“Love you too. Bye, Momma, bye, Nate,” DJ chirped
happily. Nate smiled and waved as Josh led him out the door.
“See you tomorrow night,” I said, trying
not to show any emotions so that DJ wouldn
’
t get upset.
“Josh, please try,”
I begged.
He frowned and nodded. “I
’
ll try, but no promises.”
No promises? The stupid asshole had already
broken his promise so why would another one make a difference? I gritted my
teeth so I didn
’
t make some bitchy
comment to him in front of our son. When the door closed I grabbed the nearest
pillow and screamed into it until all my breath was gone, then I threw it as
hard as I could at the front door. His stupid waste of space father was going
to break my baby
’
s heart, and
there was not a damn thing I could do about it.
My tears started to fall as I imagined the
look on DJ
’
s face when I told him
he wouldn
’
t be able to go, and it
would be
my
responsibility to tell him. Josh ruined it, and I got to
break the news to his son, the same as every other time he screwed up.
Something gripped my shoulder, turning me around, and I suddenly remembered
that Nate was there, and had just seen my little outburst that I usually only
let out when I was alone.
Concern was clear across his face as he
shook his head lightly.
“I
’
ll pay for DJ
’
s ticket,
you don
’
t need to get upset about
it,” he said, bending down so our faces were level as he wiped my tears with
his thumbs.
My heart stopped at the adorable gesture. I
couldn
’
t help but make direct
contrasts between him and my ass of an ex-boyfriend. Why couldn
’
t a guy like Nate have gotten me pregnant? A
sweet guy that took his responsibilities seriously, and would provide for his
child, no matter what the cost. Or, better yet, just turned up when he was
supposed to and didn
’
t disappoint
his kid over and over.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging
him tightly. I couldn
’
t let him
pay for DJ, he wasn
’
t his
responsibility and I couldn
’
t take
advantage of him like that. As much as I wanted to let him just so I wouldn
’
t have to see the disappointed look on my baby
’
s face, I just couldn
’
t let him do it.
“It
’
s okay, you don
’
t need
to do that,” I whispered, pressing my face against his neck, letting his
delicious smell fill my lungs.
“I want to, Rose.”
I sniffed and pulled back, wiping my face,
trying not to sob like I felt like doing. I was actually surprised that Nate
wasn
’
t running a mile from me
after seeing Josh and I argue in front of him like that. I pulled him over to
the sofa and pushed him down, then sat on his lap, straddling him, tangling my
hands into the back of his hair. His beautiful, soft, caring blue eyes were
locked on mine.
“Nate, that
’
s really, really sweet of you to offer, but I can
’
t let you do that. DJ
’
s my responsibility, and I can
’
t accept,” I rejected. “But thank you
so
much
for the offer.”
I pressed my lips against his, silently
showing him how much that offer had meant to me. His arms wrapped around me,
pulling me closer to him, pressing my chest against his as his soft lips moved
in synchronisation with mine, making my whole body crave for more. More of his
touch, more of his taste, just more of him. I
’
d never be able to get enough.
“Let me pay for his ticket,” he whispered
against my lips.
I pulled back to look at him, trying to
ignore the cute, pleading puppy dog expression that was plastered on his face.
“I can
’
t, Nate. Thank you, but I
can
’
t let you do that.” I pressed
my forehead to his and closed my eyes.
He sighed, his forehead scrunching up under
mine so I knew he was frowning. “
Stripes, I don’
t-” he started, but I cut him off by kissing him again. He kissed me
back hungrily; I pulled away when I was getting slightly breathless.
“Don
’
t say anything else,” I said sternly, ending the conversation. I
kissed his lips again, trying my best not to let his obvious disappointment
affect me. He was probably doing it thinking he needed to spend money on DJ to
get him to accept him, when, in total honesty, I could already see that he
adored him.
“Okay,” he muttered, forcing a smile as he
brushed my hair behind my ears.
I decided to try and lighten the mood; I
didn
’
t want him all disappointed
and us to feel uncomfortable all day. This was
our
day, and I was going to make sure we both enjoyed it.
“Do you know that you
’
ve made my son want to be a cop?” I asked, cocking my head to the
side, raising one eyebrow accusingly.
“Really?”
I nodded. “Yep. He wants to know how to
shoot a gun so that you two can arrest all the bad guys and be partners like
Buzz and Woody.”
He burst out laughing, his eyes shining
with what looked like pride, and I couldn
’
t help but smile back. He really had a beautiful smile, it lit his
whole face. “I
’
ll be Buzz, I don
’
t want to be the skinny sheriff doll,” he
joked.
I laughed wickedly. “You do know he can
’
t really fly though, right? And the laser is
just a light bulb,” I teased, using one of the lines from the movie that I knew
word for word.
His eyes widened and he shook his head in
mock disapproval. “Must you ruin all of my fantasies?”
“I ruin your fantasies? Or are you just
annoyed because I haven
’
t made any
of them come true yet?” I teased, trying to look sexy as I raised one eyebrow,
going for the cocky, teasing face that he did to me all the time.
H
is
hold on me
tighten
ed
. “Yet?”
I nodded and inched my face closer to his.
“Mmm hmm,
yet
being the right word, Officer Peters,” I whispered, biting
his bottom lip softly.
“Damn it, Stripes, we need to go out
otherwise I
’
m going to pin you on my
lap all day and have you flirt with me until you lose your voice,” he whined,
looking me over slowly. His eyes were so lustful that my body tingled in all
the right places. He was right though, we did need to go.
I sighed dramatically and pushed myself up
off his lap, laughing as he playfully swatted my ass. “Come on then, let
’
s go meet the parents,” I suggested, trying to
sound more confident than I felt.
He grinned and stood up. “Just to warn you,
my family, they
’
re not exactly…
normal,” he said, wincing slightly.
I recoiled at his choice of words. “Not
normal?”
He shrugged. “You
’
ll see.”
Wow, that doesn
’
t sound good.
Nate took my hand at the door,
squeezing a little too tightly for comfort.
“Okay, so here’s the deal. If you hate my
family then we only have to see them an average of four times a year, just on
birthdays and special occasions.”
I inwardly cringed at that statement. Why
on earth would I possibly hate his family? Were they going to be mean to me?
Did they not like me having a child? Was my job not good enough? Why was he
pulling that face?
“Nate, seriously, you
’
re scaring me now. Are your family going to lock me in a cupboard
and not talk to me, or just not acknowledge me or something?” I asked
nervously.
“No,”
he said grimly, “
but you may wish for that.”
“What?” I
yelped
,
looking longingly back at his car. Why had I agreed to this in the first place?
Oh yeah, because I was starting to fall in love with the guy, and he wanted me
to meet his family. I inwardly scolded myself for not asking Anna what they
were like beforehand so I could have prepared myself.
“Ready?” Nate asked, his hand on the door
handle.
“No,” I groaned.
He smiled apologetically and pushed the
door open anyway. Almost immediately I saw a girl speed walking down the
hallway, a big grin on her face as she bowled into Nate with wide arms. He
laughed
and hugged her tightly. “Hey, Paige,
have you been drinking already? It
’
s not even midday!” he scolded playfully.
She grinned and pushed his hand off as he
went to ruffle her hair. I shuffled on my feet, not knowing what to do or say.
Should I stick out my hand and introduce myself or wait for him to do it?
Should I turn and run? Maybe that would be the best option…
“Paige, this is Rosie. Rosie, this is my
sister, Paige,” Nate introduced, smiling proudly.
So much for the running plan!
I smiled awkwardly and held out a hand to
her. “Hey, nice to meet you,” I greeted.
“You too, I
’
ve heard a lot about you.” She turned back to the stairs
and
shouted,
“Mom!
Nate
’
s brought his
girlfriend!”
I winced and cringed into Nate
’
s side.
“Paige, seriously, the longer we put this
off, the better. Could you not have at least let her get in the door before we
set our batshit
crazy
mother on her?” he complained.
“I heard that, Nathaniel!”
I looked up in time to see a pretty lady
almost skipping down the stairs; her face was stretched into a huge smile as
her eyes latched on me. A blond guy was following behind her; he was incredibly
handsome and looked like an older version of Nate. One of my eyebrows rose in
appreciation.
“Please tell me you guys weren
’
t up there… Ugh, I can
’
t even finish that sentence without throwing up. Actually, I think I
just did in my mouth a little,” Nate stated beside me, shuddering.
Paige and I both burst into laughter. I
slapped his stomach to get him to stop pulling that face he was doing right
now, the disgusted ‘I-saw-my-parents-having-sex-once
’
face. I needed to stop laughing and that face wasn
’
t helping at all.
His mom stopped right in front of me. I
opened my mouth to say hi, but she cupped my face in her hands, kind of
smooshing my lips together. “Aww, you
’
re such a beautiful girl! Oh, Evan, look at her, isn
’
t she beautiful?” she gushed with wide eyes.
I blushed and flicked my eyes to Nate, who
was just standing there with his mouth open, looking at me
; a
mixture
of horrified
and apologetic.
“It
’
s so nice to finally meet you, sweetheart! I
’
ve heard so many great things about you,” Dawn breathed, pulling me
into a hug.
Wow, batshit crazy is right!
“You too,” I answered, a little stunned by
her forwardness and affection.
She pulled back and looked around the
hallway excitedly. “Where is he? Did you bring him?” she chirped, almost
bouncing on the spot.
Bring who? Seriously, had someone slipped
something into my drink this morning and this was some weird trip I was on?
“Mom, I told you he couldn
’
t come,
” Nate answered,
taking my hand and squeezing it gently. “Will you calm down the craziness a
little, I swear to God if you scare her away from me…” he trailed off, shaking
his head warningly.
She waved her hand dismissively. “Oh, psht,
whatever.”
I smiled politely. “Who are we talking
about?” I asked, a little confused as to what I was missing out on.
“DJ,” Nate answered, at the same time as
his mother proclaimed, “
My grandson!
”
What. The. Fuck?
My body reacted before my mind even
finished registering what she
’
d
said. My mouth dropped open in shock, a little pop sounding where my lips
parted so suddenly. My forehead creased with confusion as I tried to work out
exactly what kind of level of crazy I had just walked into.
Nate groaned and his hand tightened on
mine. “That
’
s it, we
’
re leaving!” he stated, turning and starting
to drag me back through the still open door.
I had no idea what to think. This woman
wanted to meet DJ? She was already calling him her grandson? Seriously, who did
that?
!
I looked at Nate, wondering what exactly he
’
d been saying to his mother about our
relationship. Had he lied and told her we
’
d been seeing each other for a year instead of eight weeks?
Did
she think DJ was Nate’s son?
What else would explain her
excitement?
“Oh, come on, I was just asking!” she
cried.
Nate turned back to her and shook his head,
waving his hand at her. “This craziness needs to stop. I
’
m putting my foot down,” he said sternly. “Now, Rosie and I are
going to knock on the door like normal people, and you
’
re going to answer the door like a
normal
person. Deal? Let
’
s just start over
.
” He
practically dragged me outside and slammed the door in her face, leaving us
outside again and her inside, giggling excitedly.
I could hear her in there talking to Nate
’
s dad.
“Oh, Evan,
how adorable is she? What a cute couple!” she gushed.
I looked back at Nate, still flabbergasted
and confused as to what was going on. Seriously, his mom was like a whirlwind,
you couldn
’
t help but get swept
away by her enthusiasm.
He winced and pressed his lips to mine,
kissing me fiercely. When he pulled away, he looked at me pleadingly. “Just
four times a year. After this visit we won
’
t have to see them again until Christmas,” he whispered.
“What the hell
was
that?” I asked, shaking
my head trying to make sense of the situation.
“That,” he blew out a big breath, “was my
mother.”
I laughed uncomfortably and chewed on my
lip at his horrified expression. “She
’
s… enthusiastic.” I struggled to find the right word to describe
what I
’
d just witnessed.
He closed his eyes and nodded. “Ready for
meet the parents, round two?” he asked, raising his hand to knock on the door.
I nodded and shrugged. I wasn
’
t
sure I would ever be ready, but we needed to get it over with. Nate smiled and
knocked on the door a couple of times.
“Oh, I wonder who that could be, I wasn
’
t expecting anyone,” Dawn sang, laughing
inside the house. I burst out laughing and pressed into Nate
’
s side. I was already in love with his mom
,
crazy or not.
When she opened the door, she had a big
grin on her face. Meet the parents round two went a lot better than the first
round. Everything was polite and semi-normal
;
I say
semi-normal because she still hugged the life out of me and gripped my hand, grinning
at me like I was the best thing since sliced bread – but at least Nate didn
’
t drag me out of the house this time. His dad
and sister were really nice too. I blushed when I saw Evan slap Nate on the
shoulder and whisper something that sounded like, “Score for team Peters, that
’
s a keeper right there,” in his ear. Nate just
laughed and looked at me proudly before kissing the side of my head which made
his mom “aww” at us.
I met his other sister, the youngest one,
Lisa. She was quieter than the rest of them. Nate was teasing the life out of
her about her hair, complaining that he
’
d told her to wash out the dye last time. She smiled warmly at me
when I poked him in the ribs and told him to leave her alone. Everything was
going great.
Hannah and her boyfriend weren
’
t here yet, apparently they stayed at a hotel
last night after having a romantic meal for her birthday – Nate wasn
’
t best pleased when he learnt that little
titbit of information.
I
’
d not seen this side of Nate before
;
how
attentive, protective and affectionate he was with his sisters and mom. It was
cute to watch how they fussed over him, and teased him about needing a haircut
and to eat more food. I leant against the counter, just watching him talk to
his family; the whole time, he had one arm securely around my waist, stroking
my hip reassuringly.
I smiled as I watched the interactions; I
had never pictured him having a family. For some reason, he struck me as a man
’
s man. He loved to drink with his friends, he
had this big macho job, liked rock-climbing and bungee jumping, shooting guns,
fighting – but yet he was also perfectly at home here with his family; in fact,
he seemed extremely contented here. Watching the way he interacted with them
all, made me want this too; it made me want this kind of life for myself and
DJ.
I could almost picture myself in Dawn
’
s place, heading up the family. I watched the
way Evan was stroking her back while she spoke. They looked so cute and
adorable together; I couldn
’
t help
but wonder if Nate and I would still be like that in years to come. I chewed on
my lip and tried to come back to reality a little, it had only been eight
weeks, I shouldn
’
t really allow
myself to dream that far ahead. I certainly shouldn
’
t picture DJ bringing home his girlfriend to meet me, all of us
hanging out in the kitchen, laughing. I definitely shouldn
’
t picture Nate smiling at me the way Evan was smiling at Dawn. I
couldn
’
t allow myself to think
like that because that was a sure fire way to break my heart into a million
pieces. I couldn
’
t allow myself to
dream, because dreams and hopes didn
’
t bring anything in life, except disappointment.
“Nate, you mind helping me move the grill
and the chairs and stuff down to the beach?” Evan asked, nodding towards the
back door.
Dawn clapped her hands together excitedly.
“Rosie can stay with me, we can have girlie time!”
Oh no!
I
looked at Nate pleadingly, willing him to come up with some brilliant excuse as
to why I had to stay at his side and help him move chairs.
Instead, he smirked at me and nodded.
“Sure, girlie bonding time is just what you two need,” he answered.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Sounds great,”
I lied, forcing a smile.
He laughed and pulled me into his chest,
kissing me lightly for a couple of seconds. “Don
’
t miss me too much, Stripes.”
I rolled my eyes. “Oh, I
’
ll try not to.”
He bent in close and kissed me again
lightly. “I
’
ll come and save you
in a couple of minutes,” he whispered against my lips. I nodded gratefully and
smiled
. His
eyes twinkled as he pulled back, and I held
in my dreamy sigh that wanted to escape. He turned to his mom. “Remember the
rules we went over on the phone? Break one and we
’
re leaving,” he warned, following his father out of the door,
grabbing Paige
’
s hand and dragging
her out too, leaving me alone with his mom.