24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

MILO

I should be sleeping in since I'm not scheduled to work this morning, but I jolt awake at the crack of dawn, worrying about Cy and the babies. We stopped at the pet store on the way home last night to get the essentials: food, litter, scratching post, and of course, dozens of toys shaped like birds and mice. But what if Cy was too scared in a new place to eat or drink? What if the kittens got cold during the night and need to be snuggled? What if—

"They're fine," Piston says in a sleep-rough voice, throwing an arm around me and tugging me closer before I can get out of bed.

"Not all cats are good moms," I point out.

"Not all humans are either." He nuzzles my neck, and I melt into him a little more. The bed is nice and warm, and it is very, very early. "But I've been up every few hours all night making sure she's keeping them warm like she needs to. I watched her eat and drink a few hours ago and then go right back to the kittens."

I smile and wiggle in his grip so I can roll over to face him. His eyes are only half-open and he has bags under them, confirming his story about the lack of sleep he got. I smooth my thumb along one of his swollen under eyes and brush a kiss against his lips.

He got up to check on the kittens and let me sleep. Is there a more precious man in the entire world? If I weren't already head over heels for him, this would be the moment. But there have already been a million smaller moments, thoughtful little things that added up one by one. The way he's just accepted all of my little quirks from day one, the way he pours my coffee every single morning, even when he's already in the middle of drinking his own cup, the way he's always worrying about me getting cold… I've never had anyone think about me as much as he does. It makes me feel so… important.

It's not just what he does for me either. He's just such a good person, through and through. Everything he does is for everyone else. In a twisted way, I love that I'm his exception, his guilty pleasure, the one thing he's wanted selfishly in his whole life.

I love him.

As soon as the words enter my mind, I can't shake them.

I love him.

I love him .

I love him.

I feel like a crate of dynamite with a lit fuse. I feel like a hive of bees buzzing, buzzing, buzzing. I want to blurt it out, tell him that he's it for me, but I swallow it down. He won't be able to let himself be fully happy with our relationship until we tell my dad. I don't want the first time I tell him I love him to be tainted by his guilt.

"You're not going to stay in bed, are you?"

Stay in bed? Is he insane? I'm made of firecrackers. My blood is jet fuel. I'm in love and I can't just lie here, I need to scream and dance and tell the whole damn world.

Fuck, it's hard not to say it.

I laugh and kiss his nose.

"I need coffee."

He sighs, but there's no bite to it, no frustration, just resignation and a little bit of affection.

"You check Cy and the babies, and I'll make coffee," he says.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." I pepper a few more enthusiastic kisses over his face and then leap out of bed. It's chilly in the house, so I pause long enough to yank open his top dresser drawer and help myself to a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants.

His rumbling laughter behind me warms me up from the inside.

I love him .

I take my time checking on the cats. Cy is still extremely suspicious of me, in spite of the bond we clearly formed last night, but at least she tolerates me picking up each of the kittens for a few seconds. When the second kitten— I really do need to come up with names for them —lets out a high-pitched, squeaky meow, Cy immediately grabs it by the scruff and tugs it out of my hand with a glare in my direction.

"Okay, sorry. I just need to make sure they're happy and healthy."

I really should call the vet to make an appointment before I forget. I top off Cy's food bowl then go in search of my phone. The smell of coffee wafting through the house makes my mouth water, and I smile a few minutes later when the delicious scent of bacon joins it. Meanwhile, I shuffle around the house looking for my phone, checking all the logical places, like the pockets of the pants I wore last night and my jacket, plus the not-as-logical places like the laundry room and the bathroom. Finally, I go into the kitchen.

"Have you seen my phone?" I start opening cabinets in search of it.

Piston reaches into his pocket and pulls it out, holding it out for me. "It was in the refrigerator."

I snort. "That was going to be the next place I looked." I unlock it, trying to remember why I was looking for it in the first place. Did I want to call my mom? A text notification distracts me before I can figure it out.

HERO: Hey, I know this is last minute, but how would you feel about coming to dinner at my parents' place? You can meet your aunts and grandparents… no pressure.

My stomach dances with nerves and excitement.

"Everything okay?" Piston asks.

I chew on my thumbnail and nod, still staring at the text.

"Yeah, my dad wants to take me to dinner with his family… My family."

He moves the pan off the burner and turns fully around to face me.

"That's huge. How do you feel about it?"

How do I feel? Scattered. Jittery. Overwhelmed. Excited.

"Good," I say, because it's easier than word vomiting about the millions of things running through my head. "Maybe I should tell him today… about us, I mean."

Piston pulls me into his arms, and I happily melt into him a second time. We might be the same height, but he feels so much bigger and stronger than I am. He feels sturdy and safe.

I love him .

He rubs his hand slowly up and down my spine, and I take a few slow breaths, trying to calm my racing thoughts and pounding heart.

"If it comes up naturally and you really want to tell him, you have my blessing, but don't focus on that today. We'll tell him. Today, just focus on what's important—meeting more of your family. Okay?"

I take another deep breath and nod. "Do you think they'll like me?"

"Baby, anyone who doesn't like you is an idiot."

I muffle a laugh against his shoulder and squeeze him tighter.

I love him .

Eventually he lets go of me and we have coffee and breakfast together. I text Hero back to tell him I'd love to come to dinner, and then I spend the next five hours pacing around the house, no doubt driving Piston to the brink of insanity while I wait for Hero to come pick me up.

When he pulls up in his truck I'm already waiting on the porch, wearing my jacket and bouncing impatiently on my toes. He waves at me through the windshield, and I trot down the driveway to get in. The cab is nice and warm already and there's rock music playing loudly through the speakers. He reaches over to turn it down a few notches and smiles at me.

"So, just a heads-up, I haven't told them about you yet," he says as he pulls out of the driveway.

"Oh great. This is going to be a mess, isn't it?" I laugh.

"Nah, it'll be fine. They'll be thrilled to meet you, I promise. I just couldn't quite find the right words. Every time I tried, I got all tongue tied and nervous about it. Then I figured it would be a hell of a lot easier to just bring you by."

Maybe I should be annoyed at him, but since I'm keeping a secret from him , I figure he's due one freebie.

"It'll be fine,"I say.

It's warm enough inside the truck that I take off my jacket and set it on the bench seat between us.

"Tell me about them?" I say, chewing on the nubs of my fingernails. I already chewed all the polish off over the course of the morning, and the skin around my nail beds is starting to sting, but I'm too nervous to stop now.

"They're great," he says fondly. "Mom was an English teacher, but she's retired now, and Dad was career military. He was disappointed that I only did one tour and didn't re-enlist, but luckily my youngest sister Blaire was more than happy to carry that torch instead of me."

"How many sisters do you have?" I've never had aunts before, no uncles either. My mom is an only child, so I'm not sure what to expect.

"Three. All of them are younger. Blaire is thirty-five, but she won't be there. Like I said, she's career Army and she's stationed in Hawaii for a few more years. Valerie is thirty-seven. She's sweet and too damn trusting, gets herself into a lot of bad situations, but I love the hell out of her anyway." I can hear the fierce protectiveness in his voice, and it makes me strangely proud that he's my dad, like that goodness must be in my genes. "And then there's Hellen. She's forty-four, only a couple of years younger than me. She's a ball buster. She's the only one of us who had kids… Well, I guess that's not true." He chuckles and looks over at me. "But up until now, she was the only one. She and her wife had triplets through IVF five years ago. They're three little tornadoes, but I think you'll like them."

I soak up everything he tells me about them as we drive, and I can't help but wonder what it would have been like to grow up with so much extended family.

Before long, we pull up to a white house in a quiet neighborhood. I smile at the rainbow flag hanging right alongside the American flag on the flagpole jutting out next to the garage door. Hero puts a hand between my shoulders as we head up to the front door. The gesture is comforting, like he has my back if they don't like me.

Fuck, I hope they like me.

He doesn't bother to knock when we reach the door, he just turns the knob and pushes it open. The smell of apples and cinnamon hits me as soon as we step inside. It's warm and homey, with family photos hung on the walls and friendly chatter coming from the kitchen.

"Is that you, Kaid?" an older woman's voice calls.

Hero chuckles as he slips off his shoes and lines them up neatly on the rug next to the door. I do the same.

"No, Ma, it's a burglar in the middle of the day," he says dryly.

"Well, wouldn't I feel silly if it was and I didn't even ask?"

I snort a laugh and follow him down the hallway, a step behind him so I can duck behind his broad frame if I feel the overwhelming need to hide.

In the kitchen, an older man and two younger women—I'm assuming his dad and two sisters—are sitting causally at the kitchen table playing Scrabble while an older woman I'm guessing is his mom checks something in the oven. Two little boys and a girl are sitting on the floor with crayons and papers scattered around them, and there's a pie cooling on the counter. It's all so idyllic that my throat tightens and my eyes burn.

Hero stops just inside the kitchen and clears his throat.

"I brought someone over I want to introduce you all to," he says.

His sisters and dad look up from their game and his mom spins around, already wearing a bright smile as her eyes seek me out.

"It's about time," one of his sisters says, and the other nods in agreement.

Hero frowns. "About time for what?"

"Oh, ignore Valerie, you know she doesn't mean anything by it. It's just nice that you're finally serious enough about someone to bring them home to meet us. You haven't done that in ten years."

I sputter a laugh, and he looks horrified.

"No, that's not…"

In their defense, it's a lot less of a stretch that I would be his boyfriend than his son he never knew about.

"It's nice to meet you. How long have you and Kaiden been seeing each other?" His mom nudges him out of the way to greet me.

"Actually…" I dart a look over at him then let out a quick breath and just dive right in. "I'm not Kaiden's boyfriend, I'm his son."

Instant silence. Even the kids stop chattering and look over at us. His mom—my grandma—goes from a polite, welcoming smile to startled to confused, all in the blink of an eye.

"I'm sorry?" She looks at her son for clarification.

"Ho-ly shit." Valerie cackles with delight.

"I'm sorry, did you say his son ?" Hellen stands up from the table with both eyebrows at her hairline.

"I thought you were gay." His dad sounds so baffled I can't stop the loud bark of laughter that bursts from my throat.

Hero rolls his eyes good-naturedly and throws an arm around my shoulders.

"I am gay. But when a confused eighteen-year-old boy and a pretty eighteen-year-old girl share a couple of beers and like each other enough, sometimes—"

His mom swats at him playfully to stop him.

"Oh, hush. We don't need to hear the details."

He smirks and shrugs.

"It was a shock to me too, but Milo's here now and I'm hoping you'll all welcome him."

"Of course we will," she says indignantly, like she can't believe he would even question her. Then she pulls me in for the biggest hug I've ever had in my life, strangling the life out of me and nearly cracking two ribs in the process before she hands me over to the rest of the family to do the same.

I accept the barrage of hugs in a stupor, along with hair ruffling and questions thrown at me from all directions. Where did I grow up? How long have I known about Kaiden? What's my mom like? Where do I live now?

"Guys, guys, let him breathe." Hero pulls me back out of the fray protectively and I give him a grateful smile.

"Sorry, this is just so exciting," his mom says. "Come, sit down, I want to know everything about you."

PISTON

It's starting to get late by the time I hear the rumble of Hero's truck pulling back into the driveway to drop Milo off. It took most of the day, but I managed to coax Cy into my lap. As soon as the front door swings open though, she hisses and makes a mad dash back to her babies.

"Oops. Sorry, Cy," Milo says with an apologetic smile.

I shouldn't be surprised that his coat is mysteriously missing. His cheeks are rosy and his eyes are bright with excitement.

"How did it go?"

He kicks off his shoes and prances across the room. Instead of sitting down next to me on the couch, he climbs into my lap, straddling my thighs, his arms looped around my neck.

"It was so great. They were so nice and welcoming. My new grandma makes the best pies, and she said she'd teach me at Christmas. I'm invited for Christmas . I mean, I haven't figured out my plan with my mom and my other grandparents yet, but still." He's all bouncy and wiggly, and it's the cutest fucking thing I've ever seen. It's impossible to stop myself from cutting off his excited rambling with a kiss. He laughs into my mouth then hums happily, parting his lips and kissing me back.

"I didn't tell Hero though," he confesses. "About us, I mean."

I rake my fingers through his hair and bump my nose against his.

"That's fine. I told you it wasn't a priority today. I'll take him out for a drink tomorrow and tell him."

Milo nods and kisses me again. Big, warm, dizzying feelings swell inside of me. The slow, steady rhythm of our lips feels like home. It feels like forever. It feels like all the things I stopped bothering to want years ago because I didn't think I'd ever find them. His teeth scrape my lips a few times because he can't seem to stop smiling, and all I want to do is drown myself in his sunshine.

"Milo," I rasp his name. "I lo—"

The sound of the door swinging open and boots clomping interrupts my words before I can get them out.

"You forgot your co—"

"Shit." Milo cringes and, yeah, shit pretty much covers it.

My heart is in my throat as I gently move Milo off my lap. Hero is standing there in the open doorway, holding Milo's jacket with a stunned look on his face like he's just been sucker punched.

Shit, shit, shit .

This isn't how he was supposed to find out. This isn't how this was supposed to go at all. I need to say something. An apology, an explanation, anything . Hero stares at me and I stare right back at him, my pulse thundering so loudly in my ears that I can't hear anything else.

"Sorry," he says gruffly. He drops the jacket, then turns on his heel and leaves.

The door swings closed behind him and I'm still too stunned to move by the time I hear his truck pulling away.

"Should we go after him?" Milo asks, scrambling off the couch and dragging his hands through his hair as he starts to pace.

"No. Let's give him the night to cool off and process what he just saw. We'll talk to him tomorrow."

He nods, and then a laugh bubbles up from his throat.

"At least we weren't naked?"

"Silver linings," I agree blandly.