I look at Tate, raising my eyebrow in question. He smiles and gives a nod.
“I’d love to,” he mouths. I feel a rush of nerves and excitement. It’s really happening.
I refocus on the call.
“Sounds great, Mom. I’ll see you then.”
“Alright, darling. Congratulations again. I love you.”
As the call ends, I can’t stop smiling. I look at Tate and he seems to be caught up in the happiness too.
He kisses me gently.
“That went well,” he says. I nod, breathing a long sigh of relief.
“It went better than I ever thought it would. I can’t believe how happy my mom is for me. Now I wonder how dad will respond.”
“I’m sure he’ll be as excited as your mom to see you happy, finally,” Tate insists. “But I promise, I’ll charm them both so much that they won’t have any choice, but to invite me into the family.”
I take hold of Tate’s hands. “No matter what happens, you’ll always be my family. I love you, Tate.”
“I love you too.”
My heart does somersaults in my chest as he kisses me. But I know this is only half the battle.
By six o’clock, I feel ready to face my parents. Tate looks handsome in a white button-down shirt and navy pants. I’m wearing a dress I feel pretty in and I’ve done my hair for the occasion. As I look at us together in the mirror, we look like the perfect couple. I just hope my parents feel the same.
“Don’t worry,” Tate says, kissing my cheek. “This is going to be a perfect evening.”
I try to take his words to heart but that doesn’t stop my heart from pounding so hard I feel like it’s about to break out of my chest. Tate keeps his hand on my knee the whole drive, just like he did the night we met. It feels like a safe and familiar gesture, one that I now associate with him. He’s right. My parents can’t possibly ignore how perfect we are together.
My parents live on the other side of the city, and as we pull up outside my childhood home, Tate examines it with a smile.
“It’s just like you said it was,” Tate comments. “It’s lovely.”
He gets out of the car and comes around to open my door for me. He helps me out just as my parents emerge from the house. It’s good that the first time they get to see Tate, he’s being a complete and utter gentleman.
I look at my parents, gauging their expressions. The one thing I neglected to mention was Tate’s age, and I can see that they’re shocked. He’s closer in age to them than he is to me. But when I smile, they do too, and that’s how I know everything is going to be okay.
“Welcome!” Mom calls out to Tate as he takes my hand and we walk up to the house. “It’s so nice to meet you.”
“And you,” Tate says, his voice low and utterly charming. “I’ve heard so much about you. Macy speaks so highly of you both.”
He’s said the exact right thing. My parents light up, pulling him in for hugs and handshakes and I feel myself relax a little. This is exactly how I hoped this meeting would go. Now, I just have to hope that they accept him as family.
Because that’s what he is to me.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Tate
This dinner is going better than I imagined. I have to admit, I had concerns about coming here. I imagined that her parents would be stricter, more uptight. I thought they’d take one look at me and think I’m too old for their daughter, or somehow come to the conclusion that I’m not good enough to spend my life with her…
But they welcome me with open arms, asking lots of questions, making a real effort to get to know me as I also learned more about them. Serving me a delicious dinner and making a fuss over me, treating me like an honored guest. They take an interest in my job, in my home, and most importantly in my relationship with their daughter.
And now, a few hours in, it feels like everything has fallen into place. It wouldn’t have been a shock to me if they’d tried to kick me to the curb the moment I arrived. But now I see where Macy gets her kindness and good nature from. Her family are good people. And soon enough, they will be my family too.
Because it’s not enough for me to know that I get to spend the rest of my life with Macy. It’s not enough that she’s carrying my baby and that we’ll have many more children together. No, the story isn’t complete yet.
I want her to be my wife.
That’s the one thing we’re missing. I’ve known since I met her that I want to marry her someday. But the more time I spend with her, the more I realize that I don’t want to wait. And why should we wait to begin our life together as husband and wife? We both love one another deeply. We know what we want, and we know we want it forever.