Rolling her eyes she said, “Finn, enough! They’re fine with it. I’ve seen them both since you’ve come back and they obviously know that I’m living with you now. Really, truly, it’s all going to be fine. They know that we’ve talked quite a bit about everything that happened, and as long as I’m fine and moving on then so are they, okay?”
I wasn’t so certain, but I’d accept her answer for now. Who knew what Richard and Tessa would do or say to me when Em wasn’t in the room. Either way, I’d man up and deal with whatever they wanted to dish out to me because I deserved it. We pulled up to her parents’ driveway. Harper and Kyler weren’t there yet, which sucked because they would have acted as a great buffer for any potential awkwardness. Parking the car I turned to face her.
“What?” She cocked her head to the side.
“That laughing fit? Totally unacceptable. You should be worried.”
And with that I got out of the car, closing the door while she yelled my name. I walked around to her side and helped her out.
When she got out we made our way to the front door.
“What do you mean I should be worried?” She was chewing on her bottom lip. Holy shit that was turning me on. Simmer down boy. Let’s not give her Dad more ammo to fire at me.
“We’ll talk about it later.” I kissed the tip of her nose, and used my thumb to pull her lip out of her teeth.
We made our way inside and Em called out to her parents.
We found them standing in the kitchen talking. Emilyn’s Mom came and greeted her with a hug, and then her Dad did the same, kissing her cheek, when they pulled away and saw me still standing in the doorway.
“Finley Morgan, how are you honey?” Tessa came over to me with open arms. This was so not the greeting I had expected. She gave me a tight hug and pulled back to give me a once over. “Oh my word, have you gotten bigger since the last time I saw you? In fact, I think you’re even cuter now too.”
“Mom!”
I chuckled. “It’s fine Em. Thanks for the compliment.” She was still holding on to my arms. “Yes Tessa, I hit another growth spurt just after high school. I didn’t realize boys kept growing for another few years. Pretty certain I’m done now though.”
Looking down at Tessa it was like seeing what Em would look like in twenty years. She was a very beautiful woman. Richard cleared his throat.
“Finn, it’s nice to see you son. I hear you’ve been doing well.” He reached his hand out for me to shake.
I gladly took it, and let the warmth of his greeting wash over me. I hadn’t heard him call me son in ages. Now that I was hearing it again, I realized that I’d actually missed it. Just like Kyler’s Dad, Richard was a man that I looked up to and respected. After my Father died, he had stepped in and made me feel like I was a part of this family and started calling me ‘son’. Not wanting to get emotional, I greeted Richard with a hello.
“Nice to see you too Richard. Business has been doing well.”
“I’ve heard some of your songs on the radio. I’ve got to say, it’s kind of neat that I know that you wrote them.” Richard complimented me.
“Oh yes, and I’ve even caught him singing along to them in the car.” Tessa said grinning at her husband.
“Can it Tessa. The boy doesn’t need to know all of my secrets.” They smiled at each other in a loving way.
Em laughed and looked up at me with her radiant smile. The conversation between the three of them continued until the doorbell rang.
Emilyn went to answer it, while I stayed in the kitchen and offered to help Tessa with setting the table. She handed me some plates and I made my way in to the dining room table. I walked back into the kitchen to be greeted by a very annoyed looking Harper swiftly followed by Kyler—a shit eating grin plastered all over his face. Tessa clapped her hands excitedly.
“Oh my, it’s my lucky day! Another handsome boy to sit at my table. Kyler honey, how are you?” She gave him the same hug she gave me.
“Hi Mrs. Tucker, how are you?” Kyler actually lifted her off the ground.
Emilyn covered her face with embarrassment.
Harper walked over to kiss Richard on the cheek.
“Hey Dad, dinner smells good.” She leaned in to whisper in his ear, but what she said was loud enough for all of us to hear. “You going to let that asshat manhandle your wife like that?”
He chuckled. “Eh, let her have some attention from a younger man. Does her good sometimes.”
Harper grinned at him and he gave her a look of a loving father.
Ky walked over to the stove and picked at the ribs, before licking his fingers. “Mmm… this tastes amazing Mrs. T.”
“Ky man, would you get your fingers out of the food?” I shook my head at him.
“What?” he said innocently. Harper rolled her eyes.
“Why don’t you kids go sit down and Richard and I will bring the food through in just a second.” Tessa said.
We walked into the dining room. I pulled the chair out for Em and took the seat next to her while Kyler and Harper went to the other side. Ky sat down leaving Harper still standing.
She grabbed her chair and pulled it out for herself. “Rude.” She said under her breath, flopping down in her seat. Ky didn’t even notice.
“Hey, Shorty?” Ky leaned across the table toward Em.
“What?” She said.
The look on his face said he was about to say something genius. “Did you ever realize what other meaning your Dad’s name has?”
She looked at him confused. Oh shit, he was so not going there. Okay, he actually was.
“What’s another name for Richard?”
“Jesus.” Harper said.
“What are you getting at Ky.” Em still wasn’t catching on.
“Dick. Dick is short for Richard. So did you know that your Dad’s name is also Dick Tucker?” His shoulders started shaking from laughing so hard.
Being male I couldn’t help myself… I may have laughed silently as well.
“Ow!” Ky yelled from across the table. He was rubbing the back of his head where Harper had slapped him.
“Now that’s funny!” She laughed.
We were all laughing at Ky as Em’s parents came into the room. Dinner went fairly smoothly after that. Harper got a few more digs in at Ky, and Em shared her news about the ultrasound. The girls all gushed and asked questions. Richard sat back beaming at his daughter, clearly happy and excited to be a grandpa.
“Oh my god, my baby is giving me a grandbaby.” Tears filled Tessa's eyes. “Richard, our baby is having a baby.”
“Baby’s having babies.” Harper teased while laughing.
“Better catch up woman! I’m no baby. I’m the same age as you and you’re not getting any younger.” Em poked at her.
Harper rolled her eyes, but looked over at Ky. He was devouring his ribs, effectively ignoring the conversation. Harper’s look wasn’t lost on me though. Em caught it as well.
The rest of the dinner went well. Kyler wised up and kept any smart ass comments to himself, Harper joked with Em’s Dad, Tessa couldn’t keep her hands off Em’s belly, and my stomach was puffed out and stuffed.
As we were all getting up from the table to start clearing our plates, my cell phone started ringing. The Black Eyed Peas were singing ‘My Humps’. What the fuck? Looking over at Ky, I could see he was almost on the floor laughing. Emilyn’s parents stopped what they were doing and looked at me questioningly. Yeah… a song about my lovely lady lumps wasn’t embarrassing me at all!
Pulling my phone out of my pocket I asked Ky, “How in the hell did you get a hold of my phone again?”
“Oh wise one, I will never tell you of my secrets. I’m stealth… like a ninja.” And with that, he continued to laugh.
Jesus Christ I was going to have to put a password on my phone. Looking down at the screen I saw Val’s name. Shit! I cleared the called and hoped Em hadn’t seen who it was calling me. She looked over as I put my phone back in my pocket.