Chapter 29 – Beast
So far meeting Brenna’s family was going well. Her niece, Inara, was adorable and a great icebreaker. We all headed outside to sit down and chat before dinner. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too long before we ate. I’m pretty sure Brenna was probably starving, but until we told her family that she was pregnant I knew she wouldn’t say anything.
Following Inara outside, Brenna under my arm, I led us over to the table that was set up on the back deck. Their backyard was beautiful. It wasn’t huge, but they had made good use of what space they did have. There was a play area for Inara, lots of white and green flowers and plants, and an outdoor kitchen that was enviable.
While Inara played on her swing set, all of the adults sat down to chat. Brenna’s dad, Connor, was the first to ask me questions. “So Grayson, how did you and Brenna meet?”
Smiling at Connor I answered him while looking down at Brenna, who was leaning into me, still under my arm. “Well, we met a few months ago. Brenna was at Everly’s, who happens to live across the street from my best friend Declan. As soon as I saw her getting out of her car I knew I had to meet her and it’s been going strong ever since.”
Shannon was the next to speak up. “And what do you do for a living Grayson?”
I turned to look at Brenna, gauging her reaction to this question. I wasn’t going to lie to her parents so I wanted to make sure that she was okay with me answering that question. When she gave me a slight nod I turned back to her mom and answered her. “Well, I am the president of a motorcycle club so I spend most of the day dealing with any issues we have that come up. The club owns a couple of businesses so deal with personnel, payroll, and even looking into new business opportunities.”
Surprisingly, I didn’t notice any looks of shock or disdain on their faces. I wasn’t sure what their reactions were going to be, but I was happy to see that they didn’t seem unhappy that I was with their daughter.
After we had been chatting for a little while Inara came running up to the table. “Grandma I’m hungry. When’s dinner?”
Connor reached over and picked Inara up, putting her on his lap. “Is my little girl starving to death?”
She turned to him and looked up into his face with such seriousness it made me smile. “Grandpa I really am. If I don’t eat soon I may just die!”
Shannon started laughing and got up from the table. “Okay little drama queen, dinner will be ready in a few minutes. Aunty and I will get it all set up and bring it out. Go play with your grandfather until I tell you that it’s time to eat.”
Obviously Brenna’s mom wanted to grill her while they were alone so I gave her a kiss on the head before helping her up. She went into the house behind her mom and I wandered over to the play set with her dad and Inara.
“So, what are your intentions with my daughter?” Connor asked as soon as I walked up beside him.
I appreciated his candor. He wanted to make sure his girl was all right and wasn’t going to hold anything back. “Well, right now my intention is to be with her as much as possible. I’m finding myself falling for her more and more each day and I’ll be with her as long as she’ll let me.”
Connor seemed satisfied with that response because he nodded at me and wandered behind Inara, starting to push her on the swing.
About 15 minutes later Brenna came out of the house with her mom and her sister, both of whom had huge smiles on their faces. Obviously she’d told them our news and they were happy for us.
“Dinner is ready, everyone to the table!” Yelled Shannon.
“Catch me Grayson!” I turned around just in time to see Inara launching herself off of the swing. Thankfully I had pretty good reflexes because I was able to catch her.
“Oh my God! You need to give a man some warning beautiful. What would have happened if I didn’t catch you?”
Inara just smiled at me, wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me a kiss on my cheek. “Oh Grayson, I knew you would catch me.”
I put her on my hip and walked us over to the table and sat her down beside me. Brenna came over to us and sat on my other side, looking around me at Inara. “Do I have some competition caveman?”
Turning to look at her I leaned in and said against her lips “you’ll never have competition Baby Girl.”
I heard a sigh from across the table and when I looked over Danielle was sitting there with her elbows on the table, her chin resting on her upturned hands, looking at us with googly eyes. Brenna turned to look at her sister with an evil smile on her face. “Watch it D, I already told you once, he’s my man.”
Danielle took her chin off her hands and turned to look at her sister. “Oh Bren, when you bring a sexy man to dinner you better expect that I’m going to stare. Doesn’t mean I’m going to try to take him away from you.”
I interrupted them before this could go too far. “I appreciate the compliment Danielle, but just know that you would never be able to take me away from Brenna.”
Brenna put her hands on my face, pulling it towards her, and resting her forehead against mine. “Right answer Beast.”
She gave me a kiss, and conscious of the fact that we were with her parents I made sure it didn’t go too far. I didn’t want them to get a bad impression of me, which was another first.
Danielle interrupted us, “hold up. Beast? Why did you just call him Beast? Please tell me it’s because of his prowess in bed.”
Shannon put the last plate of food on the table, interrupting the conversation. “Good God Danielle, get your mind out of the gutter for once. If you need to know these things ask your sister in private, and then make sure to tell me!”
Connor just shook his head at his women’s antics. Obviously he was used to them being so outspoken. I, on the other hand, would have to get used to it. My mom may be a strong woman, but I can’t even imagine her talking like these women were.
We all started dishing out the food, which looked delicious. Conversation was sparse as everyone was enjoying their food. When it came time to get dessert I stood up to help Shannon and Danielle bring the dirty dishes inside, leaving Brenna alone with her dad so that she could tell him about the baby.
When we got into the kitchen Danielle started cleaning off the dishes and loading them into the dishwasher while Shannon leaned against the island staring at me.
“Something on your mind Shannon?”
She sat there just staring at me for so long that I didn’t think she would respond. When I was about to head back to the yard she decided to answer my question. “So many things on my mind Grayson, just trying to work out what I want to know the most.”
I turned back around and leaned against the kitchen counter facing her, my arms crossed over my chest in a relaxed pose. “I’m an open book. Feel free to ask me whatever you want.”
“Well, I know my husband would have already asked you what your intentions are towards our daughter and if he wasn’t satisfied with that answer you wouldn’t still be here, so I’ll leave that question out. You are the father of my newest grandbaby, which I’m totally excited about, don’t get me wrong, but I want to know more about you and your people.”
Danielle had stopped what she was doing and turned to look at the two of us, obviously she was interested in this answer as well. “Well, my mom and dad were married young and quite quickly after meeting. My dad was in the Navy, but he died when I was 16. I joined the Navy myself right out of high school and became a Seal for most of my career. I’ve been out of the service for about eight years and have been a member of my club for 10 years.”
She nodded at my responses, hopefully happy with them. “Okay, that’s a start. Did you have a happy childhood?”
“Yes, ma’am. My parents were very happy in their marriage and the love they shared was a huge part of my growing up. They showed me what true love looked like. My dad wasn’t always there, since he was deployed a lot of my life, but when he was there he always made time for me.”
Danielle turned back to loading the dishwasher, I’m assuming because she was satisfied with my answers.
Shannon walked up to me, causing me to stand up from the counter, and threw her arms around me. “Welcome to the family Grayson. Please treat my baby with care, she’s a lot more sensitive than she lets on.”
I hugged her back, if somewhat awkwardly. I wasn’t a big hugger of anyone other than my mom and now Brenna.
Shannon stepped back from me with a smile on her face, obviously sensing my discomfort. “All right Grayson, I’ll grab some plates and forks for you to take out to the table for dessert.”
She got everything I would need and I took it out back. Once I placed everything down Connor stood up from the stable and faced me. I was prepared for the third degree or even threats to treat his daughter right, but what I wasn’t expecting was him sticking his hand out to me. I grasped his hand and he pulled me into him, giving me a man hug and slapping me on the back. “Welcome to the family Grayson.”
We stepped back from each other and I looked over his shoulder to see Brenna smiling at us. I turned back to him and saw him grinning at me, he obviously knew I wasn’t expecting the gesture. “Thank you sir.”