Page 46 of No Take Backs
Which is how I end up at my mother’s house, watching Nia and my entire family acting as though she’s always been there.
“I like her,” Mom says from behind me while I watch my brother Kyle and Nia battle it out over a game of Operation, which Nia is winning. “She’s full of spunk.”
“Yeah,” I tell her. “But she scares me. Terrifies me with her existence, and there’s nothing I can or want to do about it.”
“The good ones do.” Mom laughs. “Your father used to say the same thing about me, once upon a time.”
I laugh, unable to help it. “I think he still says that when you get mad at him or you take his credit card to go Christmas shopping with.”
She just scoffs. “That’s what he tells you, at least. Let me tell you, there hasn’t been once in the entire time we’ve been together that he’s ever complained to me. Really complained.”
My little sister Alex and my brother Drew are both watching Nia kick Kyle’s ass, and they are laughing and betting.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone who gets along with our entire family.” Mom smiles as she stands next to me, resting her head on my shoulder. “Definitely not Kyle’s ex-wife, that’s for sure.”
“We don’t talk about the crazy lady,” I whisper. “Kyle gets upset.”
“Why did you bring her over tonight?” Mom cuts right to the chase. “You swore you weren’t ever going to introduce us to one of your girlfriends. At least not until you decided she was the one.”
“She is,” I tell her simply, giving her the truth.
That has my mom stepping away, looking at me with wide eyes. “You just met her, though, from what Kyle tells me. Are you sure about her after such a short amount of time?”
With a sigh, I pull her by the arm out of the living room and into the kitchen, where we can have a conversation that no one will overhear.
“Is this going to be a problem?”
My mother looks at me like I’m crazy before pushing around me and marching back out of the kitchen.
“Nia.”
Nia, as well as my brothers, sister, and dad, all turn around and stare at us with expectant looks on their faces. My mother rarely raises her voice, and she never snaps someone’s name to demand their attention.
“Because my loving son here thinks that I am judging your relationship because of how long you’ve been together, I thought I’d address it clearly and without any hidden or secret conversation.” Her words hang in the air, and I feel a surge of panic. This is exactly what I was afraid of. I wince, instinctively wanting to scoop Nia up into my arms and make a run for it before things get any more awkward. But I know there’s no escaping this now.
Mom’s got that determined look in her eye, the one that means she’s going to say her piece no matter what. And all I can do is stand here and hope that whatever she’s about to say won’t send Nia running for the hills.
My mother has never been one to mince words, and I’m genuinely worried that she is about to tell me I’m rushing into something before I’ve even told Nia how I feel.
“I have absolutely no problem with the fact that you two are together,” Mom says, her voice firm and decisive, cutting through the tension like a knife. She looks directly at Nia, her gaze unwavering, before turning her eyes on me with a pointed stare that makes it clear this isn’t just about Nia. It’s about reassuring me, too. “Josh is worried about it, so I thought I’d tell you in front of him. That way, there’s no misunderstanding, no second-guessing. You two are good together, and I’m happy for you. And that’s the truth.” Her words hang in the air, and I can feel a weight lifting off my shoulders, the anxiety that’s been gnawing at me slowly dissipating.
Nia laughs. "You know, for a big burly firefighter, he's pretty insecure about making sure that you like me." She glances over at me, a playful glint in her eyes that makes my heart skip a beat. There’s something in the way she’s handling this, the way she’s taking my mom’s straightforward approach in stride, that makes me fall for her even more. She’s not just enduring my family, she’s embracing them with their quirks and all, and somehow making it all look effortless.
Everyone else joins in on the ribbing too, but I can't do anything but stare at the woman who's captivated me from the beginning.
“You’re absolutely crazy, you know that, right?” Nia says softly as the night winds down, and we find ourselves sitting together on my parents’ back porch. The cool evening air wraps its arms around us, and I pull her closer, savoring the feeling of her body pressed against mine with no space between us. Drew and Alex are busy starting a fire for s’mores, their laughter drifting over to us from where they’re huddled around the flames, arguing about the best way to roast a marshmallow. It’s one of those rare perfect moments, the kind that makes you wish time would slow down so you could savor every second of it. “I don’t think I’d know what to do if your mom didn’t like me, though,” Nia continues, her voice laced with both relief and amusement.
“Until I thought she was about to tell me that she didn’t like you, I thought the same thing,” I whisper against the side of her head, my lips brushing her hair as I speak. There’s something so intimate, so grounding, about this moment, with the stars twinkling above us and the soft crackle of the fire in the background. “But there was this second,” I continue, my voice low and steady, “while I was watching her say your name, and the panic that I felt… it wasn’t about what I’d do if she didn’t like you. It was about the fact that I’d have to cut ties with my family, because if they didn’t accept you, it would be their problem, not ours. Because you’re not going anywhere, Nia. I need you more than I need anything else in my life. I like having you in bed with me every night, waking up next to you and seeing your smile first thing in the morning. The thought of losing you, of not having you in my life… it’s worse and more heartbreaking than anything else I can imagine.”
"Samesies." Nia smiles up at me. "And thank you for not freaking out or losing your shit about me helping Eddie. He needed it."
"One day, you're going to have to tell me what happened there." I keep my voice down and as neutral as possible. "Not because I'm jealous. I'm not. But because I want to understand you and what makes you tick. Obviously, there was something there because you were together, and it ended. But that was P.J.”
“P.J.?” she echoes, her brow furrowing in confusion as she pulls out of my arms slightly. She looks up at me, trying to figure out what I mean, but before she can ask, Drew appears out of nowhere, holding out a perfectly toasted s’more with a triumphant grin on his face. Nia’s eyes light up, and she reaches for the treat, laughing as she does. “P.J.,” she repeats, glancing back at me as she takes a bite of the s’more, her expression a mix of curiosity and amusement. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
"Yeah." I laugh. "Pre-Josh."
Nia snorts around the chocolate and graham cracker that are sticking half in and half out of her mouth. The melted marshmallow coats her lips, and it is right about then that I decide we have to leave so that I can get her naked and paint her lips with my dick.