“Who’s that?” she asked, looking down from her perch above me with a disappointed look on her face. She was so cute when she was all pouty.
I gave her a look.
“Your family?” she exclaimed and climbed off me.
I sighed at the doorbell again. “Sweets?”
She was shrugging on her bra and already had her jeans on. Her whole face lit up when I called her that. I loved seeing that look across her pale face. I had missed that look for months. It surprised me when she showed up to my game last night in my jersey, but now we were together. I hadn’t expected to ever see her again. I thought Michael and I would have to put our heads together and come up with something good to win her back. I didn’t think she would try to win me back first.
“What?” she asked.
I got out of bed and walked over to her. I put my hands on her face and tilted it up to me. “Please don’t let my family scare you away.”
She kissed me quickly. “I’m not letting go of you again.”
I kissed her again, sliding my hand to the back of her neck, but she pushed me away and put a finger on my chest. “Don’t start what you can’t finish, big guy.”
“I love that you’re a bigger horndog than I am.”
She laughed and pulled her shirt over her head. “Do you want me to get the door while you get dressed?”
I shrugged on a pair of jeans. “Please. Wait, that’s probably…” But she was already out of the room, and I heard her clomping down the steps.
I took a black t-shirt out of my dresser and pulled it over my head. I didn’t want to deal with my family today, but with everyone in town, it made sense they wanted to see me. I would have rather spent the morning in bed with Veronica.
With a sigh, I ran down the steps, taking them two at a time, only to find Veronica and my sister-in-law Emily talking about the painting of me that was leaning against the wall.
“Looks a little bare in here,” Emily teased, her French-Canadian accent coming through.
“He literally moved in!” Michael called from the kitchen.
Emily had a hand on her pregnant belly, but she smiled at me. “I like this one better.”
Veronica arched an eyebrow. “Thank you?”
The other woman laughed. “Good thing.”
Eli walked into the living room with his two-year-old daughter on his hip and son pretty much hanging on his ankles. Emily laughed when she took the baby, but the baby seemed more interested in Veronica’s tattoos.
“You want to hold her?” my sister-in-law asked.
“Oh, I love babies!” Veronica exclaimed, and I watched as she took my niece, who immediately pulled on her hair.
“Simone!” Emily scolded.
Veronica smiled and gingerly uncurled the baby’s fingers around her hair. “Happens all the time. You like my hair, huh, baby?” she asked as she bounced Simone in her arms until the baby giggled.
Something primal clawed up my chest at seeing my niece in her arms. One day that could be us. It was way too soon for me to think that, but my caveman brain had other thoughts.
“Uncle Blaise!” my nephew Alex cheered and jumped into my arms.
“Buddy!”
“Is that your new girlfriend?” he asked.
“She is.”
“Uncle Ayden said you were a…” he dropped his voice to a whisper. “A dumbass.”
Of course he did.
“Alex,” Eli warned.
“I didn’t say it!” My nephew tried to debate.
“Who’s all here?” I asked.
“All of us!” Maja called from the kitchen.
We walked into the kitchen, and somehow, my large family was all gathered around my kitchen table. Okay, I might have bought it, keeping in mind how big my family was. Dad was brewing coffee while Maja and Julien searched my cabinets for cups.
“Hey, cutie,” I said to baby Simone in Veronica’s arms.
“You want her? You can keep her. She kept us up all night,” my eldest brother joked.
I felt a nudge at my elbow and noticed Brendan, his husband, Adam, and my other nephews, Caden and Ash, sitting on the other side of the table. My whole family was in my kitchen. No wonder Veronica was holding the baby. It gave her an excuse not to answer questions from my nosy family.
“Hey man,” I greeted Brendan.
Brendan smirked at me. “So, introduce us!”
Veronica handed the baby back to Emily, and she held out her hand to my older brother. “Brendan, right? I think you’re the only one I haven’t met yet.”
Brendan smiled. “Saved the best for last!”
She laughed. “And Adam, the husband, right?”
Adam gave her a small smile. “You get used to the big family.”
Dad and Julien came around to the table and dropped off coffee for everyone. Dad stopped to hug Veronica.
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. “Why are you all here?”
“To annoy you,” Ayden teased, and I felt him kick me under the table.
Dick.
“We wanted to meet your girl,” Brendan explained.
“Well, most of you already know me. I’m a regular at the bar,” Veronica said.
Michael shuddered. “Let’s not remember how I met you.”
“Learn to knock!” Veronica teased.
I put an arm around her and kissed her temple. I loved that she could dish it out to my siblings as good as they served it to her.
“Actually, it was my idea,” Maja announced. “I figured with the All-Star Break, it was good to get the whole family together.”
“When was the last time we did that?” Dad asked.
It had been a long time since all the Holmstroms were in one room. The silence didn’t last as Eli and Ayden started arguing about a bad call on the ice last night, and then Maja started in by telling them they both were wrong. It didn’t take long for my loud-mouth Philly family to be screaming at the top of their lungs. My new neighbors were gonna hate me.
I shook my head, and Veronica gave me an amused look. I hoped she understood my family was always this nosy, and she needed to get used to it.
I kissed her temple again. “Are you prepared for my family?” I whispered in her ear.
She nodded. “They’re part of you. Plus, you haven’t met my brother’s side of the family. His Abuelita will give you the third degree.”
“Can’t wait to meet them, sweets.”
“I love you.”
“Love you too.”
And of course, my asshole brothers ruined our nice moment by throwing balled-up napkins at my head. “Get a room,” Brendan teased.
“It’s my house, and none of you jerks were invited,” I snapped.
Veronica laughed. “I mean, we could go back upstairs and…”
Ayden laughed. “I knew I always liked you, V.”
“Why? Because I don’t put up with your BS?”
The twins laughed, and Eli shook his head. “Pretty much. Welcome to the family, V. I hope we don’t scare you off.”
She squeezed my hand under the table. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“So, are we allowed to say how much we hated Astrid now?” Maja asked.
“Wait, seriously?” I asked.