Forever (Always & Forever 2)

“Then be funny, not anxious.” Robert pointed to the large window in front of his parents’ small older brick home. There were six heads peering out, watching them as they stood outside.

Of course they were.

Landon had done everything possible to give himself a different life, and he had built a very disciplined and respectable one. Then hurricane Robert blew through, dropping him into a fairytale that happened to also be filled with embarrassingly awkward moments, like this one.

Landon rolled his eyes and turned back to Robert. “See? They’re already embarrassing me.”

“My grandmother was waiting for you to arrive, Landon,” Robert reminded as if it was perfectly normal for an adult man to have his family staring through the living room window in anticipation of his arrival.

“Not by the door,” Landon shot back as Robert passed by him, heading toward the front door.

“Only because she’s slow and couldn’t get there fast enough.” He watched Robert lift a hand, waving to his family, that knock ’em dead smile easily sliding into place.

“Remember, my father’s not as accepting as yours,” Landon said under his breath.

“Warned like fifty times now. But they raised you, so they have something good going for ’em. Come on.”

The front door flew open, and the group from the window looked as if they had moved in unison to the doorway. Like always, his sweet mother was the first to step out. Her face full of sheer joy as she looked back and forth between Landon and Robert. She wore a navy blue dress that complemented her complexion. She’d left her long dark hair in silky waves. A welcoming smile lit her face as she took Robert in an immediate hug.

“I’m Karen.”

Robert’s genuine happiness curved his lips as he bent to accept the hug. His uncle came walking out the door next, patting Robert’s shoulder while coming toward Landon. When his uncle reached for one of the bags, he saw a commiserating look in his eyes before he was enveloped in a tight hug.

“You look great.”

Landon took the intended comfort from the compliment and the hug and let out a shaky sigh.

“I’m nervous,” he admitted. His uncle Michael reared back and stared at him.

“What? You’re always so self-assured. Too sure. Cocky, even. What’s happened?” The genuine concern on his uncle’s face somehow helped ease his heart.

“I’m just trying to hang on to him,” Landon confessed, tilting his head past his uncle toward Robert, to see his sister Lori, and his niece and nephew, Presley and Parker, being introduced to Robert. “I think he’s going through PTSD.”

The joke fell short. His uncle looked confused as he turned back to Robert, lost at why Landon would say such a thing. Maybe it was for the best that his uncle didn’t understand Landon’s worry. He loved his family and didn’t want to contribute to any hurt feelings, and he was throwing shade all over them. “Why PTSD?”

“You’ll see.” He didn’t say more, nodding toward Robert, and started that way.

“Uncle Lan,” Parker said, extending a fist for a knuckle bump. He fist-bumped the kid who wasn’t necessarily a child any longer. Parker had grown several inches since the last time he’d seen him, his fifteenth birthday was a few months away. Presley came in for a sweet side hug. Her sixteenth birthday had happened the day he left Germany for DC. Usually, these two held all his attention, because again, he had to remind himself, he did love his family, but instead, he watched his father amble through the front door.

“The air conditioner’s on. Why’re we doing this out here?” His father’s hard-edged tone didn’t go unnoticed.

“Honey, meet Robert. Robert, this is Antonio,” his mother said as if his father’s comment had actually been something kind and inviting.

His father came out past the threshold a step or two, his voice loud and gruff as he offered his hand to Robert. “Call me Tony. I hear you’re Paulie’s grandson.” Those words had Landon narrowing his eyes, glancing between his boyfriend and his father. When had that information exchange happened? His family must have searched the internet on Robert before they arrived. His stomach roiled again, the sensation turning into a constant companion in his life. Why had he never considered the idea they may have googled Robert? What else had they learned?

“Yes, sir, I am.” Robert grinned, completely at ease with all the attention and gruffness hitting him at once.

“He’s a legend where I come from. I hear he taught you his secrets?” His father looked and acted like Robert may have been privy to highly classified information and proud that he had discovered the knowledge as he crossed his arms over his chest. That same chest swelled with speculation.

“Pop…” Landon started, trying to stop wherever this was headed.

“He did, sir. I’m not half the chef he was, but I’ve recently been working to fine tune my skill in the kitchen. It’s coming back to me.”