Sitting at the dining room table, finishing the lunch they prepared together, Regina settled back in her chair, sipping the tea Cael had surprised her with. “Can I ask you something?”

He looked over, smiling, and replied, “Babe, I’ve got no secrets. Ask away.”

“Can you tell me about your family? You’ve mentioned Miss Ethel, but now that I’ve met Kathy, I don’t quite understand how it all worked.”

Nodding, he said, “Let me clear this off and we can get comfortable.”

She helped him take the plates to the sink, rinse them off, and put them in the dishwasher. He grabbed another beer and refilled her tea, taking both into the living room and placing them on the coffee table. Settling on the sofa, he took her hand in his, linking their fingers as he often did. His gaze drifted to the frames on the mantle, and a faraway smile curved his lips.

“My dad was career Army. I remember him being gone a lot, but loved it when he’d come home, grab me up and toss me in the air. He was a big man…reddish-blond hair that he gave to me and was passed down to Cindy.”

She smiled, her mind filled with the image of a man, so alike in looks to Cael, tossing up a little boy, happy to be home. Suddenly the image morphed into Cael doing the same with his child. Her breath left her in a whoosh, but she quickly recovered so he would not notice. “Go on,” she encouraged, her voice shaky.

Sighing, he said, “One day a military Chaplain and some others in uniform came to the house…Dad had been killed.” She gasped, but he continued as she squeezed his hand. “He’d come back from his overseas tour and had been killed here on a routine training exercise when his helicopter went down.”

“Oh, Cael, I am so sorry,” she said, her heart now aching.

He nodded, “Yeah, me too. He was a good man and from what I remember, a good father.”

“How horrible for you and Kathy, and your mom also. How old were you?”

“I was five. Kathy was a teenager…she’s eight years older than me. But, Mom…well, she fell apart and never really managed to become strong for us.” Cael observed the sadness in Regina’s eyes, but with her nod, he continued, “Mom began taking pills and usually washed them down with alcohol. Kathy took over raising me for the next couple of years as Mom slowly killed herself.”

“Is she…?”

Nodding, he said, “One day we were walking home from school and saw the ambulance and neighbors outside. Mom’s death was ruled an accidental overdose. She never left a suicide note, but I often wondered if that hadn’t been her goal. For her, life without Dad just wasn’t worth living, which I can kind of understand now, in a way, but, gotta tell you, for a kid…that shit stings—believing that you weren’t enough to keep her going, keep her happy.”

“I…I can’t even imagine how horrible that must have been for you.” Regina’s eyes filled with tears, the image in her mind once more morphing, this time to a little boy whose mother emotionally abandoned him.”

“She stopped living before she stopped living,” Cael said, his voice still carrying traces of anger that he figured would be with him forever. He watched as a tear slid down Regina’s cheek and reached up to wipe it away. “Oh, baby, don’t cry for me. I survived. I landed in a good place and am a better man for it.”

Sucking in a breath that hitched, Regina swallowed back the sob and simply nodded, unable to speak.

“And that’s when I landed with Miss Ethel. We had an elderly grandmother, our only living relative. She was able to take us in, but quickly realized that a young boy was going to be way too much for her to raise. I was eight, growing like a weed, and Kathy was already sixteen, had a part-time job after school and would be able to help out.”

“So, you two were split.”

“Yeah,” he sighed again. “It totally sucked, but was really for the best. I knew Granny loved me, but she was right. I wouldn’t have had the best life with a woman who had health issues and wouldn’t have been able to do much with a little boy. So, I went into the system, but landed with Miss Ethel, known as the best foster mom around.” Shrugging, he smiled, and said, “So, it all ended well. I didn’t get to see Kathy too much for a couple of years, just because it was hard on Granny. But, Miss Ethel had us keep in contact and, as you can see, we’re very close.”

Leaning against his shoulder, she settled back into the cushions to be able to see his face well. “Tell me about her.”

Cael grinned, the memories slamming into him. “She took in little boys and, somehow, turned us into men. Good men.”

He also settled back, his eyes moving to the framed picture on his mantle. “She was a widow with a large house to share, a heart full of love to give, and the patience of a saint. When I got there, I was her fifth child that stayed long term. There were others who came also and stayed, then a few came and went…more emergency placements. When I got there, Zander, Rafe, Jayden, and Jaxon were there. Zander was a year older than me and the twins were a year younger. She raised her boys to be brothers and we still are today. Zeke came along a lot later, but he’s just like a brother too.”

“That’s amazing,” she said, her gaze on his face, now softened with the memories.

“Yeah, it is. In fact, they’re the ones helping me build the addition. She raised us to know what family is truly about and those lessons stuck.” He watched as her lips curved and a small smile lit her face. Leaning over, he placed a sweet kiss on those lips before wrapping his arm around her, pulling her close to him again.

They sat quietly then, the peace of the moment sliding over them, before he said, “I want you to meet them. Meet all of them, including Miss Ethel.”

She hesitated for only few seconds before agreeing, “I’d be honored.”

“Can I ask about you? I mean, I’ve now met your brother, although it was under less than optimal circumstances. What about your family?”

“Mine is…strange. I mean, not like yours, but not really picture-perfect either.” Regina felt Cael’s body shift and, once more, found herself close while facing him. Giggling, she said, “You need to see me for this?”

Nodding, he said, “Yeah, Red. Anytime you’re laying something heavy on me, I want to see your face. I want to be able to see what’s passing through your eyes, whether it’s joy or sadness. I want to see it, read it, and know how to take it in.”

She blinked, surprised, but, honestly, that was one of the sweetest things she had ever heard. Someone wanting to take all she had to give and to know what to do with it without her having to say anything. Well, all I’m willing to share.

Licking her lips, she said, “My story is kind of the opposite. Your mother couldn’t live without your dad and my mother couldn’t live with mine.”

“Oh, damn,” he said, his thumb gently rubbing her hand.

“Yeah…kind of the classic anti-love story. Mom and Dad met in college. She supposedly hated her parents and really wanted to escape from under their thumb, so, they got married right away. She wanted a man who would take care of her so she didn’t work, putting all that on Dad. She got pregnant with my brother right after they graduated and then they had me about three years later. Things just got worse and worse. Maybe her staying at home would have been okay if she had been there as a mom for us but, quite frankly, she wasn’t very maternal. Dad worked all day long and then would come home to children who needed someone. Considering she also didn’t cook, he usually made dinner too.”

Shifting slightly, she held his gaze as she continued, “I was about ten years old when some…um…things happened and she decided that she had had enough of playing mom. Dad finally refused to bend to her wishes because his attention was focused on…uh…, well, me and my brother. Within a year she decided she was done with our needs. By that, I mean, she found another man that made more than Dad did, had no children, and offered her a chance to live in a big house with maid service and a cook. For Dad, it meant he didn’t have to pay a dime of alimony and, believe me, we haven’t heard from her since she left. Thank God, for us, she moved to another state.”

“Bet that shit stung just like my mom—checking out on her family,” Cael stated, not asking, because he knew without her answering that that kind of response from a parent did sting. And it left a mark.

Nodding slowly, she agreed. “Yeah. It stung. I…well, all of us, went through a lot and my own mom not really caring was hard. My dad was great, though. He took care of us, making the best of a bad situation. He was wonderful with a budding teenage girl and, honestly, after watching my mom, her doing what she did, I didn’t want to be anything like her. I kept my adolescent hormones in check—no bitchiness, no PMS, no smart mouth. Both Robert and I pitched in to help around the house. We three became like the three musketeers. And you know what?” she asked, her eyes sparking with light. “We realized we always had been ‘we three’, even when Mom had been around. Now, we just didn’t have to pretend.”

“So, life got better.”

“Absolutely. No doubt. Looking back, I know it must have killed Dad to have his wife, the mother of his children, walk out on us, especially when she did, but honest to God, Cael, life was so much better. Easier. Calmer. Happier. I saw Dad smile more in those years than I did the whole time she was with us.” A faraway expression crossed her face, and she added, “He always said Robert and I made his life worth living and that we were the joy of his existence.” She lifted her gaze to his and asked, “Isn’t that the most wonderful thing a parent can say to a child? That they are the joy of their existence?”

“Absolutely, Red. He was right. And now? He still in the area?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew the answer, a cloud of sadness passing through her eyes again. Immediately cupping his hands on her cheeks, he whispered, “Oh, baby.”

Regina swallowed back the lump in her throat and shook her head. “No…Dad died two years ago from a heart attack. He always took such good care of himself, but the doctors said it was probably congenital and he never knew it.”

“So, it’s just you and Robert?”

Nodding, her face softened again as a smile curved her lips. “He’s always been a great big brother and still is. His wife is a sweetie and their little boy is a dear. And, as you’ve seen, I’m going to become an aunt again.”

At that reminder, Cael grimaced, but Regina immediately grabbed his cheeks and held him close. “No…no regrets. We both made mistakes, remember? You told me we were moving on.”

Smiling, he leaned forward the inch it took to capture her lips. As the heat rose from the melding of their mouths, he swooped her up, stalking upstairs to his California king bed on the floor, anxious for the time when he could have her in the new master bedroom…permanently.

“Most romantic movie?”

“Casablanca,” Regina said, with no hesitation, staring at the rock-hard abs in front of her face as Cael lay against the pillows piled up next to the wall.

The sheet was barely covering her ass as she lay on her stomach by his side. Cael’s attention was riveted on the long expanse of her back, his gaze…and hand, trailing along the delicate curves and soft skin.

“No kidding?” he asked.

“According to the American Film Institute, Casablanca is considered the number one greatest love story of all time.” She grinned up at him, adding, “And, is the most quoted.”

“I would have guessed Gone with the Wind.”

“It’s the second greatest love story of all time.”

Laughing, he asked, “Are you a walking encyclopedia of movies?”

She clutched the sheet to cover her breasts as she rolled over, giggling as he frowned. “My dad loved old movies. We would watch them all the time and he would regale us with all sorts of trivia about the actors, quotes, awards. You name it, he knew it.”

“Sounds nice, babe,” Cael said, loving the smile on Regina’s face as she reminisced about her dad.

“It was,” she enthused. “All my friends would be at the theater watching the latest chick-flick and I was spending Friday nights at home with Dad and Robert, watching old movies.”

“I bet I’ve watched a lot of the oldies myself. Miss Ethel wanted to make sure we boys were exposed to classics, both movies and books.”

“She sounds marvelous.”

They lay quiet for a few minutes, well sated from earlier sex, letting the evening shadows slowly move across the bed on the floor.

“Would you like to meet her soon?”

Smiling, she looked up into his face, biting her lip. “I…I guess so. Do you think she would—”

He interrupted her, bending over to kiss her words away. “She’d be pissed if I didn’t bring you around to meet everyone.”

“Then, I’d be honored,” she said, letting a yawn slip from her lips, barely keeping her eyes open.

“You okay? You seem really tired.”

“You must have worn me out,” she joked, as her eyes closed.

He kissed her forehead and slid down further, pulling her already sleeping body close.