Updated Apr 16, 2026 • ~13 min read
Chapter 20: Meeting His Family
Matthias
Matthias watches his sister Greta immediately pull Luna into a warm hug and feels some of his anxiety about this dinner dissipate, because if Greta approves—and clearly she does, is already chattering enthusiastically to Luna while simultaneously crouching down to Sofia’s level to introduce herself properly—then at least half of this evening will go well, regardless of how his mother reacts.
His mother.
Helene Wolfe is waiting in the formal living room, perched on a chair that might as well be a throne given her posture and expression, and when Matthias leads Luna and Sofia into the room he can see his mother’s face cycle through several expressions—surprise at actually meeting them, calculation as she evaluates Luna’s clothing and background, and something that might be horror when her eyes land on Sofia and she sees the undeniable Wolfe family resemblance in those grey eyes.
“Mother,” Matthias says, his voice carrying a warning that hopefully she’ll heed. “This is Luna Vega and my daughter, Sofia.”
The emphasis on “my daughter” is deliberate, a claim of ownership and protection that makes it clear Matthias isn’t asking for his mother’s approval, just demanding her basic civility.
“An illegitimate child,” Helene says, and her tone manages to convey judgment and disdain in three words, making Luna visibly tense beside Matthias.
“My daughter,” Matthias corrects firmly, moving slightly in front of Luna and Sofia in an instinctively protective gesture. “Your granddaughter. And you will respect them both or you will lose access to me. Those are your options, Mother. Choose carefully.”
Helene’s eyes narrow at the ultimatum, clearly not used to being spoken to this way by her son, but Matthias holds her gaze without flinching because he meant what he told Luna—his family can either accept the woman he loves and the daughter they created together, or they can be excluded from his life, and while that would hurt, it’s not negotiable.
“She’s very… unexpected,” Helene says finally, her tone marginally softer as she looks at Sofia, who’s clutching her stuffed elephant and half-hiding behind Matthias’s legs in response to the cold woman staring at her.
“She’s perfect,” Matthias says, and he means it absolutely. “And Luna is my partner. We’re building a life together. I would appreciate your support, but I don’t require it.”
Greta, bless her, chooses that moment to interrupt the tense standoff by suggesting they move to dinner, and the transition provides enough distraction for everyone to reset slightly—though Matthias can see Luna’s hands shaking as she helps Sofia into her chair, can see the defensive walls she’s throwing up against his mother’s obvious disapproval.
Dinner is uncomfortable at best, Helene asking pointed questions about Luna’s background and career that are clearly designed to highlight the class differences between them—where did Luna attend university (public state school, not the Ivy League institutions the Wolfe family favors), what does she do for work (executive assistant, not exactly the prestigious career Helene probably expected), where did she grow up (Queens, which might as well be a foreign country to someone who’s lived on the Upper East Side for forty years).
Luna answers each question with dignity and honest directness, not trying to pretend she’s something she’s not, and Matthias falls a little more in love with her for refusing to be intimidated by his mother’s subtle cruelty.
Sofia, bless her oblivious three-year-old heart, provides comic relief by announcing loudly that she doesn’t like the fancy vegetables being served and asking if they have chicken nuggets instead, which makes Greta laugh and Helene look scandalized and Matthias want to hug his daughter for being exactly herself instead of what anyone expects.
“Sofia, we eat what we’re served,” Luna says gently but firmly, and Matthias watches his mother watching Luna parent, cataloging the interaction, and he can’t tell if Helene approves of the discipline or disapproves of the fact that Luna is comfortable correcting Sofia in front of company.
“You’re very confident for someone who kept my son’s child from him for three years,” Helene observes halfway through the main course, her tone conversational but her words cutting, and Matthias sees Luna flinch like she’s been slapped.
“Mother,” Matthias says sharply, setting down his fork with more force than necessary. “That is out of line. Luna and I have discussed what happened. It was a misunderstanding, not malice. You don’t get to judge choices you know nothing about.”
“I’m simply stating facts,” Helene says with false innocence. “Three years, Matthias. You missed three years of your daughter’s life because this woman chose not to inform you of her existence.”
“Because I thought he abandoned me,” Luna says quietly, and there’s steel underneath the soft voice, strength that makes Matthias proud even as he’s furious at his mother for pushing Luna to defend herself. “I spent four years believing Matthias deliberately chose not to contact me. I made the best decision I could with the information I had. And I’ve apologized to Matthias—repeatedly—for keeping Sofia from him. But I don’t owe you an explanation or an apology, Mrs. Wolfe. You weren’t the one who was affected.”
The silence that follows Luna’s statement is deafening, Helene clearly not used to being spoken to this directly by someone she considers beneath her station, and Matthias jumps in before his mother can respond with something cutting.
“Luna has been an amazing mother to Sofia,” Matthias says firmly. “She raised our daughter alone while working multiple jobs and finishing school. She provided a stable, loving home with zero support from me because I didn’t know to provide it. Instead of judging her choices, maybe you should be thanking her for raising your granddaughter so well.”
“She’s certainly spirited,” Helene observes, looking at Sofia who’s now playing with her food in a way that’s definitely going to result in a mess. “Is that a polite way of saying undisciplined?”
“It’s a three-year-old way of saying normal,” Greta interjects before Matthias can explode at his mother. “For heaven’s sake, Mother, she’s a child. They play with their food. That’s what children do.”
“Your children never played with their food,” Helene says to Greta with clear reproach.
“My children were terrified of you,” Greta shoots back with a smile that doesn’t quite hide the truth underneath. “Is that really better?”
The rest of dinner continues in this vein—Helene making subtle criticisms, Matthias and Greta defending, Luna maintaining dignified composure that makes Matthias want to kiss her right there at the table—and by the time they transition to the living room for coffee (which Sofia thankfully skips in favor of playing with toys Greta keeps for her own children), Matthias is ready to leave and never return.
But then Greta corners him in the hallway while Luna is using the bathroom, and his sister’s expression is more serious than he’s seen in years.
“You love her,” Greta observes, not quite a question.
“Desperately,” Matthias confirms, because lying to Greta has never worked and he’s too tired from managing his mother’s disapproval to try.
“Good,” Greta says, smiling. “You should. She’s wonderful, Matthias. Smart, strong, clearly an amazing mother. And you—you smile now. I haven’t seen you smile like this in years. Maybe ever. She’s good for you.”
The validation makes something loosen in Matthias’s chest, because Greta’s opinion matters in ways his mother’s doesn’t, because his sister has always understood him better than anyone in his family.
“Mother hates her,” Matthias says unnecessarily.
“Mother hates anyone who doesn’t fit her exact specifications for what the Wolfe family should be,” Greta corrects. “But she’ll come around. Eventually. When she realizes that disapproving means losing access to you and Sofia. And Sofia is—Matthias, she’s perfect. She has your eyes and your focus and she’s just delightful. Mother will want to know her granddaughter. She’ll swallow her pride and learn to accept Luna.”
“And if she doesn’t?” Matthias asks.
“Then she loses,” Greta says simply. “You, Sofia, Luna—you’re building a family. That’s more important than Mother’s approval. But Matthias, for what it’s worth—I approve. Wholeheartedly. Welcome to the family, Luna.”
They rejoin the others to find Luna and Helene in what appears to be a civil conversation about Sofia’s daycare, and while Helene’s tone is still slightly condescending, at least she’s making an effort, which Matthias supposes is progress from the outright hostility of dinner.
Sofia falls asleep on the drive home, exhausted from being on her best behavior for hours, and Matthias carries her up to Luna’s apartment while Luna gathers their things from the car, the domestic teamwork of it feeling natural and right despite the disaster that was his mother’s reception.
“I’m sorry,” Matthias says once Sofia is tucked into bed and they’re alone in the living room. “My mother was horrible. I should have prepared you better for how she’d react.”
“She was about what I expected,” Luna says, and there’s exhaustion in her voice but also something that might be acceptance. “Wealthy, traditional, convinced her son could do better than a working-class single mother. I’ve faced worse, Matthias.”
“You shouldn’t have to face anything,” Matthias says, pulling her into his arms. “You should be welcomed and celebrated, not judged and criticized.”
“Your sister was wonderful,” Luna offers, and Matthias can hear the genuine warmth in her voice. “She made me feel like part of the family. That counts for something.”
“Greta loves you,” Matthias confirms. “Said you’re good for me. That I smile now.”
“Do you?” Luna asks, tilting her head to look up at him. “Smile now?”
“All the time,” Matthias admits. “When I’m with you and Sofia. When I think about you. When I imagine our future. Luna, you make me happy in ways I didn’t know I could be happy. My mother’s disapproval is irrelevant compared to that.”
“But she’s still your mother,” Luna says gently. “And Sofia’s grandmother. We can’t just write her off.”
“We can if she can’t learn to be civil,” Matthias counters. “I meant what I said—she respects you and Sofia or she loses me. I’m not bluffing.”
“I know,” Luna says, and she sounds almost sad about it. “But Matthias, I don’t want to be the reason you lose your family. Maybe we give her time? Let her adjust to the idea of us? She just met Sofia today. Maybe once she gets to know her granddaughter, she’ll soften.”
The fact that Luna is willing to give his mother another chance despite the terrible first impression makes Matthias love her even more, makes him realize that she’s the bigger person in this situation, the one with the grace to extend forgiveness when it hasn’t been earned.
“We’ll try,” Matthias agrees. “But Luna, if she continues to be cruel to you, if she makes you feel less-than or unwelcome—we’re done. I won’t subject you to that. Family is supposed to support and protect, not tear down.”
They talk for another hour about the dinner, processing the experience and planning how to navigate his family going forward, and by the time Matthias leaves (still maintaining separate residences, still being sensible about the pace of change), he’s more certain than ever that Luna is the right choice, that their family is worth fighting for, that his mother’s eventual acceptance or permanent disapproval is secondary to building a life with the woman he loves.
His phone rings Monday morning with his mother’s number, and Matthias considers not answering before deciding that avoiding her won’t help anything.
“Matthias,” Helene says without preamble. “I’ve been thinking about Saturday’s dinner.”
“If you’re calling to criticize Luna again—” Matthias starts, but his mother interrupts.
“I’m calling to apologize,” Helene says, and the admission is so unexpected that Matthias actually pulls his phone away from his ear to check that he called the right person. “I was rude. To Luna and to you. That was beneath me.”
“It was,” Matthias agrees, not letting her off easily. “Luna doesn’t deserve your judgment, Mother. She’s been nothing but gracious despite having every reason to refuse to meet you at all.”
“I know,” Helene says, and there’s something that might be genuine regret in her voice. “I was… surprised. Upset that you kept this from me. But that’s not Luna’s fault. And Sofia is…” she pauses. “She’s charming. Very much like you were at that age. All focus and intensity even at three years old.”
“She’s wonderful,” Matthias says, softening slightly because his mother is trying, even if the effort is awkward and insufficient. “And Luna is the reason she’s wonderful. Everything Sofia is, everything she’ll become—that’s because Luna has been an amazing mother.”
“I would like to try again,” Helene says carefully. “Perhaps lunch? Just Sofia and myself? I’d like to know my granddaughter properly. If Luna would allow it.”
Matthias considers the request, weighing his protective instincts against the potential value of Sofia having a relationship with her grandmother, even a complicated one.
“I’ll ask Luna,” Matthias says finally. “But Mother—if you spend that lunch criticizing Luna to Sofia, if you make any comments about her mother being inadequate or unsuitable, this ends. Permanently. Understood?”
“Understood,” Helene agrees. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”
Matthias relays the conversation to Luna that evening, and she’s hesitant but willing to consider it, to give Helene a chance to build relationship with Sofia even if the grandmother-granddaughter bond comes without immediate grandmother-mother warmth.
“She’s trying,” Luna says, playing devil’s advocate against her own hesitation. “That counts for something. And Sofia should know her extended family if they’re willing to be kind to her.”
“You’re too generous,” Matthias says, pulling her close. “Anyone else would tell my mother exactly where she can shove her lunch invitation.”
“I’m not anyone else,” Luna reminds him. “I’m Sofia’s mother. Which means I have to think about what’s best for her, not just what makes me feel vindicated.”
And that—that selfless prioritization of their daughter over personal feelings—is exactly why Matthias loves her.
Why he plans to marry her.
Why he’s already planning a future where Luna’s last name becomes Wolfe not through judgment but through choice, through love, through the deliberate building of family that transcends biology and old money and class differences.
His mother may never fully approve.
But she’ll learn to accept.
Because Matthias isn’t giving Luna up.
Not for family.
Not for anyone.
Sofia has two parents now.
And Luna has a partner who’s committed to forever.
Everything else is just details.
Reader Reactions