Love Began with the First Meeting

Maggie had wanted to hide the development of their relationship from her parents, but she knew now that she would undoubtedly not succeed in doing that in consideration of the situation. With this in mind, she could not help but roll her eyes. With a heavy, thunderstruck face, she looked at Edgar miserably. Knowing that she would not escape today's events, she curled her lips into a forced smile and weakly greeted everybody present, "Wilson, Dad, Mom." After greeting them, she pulled Edgar towards her, locking their hands together, fingers intertwined. Standing by his side, she bravely said, "As you know, I've married Uncle..." She swallowed her words immediately when she realized what she was calling Edgar. Then blushing, she corrected herself immediately, "I've married Edgar. We've obtained our marriage certificates. Hmm, that's all what I wanted to say." William had tried his best to prevent himself from laughing aloud while his daughter was speaking. Finally, he could not restrain this great urge any longer and burst into laughter. He walked towards her and carefully looked her up and down. In a relieved tone, he said, "Great! My daughter's ultimate dream of so many years has finally come true. Congratulations! Aha... Hana, go to fetch the special spirits which I have been saving for years. I must celebrate and have a good drink together with Wilson and Edgar today." Seeing that Edgar had opened his mouth, intending to say something, William knew that Edgar wanted to refuse his plan. Pulling a long face, he said, "You're taking a vacation. And today is the weekend. Nothing would be affected by taking a drink with me."

Just as William said, it didn't matter if they drank on the weekend, especially on the day on which Edgar and Maggie had legally gotten married. Besides, Edgar was on vacation. A drink would not affect his work. "Dad, can you drink now?" Maggie asked, throwing cold water on her father's plan. She was miffed, and she would seek revenge for even the smallest grievance on anybody, and William was no exception. Hearing his daughter's question, William was dazed by her spoiling the moment. Then he said complacently, "Well, your mother, my leader, agrees. Aha..." While laughing, he pulled Edgar over to the dining table.

The day on which someone was legally married would always be one of the most important days in their life. However, since William and Hana knew Edgar really well, they felt like he had already been a part of the family, and the obtaining of the marriage certificates was more like an episode in their daily lives.

Hana provided a few side dishes for the men to snack on while drinking. Since it was not time for dinner yet, she didn't cook a big meal. Then she took Maggie to the sofa in the living room. While watching television, she asked, "Maggie, are you satisfied that your marriage is settled in this way?"

Hearing this, Maggie held her mother's arm with hers in an intimate manner which was special to all mothers and daughters. Now that Edgar was absent, she didn't have to pretend to be as arrogant as she had been in front of him. Rubbing Hana's shoulder with her cheek, she mumbled, "Mom, I've already obtained the marriage certificate. What else can I do?"

Hearing her words, Hana sighed softly. Stroking Maggie's hands with hers while watching the family drama on television, she said slowly, "You know, I don't have any special wishes. What I want is nothing more than your happiness." Turning her eyes down to look at Maggie, she continued, "We have known Edgar for many years. It could even be said that William and I have seen him grow up. He is steady and thoughtful. He is very promising and will have a great future, as long as he is determined to. I quite agree to your marrying him." She had never said these words to Maggie before because she was afraid that her daughter would feel too pressured. Now that Maggie and Edgar were legally married, she thought that it was perhaps time to frankly tell Maggie how she felt about her son-in-law. "But there is a big age gap between the two of you. And you're very aggressive. Now, while the love is fresh between the two of you and he is fully enamored with you, he may tolerate your moods, but I'm afraid after a period of time..."

Hearing these wise words, Maggie felt her eyes water. She could sense that her mother was considering every aspect of her marriage for her. "Mom, you're thinking too much," she said while sniffing and leaning closer against her mother's shoulder. "Maybe I had been mainly grateful to him in the past, but my feelings has changed since I stayed at the Eagle Special Brigade for more than half a year. That's the truth. You must believe me. I love this man who is like a god in the Eagle Special Brigade. I also love the feeling when he is by my side. He tolerates me and pampers me because he thinks that I'm a lot younger than him, but he would not spoil me because of that." While saying this, her eyes sparkled with a glimmer of bright hope. "Mom, I don't know if what you're afraid of will happen in the future or not. But I'm certain that I don't regret obtaining my marriage certificate with Edgar, even though the decision was the result of a momentary impulse. On the contrary, I feel quite happy."

Hana was experienced in such matters. As members of the prior generation, she and William was brought together by a matchmaker rather than fell in love with each other at first sight, but they had lived together harmoniously for so many years. During their lives together, their affections towards each other had gradually become deep and firm. Now nobody could break them apart. Hearing what Maggie said and seeing the expression on her face, Hana as a mother, knew her daughter was telling the whole truth from her heart.

"Well, you've always had a mind of your own," Hana said, patting Maggie's hand. "I know you must have decided on your feelings." After a short pause, she continued, "But the two of you will be spending a long life together. You'd better restrain yourself from losing your temper from now on. Edgar is used to being a leader in the army. You can't challenge him or defy him to his face."

Hearing these words of counsel, Maggie straightened. Looking at Hana with a serious expression on her face, she said, "Don't worry. I do know how far to go and when it's time to stop. In public, I will give him enough respect as a leader; but at home, I will learn from you and try to be the leader."

Hearing her daughter's plan, Hana burst into laughter. Amused by Maggie's funny response, she stretched out her hand to tap at Maggie's forehead. "You're naughty!" she said smiling as she felt greatly relieved now.

While the mother and daughter were chatting casually in the living room, the three men, who were the leaders of three generations once had served in the army, were drinking in the dining room. They talked about minor things that had happened instead of any single big event. Once in a while, the marriage of Edgar and Maggie would also be mentioned.

"Maggie is still too young, so we don't have to make any decisions now," Edgar gave the final decisive words. "Let's talk about it when she graduates next year."

Hearing his prognosis, Wilson and William looked at each other knowingly. When their eyes met, a tacit understanding was formed, and they both smiled. As sophisticated servicemen, both of these leaders were extremely shrewd. As soon as they heard Edgar say that, they knew that he wanted to wait and see what type of job Maggie would do after she graduated in the next year. It was said that a woman would pay more attention to her family than to her work, once she got married. However, Edgar turned out to prove that was also true of some men. 0000