A Forever Family (Forever #6)
Read A Forever Family (Forever #6) Online
Authors: Sandi Lynn
A FOREVER FAMILY
Sandi Lynn
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used factitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover Design by Cassy Roop @Pink Ink Designs
Stock Photo: Image ID 147431333
Copyright: jfk image
Editing by B.Z. Hercules
Table of Contents
Are you ready?
Collin
Panic. Disappointment. Yelling. Crying. I could hear my mom’s voice in my head, not to mention my dad’s. Family was everything to them. Not to say that it wasn’t to me because my life was my family, and now, my life was Amelia. They would have to understand. Would they understand? My dad, maybe because he knew. He got it. The connection. The love. The need to be with the one you were meant to be with. My mom, on the other hand, not so understanding.
Shit
. I looked over at Amelia as she lay asleep. She looked so beautiful and she was my wife. My parents would have to understand. They’d get over it, eventually. This was my life, not theirs. Maybe I didn’t have to tell them we were married. We could come back from Vegas and tell them we were engaged and they’d never have to know. Except we’d spend the rest of our lives celebrating two anniversaries. One in private and one with the family.
“Good morning.” Amelia smiled as she ran her finger along my chest.
I kissed the top of her head. “Good morning, baby. Did you sleep well?”
“Of course I did. Someone wore me out last night.”
I smiled as I flipped her on her back and hovered over her. “Is that so?” My lips brushed against hers in a passionate kiss. “I do believe that my wife took control and wore herself out.”
She shrugged. “That’s what my sexy husband does to me.”
My phone rang and I sighed. I climbed off of Amelia and took it from the nightstand. It was my dad. My stomach twisted in knots.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Good morning, son. What time will you be coming back today? Your mom wants the family together for dinner tonight.”
Shit. Shit. Shit
. I rubbed my forehead. “Tell Mom not tonight. The plane isn’t even picking us up until noon and by time we get back to New York, with the time difference, it’ll be close to eight o’clock. We’ll be jetlagged and I have to be at the office in the morning and Amelia has an early class before her clinicals start.”
“I understand, son, and I’ll let your mom know.” I heard him sigh. “She won’t be happy, but she’ll have to understand.”
“Thanks, Dad. Ask her if we can do it tomorrow night.”
“I will. Have a safe flight home and I’ll see you at the office tomorrow.”
I hung up and set the phone down on the nightstand. I climbed on top of Amelia and softly kissed her lips. “Now, where were we?” I smiled.
****
We walked into the apartment and set our bags down. It felt good to be home.
“Welcome home, Mrs. Black.”
“Thank you, Mr. Black.” She kissed me.
There was a knock at the door and Amelia and I looked at each other. I shrugged and opened it.
“Welcome home.” Julia smiled as she walked in with Brayden.
“Ah, Julia. What are you doing here?” I asked as I looked at Amelia. She and I both hid our hands behind our backs.
Julia glared at me. Suspicion was running through her head, I could tell. “I just left Mom and Dad’s and when I stepped off the elevator, I saw you two walk in. I thought I’d say hi. What’s going on?”
“Nothing’s going on. Why?”
“You’re acting weird. What did you do?”
I snorted, something I did when I was nervous.
“You snorted! She pointed her finger at me. Talk to me, Collin. Amelia?” she said as she looked at her.
Amelia caved and held out her hand with her ring on it.
“OH MY GOD! You got engaged!” she exclaimed as she looked at her ring closely. She must have noticed the wedding band. “Wait a minute.” She looked at me and grabbed my hand with my wedding band on it. Her eyes widened and she looked at me. “YOU GOT MARRIED?” she yelled rather loudly.
“Shh.”
Brayden started to cry.
“Here, let me take him,” Amelia said as Julia willingly handed him over to her.
“Oh my God, Collin. Why? I mean, I’m happy for you. But, oh my God, Mom! Dad!”
I walked away, shaking my head. “I know. I know. But this isn’t anyone’s business. I love Amelia and we were in Vegas and I wanted to marry her and she wanted to marry me.”
“Isn’t anyone’s business? Are you kidding me?”
“Okay. I shouldn’t have said that.” I sighed. “I’m scared, Julia. Mom and Dad are going to flip out.”
“Damn right they are. You took a wedding away from them. You know what a control freak Mom is. You’re her sweet boy.” Suddenly, an evil grin took over her face. “Maybe you won’t be her sweet boy anymore.”
“Ugh, Julia. Stop it. You’re making things worse.” I sat down on the couch and buried my face in my hands.
She sat down next to me and hooked her arm around me. “I’m sorry, Collin. You know I love you. I am so incredibly happy for you and Amelia. I really am. I’m just scared for you.” She laughed.
“Thanks.”
“Aw, come here.” She pulled me into her. “When are you telling them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, when you do, I’ll be there for you. When Mom explodes, I’ll do my best to calm her down.”
“Thanks, sis.”
“I’d better get Brayden home and to bed.” She got up from the couch and hugged Amelia. “Welcome to the family. I truly am happy for both of you.”
“Thank you.” Amelia smiled as she handed Brayden over.
“You better take off that ring before you come to work tomorrow.”
“I will. Have a good night, sis. I love you.”
“I love you too, Collin.” She walked out the door and I looked up at Amelia. She sat down beside me and placed her hand on my thigh.
“Do you regret getting married?”
My heart ached when she asked me that. I took hold of her hand. “Of course not. I wanted nothing more than to make you my wife and no apology will be made. My parents will just have to accept it and move on.”
“What if they won’t?”
“They’ll be happy we’re married. They love you. They just won’t be happy that we didn’t include them.” I sighed.
“Do I have to be there when you tell them?” She smiled.
“Yes. If I’m going down, you’re going down with me. Now enough talk about my parents. They are last people I want to think about when I’m about to fuck you for the first time in our home as my wife.”
She took her bottom lip in her mouth as her seductive eyes stared into mine. “Mhmm. I like that idea.” Her lips softly touched mine.
Ellery
Life couldn’t be more perfect. I was married to the man of my dreams, I had two beautiful grown children, a perfect son in-law, and a beautiful grandson. The art gallery was thriving better than we had ever imagined and Black Enterprises was strong and solid. Connor had talked about retiring and letting Collin take over, but he wanted to wait a couple more years. He still felt Collin needed to grow up a little bit. I disagreed, and we had our discussions about it, but I stood by his decision to wait.
“Good morning, baby.” Connor walked into the kitchen and gave me a warm kiss.
“Good morning. Tell Collin when you see him at the office that dinner is at six o’clock sharp.”
“I will. Don’t worry.” He took his coffee over to the table as I set his breakfast in front of him.
“I was thinking last night about Collin and Amelia and how we could be planning a wedding for them in the near future.”
“Let’s not rush them into marriage, sweetheart. I think Collin needs a couple more years before he even considers getting married. They both need to get settled into their careers first.”
“I agree, but isn’t the thought exciting? Watching our baby boy walk down the aisle, marrying the love of his life like Julia did.”
“Where is Julia, by the way? I thought she was bringing Brayden by this morning.”
“I’m right here, Dad.” She smiled as she walked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek and he took Brayden from her arms. “You know I’m only a few minutes late. It’s hard with Jake being out of town.”
“Sorry, princess. I was just missing this little guy.”
I poured Julia a cup of coffee and handed it to her. “Why don’t you and Brayden spend the night here until Jake gets back?” I was hoping she’d say yes.
“It’s fine, Mom. I’m more than capable of being alone with my son. But thanks for the offer. Jake will home tomorrow night.”
“Well, I have a full day planned with this little one.” I walked over and took him from Connor’s arms.
“Elle. I wasn’t done playing with him.”
“Sorry, babe, but he wants his grandma. Don’t you?” I held him up in the air and he smiled.
It was hard to believe that he was already six months old. Spring was settling in New York and I was excited to take him to Central Park.
“I have an idea, Julia. How about you pack Brayden an overnight bag and let him stay the night with us tonight? That way, you can have a night to yourself.”
“How about I take you up on that offer tomorrow night when Jake gets home so I can spend the night alone with my husband?”
I gave her a smile. “That’s an even better idea.”
Connor finished his breakfast and got up from his chair. “Are you ready to head into the office, princess?”
“Yes, Dad. I’m ready.” She walked over and gave Brayden a kiss goodbye. “Be good for Grandma, Brayden, and Mommy will see you later.”
He cooed and smiled at her. I took his little arm and waved goodbye as they stepped into the elevator.
****
Connor
“Good morning, son,” I got up from my desk chair and walked around to give him a light hug.
“Morning, Dad.”
“How was the rest of your trip in Vegas?”
“It was good. We had a lot of fun.”
I walked back to my desk and sat down, crossing my legs. Collin planted himself in the chair across from me. He seemed different.
“What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing. Why do you ask?” He gave me a strange look.
“I can’t put my finger on it, but you seem different.”
“No, I’m not. I’m the same Collin I was a few days ago.”
“Okay. Maybe it’s just my imagination. Oh, your mom said dinner is at six sharp tonight. Don’t be late.”
He got up from the chair. “We will be on time. I promise.”
I gave him a small smile as he left the office. As I was looking over some documents that my new secretary, Cara, typed up, I noticed a lot of errors. I pushed the button on my desk phone.
“Cara, could you please come in here?”
A few moments later, the door opened and she walked in. “Yes, Mr. Black?”
“Have a seat please.” I pointed to the chair. “As I’m looking over these documents, I’ve noticed a lot of typing errors. Did you even go through them before handing them over to me?”
She looked at me with her brown eyes, and as she chomped on her gum, she sighed. “I thought I did. I’m sorry, Mr. Black. Hand them over to me and I’ll go through them again.” She held out her hand.
Handing the documents back to her, I frowned. “You have until five o’clock to get them back to me.”
She walked out of the office and shut the door. I missed Valerie and Diana. I hadn’t been able to find anyone competent enough to fill their shoes and it was starting to piss me off. Why I let Collin talk me into hiring Cara, I had no clue. She didn’t even have that much secretarial experience. I looked at the calendar and thought next weekend would be a good weekend to go to the Hamptons and open up the house for the summer. This was the time of year I loved. Spending weekends at the beach house with the family were times that I always treasured. Although this year would be different with Collin having his own house right down the street. I pressed the button on my desk phone again.
“Cara, please call the florist and have a bouquet of roses sent to my wife at our home.”
“Will do, Mr. Black.”
I pulled out my phone and sent a text message to Ellery.
“I’m having roses sent to the house so you can use them as a centerpiece for the dinner table tonight.”
“Thank you, babe. I was going to stop with Brayden on my way home from the park to get some. I love you.”
“I love you too. I’ll see you later. Send me some pictures of our grandson.”
Before long, Ellery had blown up my phone with the cutest pictures of Brayden; some by himself and some with her. As I stared at him, he reminded me so much of Collin. I sat back in my chair and thought about what Denny used to say.
“Connor, that son of yours is the spitting image of you. Brace yourself because I have a feeling you’re going to be in for one hell of a ride as he gets older.”
I silently smiled because he was right. Collin was the spitting image of me, not only in looks, but in personality and defiance as well. He had grown into a man before my eyes and already endured such heartache but also extreme happiness, and I couldn’t have been more proud of him for the way he handled things. I didn’t have any worries as far as the company was concerned once I retired.