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“Impossible,” my voice is firm. “She loves you and she will celebrate your happiness.”
The smile Lennon gives me is full of hope and the desire to believe my words. It has my heart stalling in my chest for a moment. “How can you be so sure?”
“Because your mom wants you to be treated with respect, to find happiness, and to be loved.” She blinks up at me and I take a deep breath. “I love you, Lennon. With everything in me.”
“Sweetness,” Jordan pulls her watery eyes in his direction, “I love you.”
Her lips part and she lets out a shaky breath. The moment wraps around us and shelters us from the bad things life enjoys throwing at you to make you doubt, to make you hate, to make you feel less than.
“I love you, baby girl,” Kemp’s voice is a gentle tendril adding and weaving through the moment, making it whole.
Lennon’s head turns toward him, her eyes soft and filled with what we already know to be true. “I,” she pauses and swallows hard before she speaks again, “I love the three of you. For different reasons and in your own ways, but it’s so much sometimes I’m not sure how I can hold it all inside of me.”
Lennon presses her forehead against my chest, and we crowd even closer to her, wanting to hold this precious second as ours. Only ours.
“That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you, Lennon,” Abigail’s voice is loud and breaks through the silence of the evening around us.
Lennon jolts and we step back slightly, but not far enough we lose contact with her completely. She warily looks up the steps to where her mom is standing with her hands clasped to her chest and a big smile on her face. “Mom?” Her voice is sheepish, “How much of that did you hear?”
Abigail’s smile grows wider. “Enough of it to know that I couldn’t be happier for you.” She holds her hand out for our woman who takes a tentative step forward. “Come in, please. We want to celebrate what you’ve found, honey. It doesn’t come around very often in your life, and it deserves to be enjoyed.”
Lennon closes the distance between her and Abigail by practically flying up the steps. Instead of taking her hand, our woman wraps her arms around Abigail and hugs her tight.
“Thank you, mom,” Lennon whispers.
“You know, I was blessed enough to find a great love twice in my life. I didn’t think I would again, but I was lucky.” Abigail looks down at us with affection in her gaze. “I couldn’t be happier that you’re the men who make my little girl light up like she is.”
I take the stairs slowly, not wanting to break up the moment, with my brothers right behind me. “She’s it for us,” I confess to Abigail and her eyes light up.
“I know. It’s clear to see for anyone looking,” there’s a hint of teasing in her voice and I feel my cheeks heat.
I know I didn’t even try to hide my attraction or feelings from anyone the night we were over here for family dinner. I’m not even a little bit ashamed of it either. How could I be?
Abigail ushers Lennon inside and we follow behind closely. We stop in the dining room where the food is already laid out and ready. Dad is sitting at the table with a big smile on his face. When he looks at Lennon, his eyes soften at the way she fidgets.
“Are you here to tell us about how you’re living together and in love?”
“Dad,” I groan in warning and run a hand over my face.
His booming laugh fills the dining room as I pull out a chair for Lennon. He tries to look innocent, but it falls flat. “What? I thought it was a fair question,” he flashes an indulgent look at his wife and the love between them is clear to see.
Yeah, I get what Abigail was saying. They love each other and I’m happy for them. They deserve it.
And we do too. Now that we have it, I’m going to protect it with everything in me. I won’t allow anything to judge our love. I won’t allow anyone to question it. It’s none of their fucking business anyway.
Lennon looks right into Dad’s eyes, her voice soft but strong, “I do love your sons. With everything in me. I promise I’ll always make sure they know it too.”
Dad gives her a soft smile before he smirks. “Even when they mess up? And they will. They’re men and there are three of them.”
“Even then,” she giggles with the words because Dad has no idea how true they are.
“If you ever need asylum, you’re welcome here,” Dad tells her and even though there’s a hint of amusement in his voice, you can also hear how serious he is.
Lennon looks at me and then back at Dad. “I won’t be running. Not anymore. I’ve spent a long time searching for something, for a home. I found a family in Seattle, but it wasn’t quite right. Now I know it’s because my home is with them.”
My eyes burn because I know her words are, in part, meant for me. She’s reassuring me that she won’t abandon me. She’s telling me she won’t be like our mom.
I reach over and give our woman’s knee a squeeze and she smiles at me softly in response.
