Chapter 50
Colby
Mind officially blown. It’s Sunday night at my parents’ house and I’m surrounded at the dinner table by the usual suspects: my entire immediate family, plus Josh and Zander. But, for the first time ever in my life, a woman I’ve invited home for dinner is sitting at the table next to me... oh, and her three kids, too.
Of course, I realize Lydia’s already met my entire family, so this isn’t quite as dramatic an episode of Meet the Morgans as it otherwise might have been. But, still, I’m officially bringing a girl home for dinner with my family for the first time in my adult life. Add the woman’s three adorable kids to the mix and there’s no missing the smoke signal I’m sending out to my family tonight: these four humans are officially mine. Sitting here now, feeling like Lydia and her kids belong to me, it’s crazy to think about how I reacted when Candice got all butt-hurt I hadn’t invited her home yet. I feel like a different man than I was back then. Since that day, I’ve traveled to hell and back and somehow wound up in heaven.
I look down at Isabella sitting to my left, twirling spaghetti on her fork, and my heart skips a beat. When my sweet girl notices me looking at her, she smiles at me, displaying the front-tooth gap she acquired two nights ago when she bravely let me tie a strand of dental floss around her dangling tooth and yank. I snake my arm around Isabella’s shoulders and she leans her cheek against my shoulder, making it abundantly clear she’s my girl.
Reflexively, I glance down the long table at Beatrice, hoping she’s catching sight of my lovefest with Izzy—perhaps noticing what she’s missing out on. But nope. My nemesis is currently perched on Zander’s lap, draped over his hard chest like a kimono, looking like he’s the man of her dreams. I force myself not to let out a long, jealous sigh. Fuck me. If I’d known all I had to do to win Bea’s heart once and for all was let her paint my toenails the way she painted Zander’s earlier tonight, I would have suggested she paint mine a long time ago.
Of course, Zander didn’t mean to steal Beatrice away from me earlier today—not that I ever had her in the first place. He was just standing there in the living room, laughing with Peen, being his gregarious and mountainous self, when Beatrice walked into my parents’ house for the first time, spied him, and visibly lost her ever-loving mind. Without missing a beat, Beatrice beelined straight for Zander, batted her long eyelashes at him, and asked him in that adorable little voice of hers if she could “pwease” paint his toenails with a certain sparkly pink nail polish that was, at that moment, tucked inside the Princess Jasmine purse slung over her tiny shoulder. Of course, Z replied that, yes, he’d be honored to receive a pedicure from such a lovely pedicurist, and that was that. From that moment on, Zander Shaw owned Beatrice Decker’s heart. And I was chopped liver.
I peel my envious eyes away from Bea and Zander at the other end of the dinner table and steal a quick peek at Theo. He’s seated between Dax and Keane, looking happy as a clam at high tide. Man, Theo’s a whole new person these days compared to the sullen and skeptical creature I met at the Climb & Conquer party two months ago. Thankfully, ever since the school assembly, Theo’s no longer being terrorized at school. To the contrary, he’s now got a couple friends who frequently come over to the house after school. Last I heard, Theo and his buddies were thinking about starting a band.
“Oh, that sounds amazing!” Mom gushes, and I tune back into the conversation at the table. Apparently, Kat and Josh have just told the group about the exciting list of activities they’ve lined up for their “weeklong wedding shindig” in Maui next week.
Of course, I tried to convince Lydia and the kids to be my “plus four” on the trip, but Lydia turned me down.
“If it were just me, I’d say hell yes,” Lydia said when I asked her to join me in Maui. “But I’ve got to consider what’s best for the kids.”
“What’s best for the kids is getting to go to Maui for a week, all expenses paid,” I replied.
But Lydia wasn’t convinced. “Everything I’ve read on the topic of integrating kids with a boyfriend says I should proceed prudently and cautiously,” she explained. “A week with my boyfriend and his entire family before we’ve even come out as an official couple to the world? It would just be too much, too soon.”
One side of my mouth hitched up. “I’m your boyfriend?” It was the first time Lydia had called me that word and it electrified me, as goofy as that sounds.
Lydia flashed me a sexy look that shot tingles straight into my dick. “Slip of the tongue. You’re my patient. No more or less.”
I leaned in and whispered into her ear then, even though we were alone. “Do you regularly lick your patients’ cum off your tits?”
She grazed the tip of her nose against my jaw, sending shivers across my skin. “Only when I really, really like the patient.”
“Come on, baby,” I pleaded. “Come to Maui.”
But she wouldn’t budge. “It’s a moot point, anyway,” she said. “I don’t have enough vacation time to take a full week off for Maui and then again when I visit my parents over the holidays.”
And that was that.
I was officially going stag to Maui.
“Oh my gosh!” Mom gushes, once again drawing my attention to the table conversation. “A chartered plane for all fifty of us? Josh, that’s too much!”
Kat strokes Josh’s cheek adoringly, and the basketball-sized sparkler on her left hand glints in the light of the overhead chandelier. “Josh is pulling out all the stops for this trip.”
Josh grabs Kat’s hand and kisses it. “Actually, T-Rod is pulling out all the stops. I’m just pulling out my wallet.”
“Please don’t think you need to be so fancy with us,” Mom says to Josh. “We’re all perfectly happy to fly coach on a commercial flight.”
“It’s all good, Momma Lou,” Josh replies. “T-Rod says with such short notice, chartering a flight for fifty people is what makes the most logistical sense.”
“But isn’t it crazy-expensive?” Mom asks.
Josh waves at the air. “I’m only getting married once. And like I said, T-Rod said it’s the best way to get everyone there on short notice.”
“Who’s T-Rod?” Zander asks, and I can’t help noticing Beatrice snuggling closer into Zander’s chest as his deep baritone voice rumbles against her cheek.
“Theresa Rodriguez,” Josh says. “My personal assistant for the past six years.”
“T-Rod’s the absolute best,” Kat says. She rests her hand on her ever-growing baby bump. “Without her, we never would have been able to throw together a destination wedding for two hundred people on such short notice.”
“Did you christen her T-Rod or was that Josh?” Lydia asks Kat.
“That was all Josh,” Kat replies.
Lydia laughs. “I just assumed it had to be you because of the Morgan family’s love of nicknames.” She looks at Josh. “Now I see why you fit in so well with this family.”
I glance at Keane, assuming he’s going to chime in on this particular topic. We all love nicknames in this family, but Keane and Ryan are by far the most talented at giving them. But Keane looks lost in thought. Exhausted. Kind of miserable, as a matter of fact.
My eyes shift to Ryan. Whenever Keane looks like a lost puppy, I like to call Ryan’s attention to the situation so he can pull Keane aside and find out what’s up. But, much to my surprise, Ryan looks as lost in his thoughts and miserable as Keane.
“I know, right?” Josh says to Lydia, laughing. “These Morgans take the sport of nicknaming to Olympic levels. I’m a rank amateur compared to them.”
Lydia giggles. “Me, too. When I first met the Morgans in the hospital, I needed a spreadsheet to keep track of everyone.”
“Same here,” Josh says. “I needed a spread sheet to keep track of myself.” He launches into listing the various nicknames he’s been christened with since meeting the Morgans and everyone laughs and throws a few more at him, just for good measure. “What about you?” Josh asks Lydia. “What have they done to you?”
Lydia laughs. “So far, they haven’t been too brutal with me. I’m Lydi-Bug and Flip Yer Lyd.”
“Nice,” Josh says, laughing.
“I’m Theo-Leo,” Theo pipes in. “Ryan called me that when I made it to the top of the highest rock wall at Climb & Conquer because I’m lionhearted.”
“And also because you were ‘King of the world!’” Ryan adds.
Theo looks at Ryan blankly.
“You know, Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic?”
Theo shakes his head.
A flurry of commentary occurs about the awesomeness and horrendousness of that movie, depending on who’s talking, and, ultimately, my mother winds up offering to have the three Decker kids over for a slumber party one night soon so that she can watch Titanic with Theo after the girls have gone to bed. “We’d have a grand ol’ time,” Mom says to Theo and the girls. “Popcorn. Hot cocoa. Maybe a little Monopoly. Plus, I think your mommy and Colby would appreciate having a date night.” Mom glances at me, her eyes sparkling, and I can’t help shooting her a grateful smile. Best. Mom. Ever.
I squeeze Lydia’s hand under the table. Hot damn, I love my matchmaking mother. And, motherfucking hell, I know exactly which night to put on the calendar: the night of my last physical therapy session with Lydia, the day after I get back from Maui.
“Thanks so much, Momma Lou,” Lydia says, returning my hand-squeeze under the table. “Doesn’t a slumber party here sound fun, guys?”
Izzy expresses extreme excitement. Theo is polite but sweet about it. But Beatrice’s isn’t having it.
Lydia looks at me. “Will Ralph be here for the slumber party, too, Colby?”
“He sure will. And I’m sure he’ll want to sleep with Beatrice, if she’ll let him.”
Okay, that does it. Beatrice is now absolutely ecstatic about the sleepover.
More conversation ensues—random topics that zigzag all over the place, as is pretty typical around here. And, finally, Josh says, “So, hey, Dax, did you ever hear from Reed about that demo of yours? I sent it to him and he said he loved it, but I haven’t heard anything since.”
Dax forces a fake smile and explains that, yeah, Reed Rivers contacted him to say he loved the band’s sound but that he wanted to see 22 Goats perform live before discussing the possibility of the label signing them. “It’s okay,” Dax says. “I know Reed is a busy guy.”
“It’ll be good for you to meet Reed in Maui,” Josh says. “Maybe that’ll remind him to carve out some time to come to Seattle to see you play.”
“Or Dax’s band could play a show for Reed in Maui,” Lydia says softly, almost to herself.
“Oh my gosh,” Kat says, her entire face lighting up. “Why didn’t I think of that?” She pat’s Josh’s arm. “Honey, text T-Rod about this idea. She’ll need to make arrangements.”
Josh pulls out his phone and taps out a text. “Consider it done, Dax. We’ll make it happen, one way or another.”
“Holy crap. Thanks so much, guys,” Dax says. He shoots Lydia a grateful look that melts me. “Thanks for the idea, Lydia.”
“No problem. I was just thinking out loud.”
I squeeze Lydia’s hand under the table again, lean into her ear, and say, “If I didn’t already love you, Lydia Decker, I swear to God I would have fallen head over heels in love with you just now.”