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“Uh, thanks,” Luca whispered.
Mia joined us a moment later, wearing a beautiful yellow dress that was perfect for the end of summer. She came to my side and watched my parents interact with her son. “Quite the social butterfly, huh?” She rested her hands on his shoulders and looked down at him, smiling as a strand of hair came loose.
“Yeah,” Luca said. “These are Carter’s parents.”
“I know,” she said. “I’ve met them before.”
“Let’s meet everyone else.” My mom took Luca’s hand, and together with Mia, they moved around the party and made their introductions. Conway knew about Mia but had never met her before.
When my father and I were alone together, he gave me a knowing look. “The three of you mix well together.”
Ever since Luca came into our lives, my sex life had taken a serious hit. I was lucky to get some alone time with Mia during the day while Luca was at school. But once he was home, she was closed for business. Ironically, I didn’t mind. “Yeah, we do.”
“Doesn’t seem like she’s going anywhere.”
She wasn’t going anywhere ever again. “No, she’s not.” I didn’t tell him what we decided on, since it didn’t seem like the best time. We were there to celebrate the new house Vanessa and Griffin had moved in to. It was a housewarming party, and it would be distasteful to announce our upcoming nuptials.
Father turned his stare on the two of them as they talked with Conway and Sapphire. “Being a father figure is serious business, Carter. That kid looks up to you. It would be devastating to get close to you only to lose you.”
“I understand that.”
“Alright,” he said. “It’s one thing to break a woman’s heart. It’s another to break a child’s heart.”
I loved that kid even though I hadn’t known him that long. The second he was in my home, we immediately clicked. It was difficult to picture my life without him, without that smile and zest for life. “That’s the last thing on my mind.”
Father finally dropped it. “Alright. Looks like your mother and I might have a grandson.”
“Yeah…I think you might.”
Twenty-Four
Vanessa
The dining room was surrounded by windows, so everyone had a great view of the changing colors from the setting sun. Bones carried the big plates of food to the center of the table, and I uncorked the wine bottles and filled all the glasses, giving Luca apple juice. All thirteen of us gathered at the table, Bones taking the seat at the head.
“This is impressive, Griffin,” my mother said. “Everything looks so good. I couldn’t even make all of this without Lars for help.”
“I took a few bites in the kitchen,” my father admitted. “And it’s good too.”
My hand moved to Bones’s on the table, touched that he went to all this effort for me. I told him I wanted to have my family over for dinner, to celebrate the last few days of summer before fall arrived. This was all I ever wanted, to share my family with the love of my life—and vice versa.
Bones pulled his hand away. “Thank you, everyone. There’s actually something I wanted to say…”
I was about to grab my glass of wine when I turned back to him, surprised he would address my entire family at one time. He wasn’t much for words, and cooking for everyone was more than enough.
Bones was quiet for a while, like he was trying to think of the right words to speak. “As you all know…I don’t have a family. I lost my mom at a very young age. I can barely remember her face, but I’ve never forgotten her spirit. I feel it again when I’m with all of you…because it feels like I’m with family again.”
I stopped breathing because I couldn’t believe Bones said something so heartfelt. He said it to a group of people he had once hated. He barely expressed his private thoughts to me, let alone a room full of my cousins and parents.
He continued. “I didn’t know how much I needed this until I had it again. I know things weren’t good in the beginning…when Vanessa first brought me around. It was intense and difficult, but somehow, we ended up here. Now all of you mean a lot to me…because you mean so much to Vanessa.” He turned his gaze on me, like he was only speaking to me now. “You’ve given me a reason to live. You’ve given me happiness. You’ve given me everything that I’ve been missing…and I love you with all my heart.”
I wished he hadn’t said this in front of my whole family because it brought tears to my eyes. The emotion was too strong to ignore, and the tears pooled on the surface of my eyes until they became too heavy and dripped down my cheeks. “Griffin…”
