Private Finished Meeting Family

"Oh, why thank you!" Celeste replied, beaming happily. She had not expected Stefan to congratulate her on her impending nuptials.

"Roldan proposed to me on Valentine's. It was super romantic on his part," she said with a bit of a dreamy sigh as her gaze travelled downwards a little until she noticed that Zora and Stefan were holding hands. A gesture that made her smile.

"You two make a really lovely couple," she admitted. as she looked at both of them "Roldan and I were sort of like you two," she confessed unabashedly.

"We also hit it off right away... Although, because we both have kids, we decided to take things slow for their sake. Also, Roldan had just got out of his first marriage and didn't want to rush things, " she explained.

"Oh, I definitely agree changes can be very hard on children... Thankfully, Azure and Ieasha have been so great through all of this," she explained happily.

"We even ended up going on a family vacation last summer to Jamaica together. We saw it as a good chance for our families to get to know each other in a relaxed and fun way," she told them, remembering their vacation fondly and how she had been able to bond with Roldan's daughter, Iesha.

During Celeste's reminiscing, Zora found herself nodding in agreement. "A trip sounds like a good way to get to know someone better," she said as she looked Stefan and smiled as she remembered how they had talked about a trip somewhere together, and was, once again, most definitely looking forward to it.

"I was thinking Stefan and I could go away together soon, maybe even visit one of grandfather's resorts?" she mused as she closed her interlocked fingers around Stefan's.

Zora blushed at Stefan's compliment. She really did love that about him. He had no trouble expressing how he felt. It was a breath of fresh air actually, and while she hated comparisons... she had to admit it was nice not having to guess whether he loved and wanted to be with her like she had with her previous relationship.

Smiling at her niece's bashful reaction, Celeste also couldn't help but unconsciously make comparisons. It was so nice to finally see her truly happy that Celeste found herself approving of Stefan on just that alone.

"Daddy just finished renovating the chalet up in Gstaad," she suggested, naming a property the family had in Switzerland.

"That is if you don't mind a secluded chalet in the middle of the mountains," she added, unsure whether they liked the mountains as she did.

"Or... if you prefer the beach I can recommend a few places if you'd like." she said with a smile.

Zora hesitated before answering. She had gone to Fiji with her ex, and it somehow felt like going to the beach again but with Stefan was just a way to cover over the past. She felt he deserved ... better, a place where they could call their own without shadows of her past intruding.

"The mountains sound like the perfect retreat," Zora assured them as she glanced up at Stefan and felt her heart do that happy little flip-floppy thing again.

"Formidable! ** Wonderful," Celeste exclaimed in French and clapped her hands together delighted.

"I will call ahead tonight, get it all set up for you both," she declared in a not-going-to-take-no-for-an-answer tone, her bossy Frenchness showing as she very gladly took the decision out of their hands.

Then...

"Well, besides being the best baker in the family..." she quipped in reply to Stefan's question. "I am a teacher. I teach Home Economics at the academy," she explained. "And I also tutor magic and its theory," she added.

Squinting good-naturedly at Stefan when he nudged her, Zora chuckled.

"I think you mean, "little bossy women"," she shot back, amused and bemused, at how Celeste had just taken everything upon herself and was basically planning their whole holiday out... next thing they'd know she'd be packing their overnight bags for them.

"Qui. Yes, I do... or try to," she said with a tiny grimace. "The biggest problem I often encounter is teaching students to do things the "hard" way when many can just use magic is a problem at times."

" A lot of students are overly reliant on magic or the ability to just conjure things up," she explained as she poured more warm tea into her cup.