The monthly get-together won’t start for four more hours, but here I am, knocking on the door to my parents’ house ahead of time, on a mission.
It’s been a week since Cassidy moved in with me, and my previous companion, Ghost, was evicted and relocated to Nico’s house. I’m on cloud nine most of the time, enjoying the peacefulness of having Cass with me, holding and kissing her whenever I feel like it.
But it’s not all glitter and sparkles. There’s a side to Cass I hate seeing. She tries to hide her insecurities, but every day I get glimpses of how unsure she is about us… about me. Small things, like when I loaded her empty cup in the dishwasher the other morning while she was reading a pamphlet in the kitchen. I thought nothing of it, but she paled and started apologizing.
The same happened when she cooked dinner. I’ve been taught that when a woman cooks for you, you clean up afterward, but Cass lunged over the dining table to snatch a plate out of my hand so fast she hurt her ribs again.
She acts like I’ll kick her out the door the moment she puts a foot out wrong, and it kills me every time. I notice how vulnerable she is now that she’s with me most of the time. Now that we talk and spend time together outside of bed. I see how easy it is to make her doubt me and herself.
She’s been opening up more, talking about her past, the alcoholic parents and foster families, the abuse, neglect, and fear.
And that’s why I’m at my parent’s house.
Cassidy is mine now, she’s growing my baby, and I’ll be fucking damned if I let anyone else hurt her.
Intentionally or not, it ends now.
I faced my brothers and came out on the other side unscathed. It’s time to face my parents.
“Logan!” My mother chirps, flinging her arms around my neck. “I didn’t expect you here so early.”
I reciprocate the hug, then walk further in, inhaling the sweet scent of apple pie hanging thickly in the air.
Grandma must be here again.
My mother is a great cook, but just like Thalia, she can’t bake. One more position on a long list of things they have in common. Too bad neither of those things brings them closer.
“Is everything okay?” Mom asks, the sixth sense she developed while raising a team of boys works without fail, as always. “You look worried, sweetheart. What’s wrong?”
Nothing yet.
“Is Dad here?”
“Yes,” she drawls, her eyes narrowed and full of contradicting emotions. “He’s in his office.”
“Can you go get him? I’ve got something to tell you.”
She pales a touch, and her beautiful face twists with worry, but she nods, hurrying down the long foyer toward the back of the house while I head to one of the living rooms.
I don’t sit down, too fidgety to stay still.
“Logan,” my father clips in a firm but friendly tone, entering the room. “What brings you over so early?”
“I think you should sit.” I lean against the grand piano, clenching and unclenching my fists.
They glance at each other but oblige, taking a seat on the white chesterfield sofa, close together, a united front in the face of potential problems.
My brothers and I take after them in that department.
Mom squirms in her seat, her eyes wide, and Dad takes her hand, holding it in his lap, gently stroking her knuckles.
“I want you to meet my girlfriend,” I start, letting that piece of information sink in first. “But it’ll either happen on my terms, or it won’t happen at all.”
My mother straightens her back in a defensive move, while my father remains impassive. His undeniable authority leaves no room to doubt who’s in charge here. Years of political career mean that Robert Hayes remains in control of any situation even if he’s not uttering a word.
He knows there’s a reason for my opener, and I’m pretty sure he knows what the reason is too, but until I say what has to be said, he’ll remain silent and study my moves and gestures before he assumes the role of a negotiator.
“What do you mean?” Mom asks, her cheeks glowing scarlet with annoyance that rings in her voice.
“Mom…” I come closer, plopping down in the wing chair opposite the couch. “Theo won’t ever tell you this, but I will because someone has to.” I take a deep breath, eyes on hers, my tone as gentle as possible given the situation. “I know you love us, and you’re out of your depth now that we’re adults and starting our own families, but you have to accept that the women in our lives will never replace you. Theo loves you just as much as he did before he married Thalia. Neither of us will stop because we’re growing up, but—”
“But?” Mom clips, her lips in a thin line as she tears her hand from Dad’s grasp and folds her arms over her chest.
She’s got the berating look down to a T. She angles her body to the side and lifts her chin, eyes narrowed, and lips pursed. Despite her obvious defensive demeanor, the hurt in her eyes stings me more than it used to back in the day.
“Do tell me what the but is, Logan.”
I rub my chin keeping my emotions in check. Hurting her isn’t my intention. I’m just trying to help her see reason and realize that her behavior will cost her dearly.
“But unless you accept our choices, Mom, you’ll see less and less of us. Theo will snap at some point if you don’t stop treating his wife like the enemy. I’m surprised he’s lasted this long.”
“I do not treat her like an enemy!” Mom’s cheeks grow even hotter, small torches swimming in her eyes. “I don’t have to love her, do I? She’s Theo’s wife, not mine.”
“You don’t have to love her,” I agree, not letting her anger get to me and light the fuse. “But what reason other than jealousy do you have not to even like her? She’s been crawling out of her skin to earn your acceptance. She’s amazing, Mom. She makes Theo happy. What more do you need? You should be glad he found her.”
You should see the caricatures he used to surround himself with.
Dad wraps his arm around Mom’s shoulders, pulling her closer as if to comfort her, but the look on his face is no longer impassive. He’s an open book.
Today, he’s on my side. He won’t admit it aloud, though, supporting the united front of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hayes.
“I love you,” I continue, looking them both in the eyes. “Both of you. And I want you to meet my girlfriend, but I also love her, and she’s been through enough.” I rest my elbows on my knees, fingers knotted together. “That’s why I’m here. To tell you that if you make her feel unwanted, even for a second, I won’t bring her over here again. I won’t come over.” I inhale a deep breath, bracing to break the most important piece of news I’ll ever tell them. “I hope you’ll do your best not to act so hostile, Mom, because in February, you’re going to be a grandma again.”
A small whimper flies past her lips. I can’t tell what emotion hides behind that sound. Whether she’s happy, sad, or shocked, but she is something.
My father, on the other hand, is the epitome of calmness. Only his eyes betray that he’s emotional.
“Oh, Logan! Why didn’t you bring her over sooner?!”
Distressed. That’s what she is.
“It’s a long story. You do know her, though. Remember the girl that almost drowned at Theo’s?”
“Cassidy?” Mom gasps and a knife opens in my pocket. “That photographer? She’s the mother of my grandchild?”
My mom is not a snob. Not by a long shot. She’s an activist. She owns a charity and loves helping those less fortunate, but wherever her sons are concerned, no woman is good enough, apparently. Maybe we should all be gay like Shawn. She sure loves Jack like he’s her own.
I get up, disappointment spreading inside my mind like a contusion below the skin. “That’s all I had to hear,” I say, my tone reflecting how defeated I feel. I cross the room, my throat so dry it’s painful to swallow. “Don’t expect us today.”
I enter the foyer and catch a glimpse of grandma retreating into the kitchen. She’s always been on the nosy side, even though no one ever hid anything from her. We’re quite an open family, rarely keeping secrets.
I veer off in the direction of the kitchen to at least say hi to her before I storm out of the house, but Mom’s high-pitched voice halts me in my tracks.
“Logan, wait!” She rushes after me and grabs my arm in the middle of the foyer. “I’m sorry, I’m just…” her voice cracks like eggshells, and her eyes pool with tears. “All my boys left. It’s just your father and me here, alone.” She sobs, sniffling pathetically. “You have less time as it is, and with wives and kids, you’ll be too busy. You’ll stop coming over and—”
I pull her into a tight hug. “We’re here, and we will always be here. We won’t stop coming over just because we’re starting families. If anything, we’ll be here more often. You’ll be sick of us, I promise.” I kiss her head, wrapping her tightly in my arms. “This house might feel empty now but give it a couple more years, and it’ll be full of grandkids. Thalia and Cassidy aren’t stealing your sons. They’ll give you another line of the Hayes, Mom. They make us better men and we want you and Dad to accept them.”
She cuddles into me, holding onto my jersey and bobbing her head as if she’s ready to say and do whatever it takes just to hold onto me and all her other sons, too.
Dad approaches, wrapping us both in his arms, the silent hero, saving the day with gestures more than words. “Of course, we want to meet her,” he says, his tone controlled on the surface but laced with thick emotions underneath. “Congratulations, son. I’m proud of you.”
And I know he doesn’t just mean that I finally found someone worth my time, but that I was willing to tell Mom the cold, harsh truth that’ll benefit us all.
“Please come over with Cassidy today,” Mom pleads, inching away. “Please, I really want to get to know her. I mean it.”
I press my lips to her forehead. “We’ll see you at two.”
◆◆◆
Cassidy digs her nails into the back of my hand, squeezing hard enough to cut off my blood supply.
“You need to calm down, princess,” I say, pumping my fingers around hers. “You’re not doing my baby any good.”
She inhales through her nose and pushes it back out past her lips. “I’m nervous. I’ve not been in one room with your family since Thalia’s birthday, and that didn’t go down well.”
I pull her to my side and kiss her head because I’ve learned that my lips on her act like a soothing balm. “It’s different now.”
Truth be told, I don’t know what the fuck to expect. We’re only here because I couldn’t stand the pleading note in my mother’s voice. I didn’t have it in me to say no to her when tears filled her eyes, but I won’t trust her words until her actions confirm them.
I’ve not changed my mind. It won’t take much venom on Mom’s part to force my hand. I’ll grab Cassidy and get her out of here without a backward glance.
She’s my priority, and nothing will ever change that.
The door flings open. Once again, Theo waves a hundred in my face, grinning from ear to ear. “Nico thought Cass might haul your ass here sooner.”
I roll my eyes. “He’s got too much cash,” I shoulder past him, pulling Cass with me. “We should find him a sugar baby he can spoil rotten with Chanel purses and Louboutin heels. Cass takes longer to get ready than I do.”
“Do you?” He asks her, not an ounce of reserve in his voice. They cleared the air when he and Nico came over last week to collect Ghost. “No way that’s possible.”
Cassidy smiles small. “I’ll let you in on a secret. Logan doesn’t start to get ready until it’s time to leave.”
The house is oddly silent: no piano music in the air, which isn’t common. Mom always plays when Nico’s around. Either we’re late for the concerto, or it hasn’t yet begun.
“Whatever you did…” Theo grips my shoulder and pulls me in for a brief hug. “Thank you.”
“What do you mean?”
He points at the living room windows, and curious, I head over there, peering out into the garden where all my brothers stand scattered around, talking and drinking beer. Little Josh is with Grandad, kicking a ball out on the tennis court; Shawn and Jack help grandma set the table; Nico talks to Dad by the BBQ, and the triplets are in the pool, lying on inflatable mattresses, dark shades pulled over their eyes.
It doesn’t click straight away, but when Theo pats my back again, I spot what he’s trying to show me. Mom’s with Thalia on the three-seater swing, drinks in hand. They’re immersed in chat. What’s more, Mom sports a full-blown genuine smile.
“I told you she’ll get over herself at some point. Why are you thanking me?”
“Don’t act stupid,” Theo clips, whacking the back of my head. “Mom burst out crying when we walked in through the door. I thought someone fucking died before she started apologizing. She mentioned you opened her eyes this morning.”
Looks like I did because ten minutes later, Mom’s crying again, hugging Cassidy to her chest, touching her stomach and whispering congratulations.
