"You jerk—" she hit my chest playfully. "You made me cry." Chuckling, I pulled her into my arms, hugging her tight."Goddamn Disney prince," she mumbled into my chest making us both laugh.
Pulling back, I held her face in mine staring into her eyes. "You coming home with me tonight?"
She nodded. "Nowhere else I'd rather be," she smiled.
Kissing her forehead I nodded. "Let me go let the staff know I'm leaving and then we can head out."
"Okay." She nodded.
Threading her fingers through mine, we said our good-byes to the staff and headed out. The ride to my parents was quiet, R&B filling the space. My hand periodically resting on her thigh to ground her. The weight of the night on our minds but I wasn’t going to let it hinder me.
When we pulled up to my parents' house and I parked, I looked over at her. "Come inside with me," I said quietly.
Her eyes widened slightly. "You sure? It's late."
"I know…but I want you too. They're probably still up anyway."
She looked hesitant. "You sure they won't mind?"
"They won't. I promise," I assured her.
She paused a moment before nodding in agreement. Walking over to her side, I helped her out and kept her hand in mine as we walked up the walkway. Once we hit the porch and I took my keys out, I felt her hand tighten around mine. I lifted our hands quickly to place a reassuring kiss on the top of hers before opening the door.
The glow of the TV greeted us as soon as we walked in. My parents were sitting together, robes on, sharing a bowl of popcorn with an open bottle of wine on the table.
"Hey, y'all," I greeted gently closing the door behind us.
Mama reached over and clicked on the side table lamp. "Oh my—hey." She greeted us. "We weren't expecting company.Remy, you should've told us." She fussed standing, and pulling her robe tighter around her body. "I would've prepared better."
"You don't need to prepare, Ma," I smiled, leading Gianna over as Pops stood as well.
"I'm so sorry if I'm intruding. I can go wait in the car." Gianna offered thumbing towards the door.
Mama waved her off. "Nonsense. You're here now, sweetheart," she smiled. Her warm gazed looked her over. "It's good to see you again."
"You too," Gianna replied politely. "And you as well, sir." She turned towards Pops.
"Stanley will do," Pops responded in that gruff but kind tone of his. "We're happy to have you."
"Have a seat." Mama pointed towards the couch. "Gianna, you sit next to me."
Gianna nodded and sat down next to her.
"You know you could've picked him up in the morning, son." Pops spoke, taking a seat in his favorite armchair. "He's knocked out now."
"I know." I sat next to Gianna. "But tomorrow is Saturday and we always make pancakes together in the morning."
Pops smiled in understanding.
Gianna looked around with a smile. "Your home is lovely by the way. I love the color scheme." She turned her head to Mama. "You do all the decorating yourself, Ms. Betty?"
"Believe it or not—" Mama began with a smile. "My husband did a lot of it. He has a good eye." She leaned in. "Secretly loves interior design but don't tell anyone."
"Oh wow—" Gianna laughed. "That actually makes sense."
Pops chuckled. "You think so?"
Gianna nodded, eyes scanning the room again. "Yeah. Remy told me you do construction. You can always tell when a man understands structure beyond just putting things together.Everything in here feels balanced. Nothing is competing with anything else—it all flows.”
