Page 45 of Restless Ink

“Let’s get you inside with the rest of the crew,” her mom said after a moment, her gaze darting between Dimitri and Thea. “We have wine open and beer in the smaller fridge.”

“Sounds good to me,” Dimitri said with a grin before blowing a raspberry on Julia’s cheek.

Yep, there went her last ovary. Boom. Just like that.

Her mom led the way, Abby following while looking over her shoulder to check on Julia. She’d tried to take her daughter back from Dimitri, but the little girl clung to his neck, and Dimitri waved her off. Thea didn’t blame Julia one bit as she clung to him as well, and when Dimitri met her eyes, she had a feeling he knew exactly what she was thinking.

Thea soon found herself with a glass of wine in hand, trying to follow Dmitri’s progress throughout the room. Ryan stood next to her, snorting over his beer every time Dimitri was pulled into another Montgomery embrace. Thea had wanted to be by his side, but her mother had nixed that idea without a word. Apparently, Dimitri was going to the belly of the beast unaided.

“I need to save him,” she whispered under her breath.

“He’s fine,” Ryan said on a laugh. “Isn’t this how the meeting of the parents usually goes?”

Thea glared at him. “First, Dimitri has met everyone in this room before. Secondly, it’s not usually like a procession where I’m pushed away from helping.”

Ryan just shrugged before taking a sip of his beer. “That was the old Dimitri. This is the new one. Go save him.”

“He doesn’t need to be saved.” She bit her lip. “I don’t think. But maybe I should go just in case.”

“I would. Montgomerys are territorial. Or so I hear.”

She raised her brow. “Date a Montgomery in the past I don’t know about?”

“Uh, no, but I work with two, so I see how you guys are. Not that I have a problem with that since you have each other’s backs. Now, go save your boy.”

Thea rolled her eyes but went to Dimitri’s side anyway. Somehow, she slid between him and her mother, wiggling under his arm so she could be by his side and save him from more interrogations.

Her mom just laughed, shaking her head. “We weren’t going to eat him alive, Thea.”

Her dad let out a rough chuckle. “That comes after dinner. You know our schedule.”

“I seem to remember a dressing down when they thought Adrienne wasn’t watching,” Mace added when he walked up to them, Adrienne by his side.

“And I was totally watching, but I figured he deserved it since he’d annoyed me that morning.”

Thea snorted, and Dimitri put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a quick squeeze.

“When do the pliers and duct tape come out?” Shep asked, grinning. His wife Shea elbowed him in the gut, and he winced. “What was that for?”

“Your parents were nothing but nice to me when I first met them. I mean, really, I was just some girl from New Orleans with RBF, aka resting bitch face. I’m surprised I was even allowed to take the name Montgomery.” Shea grinned as she said it, and her husband leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose.

“You’ve classed up the Montgomerys, babe.”

“I’d take offense to that, but it’s true,” Roxie added dryly. Carter stood behind her, not touching her but close enough that Thea figured he wanted to reach out and hold his wife. Only they were both so stiff that Thea thought maybe she was just projecting.

Thea liked Carter, she really did, but as the days went by, he and her sister didn’t look happy, and that made Thea want to cry for them. She wished Roxie would just talk to her, damn it. Talk to any of them. But no matter how hard they tried, how much space they give her, Roxie never opened up.

Dimitri squeezed Thea again, and she looked up at him, hoping her emotions weren’t on her face. The others were talking about Shea’s move to Colorado with Shep and their daughter, but Dimitri’s eyes were on her.

She smiled, knowing that it didn’t reach her eyes, but she tried to push down her worry. She might be the second to youngest and still close in age to both of her sisters, but she always looked out for her baby sister.

And she’d never felt so helpless.

“And then there was that time with the cupcakes,” Shep was saying.

“I know how to bake,” Shea complained. “I had pregnancy brain. Being pregnant with all those hormones during tax time did not lead to good baking. I mean, who knew I’d mix up salt and sugar. It could happen to anyone.”

Thea grinned. “I’ve done that once.”