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She stopped to place her hands on her hips before her lecture continued. “Tiffany is twenty-seven years old. She is an intelligent woman, who is more than capable of picking out the right man for herself. I’d begun to worry she was being too picky, but now I understand she was just waiting for the right person.”
“But Ma, you don’t understand what kind of a man he is. He’s no good for her.”
“I know what I need to know. He makes her happy. It’s all I can hope for, for all of my children.” Turning to her husband, she continued. “Need I remind you, Patrick, that my father didn’t like you overly much at first, either? He never understood why a nice Italian girl would fall in love with an Irish hothead. Should I have listened to him and walked away from you when he wanted me to?”
Tiffany had never seen her mother stand up to her dad like this. She was both horrified and impressed in equal measure. She was relieved to feel Lukus still holding her tightly as they watched the emotions flit across Patrick’s face before he buckled under his wife’s steely stare.
“Bella, you know how grateful I was that you didn’t let your family run me off, but this is different.”
“How is this different, Patrick?”
“Because I loved you.”
Lukus surprised Tiff by releasing her to step around and approach her father and favorite brother.
“If I can, I’d like to say something here. I understand your concerns. Honestly, I’m not nearly as close to my younger sister as you are to Tiffany, but if she brought someone like me home, I might be worried about her too. But here’s the thing: I love Tiffany like I have never before loved another human being on the face of the earth. I didn’t even know I was capable of feeling the way she makes me feel. Believe me when I say I would never put up with the kind of bullshit I’ve put up with from you two today if I didn’t love her.”
Aiden fired back. “So why are you? Fucking leave already.”
Tiffany choked out a cry. “No!”
“Why are you still here?” Aiden prompted Lukus again.
“Because it’s not enough for me and Tiffany to love each other. She loves all of you, too. That means that the only way for her to be happy is for us to all get along. Her happiness is my responsibility. So, like it or not, you’re stuck with me.”
Aiden shot back. “Fine. I can wait you out. I’ll be there to pick up the pieces after you break her heart, and leave her broken when you move onto your next easy target. Men like you don’t commit.”
Tiffany wanted to scream, but her brother knew her so well. Aiden had struck too close to her own fears. He’d described what she still feared more than anything.
Men like Lukus don’t commit, do they? How long until he tires of me?
She felt light-headed. Unwanted tears streamed down her face. She wanted to turn the clock back to the beginning of the day and never bring Lukus here. As each long second of silence stretched on, she was more sure he was going to leave.
He was facing away from her. Lukus’s answer came so quietly, she was sure she’d heard him wrong. She heard Aiden’s, “Oh, Jesus Christ,” loud and clear.
It was her mom who asked Lukus to repeat his words. “Can you repeat that, Lukus? I think Tiffany missed it.” Her mom glanced at Tiff, tears now streaming down her face, too.
Lukus turned and Tiffany was blown away by the tears threatening in his eyes. Her family crowded closer, anxious to see how the drama played out. Tiff glanced across to see that even her teenage nieces and nephews had put their cell phones aside to watch the excitement.
Everything moved in slow motion as Lukus approached Tiff before dropping to his knee, reaching to grasp her hands in his. Time stood still as they stared into each other’s eyes. She was relieved to see his love shining back at her.
“Tiffany. I love you more than I’ve ever known it’s possible to love a woman. You’ve turned my life upside down, and yet I’ve never been happier. Would you please marry me and be my wife?”
Her family didn’t give her a chance to answer before all hell broke loose. There were whoops and cheers, mixed in with expletives and nervous laughter. Tiffany didn’t miss her father’s, “Jesus, Joseph and Mary,”—his favorite curse. The one he saved for big occasions.
Aiden was less poetic. “Fuck.”
Her mother admonished them both. “Patrick. Aiden. That’s more than enough.”
Her father retorted, “This is ridiculous. He’s just doing this to spite me.”
Isabella set him straight. “Are you kidding me? Any idiot just needs to watch them together for five minutes, and you can see how much they love each other.”
“I saw that look too, Bella. That isn’t love. That’s lust. He just wants to have sex with my baby girl,” Patrick snapped.
Tiffany saw the corners of Lukus’s mouth curl up into a slight smile. She enjoyed watching his reaction to the surrounding ruckus.
“Well, of course he does, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love her too,” Isabella argued.
