting was long, and she could understand why. He was meeting with one of the potential investors that the board had agreed needed to be brought on board. She knew that he was working his charm, and she understood that she needed to be prepared for any kind of mood from him.

To distract herself, she decided to get a head start on calling her mother in law. "Diamond? This is a pleasant surprise!"

"Good morning Ms Kingston. I'm calling to find out if you're free to do lunch today. I'd like to talk to you about the orphanage before we go," Diamond replied.

Dorothy smiled to myself. "Are you looking for my advice on adopting?"

"So, you are aware of our plans then?" Diamond said, laughing a little.

"Dear, my son has never truly been interested in what goes on at the foundation. Even though he tried to convince me that it's all on you, I could tell that there was an air of excitement in his voice. I knew then that whatever you were planning on doing at the orphanage was something close to his heart," Dorothy explained.

"We'd like to keep it a secret from everyone else, but I felt like I needed to talk to someone else about it, particularly a mother figure," Diamond said.

Her thoughts trailed off to Greer. It had been three days since their dinner with the Wellingtons and she was on edge, something she was hiding from her husband. They'd called in a favour from some people at the hospital, and they were told that they'd have the results by Tuesday the latest.

She was nervous about what they would say.

"Diamond? Are you still there?" Dorothy asked when her daughter in law wasn't saying anything.

"Uh, yeah, sorry. I got lost in thought," Diamond snapped out of it.

"That's fine. I was asking if twelve is fine with you," Dorothy said.

Diamond beamed since Xavier wouldn't need her around then. "It's perfect!"

"I have the perfect restaurant in mind. I will send you the address," Dorothy informed.

"Alright, thanks," Diamond replied before hanging up.

"There she is," a new voice said to her, making her smile.

"There he is! Where have you been?" she asked, getting up to hug him.

"I went to see my parents for the weekend, but you can't tell Emery. I wanted to talk to them about her. They were pretty bummed to learn that she doesn't really have any family left, but I found out that her aunt is actually one of my mom's closest friends. Apparently, she approves of our relationship," Everett explained.

"Who? Aunt Sage?" Diamond asked.

"She told you about her?" Everett asked, surprised.

"I know everything about my best friend Rett," Diamond laughed.

He chuckled. "Sorry. It just took so long for her to open up to me about her family that I didn't think you knew."

"I think it was easy for her to tell me because I opened up to her first about my life. Our friendship kicked off on a solid foundation with no secrets. There's nothing she can hide from me now," she replied.

"Fair enough. Can you hide something from her?" he questioned.

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you want?"

"I kind of made a mess of my proposal, and even though she said yes, I want a more romantic do over," he responded.

"What do you have in mind?" she smiled.

He sighed. "Nothing; I have NOTHING in mind."

She laughed, which is the sight her husband returned to. "What's got you so tickled?"

"Your best friend is a mess," Diamond wheezed.

Rett rolled his eyes as the three of them headed into Xavier's office. "Your wife is of no help."

"What do you need help with?" Xavier chuckled.

"A do-over proposal," Everett replied.

"How exactly did the first one go?" Diamond asked.

Everett knew that he would regret telling them, but he did anyway. The two of them laughed at him for a good five minutes, but he couldn't help but smile from how happy they looked.

"Rett buddy, you're a romantic at heart, I'll give you that," Xavier commented.

"I agree with Xav. As funny as that was, your proposal was actually cute. I don't think you can actually top it off," Diamond pointed out.

Everett scowled. "But I can't just leave things as they are."

"True. What you're looking towards is a surprise romantic vacation away where you can give her an actual ring. I highly doubt she expects you to propose again," Diamond suggested.

"Ok, that makes sense, but when do we take this vacation?" he asked.

"At any point that you deem perfect. Only you will know," Xavier told him.

"And you'll give me the time off?" Everett asked him.

"I'll even hand you the jet," Xavier chuckled.

Everett beamed. "Then I know when we're going to take it."

"In two months' time," Diamond guessed.

"How? How did you even guess that?" Everett asked, confused.

Diamond laughed as she walked out of the office. "It's her birthday."

Everett shook his head, turning to his best friend. "She knows too much."

"It's a superpower of hers. Congratulations on your engagement by the way," Xavier said as he sat down. Everett sat opposite him.

"Thanks. It really was random, but I don't regret it one bit," he responded.

"You normally don't once your heart has made up its mind," Xavier responded.

"Anyway, you look happy and well rested," Everett commented.

Xavier smiled. "Getting married is proving to be the best thing I've ever done so far."

"What more could you possibly want to do?" Everett chuckled.

"Have kids and retire," Xavier defended.

"I highly doubt you're retiring any time soon. You love working too much," Everett argued.

Xavier shrugged. "True, but with the amount of money I've made, I could retire now and never look back. I'm telling you man; marriage life is beautiful."

"Well, I can't say I'm complaining seeing you like this. It's all I've ever wanted for you since, you know," Everett replied.

"We bumped into her," Xander remembered, scowling.

"You did? When?" Everett asked.

"In Bangkok- she must've been there for a shoot. She was quite pleased to see me, until she found out that I'm married. Diamond put her in place in the classiest way," Xavier informed, smiling at the memory.

"That's our girl, but you and I both know it won't end there. Thea was always sure that you'd go back to her even after everything," Everett reminded.

Xavier sighed. "I know, but I'm ready for her. There's nothing she can do to get to me this time round. I just need to make sure that she can't touch my wife either. Diamond doesn't need my mess affecting her life in any kind of way."

"Fair enough. We'll look into it, but you should talk to her. She should know to always be on high alert," Everett warned.

Xavier nodded. "Agreed."

The rest of the morning flowed and at eleven thirty, Diamond left the office for lunch with her mother in law. Xavier handed her the keys to his car, making a mental note to get her a car of her own.

She drove through the lunch time traffic but managed to still make it on time. She handed the valet the keys before heading into the high-class restaurant. She was secretly grateful for her upgraded wardrobe because of how intimidating the place and the people in it were.

It was no secret that it was accommodating the well-off members of society.

"You have the same look I had when I first walked in here," Dorothy teased as she stood up to welcome her.

Diamond laughed a little, hugging her. "It's intimidating."

"I actually wanted to talk to you about that because I know my son probably didn't even think about it," Dorothy said as they sat down.

"What? How intimidating this place is?" Diamond asked, confused.

Dorothy smiled. "No dear. How to handle this side of society."

"Oh- yeah, he hasn't, but I figured being myself was the key," Diamond replied.

"And I'm glad that's how you see it. I was actually going to tell you just that, but I was also going to add that you shouldn't let anyone intimidate or try to change you. There are many who will look down on you, especially the women, old and young," Dorothy pointed out.

Diamond raised an eyebrow. "Old?"

The waiter came and took their drink orders before walking away. "Over the years, people have watched Xavier's progress. When he and Thea split, a lot of these families basically sold their daughters, nieces and granddaughters to me as the perfect replacement for Thea. For him to be married to someone who isn't from this side of the world will not only make them curious about you, but it will prompt some of them to be nasty towards you and want to break your character or mess with your marriage in some way," Dorothy explained.

"And how do I go about navigating that?" Diamond asked after a while of digesting the new information.

"You already have a strong head on your shoulders, and I know that we haven't seen the parts of you that were moulded by your past, but I believe in that you'll know how to handle yourself at the time. I know for a fact that Xavier couldn't care less how you react because he'll just see it as you defending yourself, and I agree, but I must at least advise you to always take the high road. Some of these things are not worth losing your cool over. Just stay cool in every situation, and always trust in what you and Xavier have. My son has never loved any other woman the way he loves you. For as long as you trust that, everything around you will fall into place and you will earn the respect you deserve from even the most uptight people," Dorothy advised.

Diamond smiled. "I guess it also helps that my in laws are already so respected."

Dorothy laughed. "That does count in your advantage, but we'll always stand up for you. You are one of us now."

"Thank you, Dorothy, for everything," Diamond said seriously.

"Oh no dear, you're the one who deserves all the thanks in the world for saving my son," Dorothy argued.

"He saved me too," Diamond admitted.

"Then I can only be happier about that. Anyway, you wanted my advice on the adoption situation," Dorothy reminded.

"It's not so much your advice on the adoption. I want to be a mom, and I'm confident in that not only am I ready for it, but I'm going to be a great mom. I'm just worried that Xavier is yielding to my wants too easily," Diamond elaborated.

"There's no such thing. No one can make Xavier do anything that he doesn't want to or can't do," Dorothy said.

Diamond scowled. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that whatever you're worried about, you shouldn't be. My son is the most analytical person I know. He's gone through this situation thoroughly in his head. He's worked out everything that could possibly need working out. Hell, knowing him, he probably has a whole folder with his breakdown of everything, so really, you just have to corner him into sharing his true thoughts with you," Dorothy explained.

"Are you serious?" Diamond asked, wide eyed.

"Xavier has always wanted a family of his own to add onto our little family, something he thinks I don't know. If he told you that he's on board with having kids, then he's on board," Dorothy replied.

"We're going to adopt three kids," Diamond said lowly.

It was Dorothy's turn to be wide eyed. "At once?"

Diamond nodded. "I explained to him that it works out best that way. If we adopt them all at once, then all of us find our groove together. Nothing is as terrifying to an adopted child as the thought of being replaced, so it makes sense to adopt them all at once and then get used to being a family together."

"I would have never thought of it like that," Dorothy confessed.

"Most people don't. It's mostly something you have to experience to understand," Diamond said with a tight smile.

"Well, I'm certainly on board, especially with that explanation, and I definitely understand your worries where my son is concerned, but like I said, if he agreed, he's already thought it through. However, talk to him about it to make sure that you're at ease before the two of you do anything," Dorothy recommended.

"That definitely sounds like a plan. Thank you," Diamond smiled.

"It's my pleasure dear. It's what I'm here for. Now, Xavier tells me you're interested in helping me with the foundation..."

Diamond couldn't help but laugh before the waiter came to take their lunch orders. The two of them spoke about the foundation and how Diamond could be involved. Dorothy found herself falling more and more in love with her daughter in law.

She reminded her of her younger self so much that she was confident in that she'd make it in their world just fine.

Being a woman without many limitations, Dorothy tried her luck at mentioning the events management idea to the young woman again. Diamond simply blushed and told her that she could never be anything but a personal assistant.

The truth was that the very idea of doing anything else terrified her.

She'd been told so many times before that she'd never amount to anything, and when she found that she made a great personal assistant, fear kept her there. She didn't want to risk trying something else, only to find that it doesn't work out for her.

"What's holding you back Diamond?" Dorothy asked her, noting the hesitation.

"I just don't think I'll be good at it. I've never done anything like that before," Diamond replied.

Dorothy smiled. "You just sat here and told me that you're ready to be a mother to three kids at once. You've never been a mother either."

"Touché. Alright, how about I shadow you at some of these things and we'll see how things go from there?" Diamond suggested.

"That sounds like a plan. We can have you plan and execute an event later, and we'll see how you feel after that," Dorothy added.

"Deal!" Diamond beamed.

They enjoyed the rest of their lunch before Diamond realized that she needed to get back to the office before Xavier's next meeting. She made it just in time to see the clients to the conference room. Her husband winked at her and she returned a smile before heading back to her desk.

"I came looking for you, but you weren't here."

She looked up to meet the warm eyes of her best friend. "Sorry. I went out to lunch with my mother in law."

"Ooh, how was that?" Emery asked, taking a seat before her.

"It was lovely, she's lovely. I've earned a mother through this marriage and I couldn't be happier," Diamond replied, until she saw the slight change in her best friend's expression.

"Ree, I'm so sor-"

"It's ok Dee. I'm happy for you. I mean, I at least grew up with my mom. You can't say the same, so I'm happy that Dorothy is that for you," Emery told her.

She bit her lip, keeping from telling her about the dinner with the Wellingtons.

"How are things with you and Rett?" she instead asked.

"They're going good, but I haven't seen him since Friday and he wouldn't tell me where he was going for the weekend," Emery huffed.

Diamond scowled. "Has he at least called you since?"

"Nope. His phone is off," Emery replied.

Diamond could only pin it down to Everett having some grand surprise in place.

"I'm sure he'll call," she comforted.

Emery sighed. "I'm counting on it. I'm trying to distract myself as it is. Can we do dinner tonight and properly catch up?"

"I wish we could, but Xav and I have plans. How about tomorrow night? We can rope Macy in and meet up at her place?" Diamond suggested.

"Alright! That I can do. I'll even arrange everything," Emery said excitedly as she got up.

"I'm afraid of the look on your face," Diamond laughed.

"Oh, you should be," Emery said as she walked away.

Diamond shook her head, smiling, before getting back to her work. Xavier's meeting finished and he wanted to push some documents before they left. When he was done, they headed out, driving in silence as they gave into their anxiety.

"Are you ready for this?" he asked her once they were parked outside the orphanage.

"No, but you're here with me, so I feel that much better," she replied.

He kissed the back of her hand. "Always."

They headed inside and met up with the owner of the orphanage. They were led to an office where they were interviewed. They were asked about their personalities, their personal lives, their relationship and what it is they were looking for.

They were more than happy to answer everything required of them.

"The adoption process can either be quick or it can be long and tedious, so I can't really say how this will go, especially since you're adopting so many kids at once, but I personally like you, and I especially like the consideration you've taken going into this. The social worker will come and assess everything, though given who you are, I can't imagine she'll find anything wrong. In the meantime, would you like to see the kids? A lot of them should be back by now," Theresa, the owner, offered.

"We'd love to," the couple replied.

With the interview having taken up a lot of their time, they didn't have time to spend with the kids, so they settled for watching them from afar after agreeing to return during the weekend.

"I think we've found our eight and five-year olds," Xavier commented.

"Oh, did you see him Xav? He's so precious," she cooed, referring to five-year-old Thurston.

"I know. I feel the same about India," he replied.

"Definitely! We're spending more time with them on Saturday for sure," she said excitedly.

They headed home, stopping for dinner on the way, and they were both pretty excited about their trip. Xavier unlocked the door while his wife continued to ramble on, but a swishing sound brought his attention to the envelope that he'd just kicked on his way in.

"What's that?" Diamond asked.

He opened the envelope before a grim look took over his features. "It's the DNA results."

"And?"