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I didn’t know how they’d coordinated their arrival—or if they just somehow shared one hive mind that didn’t require conversation—but they just kept coming.
If Clint wasn’t going home for Thanksgiving, evidently they’d agreed en masse to bring Thanksgiving to him a little early. Including the bird, which was currently defrosting.
So much for our turducken.
Word had spread like wildfire through the lot of them that he was in love with some stranger who “wasn’t even from Clintondale” and “probably going to live with her in a van in Sedona.”
Not sure where that part had come from. It sounded kind of cool, if I wasn’t prone to heat rashes in too-hot climates. Too many years spent in the frozen East, I guess.
Also, he was a vet. He had a job and needed to be in town to do it. Not that he couldn’t move somewhere else, but neither of us had mentioned that.
Gossip was a weird thing.
Handily, once many of them had congregated in Clint’s large apartment, Felicia’s sexcapades with my business partner took precedence over the nervous woman who had somehow “snagged” Clint.
And shagged him too, lucky me.
I almost told one of his sisters that it was through tantric sex, then decided I didn’t want to have to hear about that for the next decade.
Assuming we lasted. And dear God, I promised to do untold good deeds for the rest of my life if I could just keep Clint. That was all I was asking for.
Well, along with our now three babies, too, of course.
He still hadn’t fully explained Charise’s condition but other than seeming quite wobbly and not being the best climber, along with the occasional head tremor, she seemed normal-ish. That being a relative term.
I hoped whatever her condition was, it wasn’t too awful and wouldn’t get any worse. I also hoped she would integrate well with Princess and Lucky.
Somehow I was becoming part of a blended family. It was kind of blowing my mind.
I was hiding from all the noise, chaos, and family members by chopping green beans in the kitchen for the quick stir-fry I didn’t think had a clue of feeding all the people we had on hand. That wasn’t even the whole crew yet.
By my count, at least a couple more siblings and significant others, Clint’s mother, some relative called Aunt Erma, and heaven knows who else were still due to arrive.
My stir-fries were going to have to be done in shifts at this point. I didn’t consider myself much of a cook, so I wasn’t sure I could even adjust recipes for this volume of people.
Worst of all, Clint was going to have to go back to work tonight. I’d already started a festive takeout bag for him. He’d barely have time to see his family before he left.
Maybe I could go with him and spend time comforting the pets in the kennel area. That would be a million times better than talking to a crowd of very loud people I didn’t even know.
I really didn’t want to somehow end my relationship with Clint before I’d even gotten to bask in him loving me.
He. Loved. Me.
He hadn’t said I was a neurotic freak for falling in love with him after having sex one time. Not that he needed to, because I’d covered that angle quite well in my own head.
Then again, maybe he was used to women riding his meat stick and declaring lifelong adoration. I mean, look at the guy. And what he had on the inside was somehow even better than his packaging.
And package.
I rubbed my stomach in between chopping. I was handling all of this just fine. Yep, I was. I wasn’t panic-breathing every time I went to the bathroom. A few belly flutters were no big deal.
How many beans was an appropriate number to feed a massive amount of people? And onions and peppers? Oh, God, I’d been chopping long enough that my wrists were already sore. Should I poll the group to see if anyone was allergic to anything? I’d have to make another Instacart order.
Shoot, I needed to feed Charise. I didn’t even know where she was in this zoo. Did she have special food?
I had absolutely no control of this situation and it was making my head spin.
Get ready for life with the Hausers.
