________

BRYAN

 

 

I spent the afternoon with my parents that Saturday so Sebastian was meeting me at their house and was also meeting them for the first time.  I agonized over what to wear and decided on a simple but stately blue shirt and black dress slacks.  I didn't want to wear anything too form fitting and I wanted to make sure I looked really nice for his family.  It took less than an hour to get to the north side of Eden Pines from my parent’s house, so Sebastian was picking me up at 5:30 and dinner was being served at 7:00. It was 5:25 and I looked at myself in the mirror; my light blue shirt was a perfect choice and I went downstairs to ask my parents what they thought.

 

I twirled in the living room in front of them and then smiled.

 

“Well?  What do you think?”

 

“Honey you look absolutely beautiful.”  My mom was beaming.

 

“Yes, you look really nice Bryan.  Very fancy.  So you’re meeting the whole family tonight?”  My dad smiled at me and I could tell he was happy I was happy.

 

“Well, I’m meeting his grandmother for the first time and everyone else I’ve already met. But it will be nice to see them again.”

 

“Oh, you’re so grown up now, Bryan, getting this big job and working in Paris.  We are so proud of you, honey,” my mom said.

 

She was getting teary-eyed and I couldn’t look at her or I would start crying too.   Things were changing for me and I really wanted to tell them I was pregnant but Sebastian and I decided we would tell our parents together. I looked at my dad, pleading with him to get my mom to stop crying.

 

“Dad.”

 

“Your mother will be okay.  She’s just so happy for you, that’s all.”

 

“Thank you, that means the world to me,” I said as I smiled at me sweet mom.

 

Thankfully she pulled it together because Sebastian was going to be there any minute.

 

I looked at my parents and gave a little frown.  My brother was going to miss out on meeting Sebastian.  “I wish Colton was here to meet Sebastian.”

 

“I know honey, but he had this dinner with Cheryl’s family planned for a while.  He’ll meet him next time.”

 

Just then Sebastian knocked on the door.  I opened the door for him and, as always, he took my breath away.  He stood there holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers and he was so damned good-looking.

 

“Hi.”  I couldn’t stop smiling at him.

 

“Hi, beautiful.  You look stunning.”  He leaned down and kissed me on the cheek and his smile was infectious. I just wanted to melt right into his eyes.  For a second I forgot that he was meeting my parents and I just stood there grinning at him, and then I heard my dad clear his throat.

 

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!  Please come in and meet my parents!”

 

“Mom, dad, I’d like for you to meet Sebastian Blocke.  Sebastian, these are my parents Jack and Sylvia Steele.”

 

“Mr. and Mrs. Steele, it is such a pleasure to meet you both.  Mrs. Steele, these are for you.”

 

My mom blushed like a schoolgirl as Sebastian handed her the flowers.

 

“Thank you, Sebastian, these are beautiful.  Please call me Sylvia.”

 

“Yes, and call me Jack.  We’re very informal around here.”  I think my dad was a little intimidated by how much money Sebastian’s family had, and I really wanted him to see how down to earth Sebastian was.

 

My dad put the flowers in a vase for my mom and she patted the seat next to her on the couch.

 

“Have a seat, Sebastian dear, you have a few minutes before you have to leave, right?”

 

“Yes, we do.”  He sat next to my mom and didn’t seem uncomfortable at all.

 

I gently touched him on his shoulder.

 

“Can I get you something to drink?”

 

“No, honey, I’m fine, thanks,” he said as he winked at me.

 

My parents chatted with Sebastian for a few minutes, not grilling him at all, and as I watched them interact I just thought to myself how natural it seemed with us all being together.  Just then Sebastian looked at me and I knew it was time to share our news.

 

“Mom, dad, before we leave we have some news to share with you.”

 

Sebastian laced his fingers through mine as my heart pounded with excitement.  He looked at my parents and then looked at me and smiled.

 

“I asked Bryan to marry me and he said yes!”

 

My parents both jumped up and wrapped their arms around us with glee.

 

“Congratulations you two!  We are so happy for you!”  My mom said.

 

My dad shook Sebastian’s hand and slapped him on the shoulder.

 

“Welcome to the family, Sebastian!”

 

“Thank you, Jack.”

 

“This is such wonderful news,” my mom beamed.

 

Sebastian and I looked at each other and then looked at my parents.

 

“We have one more piece of news,” I said.

 

“Oh?”  My mom asked.

 

“Bryan and I are pregnant.”

 

The room was silent for about three seconds and then my mother let out a loud squeal.

 

“Eeeee!  I am going to be a grandmother!”  She flung her arms around us and began sobbing with joy.

 

“Mom, mom, calm down.”

 

“I am just so happy for you two!”

 

“This is wonderful news, you two.   Congratulations!”  My dad gave both of us a hug and I was so happy.

 

“You let me know if you need anything at all, Bryan.  I mean that.  You are carrying my grandchild and I want you to have whatever you need,” my mother said almost scolding me.

 

“Okay mom,” I smiled.

 

  I looked at the clock and saw that is was nearly 6:00 so it was time for us to leave.

 

“Thank you for sharing your news with us, honey.  Sebastian, I am looking forward to spending more time with you.  We are a close family so I expect to see you often.”

 

Sebastian smiled at my father when he said that.

 

“I look forward to spending more time with you as well.”

 

We said our goodbyes and when we were in the car I turned to Sebastian and gave him a big hug.

 

“My parents loved you, Sebastian.  Thank you for being so nice to them.”

 

“They are really lovely people and I can see where you get your gorgeous looks.  Your mother is stunning.  Thank you for introducing me to them.  I am happy they are so happy for us.”

 

“Me too!  I have a feeling this is going to be a great night!”  I was on cloud nine and as we pulled up to Sebastian’s parents’ mansion, I literally felt like I had to pick my jaw up off of the ground. The house was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. It was enormous and I felt more intimidated than I expected. My parents’ house was tiny in comparison and I hated that I felt weird about it because Sebastian had never given me any reason to feel inadequate in any way, especially when it came to money.  He held my hand tight as we walked to the front door and before we even made it to the buzzer, the door flung open. 

 

Doris Blocke, looking as beautiful as ever, greeted us with a huge smile on her face, her husband standing right beside her.

 

"Sebastian! Oh sweetheart, it is so good to see you!"

 

She planted kisses all over his face as a sheepish grin touched his lips. It was so cute watching them because I could see how much she loved him and he looked like a little boy as he just let her love on him.

 

"It is good to see you mother, but you just saw me a couple of weeks ago."

 

His father pulled him in for a hug also. “It’s good to see you, Sebastian.”

 

He smiled at his father.  “You too, dad.”

 

His mom looked at me, her bright blue eyes smiling at me, warmth pouring out of her.

 

"Bryan dear, so nice to see you again."

 

She pulled me in for a sweet hug.

 

"It is nice to see you again as well, Mrs. Blocke."

 

"Doris…remember?”

 

“Oh yes, Doris,” I smiled.

 

“Yes, Bryan, so nice to see you again.  Unfortunately my brother could not make it tonight but I’m sure you’ll see him another time,” his dad said.

 

“Okay you two, come on inside.  Almost everyone is here, we're just waiting for Kipton and his guest."

 

Sebastian looked at his watch.

 

"We're not late, are we?"

 

"No, no. The others decided to arrive a bit early. You can go greet them so they can say hello to Bryan again while I check on Bernard in the kitchen."

 

She smiled at me as she walked off and Sebastian told me that Bernard was his mom's chef.

 

"He has been with her for 30 years and he's like family."

 

“Oh wow, that’s amazing,” I said.

 

"Do you feel better about being here? I told you that you had nothing to worry about."

 

I smiled at him and had to admit that his mother’s warm reception put me at ease.  I grabbed his hand and winked at him.

 

“Yes, she was really nice.  I thought it would be weird since this is a social thing and I’m obviously your date.”  I thought about that for a second and got nervous as I grabbed his arm.  “Wait, do you think she knows I’m your date?”

 

He chuckled as he gently rubbed my back.  “You’re not my date, you’re my fiancé, and before the night is over everyone here will know that.  Don’t worry, baby, everything will be fine.”

 

I let out a sigh of relief.  “Okay, let’s go say hello to everyone else.  I’d love to meet your grandmother.”

 

We walked into the living room and I saw Tyler chatting with their grandmother.  They looked over at us when they heard us walk into the room and Sebastian walked straight over to them.  He leaned down and kissed the older woman on the cheek, held her hand, looked at me and smiled.

 

“Nana Bitsy, I want you to meet Bryan.”

 

Bitsy?  That was perfect.  It totally sounded like the name of a snobby, rich, older lady.  Was his grandmother rich?  Yes, but I definitely wasn’t getting the snobby vibe from her.

 

She gave me a warm smile and held her arms out for a hug.  I bent down to hug her and she smelled like roses. 

 

“It is wonderful to meet you dear, I have heard so much about you.  I take it my grandson is treating you well?”

 

I smiled at her.  “It is nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Blocke.  Oh yes!  Sebastian is a perfect gentleman.”

 

“Please call me Bitsy, dear, it keeps me feeling young!”

 

We all laughed and Sebastian chimed in.

 

“Nana Bitsy, you are forever young!”

 

“Yes, she is.  Sebastian, aren’t you going to let me say hello to this beautiful man?”  The low, sexy drawl caught me off guard and Sebastian looked over at me.

 

“Bryan, you remember my brother Tyler.”

 

He was joking but I could feel his body language shift as he took a step closer to me, sort of claiming what belonged to him.  Tyler gave me the quick once over and his gorgeous blue eyes settled in mine, a small twinkle in his eye.  I knew that look.  I had received that same look of admiration from men since puberty.  Tyler was a much bigger flirt than I realized.  I had not seen that side of him in Paris at all.

 

Tyler reached out and gently held my hand, raising it to his lips for a tender kiss.

 

“Bryan, lovely to see you again.  You look stunning.”

 

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks and I smiled at him.  He was just as charming as his brother and I quickly glanced at Sebastian who gave Tyler a playful shove.

 

“Easy there!”

 

We all had a good laugh and Tyler glanced at Sebastian and then smiled at me.

 

“You’re lucky you met him first, Sebastian.”

 

Sebastian put his arm around me and kissed the side of my forehead.

 

“Don’t I know it.  Where is your boyfriend?  You need him here so you can stop fawning all over mine.”

 

“That’s over.  Just didn’t work out.”

 

Sebastian didn’t hold back even a little.  “Well, I can’t say I’m sorry.  Good riddance.” 

 

“Now boys, behave yourselves.  Have either of you offered our guest something to drink?”  Doris playfully scolded her sons.

 

They both looked apologetic and Sebastian jumped in first.

 

“I’m so sorry, Bryan.  Would you like something?  Alfred should have met us at the door.”

 

I was confused.

 

“Who is Alfred?”

 

“He is the butler.  Nana Bitsy, have you seen Alfred?”

 

“Oh, I should have mentioned that he would be away for a few minutes.  He went to the wine cellar to get a couple of reds for dinner, he’ll be back in a few minutes.”

 

“Oh, okay.  What would you like, Bryan?  I’ll get it for you,” Sebastian said as he gently stroked my arm.

 

“A glass of water would be great.”

 

Sebastian went to the kitchen and as I sat with Bitsy and Tyler, Bitsy looked at me and smiled.

 

“So tell me, dear, are you still enjoying working for the company?”

 

 “Oh absolutely.  Working there is a dream come true and I have learned so much from Doris.”

 

Bitsy’s face glowed as she listened to me.

 

“That is what she likes to hear,” Tyler said as he smiled at us.

 

Sebastian brought me the glass of water and the four of us chatted for a while and I was really enjoying myself.  They were so welcoming, and I didn’t feel out of place at all.  Just as I felt myself completely relax, the doorbell rang.  A couple of minutes later the loud click of heels echoed throughout the room and I looked over to see Kipton and who I could only assume was his stunningly beautiful boyfriend, Nathan. I smiled at them as they walked over to us and my smile instantly fell when Nathan looked my way.  I don’t know if anyone had ever looked at me with such open disgust in my life.

 

What the hell is his problem?

 

Sebastian immediately walked over to them and I could see his jaw clenching as he approached them.

 

“You are 30 minutes late, Kipton.  I take it you don’t have enough respect for the rest of us to arrive on time.”  He was pissed.

 

“Oh relax, Sebastian, we’re here aren’t we?”  Kipton tried to wave him off and that only fueled his fire.

 

Sebastian narrowed his eyes at him.  “You and your boy toy need to learn proper manners.”

 

The boyfriend rolled his eyes.

 

“Give me a break, Sebastian.  Nobody died.”

 

“Exactly the kind of response I would expect from you, Nathan.”  His gaze shifted to Kipton.  “Come say hello to my guest.”

 

They walked over to me and I put on my best forced smile because I knew there was tension.  Sebastian told me his relationship with Kipton was rocky but I didn’t think it would play out in front of me.

 

Sebastian gently stroked my arm as he introduced me.

 

“Kipton, you remember Bryan.”

 

“Of course.  It’s nice to see you again.”  His entire family had a super sexy vibe going on.

 

“Nathan, this is Bryan,” Sebastian said.

 

He slid his emerald green eyes over to me and gave me a saccharine-filled smile.    

 

“Bryan, is it?”

 

I returned the same saccharine-filled smile.

 

“Yes.”

 

He slowly gave me the once over and I wanted to smack the condescending smirk off of his face as his eyes held mine.

 

“You’re not what I expected.”

 

I held his gaze and continued to smile, saying nothing, because there was no way I was going to take his bait and cause a scene.  It was the first time I was in Sebastian’s family’s home and there was no way I was going to let someone like Nathan get to me.  I would have to deal with him at a later time.

 

Sebastian’s mom emerged from the kitchen to greet them and I could have sworn I felt even more tension.

 

“Kipton, darling, you are thirty minutes late and it is rude to keep our guest waiting.  You know that tardiness is my biggest pet peeve.”  There was a definite edge to her voice and she was clearly annoyed.

 

Kipton kissed his aunt on the cheek and smiled at her.

 

“I apologize Aunt Doris, I had a small emergency.”

 

Bitsy gave Nathan a cool glance and I swear the temperature in the room dropped 20 degrees.  I raised my eyebrows and then quickly composed myself as I watched Bitsy’s obvious disdain for Nathan.  What’s this?  A family rift?

 

“I hope everything is okay.”  There was not one ounce of concern in Doris’s voice.

 

Nathan responded like a desperate puppy dying for attention.

 

“Oh yes, it’s fine!  Thank you so much for your concern.”

 

Bitsy barely acknowledged him as she turned to smile at me.

 

“I’m so sorry we kept you waiting, dear, but now that our tardy family members have arrived we can sit down to dinner.”  The snarky comment was not lost on me and I could feel Nathan boring a hole through the back of my head.

 

We sat at the table and enjoyed a very nice meal and made small talk for a while.  I felt good about the way the evening was going and I was really enjoying myself.  I was pleasantly surprised because Sebastian’s family was so nice and they were a lot of fun.

 

As we waited for dessert Sebastian looked at me, and the butterflies fluttered like crazy in my belly because I knew what he was about to do.  He gently tapped his glass three times with his knife.

 

“Everyone, we have an announcement.”

 

All eyes were on us and I was nearly shaking with nervous jitters.  Sebastian linked his fingers through mine and winked at me instantly putting me at ease.  He looked around the table and his eyes settled on his parents.

 

“I have asked Bryan to marry me and he said yes!”

 

I watched delight spread across every single person’s face except Nathan’s face.  The look in his eyes was so nasty and I could see that he was seething with jealousy so I did what any strong omega would do.  I gave him a huge smile and I could see that it pissed him off even more.

 

“Oh honey, congratulations!”  Doris came over to us both and hugged us, kissing each of us on our cheeks.

 

“I knew there was something different about Bryan because I have never seen you so happy, Sebastian.  Congratulations son, we are very happy for you!”  His dad gave him a big hug and turned and gave me one as well.

 

Bitsy was sitting next to Sebastian and she gave him a hug as well.  She looked over at me with a huge grin and I got up and gave her a hug.

 

“This is wonderful, congratulations to both of you!”  She was genuinely happy for us, and it meant so much to me.

 

Everyone else chimed in with their congratulations but it was Nathan’s words that silenced the room.

 

“Wow, now you’re set for life!”

 

“Excuse me?”  I didn’t even try to hide the disgust in my voice.

 

Everyone glared at Nathan and I could see that he knew he had just made a fatal mistake.

 

His face turned beet red and I couldn’t help but enjoy the fact that he was squirming.  I would have paid money to see what I was watching for free.  Nathan stumbled over his words, trying to do damage control.

 

“I, uh, I didn’t mean anything by that.”  His eyes were pleading as they looked at Bitsy and Doris’s disapproving stares.  Doris then looked at me with soft eyes.

 

“Bryan, dear, please excuse my nephew’s friend’s rude behavior.  He seems to have left his brain and manners at the door.”  She gave him a pointed look.  “Apologies are in order, Nathan.”

 

Sebastian shot daggers at Nathan and Kipton, and I could tell that the anger was boiling inside of him.

 

“Nathan, you have five seconds to apologize to Bryan,” he said, grinding out the words. 

 

I think Nathan didn’t realize how much Sebastian’s family would like me and I could tell it bothered him mercilessly.

 

Nathan turned reluctant eyes toward me and I could see that it was killing him to have to apologize to me.

 

“I’m sorry for what I said, Bryan.  I didn’t mean anything by it.  Congratulations to both of you, I am sure you will be very happy together.”

 

My eyes were cool as I pulled my lips over my teeth into a smile and looked at him.

 

“No worries.”  That was all I gave him.

 

“Now that we have that out of the way, why don’t we all enjoy dessert?  Bernard has prepared a delicious apple pie and we need to celebrate!”   I could tell that Bitsy was not pleased with Nathan and she wanted to smooth things over.

 

“Oh yum, that is one of my favorites!”  I wanted to lighten the mood because that air was still really heavy.

 

“That is a wonderful idea and I will have him bring out our best champagne so that we can make a proper toast to the happy couple!”  Doris exclaimed.  It was very sweet to see how excited she was for us.

 

Thankfully, dessert was uneventful and pleasant mostly because Nathan did not utter a word.  I could tell that he was humiliated and I took a little bit of pleasure in that because he had been so nasty to me for no reason.

 

As we said goodnight to everyone we pulled Sebastian’s mom and dad aside.

 

“This was a lovely evening, thank you so much for inviting me,” I said as I smiled at them.

 

“We were happy to have you and we are so excited for both of you,” Doris said as she smiled at me.

 

Sebastian looked at me and then looked at his parents.

 

“We have one more bit of news that we are not sharing with everyone else just yet.”

 

“Oh?”  His father asked.

 

Sebastian linked his fingers through mine as he looked at his parents.

 

“We are having a baby!”

 

The look of glee on his mother’s face was priceless.

 

“Oh my goodness!  That is such wonderful news!” she said as she gathered us both into a big hug.

 

“Congratulations you two!  That is really happy news.  We are thrilled for you.  Just think, Doris, we are going to have a grandchild to spoil like crazy!”  Mr. Blocke exclaimed as he, too, gave us a hug.

 

“Thank you, we are very excited about this.  So many great things are happening, it kind of all feels like a dream,” I said.

 

“It’s all a dream come true,” Doris said as she smiled at us.

 

“Thank you, Mother.  Well, we are going to head out now because Bryan needs his rest.  He has had a long day and I don’t want anything to stress the baby.  I could have strangled Nathan for causing Bryan one iota of discomfort today.  I really had to restrain myself, dad,” Sebastian said, clearly still upset about it.

 

Doris pursed her lips and gently rubbed my arm.  “I hope Nathan’s rude display did not affect you too much.”

 

“I’m fine.  It takes a lot more than that to upset me,” I assured her.

 

“That is one of the many things I love about Bryan.  He doesn’t allow pettiness to get to him.”

 

I smiled at Sebastian when he said that and gently leaned my head on his shoulder.

 

“No, I don’t,” I said stifling a yawn.

 

“Oh, time for you to get to bed young man.  You are going to need all of the rest that you can get as the baby continues to grow,” Doris said.

 

“Thank you again for dinner, we will see you soon,” Sebastian said as we made our way to the door.

 

“Please keep us informed on how you are feeling Bryan and let us know if we can help with the wedding plans,” his dad said.

 

“We will, goodnight!”  We both said in unison.

 

As we walked to the car, he linked his fingers through mine and then stopped and turned to me.

 

“You were amazing tonight.  You handled yourself with such grace when Nathan was being a jerk.”  He gently held my face in his hands.  “I’m really sorry that you had to go through that.  He is an asshole and I still don’t know why my idiotic cousin is dating him.”

 

“I’ve dealt with much worse so don’t even think twice about it,” I said.

 

He gave me a sweet kiss on the lips and then looked at me, his eyes searching mine.

 

“I love you.”

 

I smiled at him, butterflies going crazy in my belly.

 

“I love you, too.”

 

We got in the car and he put his arm around me and I laid my head on his shoulder.  We rode in silence as he softly stroked my arm.  When the driver arrived at Sebastian's place I couldn’t get out of the car fast enough because I couldn’t wait to be with him.