“Have a great weekend, Cheryl,” I say to her, and she walks out with her signature wiggling fingers in the air.
I close the computer and make my way back to the apartment. The phone rings right when I turn on the street, and I press accept on the Bluetooth. “Sweetheart.”
“Hey,” I say, the smile filling my face without me even knowing.
“Where are you?” he asks.
“Two minutes from your place,” I say.
“Okay, I’ll be there soon,” he says. “See you soon, sweetheart.”
I pull into the parking spot and then walk to the elevator. I’m about to press the button when I see his car coming into view. I stand here smiling, walking back to his parking space. He gets out, and his eyes fly to mine, the smirk going to a full smile. I look at the back, expecting Dylan to come out, but it’s not Dylan. It’s a man who looks exactly like Justin, and just like that, I feel like I’m going to vomit.
He looks at me and smiles, and then the door opens again from the front seat and another guy gets out, and he’s just as tall as Justin with more muscle. Then I hear Dylan. “Mom, Mom!” He calls my name when he comes out of the car and runs over to me. “Guess what I did?”
I look down at my son radiating with happiness. His eyes are light and bright, his face with a light tan from spending so much time in the pool. “I beat Evan.”
“Did you?” I ask, and he nods his head and looks over his shoulder at Justin. “Tell her.”
“He did,” he says as he comes to me, leaning down and kissing me on the lips. Then he stands next to me and puts his arm around my shoulder. “Sweetheart,” he says. “I’d like you to meet my dad, Cooper, and my brother, Matthew.”
I don’t know how to greet them. Should I put my hand out to shake theirs or should I just nod and smile and wave? How does one greet the father of the man she’s fallen in love with? “It’s very nice to meet you,” his father says, coming to me and giving me a hug. “You’ve got yourself an amazing young man,” he says, and I have no words as he steps back and gives Matthew a chance to greet me.
“Great to finally meet you,” Matthew says, coming in and giving me the same greeting as his father.
“Let’s get upstairs,” Justin says and grabs my hand, walking to the elevator.
“Can we go to the pool when everyone gets here?” Dylan asks. I look over at Justin, wondering who the fuck is everyone.
“Sure,” Matthew says, looking down at his phone. “They just loaded up the cars and will be here in ten minutes,” he says, looking up.
“I’ll make sure I get food delivered,” Justin says, taking out his phone. When the elevator doors open, we all get in.
Matthew and Justin are talking about what to order, and Cooper is talking to Dylan, and I’m trying to become as invisible as I can. When the elevator doors open, the boys walk out, and Justin slowly slides his fingers in mine. He leans over and whispers, “Relax.” Dylan grabs the keys from Justin and opens the door for everyone.
“Are they almost here?” Dylan asks, and Matthew looks at his phone.
“Actually, they are parking right now,” Matthew says, and I look over at Justin.
“Excuse me,” I say to them and walk toward the bedrooms. I’m even shy to walk into Justin’s room, knowing that his father knows where his room is. I’m in front of the bed when I feel him behind me. His arms going around my waist to stop me from walking.
“Sweetheart,” he says soft and low. I close my eyes while his front presses into my back, and my right hand comes up to hold the arm around my waist. “You have to relax.”
“I don’t know if I can do this,” I say quietly and turn in his arms. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this nervous in my whole life. It’s just too much.”
“It’s going to be great,” he says to me, leaning forward and giving me a soft kiss. “I promise you that it’s going to be amazing, and if at any time you feel even a bit uncomfortable, all you have to do is tell me, and we can take a break.”
“Justin, this is huge,” I say finally. “Your family … it’s your whole world.”
“Sweetheart,” he says again softly and leans down to kiss me, and this time, I get lost in him. His tongue mixes with mine, and I swear my heart speeds up for a whole different reason. He pulls me even closer to him, and right when I turn my head to the other side to deepen the kiss, I hear Dylan.
“They are kissing again!” he yells over his shoulder, and Justin tries not to laugh as I hang my head forward. “Mom, come meet Justin’s mom.” He whispers, “She looks like a princess.”
Justin smiles and kisses my forehead. “They are going to think we came into the room to make out.” I close my eyes.
“You ready?” he asks, and I nod my head. “Let’s do this.”
I follow him out, and the whole place is overflowing with more people than I can count. “Well, well, well,” a girl says. I look at her, and she has the most beautiful blue eyes. “Caught with your hand in the cookie jar,” she jokes, and Justin shakes his head.
“This is Allison,” Justin says, and a man comes up to her and puts his arm around her shoulders. He’s tall, and his black hair is folded over, and he is holding the hand of a little girl who looks exactly like her mother. “This is Max, her husband, and their daughter, Alex.”
“It’s so nice to finally meet you,” Allison says, coming to me and taking me in her arms. Her husband smiles at me and nods, his arm never leaving her. “Why am I not surprised that you managed to snag the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen?” she says to Justin and pushes his shoulder. “Michael!” she yells. “Come meet Dylan’s mom.” She turns to me. “I’ve heard nothing but Dylan, Dylan, Dylan since he came back.”
“Hi,” Michael says from beside Dylan, and he looks just like his father.
“Here.” A woman comes over with strawberry blond hair and hands Justin a baby who just looks up at him. “Go see Uncle Justin.”
“This,” Justin says, cuddling the baby in his arms, “is Trouble number two or number one, depending on the day.” The woman throws her head back and laughs, and I finally get that she is Zoe.
“It’s so good to meet the one who has this one on his toes,” she says, leaning forward and giving me a hug. “You are too pretty for him.”
“Shut up,” Justin says, and she gasps.
“Not in front of the baby,” she says, and the little girl in Justin’s arms just smiles at her. “Viktor,” she says, looking over her shoulder, and a man comes forward, his brown eyes lighting up when he spots his daughter. “This is my husband, Viktor.”
He reaches his hand out, and I shake his. “Nice to meet you,” he says, smiling. “You did a good job with Dylan.”
“Thank you,” I say, and I swear my heart speeds up and my neck gets hot.
“Okay, where is Mom?” Justin asks, and Zoe looks around. “I think she’s in the bathroom.”
“There she is.” The voice sounds familiar as I look over and see Zara. She takes me in her arms when she gets to me. “My favorite muse,” she says. “I had the best time shopping.”