“This is Tully, Mum,” he tells her with reverence in his voice as he presents me to her.
She smiles and takes me in her arms. “Oh, hello, dear.” She squeezes me tight. “I’ve been waiting all day for you to arrive.”
And suddenly, I feel emotional, too. It’s obvious how much she loves Brock as she hugs him. She gets teary, and Brock shakes his head. “Will you stop?” He smirks. She whips him with her tea towel, as if they are sharing an old but private joke.
I smile. He’s never brought anyone home before.
“Can I help you with anything?” I ask.
She smiles warmly. “No, dear, I have everything under control.”
“Please?” I whisper. “I’m really nervous.”
She wraps her arms around me. “Well, in that case, come in here.” She leads me farther into the kitchen. “I burn everything, anyway.”
I giggle. “Me, too.”
“We have that in common then.” She smiles warmly. Oh, I like her already.
“I’ll get you a glass of wine,” Brock says, smiling softly before he disappears. Natasha and Bridget come in and sit at the kitchen counter. Bridget is clearly heavily pregnant.
“How far have you got to go?” I ask.
“Fourteen weeks.” She smiles. “Twins.”
My eyes widen. “Twins?”
“I know.” She shakes her head. “I don’t know how the hell I’m going to do it.”
Natasha rubs Bridget’s stomach. “It’s going to be fine, stop worrying.”
“Are you scared?” I ask.
“Petrified,” she whispers. “But don’t tell Ben. I’m totally faking this whole ‘I have this shit in the bag’ business.”
Natasha has long dark hair and is wearing tight-fitting, faded blue jeans and a white T-shirt. Her hair is in a ponytail and she hasn’t any makeup on. She’s beautiful with the most perfect dimples I have ever seen. She has a friendly, down to earth vibe about her. Bridget’s hair is a little lighter, and she’s wearing an ice-blue summer dress. Her stomach does look huge. No wonder Brock said she’s struggling.
Adrian comes out and sits at the bench with the girls. Brock reappears with a bottle of wine and pours me a glass, topping up Natasha’s and Adrian’s while he’s here, and then he gently puts his hand on my hip and stands behind me. “You okay, Pock?” he asks softly.
“I’m good.”
He leans in and kisses my temple. “I’ll just be in the living room.”
“Okay.” I smile at him being so thoughtful. I look up to see the three of them grinning as they watched our interaction.
“God, you three are fucking busy bodies,” Brock grumbles before he disappears into the other room. We fall silent, and I nervously look at the three of them.
“So…” Bridget smiles. “We could probably act cool and casual, but that really isn’t our style and we desperately need to know all the juicy details.”
I grin bigger.
“How long have you been dating?” Adrian asks.
“A couple of weeks.”
Adrian. “Oh, yes, that’s right. It was around Natasha’s birthday, wasn’t it?”
Bridget says something in return, but my attention turns to Joshua as he walks in and puts his hands on Tash’s shoulders from behind. She turns to him.
“Do you want a drink, Presh?” he asks softly.
She smiles lovingly at him and holds her glass up. “I’m full.”
He licks his lips and bends to her ear. “You will be later.” He looks down at her darkly and gives a subtle crack of his neck. Jeez, there is some serious sexual chemistry between the two of them. I wonder how they met? I feel myself getting quite hot under the collar watching them together. Natasha rolls her lips together and smiles cheekily up at him, raising her glass at his promise. I look down quickly, pretending not to notice their private interaction.
Victoria begins to put everything into the serving dishes to take to the table, and Ben comes in shortly after to wrap his arms around Bridget from behind. He puts his big hands lovingly around her stomach, and she turns her head and kisses his shoulder.
I smile softly as I watch their interaction. Oh, I like this family.
There is so much love between them all. I can feel it.
“Ouch,” someone cries from the living room. If I’m right, it sounds like the eldest girl.
Joshua rolls his eyes. “Blake!” he calls, and I smile, how does he know it was Blake? Is this kid wild or something?
“I didn’t touch her!” the little boy calls back.
“Come here, please,” Joshua demands.
Blake comes in and puts his hands on his hips defiantly. “Jordy started it, and I’m not sitting next to her at the table,” he tells us all.
Joshua stares at him, deadpan. “You’ll sit where we tell you to sit.”
Cameron comes in and picks Blake up in a rush, throwing him over his shoulder. “Blake is sitting in the pot plant to eat his dinner.”
He takes Blake over to the huge pot plant and pretends he’s going to put him into it as Blake squeals in delight, kicking and screaming.