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“She’s tough,” he agreed. “But I love her.”
As she unbuckled her seat belt, Taryn said, “I know. I can tell.”
Together, they got out of the car and toward the front steps. He wrapped an arm around her waist and said, “We’re relatively early, so it’s just my brother Michael, his husband Will, and their daughter, Molly. At least you’ll get to settle in for a minute before it gets crazy.”
He opened the front door and ushered her inside. They wandered through the living room and dining room, into the kitchen. They found Michael and Will sitting on two of the stools at the counter, talking as his mother basted the turkey.
“Mom,” he said, moving over to give her a kiss on the cheek. “That looks great!”
“Hey, you two,” she said, glancing up from the turkey. “Let me slide this sucker back in the oven. I’ll be right with you.”
“Michael. Will. This is Taryn. Taryn,” he gestured at one man, then the next as he said, “Michael. And Will.”
She moved forward and shook Michael’s hand and then squeaked a little bit when Will pulled her into a hug. When he murmured something to her, she smiled and nodded. He watched the exchange, glad to see that Will had managed to put her at ease.
He knew that Will had once been in her shoes. He’d probably felt the same level of trepidation.
“Michael,” he asked. “Where’s my peanut?”
“Napping, thank Jesus. It was hell getting her to sleep. She was just so excited to see Grandma,” he said with a grin.
He heard the oven door close and then watched as his mother shuffled around the counter to pull him into a hug. As she squeezed him, she said, “So good to have you back here where you belong.”
“You’re stuck with me now,” he said as she pulled away. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Glad to hear it,” she said as she moved to give Taryn a hug.
When she was done squeezing the life out of Taryn she said, “Good to see you again, baby. Thanks for coming.”
He watched as Taryn hugged her back and said, “Thanks for having me.”
His mom waved her off and said, “Let me give you a tour of the house.”
Taryn gave him a backward glance as his mother ushered her out of the room.
“Ooh. She’s pretty, Evan,” Will said. “She looks somewhat terrified though.”
“She comes from a small family,” he said. “It’s a little overwhelming. I would have introduced her in small increments, but Ma basically cornered her when she dropped in. I wasn’t able to arrange it in time.”
Evan heard the front door open along with what sounded like wild screeching. He looked at Will, who immediately winced.
Michael said, “Shit. There goes nap time.”
He heard Doug say, “Inside voices, you heathens.”
One of the twins said, “We’re not heathens.”
“Yes, you are,” Christina said as they all crowded into the kitchen.
Hugs and kisses were quickly exchanged.
As she hugged him, Christina said, “She was sitting in the living room with Mom looking at picture albums. She’s cute.”
He felt his eyes widen and he said, “Crap. Baby pictures.” He scooped up Maddy and headed into the living room, giving her smacking kisses along the way.
His mother looked up, a gleam in her eye, and said, “There’s my little sugar cube!”
He quickly passed off Maddy who giggled in delight, then snagged the photo album from Taryn.
