Arranged marriage to the princess of the Red Scorpions
Chapter 51 - Tradition

Many of the gifts that Sam got were practical ones such as books, clothes, a new wrist watch which came from his uncle and aunt so it was a bit pricy. His parents had gotten him more sentimental items such as a three picture frame that held one picture from his graduation and two from other moments with this parents that they knew meant a lot to him. They also got him a keychain that read 'Family is always with you' along with a few other items they thought he might need moving into live with Lena.

The gifts his friends got him were a touch less practical but still greatly appreciated by him. Roger had gotten a gift card pass to the paintball place he had taken Lena to and it was no small sum of money he had put on it either. His other friends also got him new paintball gear, headphones, swiss army knife, and then someone had apparently thought it would be a good idea to get him a lock picking set as well among some of the other gifts.

Samuel was as Lena had anticipated, graciously thankful for all the gifts that he had gotten if it seemed to her that some of them might not have been his ideal gift, he didn't show it.

When it came time to open her gift, he looked over and gave her a smile as he began to unwrap the bow on the top of the box with everyone watching him. Reluctantly she pulled out her phone so that she could take a picture of him for her father. She was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable as he got closer to unwrapping the gift as she knew she would have to explain the tradition to Sam and his family since his father wasn't here to do as male head of the mafia usually did this.

Samuel didn't know what to expect when Lena told him that she was going to be brining him a gift, but he certainly wasn't expecting the two rings that were neatly nestled in the box. One was a silver ring with a scorpion emblem that held a red gem and the other was rose gold ring with a dove design with a small diamond in the middle of the dove's back. He was speechless to say the least as both rings looked as though they cost more than a pretty penny. A lot of noises of surprise came from his friends and family when they got a glimpse at the two rings. His younger siblings were a bit put out as they were too short to see what all the excitement was about.

Somehow despite the commotion, she managed to get some pictures of Samuel's initial reaction that she thought her father would appreciate.

"I don't know what to say?" He told her as he looked up at the princess not really sure how he should respond to the gift.

"You don't need to say anything, it's tradition in our family for the parents' rings to go to the first born when they are engaged. Usually it's the first son who receives them, but things are a bit backwards this time around." Lena explained as she came closer.

"We might have to get them fitted for the correct size before we can wear them though. My father didn't want to ruin the surprise so we couldn't get them checked before you left." She told him as she took the box from him.

"Hold out your left hand." She told him as she took the silver ring, it was traditional for the male to usually put the ring on the woman's finger, but since everything was reverse, she didn't mind doing this despite everyone watching them.

Samuel felt a bit self-conscious as he held out his left hand for her put the ring of his ring finger. It was honestly probably one of the only times that she touched him with such a soft and gentle touch as she fit the ring on his finger. Lena made a 'hm' noise when she saw that it almost fit perfectly on his finger. It wouldn't need to have much of an adjustment to be a perfect fit.

"Do you mind if I put the other one on you?" he asked, looking up at her as he picked up the other ring. The princess nodded rather than replying with words as she held out her hand for him to take and put the ring on. He handled putting it on her hand with the same gentleness that she had done with him. Unlike his ring though, this one would need a much bigger adjustment as it was far more loose on Lena's ring finger. Thus, he took it off and put it back in the box, knowing she would probably prefer for it to stay there rather than risk losing it.

As the princess looked down at the ring in the box, he saw something that looked like hurt pass over Lena's face before it vanished a second later and she motioned for him to hold out his hand so that she could take off his ring and put it back in the box as well.

"My family has a friend who would be willing to help get the rings adjusted some time after this week if you would like." Lena told Samuel as she put the top back on the box, but didn't remove it from his lap.

"Okay, we can figure that out when we get back." Samuel replied with a nod of his head.

"Do you guys already have a date planned for the wedding? You both seem so serious and are moving all this along rather quickly." Charlene commented as she looked between the two.

"It won't be for six months at least." Lena replied as she glanced at his aunt. She got the feeling that the woman just wanted to know so that she could have something to brag about in her social circle. Too bad for her that she wasn't going to be invited to the wedding or the engagement party for that matter. The princess's phone buzzed in her pocket which let her know that her father had gotten the pictures that she had sent him.

While Lena was distracted checking her phone to see what he had replied with. She missed Roger shooting Samuel a thumbs up as a way to say 'good job!' in response to the engagement rings. He just rolled his eyes at the Jock though he couldn't help but smile.

His nerves hadn't gotten any better over time, but when things like this happened, it made it fall all that much real to him that they were moving towards getting married. He wondered though what the next six months would be like if they were going to be living together. Certain things were expected to change he presumed, but he what he was most interested in knowing was if there was any certain tradition about what should happen during the engagement period that he hadn't heard about yet.

Putting her phone back, she realized that while most everyone was talking to Sam about what was going on with this sudden engagement and what it meant for him, his mother was looking at her rather fondly.

"You're going to be joining us for Cake and dinner, right? I know that takes a few hours for you to get back home, but we have an empty guestroom you're more than welcome to use if you would like to stay the night." She offered the little queen who shook her head in response to the offer.

"That's very kind of you, but I really need to be leaving soon. I would normally accept such a gracious offer, but there is some work that I need to attend to early in the morning with my father that I can't be late for." She explained. She didn't want to be rude, but she really did have work that she needed to get done. She had already spent far more time at the party than she had intended to.

Hearing this, Samuel's mother motioned for him to come over. She wanted him to at least walk her out to the door as she felt he would probably prefer to see her off rather than her leave unannounced. The princess didn't think that there was any need for this because he seemed to be enjoying talking with everyone else.

Sam was happy to do it however. Walking her to the door, he stepped outside with her because he wanted to be able to talk without his family or anyone else interrupting them.

"You'll have to thank you for father for me. I Really wasn't expecting that kind of gift." Sam told her he handed her back the small box. He felt like it would be safer for him to keep it with him.

"It's more of a traditional than birthday style gift so there isn't really anything to thank him for him, but I'll let him know what you said anyways." The princess replied as she took the box back.

"When will I becoming back to stay with you again?" Sam then asked as he began to walk down the steps of the front porch.

"When you text me and say that you're done with the birthday celebrations. So later this week probably." She replied turning back to face him. "Clive will probably fetch you though as my father will have things he will want to be done in preparation for how busy things will be getting."

"For the next six months after that then?" He clarified. She nodded with a shrug.

"Something like that. There'll be a lot to do during that time though so it won't be that bad." She paused after she spoke before she turned and walked back so that she was standing in front of the other again.

Without him having a chance to realize what she was planning, the princess leaned up and pulled his face down towards her as she gave him a short yet deep kiss.

"Happy birthday Chickadee." She told him in a low voice before she pulled away and turned around to leave. Sam felt his face heat up and was rather glad that his family wasn't there to see what had just happened.