Chapter 9

Lauren

I was feeling confused and shocked with everything going on around me. Why didn't he tell me Lance was his dad? Did he think that would make a difference? It couldn't have been the money. He'd made his own living. Why didn't he throw it back when I was giving him crap about his name? He didn't seem like the kind of guy to put up with that, but he did, and for no reason at all.

His family was definitely loud. They each dished out their share of shit, but I could also see how much love they had for each other. It was pretty amazing to see. I'd never experienced anything even close to what they had. Don't get me wrong, my grandma and grandpa were amazing to me. It was different though. His family was definitely one of a kind.

He was adopted. I hadn't seen that coming. He didn't look like his parents, but sometimes people don't. I was shocked when he spoke so openly about it. You'd never know it from watching them all interact. They loved him as much as they did Sammie, you could see it. You could tell that they treated him the same. He was so lucky to have two parents that cared so much about him. Neither of mine gave a shit about me.

I wasn't sure why I hadn't been open with him about Jackson. He had no problem telling me about his life. There was no reason for me to hide it. My boy was my life. For some reason, I was still having a hard time. I wasn't sure if it was seeing his reaction earlier or if I was just afraid he'd judge me on that too. What was I so worried about? I already knew that he couldn't stand me. It wasn't like telling him was going to make it any worse. My mom had said that no man would want me because of Jackson. Was she right? What did it matter? I didn't want Lance anyway. I just wanted to clear the air with him so I could concentrate on my work. All I wanted was a truce. I had work to do. I needed to solve the damn puzzle. It was driving me out of my mind.

I watched him hug his niece tight. He had the biggest smile on his face when he spun around with her. Then he started laughing. I could hear him through the car window. When I got out, I stood there for a moment watching all of them. They were talking and joking. Even his dad was laughing. The pissed off mood surrounding him was gone just like that. How did they do it? I'd never seen anything like it.

Lance's dad leaned in Sammie's side of the car and scooped her up in his arms. He was definitely still just as big as when he'd played ball. The man wasn't old at all. She shoved his shoulder and shook her feet as he carried her to the house. That man had so much love for his daughter, and I couldn't help but feel it in my heart. When I felt a hand on my arm, I jumped.

“You okay?” Lance's mom asked.

I quickly shook away the choked up feeling I had and looked over at her.

“I'm fine,” I said. “Thank you for having me here, Mrs. Smith.”

“Oh no,” she said. “Call me Lucy. I'm still way too young for Mrs. Smith.”

When she laughed, I couldn't help but laugh too.

“I know we can all be overwhelming,” she said. “You'll get used to it.”

“Oh no,” I said, as I put my hands up. “I just came to talk to Lance. Then I'll be going home and be out of his hair.”

“You drove hours just to talk to my son?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said, and without thinking continued on. “He was being an ass, and.”

I stopped myself as soon as I realized it.

“Sorry,” I whispered.

“That's okay,” she said. “He is his father's son. I'm sorry about my husband back there. He loves his kids more than anything in this world. He's also very passionate about the way he feels. There is no filter there. He says exactly what pops into his head. Her being pregnant scares the shit out of him. Her holding that information back sent him over the edge. He can be a tough guy, but deep down, he's just a big marshmallow. Don't tell him I said it though. I'll deny it.”

“I know,” I said with a chuckle. “Lance told me on the way here. Not the marshmallow part, just about her being pregnant.”

“He did?” she asked.

“Yes,” I said. “He also told me he was adopted.”

“He told you that,” she said, more as a statement than a question.

I nodded but didn't speak.

“Come on in,” she said. “I bet you're just as hungry as we are. Those damn kids are going to turn all my man's hair gray. If we don't get in there, who knows what they'll do.”

She linked her arm in mine and nudged me to move.

“You sure have my boy a mess,” she said, as we walked. “He even moved out over that job. It's really messing with him, but I really have to wonder if it's just the job that's got him going.”

We walked through the door, and she released my arm.

“He's not the only one,” I mumbled to myself.

As soon as we walked in, James was running up the stairs to get pillows. Lance's dad was gently setting Sammie on the couch. He sat down right next to her and hugged her tight.

“I'm going to be right here for everything, Sammie,” he said, as he kissed her forehead.

Not one part of me wasn't shaking from seeing the two of them together.

“You sure you're okay?” Lucy asked me.

“I'm fine,” I said. “I'm just not used to this.”

I was so relieved when she grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the kitchen without acknowledging my answer.

“We should see what Sammie has in here to cook. Do you cook?” she asked.

“Not really. My grandma does most of the cooking at home. I'd love to learn though. She always says a little of this and a little of that. It's not worked for me so far.”

As soon as we walked through the kitchen door, the first thing I saw was Lance's ass sticking out from the fridge with Jillian at his legs.

“Ice cream,” he said. “Okay. If you come home with me tonight, I've got your favorite ice cream.”

“Okay,” she said with a laugh. “I love you, Lancie.”

“Lance,” he said, as he stood and turned around.

When he saw his mom standing there with me, his eyes widened.

“Don't tell Sammie,” he told his mom. “What we do at my place is our business.”

“My lips are sealed,” Lucy said.

Jillian reached up and grabbed Lance's hand.

“Movie, Lancie,” she said in the sweetest voice.

I let out a laugh, and he glared at me. Little Jillian pulled on his hand, and he followed behind her.

“That's so cute,” I said with a smile I knew was covering my whole face.

“He doesn't think so,” Lucy said. “Sammie has called him that his whole life. When he heard Jillian say it, he was not happy. It wouldn't be so bad, but Sammie says it just to embarrass him in front of people.”

“He should just be happy he has a sister that loves him,” I said. “I would have given anything for that growing up.”

Lance's dad came into the room and wrapped his arms around Lucy. She snuggled right into him. There was no missing the love between the two of them. They'd been together for years, and they still looked like two teenagers in love. I knew he felt just as protective of her as he did his kids and instantly felt bad for calling him old. The retired part was true, there was no feeling bad for that.

“What are you two doing, Firecracker?” he asked.

“We're looking for food,” she said. “I'm starving.”

“You're not cooking,” he said. “I'll order some pizza. You go out there and rest. I know that news came as a shock to you too. It did, right?”

“Of course, Hotshot,” she said with a smile. “I know better than to hide shit from you. Those three obviously haven't learned yet.”

“Scott, Carrie, and mom will be here any minute. They left when James called them on the way to the hospital. If I find out any of them knew, they'll all be getting an ass chewing.”

He kissed her and then walked out of the room with his phone in his hand.

“Mom?” I asked.

“We both claim Carrie's mom as ours. Lance's parents sucked, and so did mine. She took us on as her own, and she will never know how much she's done for both of us. You're going to love her.”

“Wow!” I said without thinking. That seemed to be happening a lot.

She gave me a confused look.

“You said both of your sets of parents sucked,” I said. “You can see how much you two love your kids. It's pretty amazing. I guess it gives me hope for my future.”

She gave me a strange look but didn't question me.

“Yeah,” she said. “It's a long story. I didn't exactly like Lance when I met him. I was fighting so many things. She was right there through it all. Now look at us. I couldn't imagine my life without him in it. I honestly don't think I could live without him.”

When we got to the living room, Jillian was cuddled up on Lance's lap. I couldn't believe he was the same man. How many sides were there to him, I wondered? There was the grumpy competitor, the sexy as fuck lover, and the super sweet family man. All of them jumbled my mind.

Lucy walked over to Jillian and held her hands out.

“Come sit with grandma,” she said, and Jillian shook her head no as she snuggled closer to Lance.

Lance's dad reached out and pulled Lucy onto his lap.

“We're going to grandparents again, Firecracker,” he said. “What do you think about that?”

“I'm excited,” she answered. “Maybe this baby will like one of us.”

Lance let out a laugh and squeezed Jillian tight.

“We'll see about that,” he said.

Lance's dad pulled Lucy close and gave her the sweetest, most loving kiss.

“You guys are so cute,” I said.

“Do not encourage them,” Sammie said quickly. “They'll be like two teenagers over there before long.”

I heard the front door open. Then I heard an older woman's voice.

“Sammie Reid,” she shouted. “I'm going to kick your ass. How could you keep this from me. Me! James knows better too.”

“Lancie knew too,” Sammie yelled out.

When she moved to get up from the couch, her dad let out a growl that had me shaking.

“Sit that ass right there,” he said. “They'll be in here in a second.”

“Are you going to believe her, Grandma?” Lance asked.

A short, white-haired woman walked into the room, and I couldn't believe it was her voice. She looked so quiet, but I quickly found out that she was just like the rest of them.

“You're full of shit,” she said to Lance, as she leaned down to hug him and Jillian.

“What?” he asked.

“Don't lie to me,” she said. “You knew you could have told me on the down low, but you didn't. I'm not so sure how I feel about that.”

“Down low, Grandma,” he said with a laugh. “Really?”

“Don't tell me you don't know what that means. Don't you do that hacker hooey?”

I burst into laughter. She was hilarious. I should have known better than to attract attention to myself. She turned around and looked me up and down.

“Who is this?” she asked. “I can only assume she's with Lance.”

“Oh, I'm not with him,” I said quickly.

“Is this the girl you told me about, Lucy?” Lance's grandma asked.

“Come on, Mom,” Lucy said, as she hurried off of Lance's dad's lap, grabbed the woman's arm, and pulled her out of the room.

Scottie Reid and a very pretty woman walked into the room. She was definitely James' mom.

“I'm Carrie,” she said, as she walked over to me.

“I'm Lauren,” I said.

“How do you know Lance?” she asked.

“We're both working on the same project,” I answered.

“Oh,” she said, as her eyes widened.

I looked over at Lance, and he burst into laughter. As much as I still wanted to kick his ass, I couldn't help but love hearing that laugh.

“I'm Scott,” Scottie said.

“Oh, she knows who you are,” Lance said. “She knows a lot about the game.”

“Really?” Scott asked.

“Well,” I said with a shrug. “I don't feel like I know much now. I had no idea Lance knew all of you.”

“Did you think his mom had a thing for baseball and named him after her favorite player?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. “I actually did.”

“That's too funny,” he said. “Lucy loving baseball.”

“Don't go being sweet to her,” Lance's dad said. “She said I was an old, retired ballplayer.”

I couldn't stop my eyes from going back to watch Lance with his niece. They were laughing and carrying on together while everyone else talked.

“Sammie and James have loved it since they were tiny,” Scott said. “We haven't been able to get Lance on board yet. His mom didn't like it at first, but she's grown to love it.”

“That's because she snagged the hottest one of all,” Lance's dad chimed in.

“Whatever,” Scott said. “We haven't given up on Lance yet. Maybe you can talk some sense into him.”

“I doubt that,” I said. “His ass is stubborn.”

I didn't even have to look Lance's way. The man was glaring at me, I could feel it.

“I like it,” Lance said. “I just don't live and breathe it.”

“What got you into it?” Scott asked me.

I was so nervous, and I was pretty sure they could all see it.

“Don't be shy,” Scott said. “We're not special. Well, we are, but not because we play ball.”

He had a huge smile on his face.

“Seriously,” Lance's dad said as he looked at Lance. “How is she the one that has your balls in a twist? There is no way she's the pain-in-the-ass you told us about.”

“Mom,” Lance yelled out. “Do something with your man.”

“Cut the shit, Hotshot,” Lucy yelled, as she walked back into the room. “What are you doing now?”

“Not a thing, Firecracker,” he said innocently.

“My dad's name was Randy,” I said. “He loved the game. Not just a small love either. I mean he really loved it. He watched every chance he got. My mom said his ex got him into it. I'd sit next to him and watch too. It was the only time we ever connected. I still treasure those moments. I still watch as many games as I can. When I do, it makes me think of him.”

“Did you lose him?” Carrie asked.

“Yes,” I said. “Not the way you think though. He walked out on us when I was eight and never looked back. We moved from Michigan to Ohio shortly after. It didn't take long before my mom checked out on me too.”

I could see Lance watching me from the corner of my eye. The expression on his face was something I hadn't seen yet.

“I'm sorry,” she said. “That's awful.”

“It hurt a lot,” I said. “I had my grandparents there to take care of me. I still have my grandma. She's the best.”

“If you ever need another grandma,” Lance's grandma said. “I'm here for you. I took all these fools on as mine.”

“Who were your dad's favorites?” Carrie asked.

“Carrie definitely knows her ballplayers,” Lucy said.

“She only knows one now,” Scott added, as he pulled his wife close.

“He was a Pirate fan through and through,” I said, as I looked up at Scott. “He didn't like you though.”

“Why?” he asked.

“I don't know,” I answered. “He'd never tell me. All he said was that he couldn't stand you. He liked Lance though.”

“You're just sucking up for earlier,” Lance's dad said.

It made me laugh. Lucy was right about him, he had no filter. That had to be where Lance got it. Not many of them seemed to have filters though, so I guess he could have gotten it from anywhere.

“Can you believe it?” Scott asked his wife. “Her dad didn't like me. I thought everyone loved me.”

I looked over at Carrie, and she was giving me a strange look.

“Shit,” Lance's dad said with a laugh. “Carrie didn't even like your ass for a long time.”

I held up my hands almost in surrender.

“That was his opinion,” I said. “The only one I've seen play is James.”

“I was pretty awesome,” James said.

Scott and Lance's dad both glared at James who quickly went back to taking care of Sammie. I could see Lance still watching me. His eyes hadn't moved away again.

“What?” I asked.

“What?” he said.

“I see you sitting over there thinking,” I said. “What are you judging?”

“Not a thing,” he said.

“You sure?” I asked sarcastically. “I'm sure there's so much more to judge now.”

“Nope,” he said. “I'm just over here spending time with my favorite niece.”

The pizza arrived, and everyone sat around eating, talking, and laughing. By the time we were done, my stomach muscles were getting sore. I felt so comfortable around them. You had no idea what was going to come out next or who it was going to come from. None of them held back. Me being the guest didn't help, they brought me right into it too. They were all so close, but you could tell they'd do anything for each other, every single one of them.