Chapter 278: Wedding Date

Chapter 278: Chapter 278: Wedding Date

At the Faulkner’s villa, Vivian Lowell and Grandma Faulkner had just arrived when the family’s large golden retriever dashed over.

"WOOF WOOF!"

Panting with its tongue out and wagging its tail, the big golden retriever bounded up to Vivian and Grandma Faulkner, happily spinning in circles in front of them.

"Oh my, good boy," Grandma Faulkner said, delighted. She reached out to pet the golden retriever’s head as Ms. Shaw hurried over from behind.

"Old Madam, Young Madam, you’re finally back! I’ve prepared some breakfast. Would you like to eat? And what would you like for lunch?"

Vivian had eaten some breakfast on the plane and wasn’t actually that hungry, just a bit thirsty. However, knowing that Ms. Shaw must have prepared everything meticulously upon hearing they were returning, she didn’t want to waste her good intentions.

"I’ll have a smoothie. Do we have any strawberries left? Ms. Shaw, could you please blend some yogurt and strawberries for me? Thank you." After Vivian spoke, she looked at Grandma Faulkner.

Grandma Faulkner had also eaten earlier that morning. Hearing this, she said, "I think I’ll skip it for now. If there’s a lot of breakfast left over, let’s not waste it; we can save it for lunch. I’m going to take the fur baby out for a walk first. Vivian, do you want to come along, or would you rather go upstairs to rest?"

They had actually rested quite well in first class last night. After all, they had their own private suites. Although the beds were a bit small, it was perfectly fine for lying down and getting some sleep, and they had even managed to take showers. Aside from being slightly unaccustomed to sleeping on a plane, everything else about the night had been fine.

"I think I’ll go upstairs and rest first." Vivian thought for a moment, then turned to Ms. Shaw and asked, "How is Yuumi doing?"

"She’s doing well. I took Yuumi out for a bath yesterday, and she was very well-behaved the whole time! You go upstairs and rest first, Young Madam. Once your smoothie is ready, I’ll bring it up to you."

"Alright." Vivian agreed and headed upstairs.

Upon entering her room, Vivian immediately spotted Yuumi. It seemed Yuumi had heard Vivian’s movements and was already waiting by the door. The moment Vivian stepped inside, the cat began circling her feet and rubbing her tail against Vivian’s legs. For a little cat, rubbing its tail against someone was a way of marking them with its scent, effectively declaring, "You belong to this kitty now!"

Vivian scooped Yuumi up and sat down on the sofa, examining her closely. Yuumi rolled over to expose her belly on Vivian’s lap, not resisting in the slightest, completely willing to let Vivian pamper her.

Vivian affectionately played with Yuumi for a while. She had intended to check if the cat needed her claws trimmed, but upon inspection, she realized Ms. Shaw must have already done it. So, she let Yuumi go play. However, the usually energetic Yuumi didn’t leave. Perhaps because she hadn’t seen Vivian for a few days, she just plopped down right beside her, resting her head on Vivian’s leg, ready for a nap.

Vivian gently stroked Yuumi’s head. Just then, her phone buzzed, so she checked her messages. It was a text from Eleanor Rhodes. Since Eleanor had been traveling with Vivian for several days, she naturally headed straight back to the Rhodes’ home after returning to the country. This was a message to let Vivian know she had arrived safely.

"Vivian, I’m home. Are you home yet? My mom said she’s going to make me a delicious feast tonight! By the way, there’s a huge backlog of work at the clinic right now.

"While I was away, my assistant managed to get quite a few kittens adopted. It’s just that she’s new to the company, so she isn’t very experienced at catching stray cats yet.

"After going out a few times, she only brought back one litter. Now the cages are about to be empty again. I heard from her that another stray cat over at Aethelburg University just gave birth to a litter of kittens.

"The university’s stray cat association contacted her to ask if we could find the time to go over, catch the mother cat for spaying, and capture the kittens to find them adoptive homes.

"Vivian, are you free this afternoon? Should we go together later? Or tomorrow works too~"

Going back to Aethelburg University to catch cats... Vivian thought about it. She definitely wouldn’t be free this afternoon. She had been away from the office for days, so she absolutely had to go back this afternoon to hand over the orders she had secured in Pariden to her team.

As for tomorrow, it happened to be Saturday. Although she really wanted to work overtime, she figured she could just wake up early and work in the morning. That way, she could still accompany Eleanor in the afternoon. After all, she was also a shareholder in the pet clinic; she couldn’t just leave everything to Eleanor forever.

"Let’s do tomorrow afternoon," Vivian quickly replied. "I’m really craving Korean BBQ. It’s been so long since I last had it. You have no idea—Julian Faulkner is super strict with my diet now.

"He’s going to be very busy these next few days, so he probably won’t have time to keep an eye on me. Perfect timing! Eleanor, see if you can find a good BBQ place, and let’s go feast!"

The mention of BBQ excited Eleanor, and she immediately replied, "Deal, Vivian! Leave the food arrangements entirely to me!"

That afternoon, when Vivian returned to the office and brought out several contracts, Leo looked just as distressed as she had anticipated.

"The projects you brought back from Cyrina have only just gotten underway. Now you’ve taken a trip to Pariden and brought back even more!

"Vivian, I’m already doing the work of three people here! No way, you have to give me a raise! Besides, we’re really starting to run short on manpower.

"Let’s hire two interns first to handle the clerical work. The two draftsmen we hired earlier have been doing quite well; we can start giving them more responsibilities now."

"Alright," Vivian nodded in agreement. "Don’t worry, Leo. I shouldn’t be traveling again for a while. With me here to help you with these orders, you won’t be as overwhelmed as before!"

Leo pouted, still half-skeptical. "That would be for the best. Just keep in mind that you’re pregnant, so don’t push yourself too hard. Don’t exhaust yourself."

"Mhm, I know~"

Vivian agreed and then gathered the staff for a meeting. They still needed to discuss the specific details of the new orders, and she also had to inform HR about recruiting new employees for the company.

By the time she finished her work, it was already past seven o’clock. Because it was a Friday, there were fewer people working overtime than usual. As the staff gradually left the office, Vivian was still staring blankly at her computer screen.

To think she would actually experience a lack of inspiration! Back in Pariden, Vivian had enjoyed the blue skies and white clouds every day, feeling incredibly relaxed. She had thought that with such beautiful scenery, any problem could be easily solved. Yet here she was, hitting a creative bottleneck so soon!

Vivian let out a sigh. Just as she did, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Vivian sat up a little straighter and saw that the person pushing the door open was Julian Faulkner.

"I heard from Vance Wyatt that you haven’t had dinner yet, so I bought some food and came over to see you." As Julian spoke, he sat down opposite Vivian, carrying two large bags of food like a delivery driver.

Vivian gave Julian a surprised look and asked, "You heard from Vance? How did Vance know?"

The moment she asked, Vivian seemed to realize something. It was most likely Finn! Finn and Vance had always been on good terms, so it was perfectly normal for Finn to mention it to Vance. After all, Finn cared a lot about his boss! At six-thirty, when Finn was getting ready to leave work, he had specifically come over to check on Vivian.

"Finn told him," Julian answered honestly, then said to Vivian, "Alright, eat first. Work can be done anytime, right?"

"Mhm." Vivian nodded and began eating dinner with Julian in the office.

While they ate, the two of them chatted casually. Suddenly, Julian became much more serious. His expression solemn, he said, "Grandma sent me a message this afternoon."

Huh? Vivian didn’t quite understand what Julian meant. Grandma Faulkner sent him a message? What kind of message? Grandma Faulkner messaged her all the time. Why was Julian suddenly acting so serious about it?

"What is it?" Vivian pressed for an answer.

Julian suddenly became a bit reserved and said, "She said that September 16th of this year is an auspicious date, and she has already checked with the Grand West Aethelburg Hotel.

"We can host our wedding banquet there. What do you think, Vivian? I looked at the lunar calendar, and it says it’s the best day to get married this year.

"There will be a lot of people hosting banquets on that day. If we want to reserve a spot, it’s best to do it as soon as possible."

Vivian was in the middle of drinking her soup. Hearing Julian’s words, she nearly choked. It was currently June. September 16th on the lunar calendar was, at most, four months away. She was currently two months pregnant, which meant she would be six months pregnant by then!

Did she really have to get married with a huge baby bump?

Vivian pouted, clearly reluctant. "The baby won’t even be born yet! I definitely won’t look good in a wedding dress. Why don’t we just do it next year!

"We’ve already gotten our marriage certificate anyway, so the banquet is just a formality. It shouldn’t matter if we hold it a little later, right?"

In reality, Vivian had hoped to host the wedding banquet sooner. After all, she had never experienced it before and was somewhat looking forward to it. However, the thought of hosting a wedding banquet while heavily pregnant seemed exhausting, so she preferred to wait a bit longer.

Julian was silent for a moment before he suddenly laughed. "So that’s what you were worried about. What you said makes sense. I’ll discuss it with Grandma later. Next spring is also a good time, isn’t it? For example, February."

February. Vivian instantly thought of Valentine’s Day. February 14th would perfectly coincide with their one-year anniversary of getting their marriage certificate. However, her due date was also next February. After giving birth and completing her month of postpartum confinement, any wedding banquet would have to wait until after March. It would definitely be too late to hold the belated ceremony on their first wedding anniversary.

It was such a pity!

Vivian sighed softly and said, "It’s fine~ It’s not that important anyway. Just arrange it when the time comes. Ah, I’m so hungry! Let’s eat first!"

Julian could tell that Vivian was deliberately changing the subject, but he didn’t press the matter. He nodded in agreement and continued eating with her. He figured March would be nice, too. The warm spring days of March would be so pleasant.