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I led Dom inside the house, laughing as I heard a tumult of voices and a baby's cry from the kitchen.
"All right," I said, smiling broadly. "Here goes nothing."
He squeezed my hand. "Reese, this will be fun."
Declan, Travis, and Kimberly were closest to us, along with their better halves, but Gran spotted us first. She and John walked toward us.
"Reese, darling, and Dominic. So great of you to join us." Gran hugged each of us in turn.
John gave me a hug as well, then turned to Dom.
"Nice to see you again," Dom said, shaking his hand.
Aunt Lena smiled at us, but she held up her hands. They were full of chopped parsley. "Sorry, I can't really greet you properly right now, Dom. But it's good to have you here."
Uncle Emmett washed quickly at the sink and then proceeded to pat Dom's shoulder and shake his hand. "Hi, I'm Emmett, Reese's uncle."
"And these are my cousins Luke, Tyler, and Tate," I introduced down the line.
"It's good to meet all of you," Dom said. "I've heard a lot about everyone in the family."
"And we heard that you and Reese already had a Thanksgiving meal with your dad," Lena said.
"That's right."
"Well, I hope you still have some space for my treats."
I looked out the corner of my eye at Dom, fighting laugher.
He grinned. "Reese gave me plenty of warning, so I saved some space."
I could feel my aunt warming up to him.
"All right, well, the turkey is resting, and we're just putting on the finishing touches," she told us.
"It looks like it," Dom said. "And Reese told me that you have a clever strategy where everyone does bits and pieces, so put me to work."
Oh yeah. He'd completely won her over.
As we worked side by side, I noticed Lexi and Kendra whispering under their breaths. When they realized I was watching them, they both smiled at me. I had a hunch they were going to keep an eye on us the whole evening—but that was par the course with my family.
Dom was the center of attention, and I loved it. I hadn't felt as happy as I was today in years. I was grateful that my family got to experience this joyful side of me after they'd had to put up with the Grinch version for so long.
This Thanksgiving is absolutely perfect.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Reese
As the weather in Chicago got colder, we started organizing fun indoor events at work. At the beginning of December, we set up a punch station right next to the coffee machine—alcohol-free, of course.
This year we were throwing the office Christmas party earlier than usual because so many people were leaving on vacation right after.
The party began at 6:00 p.m., and it was taking place at the bar. We’d closed it off to the public at four o'clock so the team could put up the decorations and rearrange the tables.
I'd invited Dom, too, because I wanted to show off my man to everyone. I’d already gone with him to his company’s Christmas party as well as two more that he couldn’t get out of. I was loving all the festivities.
Kimberly and I had a few shopping sprees at his store. We’d been there before I’d met him, of course, but it was even more fun now. I kept hoping he’d pop into the store while we were there, but it never happened.
