I’m on my way to pick up Claree for her senior prom. Dad and Chief sat me down and had the ‘talk’ with me. Wanna talk about embarrassing! Thank goodness Mom and Trinity came to the rescue and made them leave me alone. I don’t need Chief to remind me of all the ways his ancestors got rid of people, I already know this. I’ve been hearing it for a couple of years now, ever since I started showing an interest in Claree. Mom being who she is, shooed them out of the room, handed me a box of condoms and told me to cover it, or don’t enter it. I think this was the first time my face ever turned red in my lifetime. My mom is unlike any other mother I’ve ever encountered. She’s eccentric, and I couldn’t love her more if she was my biological mom. When we first came to live with Hatch and DJ, Jasper and I weren’t comfortable calling them Mom and Dad, but over time, as the years have passed, we changed that thought and started calling them what they are...our parents. Our lives changed the day that Hatch walked into the jewelry store and while I’ll always miss my folks, we got blessed with a second set of parents who have loved us and cared for us as if DJ were the one who gave us birth. I’m a lucky guy, that’s for damn sure.

I pull up to Claree’s house and a smile graces my face. I can’t wait to get her alone for an evening of dancing, partying and hanging out with our friends. She’s everything to me — my best friend, confidant, and hopefully tonight, she’ll become my lover. Grabbing the corsage, I head to the front door and knock on the front door. When Chief opens it, he does so with a scowl on his face. I want to shrink away and hide, but instead, I smile and ask, “Hey, Chief, is Claree ready?”

“DJ wants pictures first so come inside,” he grunts out. I follow him into the house and back to the family room. Catching my first glimpse of her in her dress, I lose my breath.

Stunning.

Absolutely stunning.

She’s wearing what looks like one of those princess dresses that my sisters used to put on their dolls when they were little in a deep coral color. I have no clue how to put into words what she looks like, but the dress shows nothing and reveals everything, at least to me. I’m going to be proud to enter the ballroom at the resort with her on my arm. I’ve already graduated, but I didn’t go to my prom since she wasn’t ‘old enough yet’ and I refused to take anyone else. However, this was important to her, and I like to give her what she desires so I made it happen with the help of our mothers. They took control, purchased the tickets, got my tux and her dress taken care of. Mom told me all I had to do was show up and take care of my girl.

No problem, none at all.

She looks up at me and smiles and I feel my heart beat frantically in my chest. She does this to me every time we’re in the same room. Some people say I’m too young to know what true love is, but they’re wrong. I knew what it was the first time our eyes met. She’s my kindred soulmate, she knows me better than anyone and understands my past and my struggles.

I love her, I really do.

“C’mere, Talon, I need pictures, lots and lots of pictures!” Trinity exclaims. The only reason Mom didn’t come is she’s on a deadline, but I know she gave Trinity ‘explicit instructions’ about what pictures she wanted her to capture. Claree and I look at each other and laugh, Chief is in the background mumbling something that I can’t understand, but at this point it’s irrelevant to me. “Let’s get pictures of you putting the corsage on her,” Trinity instructs me. I do her bidding, but first I place a kiss on her wrist before I slide it on.

I hear Trinity sigh and then Chief says something I do catch, “gonna cut those lips off, boy, keep them to yourself!”

“Yes, sir,” I reply, but know that I’m full of shit and lying to an adult. But in my mind, this is an acceptable lie. There’s no way I won’t be kissing her tonight, as many places as she’ll allow me to.

“Stop! Hold your horses, I’m here!” DJ hollers slamming through the front door. I didn’t even hear a knock.

“Mom! I thought you were on a deadline?” I inquire.

“Deadline smeadline, nothing is keeping me from this night!” she hollers. Claree begins to giggle which causes another smile to break out on my face. Her giggles are another thing I look forward to each and every day. I could be having the worst day and all I have to do is hear her voice and everything feels better, but when she laughs, all the bad shit disappears.

“Where’s Dad?”

“He’s around somewhere. Maybe still parking? Don’t know and don’t care.”

“Gorgeous...watch it now,” Hatch says coming into the room. My concern grows when I see him and Chief go off to the side and start talking. Chief keeps shooting me looks and my concern grows as I wonder if he’s plotting my death. Hopefully, Dad will talk him off the ledge, but I’ve got my doubts.

For the next thirty minutes, Mom and Trinity take pictures of the two of us. At least if we get kidnapped, they’ll have current shots of us. Do they even do pictures on milk cartons anymore? I shake my head at my thoughts which feel like ping-pong balls right now. “Are we done yet?” I ask. I’m ready to be done with all of this and get out of here. I love our parents, but they are all a little bit on the crazy side.

“Just one more, well, maybe three,” Mom says. Three? For real?

“Let’s take them getting into the car,” Trinity suggests.

“That’s what I was thinking myself,” Mom replies. I catch Dad and Chief trying to hold back their laughter at how our moms are acting. They should know by now how they are, I mean, after all, they married them! I take Claree’s hand and walk her outside, I can hear the cameras clicking behind us and thankfully our backs are to them otherwise they’d see the way I’m rolling my eyes and watch my lips move as I curse them under my breath. I open her door and Trinity hollers for me to stop. I do and turn towards her to find out what she’s going on about.

“Let me get a picture of you helping her into the car.”

See? Loco. The moms have lost their ever-loving minds.

I can’t help but laugh out loud when Mom hollers out and gives directions about how to help me into the car and what he should be doing with my dress to make sure it doesn't get caught in the car door. When we are finally alone and after he gets into the driver's seat he looks at me and says, “Well, that was an adventure.” And once again I burst into laughter but try to contain it, so it doesn’t mess with my make-up.

“That was fun, let’s not do that again,” I state.

“Agreed!” He rolls his eyes.

“The moms went overboard on this one.” I can’t help but think of how frantic mom had been all day long trying to get me prepared for the night. She took me to get my private area waxed...not sure the reason behind this one, but it is what it is, I suppose. I got my nails done, hair styled, and I even had my eyebrows and upper lip waxed — that shit freaking hurt. Hell, I didn’t even think I had hair on my upper lip!

“That’s because we’re the first of their tribe of kids to go to the prom. For some reason it’s a rite of passage for mothers, but at least we won’t be doing it again seeing as you’ll be graduating in a couple of months,” he says.

I reach over and grab his hand, lacing my fingers with his before squeezing. “Thank you for this, Talon. It means more than I can say that you’d get dressed up in a monkey suit.”

“Baby, you’re my girl, there’s absolutely nothing I wouldn’t do for you,” he says, bringing my hand up and kissing it. Gah, I’ve got no words for what he does to me! He’s the only one I’ve ever felt this attachment to. The second we met, I knew that he’d be mine one day. I was beyond excited when he told me he felt the same and we have been inseparable ever since.

While he drives, I let my mind wander a bit, remembering how gangly he was when we first met. Tall and skinny, no muscles, and his voice was still doing that weird cracking thing. Now though, he’s gotten some bulk and muscles thanks to working at the trucking company warehouse. And his voice...holy hell in a handbasket! As my uncle Braxton always says when he’s trying not to curse in front of us kids. Deep and rumbly, it makes my insides all warm and gooey.

I can’t wait to see what this night brings!