I went to the kitchen and started working as if I had been doing it forever. Cody began showing Natalie around. Mom came into the kitchen with me and wrapped her arms around my waist, pressing her head to my shoulder. “She’s good for you, Tanner.”
“Oh, yeah?” I asked, swallowing hard.
“I’m not going to pry too much,” Mom whispered, and I grinned over at her.
“Sure, Mom.”
“I promise. But you look good together. I know I don’t have any right to ask questions, but you seem like you’re stepping up and being a good man. I can’t believe I’m going to be a grandmother, and that my baby’s finishing college. You’re all grown up.”
I kissed the top of her head and grinned. “I’m trying. I don’t know what’s going on between Natalie and me. Other than we’re trying to be good parents. We’re even looking at houses,” I muttered, and Mom grinned.
“Truly growing up then. This is good. I’m so happy for you. We’ll talk more over dinner. And I promise I won’t pry or give Natalie the third degree. But I love her already.”
“You don’t even know her, Mom.”
“You love her, so why shouldn’t I?”
She moved over, and I swallowed hard. Apparently, my mother could tell that I loved Natalie just from a single look. Could everybody else tell? Maybe that was just Mom’s wishful thinking—or her superpower.
I didn’t know, but I pushed it out of my head for the moment as I set the ribs on the table, and Mom pulled out the side dishes.
Natalie walked back into the kitchen with Cody, a smile on her face. “I love your home, and the baby picture with Tanner in the baby pool with his little bare bottom up in the air was amazing.”
I groaned. “Mom, I thought you threw that away,” I grumbled and pulled Natalie’s chair back.
Mom waved me off. “Of course, I didn’t. I also made sure that the framed version of it was right in our living room.”
“Mom.” Heat rode high in my cheeks in the form of a blush, and Natalie just grinned at me.
“It’s a cute baby butt.”
“Mom never took photos of me like that,” Cody said.
Mom just shrugged. “I love how cute he is in that photo. There are others where he’s pulling on his penis, but there were many photos of him doing that. Little boys do that. Often.”
I sputtered.
Natalie’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Oh, yes. The first thing I can tell you about raising boys is that they love their penises. They love you, and then they love their penis.”
I groaned. “Please stop saying penis.”
“Yes, please stop saying penis, Mom,” Cody said with a laugh.
Natalie wiped tears from her eyes and shook her head. “Everything looks wonderful, Mrs. Hagen.”
“Call me Isabella. Please.”
“Okay, I can try. I’m not good at doing that, though.”
“It’s fine. When I talked to my mother-in-law, I always sputtered and felt like I didn’t know how to speak, even though I used to be good at it. I’m rambling now, though. So, apparently, I’ve lost some of my social skills.”
“You’re doing great, Mom.”
I grinned before ice filled my veins as I looked at the screen door when it slammed open. “Isabella, who the fuck is parked in front of the house?”
Natalie reached out and gripped my hand, and I immediately knew that tonight wouldn’t go well.
Mom stood, her hands balled into tight fists in front of her. “Jared, you’re home.”
“Of course, I’m fucking home. Nothing’s biting out there.” Jared walked in and glared at us sitting at the table. “You invited that boy over without even asking? I leave, and you think you have run of the house?”
I narrowed my eyes. “It’s my mother’s house. And she invited me, her son.”
“I wasn’t talking to you, asshole.”
“Tanner,” Natalie mumbled, and I shook my head. I needed to hold myself back. If I did something rash, I’d never be able to take it back.
“Jared, please. There’s enough food for everybody.”
“You didn’t even set me a seat? Fuck you.”
“You’re going to want to stop talking to my mother that way,” I said, standing up slowly. Natalie pushed her chair back, covering her stomach. “We were just trying to sit here and have a nice dinner.”
“I don’t fucking care.” He turned on my mother again. “You won’t cook ribs for me usually because you say it costs too much money. And then you do it for this loser? No. I’m the man of the house. He moved out.” He shot a finger in my direction. “Like he should have. Now, he’s coming back and trying to suck on your teet or whatever the fuck this is. No.”
My hands shook. “Watch what the hell you’re saying to and about my mother.”
Cody moved out of the room as if he were used to this yelling, and I knew right then and there that this needed to stop.
“You’re going to need to back off. You’re not on this lease. You’re not part of this family. All you’ve done is yell and treat my mother like shit.”
“You’d better get them out of my face, woman. You think you can come over here with this tramp who spread her legs for you, boy? I see that car out there. Some rich piece of shit. Some foreign job and not even American-made. I see you landed yourself a rich whore and got her pregnant. Good for you. But go make your own family, and get the fuck out of here.”
“Back. Off,” I growled, right in his face.
Jared was drunk. He smelled of whiskey, and I had to wonder how in the hell he had even driven here without crashing.
Natalie stepped behind me, her hand on my back. “Come on, Tanner. Let’s go home.”
“Look at that. She sure is sweet. Doesn’t look like your mom, but maybe she feels like her.” Natalie let out a squeak as Jared moved over and tried to slide his hand up her dress.
I didn’t even think. I took the man’s wrist, squeezed, and twisted. Jared let out a growl and punched out at me, but I was faster. I hit the man, once, twice, and then again. Jared was down, and then Natalie was tugging at me and crying.
“Jared? What the hell?” a deep voice said from the doorway. A couple of Jared’s fishing buddies came through the door, phones in hand.
“Back off him. What the hell are you doing?”
People were shouting, and I put myself in front of Natalie. Jared wiped the blood off his face and growled as one of his buddies called the cops. I shouldn’t have hit him. I should have left or done something else. Anything else. Now, I had to stand here and wait for the authorities to come because the other men blocked my exit.
What the fuck had I been thinking?
When the cops finally came, I didn’t resist. There was no need to. Jared’s friends told them what’d happened, leaving out the fact that Jared had driven home drunk and then had assaulted Natalie.
I left my pregnant girlfriend with my crying mother and pale-as-death brother at the house with a bleeding Jared. I could only see them marginally from the back of the cop car, my arms handcuffed behind me as I wondered where the hell I had gone wrong.