AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“So very nice to finally meet you, dear,” Karen says before wrapping her small arms around my back and squeezing. She’s surprisingly strong for such a little thing.
“Nice to meet you too,” I reply as she lets go and casually gives me a look over. “Sorry to crash your party,” I add.
“Nonsense. I’ve been dying to meet you ever since Linkin mentioned you.” Leaning in, she says, “It’s not every day that my son talks about a girl, let alone brings one home.”
“Mom,” he says, warning edging his voice.
“Anyway, I’m very happy you’re here. Come in and take your jacket off. I’m sorry the place is such a mess. The boys here seem to scatter toys mere seconds after they’re picked up and put away,” Karen says, shaking her head at the two boys who are now carrying plastic swords.
“Come play with us! You can be on my side, Link,” Jeff says, handing his older brother a sword.
“That means I get Lexi,” Jack chimes in, again, wiggling his eyebrows and making us all laugh.
“Yeah, I’m not so sure I trust you with my girl, Jack. You’ll probably kill me and make off with my maiden,” Linkin says.
“It’s war, Linkin. Whatever happens, happens,” Jack says casually, shrugging his shoulder.
“Let me put all of our stuff down and you can try to kill me in a bit,” Linkin says, grabbing the two large presents that we brought in from the floor and taking them to the small Christmas tree.
“Can I help in the kitchen?” I ask Karen.
“Everything’s almost ready, but I’d love for you to join me,” she replies, smiling sweetly. My gut tells me I’m in for a bit of an inquisition about my relationship with her oldest son.
“Merry Christmas, Mom,” Linkin says, leaning in and placing a gentle kiss on her cheek as he comes back into the room.
I can’t help but grin at the exchange. He clearly loves his mom and helps her out whenever needed. That thought alone warms my heart a bit. Beneath the rough and tough exterior, Linkin’s a good guy with a loving heart. He worships his brothers and his one parent who raised him, and if I’m being honest, I think you could add me to that category. I might not be ranked as highly as his family, but when we’re together, Linkin makes me feel like something special. Something treasured. Something real.
“What can I help with?” I ask Karen as I follow her into the tiny, yet tidy kitchen. It smells of warm bread and honey glazed ham.
“There’s nothing left to do but set the table,” she says, pulling the ham from the oven.
“Let me,” I say, taking the small stack of plates from the counter and placing them on the table. I notice right away that we’re one short, thanks to my surprise visit.
“The cabinet beside the fridge,” Karen says, as if reading my mind. I find mismatched plates, bowls, and plastic cups, and finish setting the table. We work in tandem to finish preparing the meal, but it’s not uncomfortable. In fact, it’s so easy, it’s as if we had been doing it for years.
“Be kind to him,” she finally says, standing beside me and transferring the ham from the roasting pan to the platter. “I’m not sure what all he’s told you, but he hasn’t had an easy life. He grew up way before he had to because it was just the two of us and he had no choice but to step up and help. But that’s just the kind of person he is. He’s a good man,” she says, her kind eyes staring over at me.
“He is,” I confirm with an affirmative head nod. And that’s the God’s honest truth. Everything I’ve seen about Linkin is that he’s a decent, sincere, giving man, even if he is, at times, a smug jerk who likes to push my buttons, just for the sake of pushing them.
But then I think about our situation, or the one that we might be in very soon.
A baby.
We haven’t been using protection, knowing good and well that a baby could be the result. In fact, that’s the hope, at least for me. Linkin volunteered to father my baby. A stranger. A friend, yes, but that’s more of a recent development. The man’s surely a little loco.
Even then, I still consider him more friend than stranger. So what does that make me?
Yeah, a little crazy too.
“He’s been a great friend to me through the tough events in my own life, and I’m very grateful for that. I hope he considers me as much of a friend as I do of him.”
“Oh, Lexi,” she says with a humorous chuckle. “Don’t you get it? You are. But you’re…more. The fact that you’re even here, with me and his brothers, tells me that.” She takes a moment to place the bowls on the counter. “Can I ask you a personal question?”
I give her my full attention, my gut churning with uneasiness. Words don’t come, so I nod my head in reply.
“He mentioned that you’re separated, getting divorced.” She doesn’t continue, nor does she ask the question I know is coming.
“I am,” I confirm. “I separated from my husband in October, and am pleased that he signed the divorce papers this last week. It’ll be finalized at the end of January.”
