But darling,
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception
You are the only exception

After the pair opted to spend the holidays by themselves in Montana, their first in their new home by the mountains, as well as first Christmas season as an engaged couple. Now a few days into the new year, they decided to visit Nadia's parents in London after taking a some needed months away from the rest of the world. While not completely out of the dark yet, his vocals seemed to be healing well, being able to communicate more openly though still limited to not stress his vocal chords before getting official word he was in the clear. Ryan and Nadia arrived in her hometown early this given morning. After taking a few hours to settle into her apartment, among more explicit things, before heading on their way to visit his future in-laws.

They quietly sit in the back of a black SUV, being driven to where they are going. Ryan, dressed in his usual country-esque attire of a white t-shirt underneath his trusty denim jacket, with a pair of khaki pants, and of course, a pair of boots on. His eyes were fixed on reading a few e-mails on his iPhone, that he had long been ignoring. He sets his phone back on his lap, turning his head to look over at Nadia with a smirk.

Ryan knew that Nadia hadn't told her parents about their recent engagement yet, opting that it were best she told them in person with him present. He wasn't entirely sure how she had hid the news from them as she spilled the beans of it already a few weeks ago, which he wasn't totally behind, but didn't protest her about it. He was anxious about how they would take the news, despite of the fact they seemed to like him well enough.

He shook his head as she showed him the ring once again, interlocking her fingers with his as he leaned in to kiss her hand before settling it down on the space between them. "I think they will take it well, unless I tell them how much that little ring cost me, then we might have to call some ambulances."

No matter how many times he had met her parents, he always got a bit nervous, now more so than usual with the news they may or may not know about him and their daughter. He wasn't fearful of their reaction, more so just wanting to get it over with. He didn't think they would be against it or anything, but it wasn't as if he had any prior experience to how news like this is taken.

He found it and heartwarming at how much Nadia seemed to love the ring on her finger. He smiled softly after she kissed him on the cheek, before looking over at her again, "Well I'll tell you one day, I think it's something every woman should know. They say love doesn't come with price tags, but rings sure do."

Ryan wasn't sure if Nadia could grasp to his given nervous, if she just took note of these little things, or it was just so obvious that he was nervous. He forced a smirk her way after she squeezed his hand, making him turn his attention to her. It made him feel slightly better, gestures like that from her always did the trick of telling him in a silent way that things weren't so bad.

He looked into her eyes as she spoke, chuckling softly at her joke. He shook his head at her question before speaking, "Well I talked to her for Christmas, but I'm quite sure she doesn't know anything about us."

The idea of getting married hadn't entirely sunk in for Ryan, obviously he had proposed about a month ago, but it still didn't seem like a reality. He let his head lean back, titling his head against the headrest of his seat, looking over at Nadia, "I know, but this is different babe. I don't exactly have a ton of experience going to a girlfriend's house and saying, 'hey, I'm marrying your daughter.'"

He exhaled under his breath at her question, shrugging his shoulders and nodding his head with a small smirk. While not entirely knowing what if his mother knew or not, he could only imagine she'd find it to be good news. "Yeah, I'm sure she will be happy for us."

Ryan ran a hand through his hair, smirking softly at Nadia as she spoke. He could tell that she was obviously more excited about this than he was, which was expected with sharing news like this. "Well I'm happy that you're excited to share the news with them."

He looked out of the window, not having any direction of how close or far they were from her parents home, even if he had already visited them a handful of times before with Nadia. He returned his attention to her as she spoke, "I'm sure she will be Nads, don't worry about it."

Ryan looked out the window as the car drove up to her parents house, stopping in front of it. He watched as he felt Nadia squeeze his hand, smirking softly at her after she spoke. "Everything is going to be fine, Nads," he told her softly, his eyes gazing to look at her, raising her hand again to kiss it.

Ryan kept his eyes on her, grasping each movement she made, giving her a smirk as she smiled at him, nodding his head reassuringly after she spoke. He let go of her hand as she stepped out of her side of the car, stepping at his own side, adjusting his jacket as he did, before joining Nadia as they held hands again. "You know, I just remembered I forgot something in our house. I'll go get it and catch up with you in a month or two," he jokingly stated, trying to pull his hand away from hers as she knocked on the front door.

"Fine," he scoffed sarcastically, standing beside her, squeezing her hand a bit as they waited for someone to answer the door. He raised his gaze as the door unlocked and opened, smirking as he saw Nadia's mother greet them.

Ryan let his fingers slip out of her hand as he saw her hug her mother, finding the moment quite heartfelt. As their hug broke, he stepped forward, giving her mother a soft smile, "How are you, Mrs. Berry?"

He chuckled at her comment as she kissed his cheek, giving him a hug as well, "Sorry, Christine, I promise to remember that next time." Ryan let Nadia step inside the home first, following behind her as Christine shut the door behind them. He smirked as he saw her excitedly greet her father.

Ryan raised his head up as he extended his arm to shake his hand, somewhat surprised to feel him be pulled in from a hug as well by Mr. Berry. He took a step back after, looking over at Nadia with a small smile as he nodded his head before responding, "Yes it was nice, we had a very peaceful Christmas back home, although I couldn't eat much."