Daredevil

The Regulators were on the road back home. It had been an intense few days but good ones. After the major objection from Moose accepting me marrying Shain, we spent as much time with him and the others as we could to show what we were like together. The following day after they arrived, we took him to see where we planned to have the house built.

It would be next to Torpedo and Londyn's house, which was finished a couple of months ago. Boomer and Bella's on the second row of houses was on the very last minor details and should be done any day now. Across the street was Rampage and Ember's house. Shain teased me about staying close to my girlfriend. I got a good laugh out of it. I wasn't worried about Morgan's crush anymore. She had a new object of her affection, and his name was Moose. Rampage was thankful he lived ten hours away. When they left, she made sure to tell her new man to come back soon. I swear the hulking man blushed.

With them gone, Shain and I were spending the day together and she swore by the end of it, we'd have our house plan picked out so we could talk to the construction crew about our design. We were sitting at my kitchen table with my laptop open and each of us had a piece of paper to note our favorites and where they were to be found.

The hours flew by. We argued about this and that but nothing too major. We had definite ideas on what was essential to our home. Several coincided, others didn't. It took us until early afternoon to hash them all out. In the end, we were down to two plans we both loved. We were trying to decide between them. I was studying them when an idea came to me.

I'd gone to Phantom's office in the clubhouse and had him print off a couple of copies of both designs. Picking up my pencil, I began to make notes and draw. She watched me closely. I saw her eyes light up when she figured out what I was doing.

"That's it! Oh, I love it, Rome. Do you think they can do it?" she asked eagerly.

"I don't see why not. If we need to get an architect to draw it up, we'll do it. This is the one I want." Before us were the parts of the two houses we loved merged into one. She bounced excitedly in her chair and gave me a kiss. When she was done, I dropped my next subject on her.

"Now that we've got the house settled, we can share it later when everyone gets home from work. On to the next topic, let's talk about our wedding," I told her.

"Rome, we've decided not even a minute ago on the house, and now you want to plan our wedding? What about relaxing? There's time."

"We'll relax, if you give me an hour to talk about the wedding, I'll make you so relaxed you'll be lucky to be able to get out of bed to go to work tomorrow. Remember, you promised me you'd marry me by May," I reminded her.

The increase in her breathing and the pulse I saw jumping in her neck told me she was all for the idea of making her relax. I loved exploring in bed with her. She was always so willing to try almost anything, and we ended up coming more powerful than we'd ever with anyone else.

"You're so sneaky with how you get me to agree. If I wasn't addicted to what you make me feel and to your body, you'd never get your way," she threatened.

"Yes, I would. I'd just have to find another way."

We spent the requested hour and came up with several things. She promised to update our wedding planner with the details. When she caught me smiling at her, she got suspicious.

"What's that look for? You're up to something, Rome Torres. You'd better tell me."

"Well, there is something. Really, there are two of them, but I'll save the other. What time is it?"

She looked at the clock on the microwave. "It's five minutes till two, why?"

"Good. Let me get this set up, and then I'll explain."

I shifted the laptop and found the program I wanted. As I brought it up, she gasped. "Rome, who're you getting ready to chat with?"

"My family. Mom, Dad, and the others have been hounding me about when they'll get to meet you. They can't come to Texas right now, so this is the next best thing."

She let out an ear-shattering shriek. "Now! Look at me! I'm a mess. I have no makeup on, I'm in a t-shirt and yoga pants, and my hair is barely brushed. I can't let your family see me like this."

She tried to run, but I grabbed her and hauled her onto my lap. She was trying to get away when the video chat connected. She froze. Did I feel bad about springing this on her? Maybe, and I knew she'd make me pay later, but I'd been talking to her about us doing it, and she kept putting it off. I had no idea what she was worried about other than they wouldn't like her. I assured her several times already they'd love her.

She hissed out of the side of her mouth. "I'm killing you later, mister. Be prepared."

I pinched her rib to let her know I heard her. She jumped.

"Hi, Dad, Mom, I see you brought the rest of the rabble. I guess that's good as long as they behave." I paused. My sister stuck out her tongue, and my brothers all gave me the finger as they leered. "Everyone, this is my Shain. She's mad at me right now, so this might be the last time you see me. I didn't tell her about this call until a minute before you got on," I confessed. My mom and sister gasped. The guys just appeared puzzled.

"Rome, we've raised you better than this. Shame on you. I don't blame the poor girl. Smack the crap out of him, dear. Keep him in line. Let's start this out right. Hello, honey, I'm Evita, and this is Salvador or Sal. We're Rome's parents. The rest can introduce themselves. We're so happy to meet you, and you look beautiful," Mom told her with a smile. Even after all the years with Dad, she still had a slight Cajun twang to her voice.

She smiled at Mom as she said, "Hello, Evita, Sal, and progeny. Although this is a shock, it is wonderful to meet you. Daredevil talks about you all the time. I feel like I partially know you already." This made them all smile, and it prompted the others to introduce themselves.

"I'm Diego. I'm the next eldest, and just so you know, I'm better than Daredevil at everything," my childhood and adulthood rival said as he winked at her.

"In his dreams," I muttered. It might be time to teach him another lesson.

"I'm Marco, and I'm third in line. Mom's right. You are beautiful." He smiled at her.

"I'm Lorenzo or Renzo. I was the baby and favorite until this pain came along," he told her as he elbowed our baby sister. She responded in her typical fashion and smacked him on the back of the head. Mom rolled her eyes, and Dad merely grinned.

"Hello, Shain. I'm Micaela, and I'm the favorite. Mom and Dad had to keep trying to get it right, so these four rejects exist. I have a question. I need to know how my big brother bamboozled you into being with him. I understand you're his old lady now. I'd smack him for saddling me with that title," she snorted.

"Hey, it's not an insult. I keep telling you that being called an old lady is a good thing. Be good. And she's more than my old lady," I announced smugly. I'd been saving this for the past few days, and it had been killing me.

"Yeah, yeah." Micaela waved me off.

"What do you mean she's not just your old lady?" Leave it to Mom to pounce on that. She had a hopeful look.

I took Shain's left hand and held it up so they could see her ring. Mom's scream made all of us laugh. Shain jumped a bit. My brothers were begging her not to do it and to give them a chance. Dad was smiling and giving me a proud look. Micaela smiled and congratulated us. She told Shain she could call her any time for tips on how to handle me. Christ, they were crazy, but I did love them. It took a while to settle everyone down so we could be heard and talk sensibly.

"When are you getting married? I can help with the planning," Mom volunteered immediately. I knew this was the beginning of one of her dreams: having a child married. Once we were, she'd be after us to give her a grandchild. I hoped Shain was ready for it.

"First, thank you so much for this warm welcome and Evita and Micaela for your offers. As for the wedding, your son has given me a deadline. It has to be no later than the end of May next year. Morgan is helping to plan it since she had to give him up." She went on to explain her Morgan remark with a smirk. She gladly told them about Morgan's challenge and subsequent release of me as her future husband. They all knew about how she kept declaring it to everyone, from me telling them. They always got a kick out of my stories about Morgan. It was no different this time.

"She's going to be a handful. Well, sweetie, let your wedding planner know she has workers who're agreeable to help her," Mom reiterated.

My sister was nodding in agreement. It made me happy to see them at ease with my woman. She was relaxing the more we talked. Once the ice was broken, we talked about everything, including how work was. My brothers were fascinated by her being a firefighter, and they had a ton of questions. Dad and Mom were excited about the house and wanted to see the plans once they were finalized. I knew Dad would, in particular, since he was in construction. In fact, he had his own company. If he didn't live in Florida, I'd have him build ours without hesitation. All of us boys had grown up being made to learn various aspects of building, plumbing, or electrical. Diego and Lorenzo both worked for Dad.

It was a good forty-five minutes before I wrapped up the call. They promised to talk again soon. Mom ordered me to give Shain her number as well as Micaela's. At least when they got off the video call, Shain was smiling. I steeled myself for her tirade over what I did. I was shocked when she launched herself at me. As the call progressed, she moved to the chair beside me. Her arms came around me, and she gave me a sexy kiss. When she stopped, I was speechless.

I totally expected her to smack me and make threats for doing it. What I got was the kiss and her, with tears threatening to spill over, as she babbled about how much she liked them and how lucky she was to have me and my family, both of them. When she said all that, I had no choice but to carry her off to our bedroom and make slow, soul-wrenching love to her. The announcement to the club about the house could wait.