IN LOVE WITH A SOLDIER, VOLUME 2 - Season 11 Episode 8

In the morning, Mike and Amanda were still sound asleep. The phone on the nightstand yanked them from their dreams, shattering their slumber.

“Mike, pick up the phone,” Amanda said and gave him a nudge.

“Okay,” answered Mike sleepily. He stretched out his arm and reached for the phone. He squinted and saw the name on the screen.

“Hi, Dad, why did you call so early? I was sleeping,” Mike said bluntly.

“You a-hole! You haven’t seen me for almost two weeks! Am I your father or not? Shouldn’t you be around to lend me a hand?” Soren complained. He thought that he must have spoiled Mike too much while the kid was growing up. He needed to show him some parental authority.

“Fine, Dad, I’ll drop by in a few days,” Mike answered briefly. He wanted to make the call quick as he was cuddling Amanda in his other arm.

“A few days. Try today. I have something to tell you,” Soren ordered. A lot of people were willing to follow his orders, unfortunately, his son, Mike, wasn’t one of these people.

“I can’t make it today, I have other plans,” Mike instantly opened his eyes and answered. Today was a big day for him, he was already busy.

“What plans?” asked Soren.

Mike wasn’t planning to tell his father before it was done. So he answered, “Fine, Dad, I’ll come by tonight. I have a surprise for you.”

“What surprise? As long as you don’t give me a heart attack,” said Soren. There was nothing he could do about his son, other than agree. “Okay, tonight then. And don’t come by too late,”

“I know. Listen I’m fading fast, so I think I’ll try and catch a few more zzzs. Bye Dad.” Mike hung up after he said that.

“What did your father want?” Amanda asked. She knew it was Soren calling just now.

“He wants us to come by today,” Mike answered, opening his eyes again. The drowsiness was gone, he didn’t want to go back sleep any more. Besides, today was a important day for him, he needed to get ready.

“So, should we head to his place first, then…” Amanda was interrupted by Mike before she could finish her sentence.

“No, I told him tonight,” Mike looked at the clock on the wall and answered, “It’s nine, if we get up now, we should make it there before ten.”

“Okay,” answered Amanda with a bright smile on her face.

Mike kissed her on her forehead, then they both got up.

Eleven o’clock in the morning, Amanda and Mike walked out of the marriage registration office, arm-in-arm, with marriage license in their hand and smiles on their faces.

“Now, we’re legally married. Nobody can tear us apart anymore,” said Amanda with joy in her tone.

“That’s right, it took a lot of work to get your father’s approval,” answered Mike. At this moment, seeing the smile on Amanda’s face, he felt joy like he never had before. Seeing her happy was everything.

“Everything we did was worth it. Honey, you’re the best. You know, the moment you proposed to me, I was happy,” Amanda said with love in her eyes.

“Really?” Mike asked, “So do you think we should go to your dad to show off, or go to my dad first and tell him about us?”

“Your family first,” answered Amanda. Suddenly, she realized that what she had said wasn’t appropriate any more, so she changed, “No, I mean, we should go to our family first. I’m a member of your family now.”

Seeing how excited Amanda was, Mike said seriously, “Mandy, from now on, It’s on me to make sure you’re happy.”

They weren’t the sweetest words, but they were right from the heart. Amanda was moved. She said, “I believe in you!” “Let’s go, we need to tell Soren about us now,” said Mike, he grabbed Amanda’s hand and walked to their car.

“Mike, you shouldn’t call your father by his first name,” Amanda said.

“Right, to tell Dad,” he corrected himself. Mike was happy that Amanda had pointed out that.

“You should show more respect to him, you know,” said Amanda in a light tone.

“Yes, Sir!” Mike nodded to show that he obeyed her order. Then he mumbled, “Before we were even married, I’ve done everything for you.”

“What did you say?” asked Amanda. She heard him mumble something, just not exactly what.

“No, nothing,” answered Mike quickly.
Amanda didn’t ask again. She knew him well enough to guess what he was grumbling about. He resented the fact that in some ways, she ruled the roost.

And he resented most of all that he gave her that authority.

Then they drove to Soren’s. As they neared the villa, they could see their father waiting beside the gate.

Amanda smiled and greeted Soren the moment she stepped out of the car. She said, “Hi, Uncle.”

“Hi sunshine. About time you got here,” said Soren. He was in a great mood. He knew that his son was deeply in love with Amanda. Soren also liked her, she was mature, talented and even modest.

“Dad, let’s get inside, I have to tell you something,” said Mike as he walked towards Amanda, took her hand, and headed for the house.

“It better be good news. If it’s something bad, I’ll ground you for a month,” Soren joked as they walked towards the house.
In the living room, Soren looked at the couple sitting in front of him and waited for them to talk first. But they were both silent.

“What is it? Just go ahead. Spit it out,” Soren commanded.

Mike looked at Amanda and nodded. Amanda knew what he meant. She took the marriage license out of her purse and placed it on the table in front of Soren.

“Uncle — uh, I mean Dad… This is a marriage license. Mike and I tied the knot just before we came here,” she said with bright smile on her face.

“Wh…what?” Soren couldn’t believe what he just heard, he looked at his son and Amanda, and asked, “Y-you two got the license?”

“You bet,” answered Mike with pride in his voice.

Soren ignored his son. He still couldn’t believe what they said was true, he looked at Amanda, hurriedly asked, “Mandy, your father agreed to this?”

“Oh yeah,” Amanda answered, smiling. She gave a glance at Mike and said, “Mike talked this over with my father a lot. He finally greenlit our marriage.”

Then she added, “Dad, you know that my father has high hopes and a lot of pride. He always wanted me to marry a responsible man. He wanted to get to know Mike before he agreed. And so we visited a lot, and they got along pretty well. So he relented, and personally gave the deed to Mike yesterday so that we could get our marriage license.”

Soren was convinced, and felt extremely happy. He thought that Amanda’s father might have other reasons for not letting them get married in the first place, but her explanation made sense. He was happy to give his blessing — she was mature and thoughtful, his son would become a better man because of her.

“That’s great. Welcome to the family! Don’t worry, it’s your home now. I should get some rooms set up,” said Soren, he was too excited.

“Unc — I mean, Dad, I promise to be a great daughter-in-law,” said Amanda seriously.

Soren appreciated that this woman was always speaking appropriately, that was also what Soren liked the most about her. He wouldn’t worry about his son or his future after he married such a decent lady.

“Dad, now that we have the license, the wedding…” asked Mike hesitantly.

“I’ll arrange everything. After I sit down with Mandy’s father, we’ll nail down a date, and I’ll let you know. Don’t worry, I’m totally in charge,” answered Soren. He thought it was already his honor to have her as his daughter-in-law.

“OK,” said Mike, “By the way, we want to go to Provence for the pictures, is that ok?”

“Of course, anywhere you want, as long as you like, I’ll set that up. Finally, my connections have some value,” answered Soren. He was willing to do whatever his son and daughter-in-law asked.

“Thank you, Dad,” Amanda said politely.
“And, another thing, we need to redecorate my room. We’re going to live here after the wedding,” said Mike.

“Yeah, I figured you would,” Soren said firmly, “Sell your apartment, live here with me from now on. I’ve got so many rooms, you won’t want to live anywhere else.”

“OK, no problem,” Mike said.

Seeing how thoughtful his son was and how nice his daughter-in-law was, Soren never felt more satisfied than he was right now.

Standing on the balcony of the second floor, Mike enjoyed the view outside the window, and called Lawrence.

“Hi, Mike,” Lawrence picked up right away.

“Remember when we made a bet about who’d be married first? I just won that bet,” said Mike quietly.

“Amanda’s father agreed?” asked Lawrence. Although he wasn’t surprised at all, he knew Mike could do it.

“Yes, Mandy and I already have our marriage license,” said Mike and smiled. He wasn’t bragging.

“Congratulations,” said Lawrence. They knew each other too well, there was no need to say anything else.

“But until I held that piece of paper in my hand, I didn’t realize how much she means to me. That was when I understood that everyone has their own muse, you just need to fight with all you got to have her,” said Mike profoundly.

“Mike, I know she is your muse, she’ll bring you good luck,” said Lawrence. If there was one thing he knew, he knew women. Amanda was perfect for Mike, and they were going to have a wonderful life ahead of them.

“Yeah, she’s my one and only,” answered Mike, “Lawrence, you know, I’m so lucky too have you, Mandy and Dad in my life. To me, you guys are the best. I’m glad we met.”

“Bro,” replied Lawrence. The word was fraught with meanings. They were more than friends. Brothers to the end.