Page 55 of Embraced in Ink
They might grill him, but he probably deserved that. After all, this was out of left field.
But in the end, he didn’t want to hurt his family, especially his mother, by going back on the promises they had made.
“Look at you, making out with your fiancée instead of coming inside.” His sister kissed him on the cheek and then smacked him on the arm.
“Did you bring what you were asked to?”
Marcus nodded and then went to the back seat of his car to get out the two bottles of wine and the cookies.
“Bristol and I made them ourselves.”
“You guys bake together?” Andie asked, clasping her hands in front of her. “How cute.”
“Are they edible?” Jennifer asked and ducked out of the way of Andie, trying to elbow her in the gut.
“Hey. I’m not making fun of you. I’m making fun of our baby brother. That’s always been allowed. Now that he actually has a woman that we all like and love doesn’t mean I can’t make fun of him still.”
“They are totally edible,” Bristol said, laughing. “And thank you for thinking that if they weren’t edible, it would be his fault instead of mine. Because we all know that he’s the one that knows how to cook and bake. I literally burned a pan trying to boil water once.”
“You were practicing and forgot to turn off the burner. It happens.”
“And you constantly read and listen to books while you cook, and you don’t boil shit over.”
“Look at you guys, fighting but not really fighting.” Andie danced from foot to foot. “You are so cute. Now, come on in because you know Mom and Dad are watching us from inside.”
Marcus looked over at the house, and indeed, his parents were waving from the window.
“Oh right, it’s damp out here. I bet your dad doesn’t want your mom out, just in case.”
Everybody looked at each other and smiled softly while Bristol winced. “I’m sorry.” He reached out and rubbed her lower back.
“No, we bring it up often. We worry about her to the point that we annoy her. That’s what makes us family. So, make sure you annoy her, too. Because you cannot be the favorite among us.”
“I thought Chris was the favorite,” Marcus said dryly, speaking of Andie’s husband.
“He is.” Andie sighed.
Jennifer rolled her eyes. “The husbands are in the house, mostly because we asked them not to come out so we could bug you.”
Vanessa added, “It took all of their willpower, and our clear restraint to make it happen. So, we need to go in. Let the grilling commence.”
“Be nice to Bristol,” Marcus said.
“Bristol’s safe. We love her, and we’re excited to see her part of the family. You on the other hand… You’re the one that we’re going to grill.”
With more ribbing, they made their way into the house, where his mother was already hugging Bristol tightly as his father took her bag and hung it on the hook by the door.
“You’re here,” his mother said and kissed him on the cheek. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight, inhaling the scent that reminded him of home and the woman who had always been with him no matter what.
When he had almost lost her, he’d thought he had nearly lost a piece of himself. Maybe he had lost part of himself along the way anyway.
But having her there, having her so fucking happy? He was finding his way back.
And as he looked over his mother’s head at Bristol, he figured that maybe he was finding more of his way with her.
It should scare him, but it didn’t. Bristol had always been there. Now that he was allowing himself to think about who she could be with him beyond what they always had, everything that he had hidden for so long was now bubbling up to the surface, ready to erupt.
It had only taken an accidental misunderstanding and a promise that some people would never comprehend for it to happen.