Page 17 of Kicking it with my Fake Fiancé
Steve turned to Matty, and Brock swung the camera in his direction. “And Matt, are you nervous at all?”
Matty cast his gaze up while he thought about it. “I’m not particularly nervous to tell my mom about the show, or the marriage. I am nervous to tell her we’re leaving the country, though. I know she’ll be devastated.”
Steve nodded and snapped at Brock to stop filming. Brock lowered the camera and gave Steve a thumbs-up.
“It looked good. I think we can go with what we’ve got.”
“Perfect,” Steve said. “Then let’s get the show on the road.”
We grabbed our overnight bags from the car and I followed Matty up the walk, trying hard not to look at the camera Brock held steady on our faces. We hesitated on the porch until Steve nodded his approval. Matty knocked twice on the door before pushing it open and calling out to his mom. “Mamma?” He called out a few words in Norwegian I assumed meant something like, “We’re here,” but since my Norwegian sucked, I couldn’t be sure. We waited in the entryway for his mom to respond, which was just seconds later.
A tall, thin woman with crisp blue eyes and blonde hair that fell to her shoulders appeared from around the corner. The resemblance was strong, and I wondered if Kasper looked more like his father, because Matty was practically a clone of his mom. Around her waist was an apron, which she was drying her hands on as she approached.
“Matthias! Babyen min!” She pulled Matty into a tight hug for a long few seconds, eyes closed, breathing in his scent deeply. She murmured something in Norwegian into his shoulder before releasing him.
“I’ve missed you too, Mamma.” He took a step back and gestured to me. “This is Jared.”
“Yes, Jared! I’ve heard so much about you.” She hugged me then, wrapping me in her warm embrace. As she hugged me, I caught the scent of something smoky, but I couldn’t quite pin down what it was.
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Solberg.”
She stepped back and swatted my arm gently. “Enough of that. Call me Nina, please. Now, what’s new?”
“Let’s go sit, and I’ll tell you everything,” Matty suggested.
Nina nodded and led the way into a cozy living room, where we took our seats on a well-loved gray sofa and she settled into a matching armchair. “Tell me everything.”
Matty took a deep breath and began explaining. “Well, as you know, I’ve been working as a travel writer for about ten years now.”
She hummed. “And you’ve told me you’d like to branch out, travel to other parts of the world.”
“Exactly. Well, a magazine based in America has offered me a position writing about American travel, starting with a sort of fish-out-of-water series. They like what I do here and want me to bring my voice to their publication. Long-term.”
She clasped her hands and beamed. “Matthias, that’s wonderful. But… does that mean you’ll be moving to the States?” Nina furrowed her brow. “That can’t be. You’ll travel to America but livehere, won’t you?”
He took a deep breath, inhaling through his nose, and reached over to put his hand on my knee. Immediately, Nina’s eyebrows shot up. “What’s this?”
“Mamma, Jared and I… we’re together now.”
“Together?”
“That’s what I wanted to tell you. I’m applying for a special visa that will help expedite my citizenship. And of course, that’s where Jared comes in. We’re… we’re getting married.”
Nina clapped her hands together, a smile overtaking her face. “That’swonderful! Oh, I’m so happy for you darling. Both of you.” She beamed at us for a moment before her features clouded again, her brow dipping. “But where will you live?”
“America, Mamma. I’m moving to America.”
Chapter Ten
Matty
Matty
Mamma sat straight and frowned deeply at us, her dark blue eyes stormy. After a moment she nodded, sighed, and stood, brushing her palms on her apron. “I believe I need to finish making lunch. Matthias, will you help?”
“I’m happy to help too, Nina,” Jared said, jumping to his feet.
Mamma shook her head firmly. “No thank you, Jared. I’d like to speak to Matthias in private.” She cast a scathing look to Steve and Brock and marched into the kitchen, with me close behind.
