“Do you want coffee, babe?” I ask, and she smiles at me over her shoulder.
“Yes, please.”
“Wow, this is really happening . . . You’re really in a relationship,” Allison mutters from my side, and I turn to look at her, seeing a smirk on her face.
“Don’t start.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She grins as she pulls a bottle out and heads for the couch to take a seat next to Fawn. My family has been giving me a hard time for the last couple of years about finding someone to settle down with, but I’ve always ignored them. After I ended things with Heather, I refused to settle for another woman who didn’t really give a shit about me, what I wanted, or what I needed. Until Fawn came along, I thought it would be next to impossible to find that woman, so I know my family is surprised.
“I have the perfect plan,” Katie says as she comes through the front door with my family following her. “We can all have Thanksgiving together, since we are all here.”
“Mom,” Fawn says from the couch, but Katie ignores her and looks at my mom, who is nodding like a loon.
“I think it’s a great idea. The more the merrier,” my mom agrees, huddling in the kitchen and whispering with Katie.
“It will be fine, baby,” I state, handing Fawn her cup of coffee as Ruby comes over to take Emma from her. “Baby, I’d like you to meet Emma’s mom, Ruby, and her dad, my brother Cole,” I introduce them as Fawn stands to greet each of them with a hug.
“It’s nice to meet you.” Fawn smiles, and I tuck her under my arm.
“You’re the pizza girl,” Ruby says, and I look at Fawn, wondering what she’s talking about.
“Um, yeah.” She blushes. “Thank you for the birthday cake—it was delicious.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked it.” Ruby grins, then steps aside, whispering to Cole as my dad pushes his way in front of Lucas and Eva.
“Dad, Fawn. Fawn, my dad, David,” I say as Dad picks her up off the ground in a bear hug.
“Nice to meet you, girl,” Dad says, and Fawn laughs.
“Nice to meet you, too, sir.”
“Don’t sir me. That title is better for my boss’s boss,” Dad says, then looks at me. “You did good, boyo.” Shaking my head at him, I grin, then watch him move to the kitchen when my mom calls him over.
“Baby, my brother Lucas and his wife, Eva. Their daughter is Madeline,” I say, and Fawn hugs Eva, who does not return the hug.
Eva lets out a huff as Lucas pulls Fawn into a hug next, muttering, “They like to save the best for last,” before letting her go, gaining a glare from his wife, which he ignores.
“Nice to meet you guys.” Fawn smiles as I wrap my hand around her waist.
“Now, seriously, what the hell are you doing with this uptight asshole?” Lucas asks, looking between the two of us.
“He’s not so bad,” Fawn says looking up at me.
I dip my head and place a kiss to her forehead, then pull away when Libby comes through the front door, stating loudly, “I vote that only one apartment has the game playing and the other one is free rein.”
“I want to watch the parade,” Madeline says, taking a seat on the couch—she’s holding a cookie that she got from god knows where.
“We’re only a few blocks from the parade. We should go see it in person,” Libby says, and Madeline’s face lights up.
“I’d like to get out of here for a while,” Eva says, looking at Libby. Eva wanting to get out of here isn’t a surprise—she’s not the most friendly person, and I seriously wonder what the hell my brother is still doing married to her.
“I’ll go with the girls,” Lucas says, then adds, “or with anyone else who wants to come along.”
“Do you want to go, baby?” I ask Fawn, and she shakes her head no.
“Not really unless you want to. I went last year, and it was a little too much for me.”
“That’s cool, we can stay.”
“You can go,” she says softly, and I shake my head no.
“I’m going to go next door and see who else wants to come out with us,” Libby says as my cell starts to ring.
Giving Fawn a quick kiss, I pull my phone out of my pocket, seeing it’s my partner, Wesley. “I gotta take this, baby,” I say quietly, and she nods as I put the phone to my ear and move to my bedroom.
“What’s up?” I ask as soon as the door is shut behind me.
“Just seeing if you wanted to get a bite to eat later. I know you’re on your own today.”
“Actually, my whole family—and Fawn’s—just showed up with bags upon bags of food,” I say. Wesley’s been giving me shit about Fawn for the last few weeks, asking if I needed any help with her since I was having a hard time pinning her down.
“Lucky bastard,” he grumbles, and I grin.
“Why don’t you come over here for dinner?”
“Nah, I don’t want to impose.”
“You’re not imposing. We’ll have plenty of food, and I’d like you to meet Fawn.”
“All right, I’ll be there.”
“That wasn’t hard,” I mutter and hear him laugh before he hangs up. Shoving my cell back in my pocket, I leave the room, finding Fawn in the kitchen.
“Do you have to leave?” she asks as soon as she sees me.
“No, but my partner, Wesley, is gonna stop by for dinner.”
“Where is his family today?” she asks quietly, and I move into her, wrapping my hand around her hip, then sliding it around her back to pull her closer.
“Seattle. He moved here a little over a year ago, so he’s on his own.”
“Oh,” she says softly, moving her fingers up to run along my jaw. “In that case, I’m glad everyone showed up with food. I’d hate for him to be alone, too.”
“You’ll like him,” I state softly when I see that her eyes have filled with worry, and she nods, then looks past me. “You doing okay with all of this?”
“Yeah, unless you get called into work, I’ll be okay.”
“If I get called in, I’m taking you with me,” I say, and she laughs, dropping her forehead to my chest. I wrap my arms around her and place my lips to her hair, breathing in the scent of berries that always seems to surround her.
“Fawn, are you ready to cook your first turkey?” Katie asks, breaking into the moment. Fawn pulls away to look at her mom, who’s poking her head in the door.
“Do I have a choice?” she asks, and her mom rolls her eyes. “Apparently not. I guess we’re playing Russian roulette with everyone’s lives today,” she mutters, and I laugh, throwing my head back, then drop my mouth to hers and whisper against her lips.
“You got this, baby. If you need me, I’ll be here watching the game,” I say, and she frowns at my smile.
“This is the first time in my life I wish I could say I wanted to watch football,” she grumbles right before I kiss her once more, then let her go, wondering how the hell it’s possible that I’m already falling in love with her. She throws a smile at me over her shoulder before she leaves, making me realize it’s just her.
Chapter 11
WHERE ARE THE GIBLETS? WHAT THE HELL ARE GIBLETS?
FAWN
“Who’s going to cut the turkey?” Mom asks, looking between Levi’s mom and me. I shrug, taking a sip of beer, which I normally hate, but I need alcohol to get through today and there is no wine in the house.
“I think Levi should cut it since he’s the man of the house,” Lisa says, smiling at me, and I fight the urge to roll my eyes at her the way I would if my mom had just said the same thing. My reaction to her isn’t a surprise—after spending the day with Levi’s mom and mine I’ve realized why they were such great friends. They have the same personality, neither of them understands the meaning of boundaries, and they are both crazy as hell. I mean, they’re even wearing similar outrageous Thanksgiving-themed sweaters with sparkles and bedazzles.
“Oh, I love it, Levi and Fawn’s first Thanksgiving together. This is just t
oo perfect.” My mom claps as she looks at me, smiling.
“Mom,” I warn—not that she’s paying me any mind. No, she’s been like this all day. Which means she’s in make-believe mom heaven, where Levi and I are past the point of dating and onto the baby-making part of our relationship and I’m planning on giving her ten grandkids.
“This is just so exciting,” Lisa gushes, looking at me. “You are so much better than Levi’s ex-fiancée. Ugh, I hated that girl.”
Um, what? I feel my eyes get wide, and my heart skips a beat as I stare at her.
“Levi was engaged?” My mom voices my question, and I wait with my fist clenched for the answer as I study Lisa, who is suddenly looking anywhere but at me.