Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

Chapter 412 - Fabricated Truth

Joshua dragged his body, cursing the people who were disturbing his sweet time with Ivy. He wanted to watch her more and adore her while she slept blissfully. But someone out there had other ideas in mind and had come to disrupt his plans. He ran his hand through his hair, combing his messy hairstyle. He had not even bothered to look at the mirror before he left his room for he was sure that he would be back in five minutes.

In a fit to make the uninvited guests leave, he did not bother to check who was on the intercom. Instead, he opened the door directly, ready to hurl curses at them, preparing a list of all the bad words he knew. However, his mind stopped working the moment he saw the people who had come to visit him. His jaw dropped in shock and he stared at him wide-eyed.

"Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?" 

His shocked face was nothing but comical to the couple who had decided to surprise him first thing in the morning. Since the time Noah had disclosed about Joshua's girlfriend, Martin had not been able to control his excitement. And immediately after reaching home, he had relayed to information to his wife, Hazel. Just like him, she was too was over the moon and shed happy tears. Her son had finally moved on in life and gotten himself a girlfriend. 

They wanted to visit their son immediately, but seeing how late it was and how they did not want to attract their son's anger, they had decided to visit him first thing in the morning. Joshua gawked at his parents, who stood before him with wide smiles and vigor. In his state of shock, he forgot to invite them in as he kept staring at the people, who he had last met a few months ago. If not for Noah's sudden accident, he would have stayed with them for a month or two.

Hazel grinned seeing her son's dumbfounded face and she took a step forward to hug him, who was too frozen to return the hug. However, Martin had something else altogether in his mind. "Aren't you going to invite us in, son?" He queried, putting a facade of being annoyed at his behavior, though it was far from it. He was reeling in the happiness of rendering his son speechless for the first time in his life. 

Martin's stern voice brought Joshua out of his shock and he moved aside to make way for them. "I am sorry. Dad, Mom, what a pleasant surprise!" He chirped, a smile making its way on his face, even though he was still perplexed by their sudden return to the country without informing him.

They made their way towards the hall, with his parents wandering their eyes in all directions hoping to find the glimpse of the girl who had taken their son's heart. They already knew that Joshua and Ivy were staying together and this was one of the reasons for them to drop by this early. They did not want to miss out on her on the pretext of her work. However, to their dismay, they could find no one in the house, or the ground floor at least.

A look of surprise flashed through their eyes when realization hit them and they blinked at each other. Barely a second had passed, their eyes drifted towards Joshua's room, a smile landing on their lips. Joshua noticed their strange behavior and he frowned lightly, an ominous feeling spreading in his mind. 'Why do I sense something to be off here? Why are Dad and Mom behaving weird?' Although the questions kept making their presence known one by one, he could not deduce the answers to them.

"Dad, Mom, when did you return home?" He put forth the question again as they sat on the sofa.

His question snapped their focus and they fixed their eyes on their son. Martin cleared his throat in embarrassment on being caught and their awkward behavior only added more to Joshua's suspicion. He narrowed his eyes dangerous, an action which both, Hazel and Martin missed.

'I am definite now that Mom and Dad are hiding something from me.' An answer popped up in his mind and his heart skipped a beat when he thought through it. 'Did they find out about Ivy? Is this the reason they have returned home?'

"We returned three days back." Hazel was the first to answer and Joshua raised his eyebrow at her.

"What? Why didn't you guys tell me?" His voice rose, his frustration making its presence known. "I would have come to receive you."

"Oh, really?" Martin scoffed, folding his hands. "Would you really come to receive us when you last threatened us to not take a step here until you told us to?" Although there was no change in his emotions, Joshua could tell that his father was furious at him. And Joshua too was infuriated with himself. He had uttered the words in a moment of anger. If not for his parents pestering to move on and find another girl himself, he would not even have spoken to them as such.

Guilt and regret took over him and he lowered his head in shame. "I am sorry. I shouldn't have behaved that way. I shouldn't have spoken those words to you guys. I am really sorry."

Hazel admonished her husband silently for bringing up the past when they clearly knew that Joshua had no intentions of hurting them. It was his rage and sadness that had spoken, not him. She shook her head, warning Martin to not continue with the matter and Martin sighed lightly.

"Joshua, it's okay. That was all in the past. You were upset and we understand why you said all those words to us. We were at fault too. We should have given you the time and space to put yourself together, instead of pestering you to find someone and move on." Hazel held her son's hands in hers and pressed on them lightly. "We are sorry too."

"No, no. Mom, Dad, you guys were not wrong. I was too lost and depressed to understand your concerns."

"Ahem," Martin coughed loudly, stopping the mother and the son from taking a trip down the memory lane and talk about the past. "Why are we bringing up depressing matters when we should be talking about happy and good things?" He hinted at Hazel and she nodded at him, an evil idea popping in her mind.

"Umm, Jo?" She tried to change the topic and Joshua faced her, waiting for her to continue. "We heard something about you when you were in Canada." She started and that was all it took for Joshua to put two and two together. From and their smiles and teasing gazes, he was sure that they had found out about Ivy.

'Is this the reason they are back to the country?' Although he had guessed about their intentions, he chose to remain silent. 'What if they are talking about something else? I cannot allow them to have an upper hand, although I don't mind telling them about Ivy. Yes,' His eyes sparkled in delight. 'I can tell them about Ivy. There is nothing to hide from them. They will only be happy to know about her.'

"And, what might that be?" Joshua did not show any signs of panic and Martin smiled to himself.

"About your new girlfriend. We heard that you have found a girl for yourself." Hazel continued and the couple observed him closely for any changes in his expressions. However, the man's expression did not waver, as though he had expected this outcome.

"So, you guys have heard it," Joshua commented, nodding his head lightly. "It is true."

"Ohh, Noah was not lying then. For a second, I thought that he was playing with us." Martin muttered absent-mindedly.

"What? Noah revealed about it to you. When?" Joshua's eyes winded and his voice rose an octave hearing his father. 

Realizing what he had done, Martin wanted to bite his tongue off. But he also knew that there was no harm in telling the truth, which was nothing but a fabricated lie. "Few days ago when I had contacted him."

"I see. I will take care of him later." Joshua mumbled. "It is the truth. I have found someone I really like and I am sure she is the one I want to spend my entire life with." Joshua replied in all honesty, not averting his gaze away from his parents. Hazel and Martin could feel the sincerity in his words. There was no pretense or hesitation in them. He was really serious about the girl, unlike the times they had found him with other women with no intentions of taking things further.

"Oh my God." Hazel cupped her mouth, his eyes tearing up in happiness. "Oh my God."

"Mom," Joshua panicked seeing his mother cry. "I don't think that me being in a relationship is a bad matter for you to cry." He joked, only to earn a small punch on his chest.

"These are tears of happiness, you silly." Hazel scolded him and she wiped her tears, taking a look at Martin who was beaming in joy. "We are very happy for you, son."

"Tell us about this girl. How is she like? Is she here? Can we meet her? Have you told her about us?" Martin leaned forward and fired his questions at his son, not allowing him to open his mouth.

"Dad, Dad, Dad, relax. One question at a time, please."

"Okay, okay. It's just that I am unable to control my excitement thinking about my daughter-in-law. Tell us about this girl." Martin controlled his excitement even though it was too hard for him to do.

"Her name is Ivy and she is a journalist and she..." Before Joshua could continue, a pleasant voice resonated through the hall.

"Joshua, why were you not in bed? I wanted to see you the moment I woke up. The bed was cold and I missed your cuddles...." Ivy stopped suddenly when she noticed the couple who were scrutinizing her. Her eyes drifted between Joshua and the couple before it settled on her man who had a teasing smile on his face. She raised her eyebrows, asking him silently who they were.

"Umm, Mom, Dad, this is Ivy. Ivy, they are my parents."