by Peiri Ann
“Yes,” he answers impassively.
“And I can’t come with you?”
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but you’ll be a distraction. It will already be hard enough for me to focus with the bond bounding us, and feeling that you need me and I can’t drop everything to be there.”
I understand, but what is he going to do, and why is it important?
“You don’t want to know, Tracey.” I look up at him, meeting his gaze—it’s serious and disturbing. I won’t fight him about it, but this will be the only time I’ll be staying away.
“Okay,” I state. “Just come.”
He stands and brings me with him. “Of course. Did you enjoy your time with me, over here?”
I pinch my lips to the side before saying, “Yeah, it was okay,” with a scrunched nose.
“Okay?”
I smile. “I enjoyed my time with you.” I try not to turn into Silly Sam.
“Maybe we could talk about you coming here once you finish school.”
“Living with you and your family? Wouldn’t that be imposing?”
“No, I told you, my family stays together, that’s why our house is so big. My oldest brother and his wife live here with their two children. My oldest sister, Taylor, and her mate live here. My youngest sister and her husband live here, then, of course, my other siblings, parents, grandparents, and aunt. My two cousins also stay here with their mates as well.”
He pushes his hair back. “There’s enough room for all of us to have our privacy and be comfortable, except in the summer. But notice how we’ve been in the house and not ran into anyone? The house isn’t empty.”
He has a point. We haven’t walked into anyone, save Taylor. And that would explain why there are so many cars in their garage.
“It’s not something we have to talk about now, and you are not obligated to do it. It’s just a suggestion.”
“Okay, we’ll talk about it, and maybe go over the benefit about me staying with you.”
He smiles. “It’s going on three. Let’s go meet our family. They are all waiting for you in the great room.”
“The great room?”
“Yes, it’s the biggest room we have in the house—to hold everyone. Don’t freak out if people try to hug you. They are nice, and only three of us are burdened, so the others are a little smaller than me and my sisters.”
The great room is far from Nathan’s room; it seems like a five minute walk. It holds all the meaning behind it—it is almost the size of a ball room. It’s sectioned off by an entertainment area, a meeting area, and an area for gathering—with only couches that are sizes that go perfectly with the room.
Everyone is sitting around, talking, as we walk in the room. They suddenly look in our direction and everyone gets up, walking towards us at once. I’m greeted by Taylor first. Nathan steps back as she hugs me. A man—I suspect to be her…mate?—stands behind her.
“Hi Tracey,” she says with a smile. “Nice of you all to finally join us. This is my mate, Justin.” Justin is slender, with long, black hair that is pulled back into a braid, laying against his neck and back. He says, “Hello,” and waves.
We don’t shake hands with the opposite sex after meeting our mates. It’s uncomfortable until you get used to being a part of the family.
I remember the shock from Matthew in the parking lot at school and when the jerk grabbed my ass at the party.
Yes, that was because of the mating.
Okay.
I wave back. “Hi, nice to meet you.”
Next, I’m greeted by a little girl who is way too cute. I can’t help but to talk to her. “Hi.”
“Hi!” she responds excitedly.
I smile at her “You are—”
“I know, soo pretty. I hear it all the time. It’s nice to meet you. You are all Nathan talks about and all the time.” She puts her hand to the side of her mouth and whispers to Nathan, “You were right, she’s really cute,” and winks. She turns back to me. “Do you know—”
“Okay Cindy, that’s enough.” A woman with dark-brown hair steps forward. “Hi Tracey, it is nice to finally meet you. I am Roseland’s wife, Ann. He is Nathan’s older brother.” She moves to the side, revealing two children. “This is my daughter, Cindy, and my son, Curtis.”
“We are twins,” Curtis blurts. “Nice to meet you.” He puts his hand out. I shake it, not thinking of the shock, but there is none.
“Nice to meet you both. You are very handsome.” I turn to Cindy. “And yes, you are sooo pretty.” She laughs, and thanks me with a hug. Ann embraces me as—who I assume is—Roseland steps forward.
“Thanks for joining us, Tracey,” he says. “My brother deserves to have someone on his side. Thank you for choosing him.” He smiles at me.
Nathan joins my side. “Thanks, brother.”
Roseland smiles that same cocky smile as Nathan. I can tell the resemblance. “I have to say something nice about you to your lady.” Ann pats his chest with light force. He straightens up as he looks at her and kisses her nose quickly.
Cute.
Someone starts pushing their way from behind them. “Get a room you two!” A girl’s voice sounds. “Let me meet my brother’s mate,” she says, forcefully making it through them—just as beautiful as Taylor. Her hair is dark too, with a pointed nose.
“Hi Tracey! Thank you for choosing my brother.” She embraces me. “You are just as beautiful as Nathan described. I’m Rose, and this is my husband, Arnold.” She points over her shoulder to a man who only stands an inch above her height.
“Hi Tracey,” Arnold says. “It is nice to meet you.” His voice is cold, but it doesn’t seem intentional.
“You both as well,” I say as I feel someone pulling my arm on the side that Nathan is standing.
I turn to him and he’s looking down. I do the same, finding a little boy holding my hand. “Hi, I’m Nicholas, Nathan’s youngest brother.” He has dark-brown hair, like Roseland, and big eyes to match it.
“Hi Nicholas. It is very nice to meet you.”
“Thank you for choosing my brother.”
“You are very welcome.” Nathan touches his head, rubbing his hair. Nicholas knocks his hand away and punches him in the gut. Nathan buckles over, like it hurt, and Nicholas runs away.
He straightens, once he’s gone. “My other brother is over there.” He points toward the entertainment side of the great room, where people I just met are starting to gather. “He’s currently antisocial, going through his teenage years. When there are not so many people around, I’ll introduce you two. His name is Nathan.”
I look at him. “Huh?”
“My parents really like the name.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Speaking of my parents…”
His mother walks over, with his father at her side. “It’s nice to see you again, Tracey. I hope you like our home.” She smiles.
“I do.” I study her, trying to figure out what she would be comfortable with me calling her.
“Just call me Natalia, and call my husband Mr. Newcomb. It helps separate him from the other Nathan’s. He holds the family name.”
“Your house is very beautiful and big, Natalia. Thank you for welcoming me into it.” Her smile widens.
Mr. Newcomb clears his throat. “You’re welcome here anytime, Tracey. I’m sure Nathan has offered you an invitation to stay.” This man is different from the standoff dad I met the other day.
“He has,” I say with a smile.
“Well, I hope you consider the offer.” He looks at Nathan, then back at me. “Thank you for choosing my son. I can see you will be good for him.”
“My father can sense true feelings,” Nathan answers my unasked question.
“Okay,” I say to Nathan. Turning back to his parents. “Thank you.”
Natalia grabs me in a tight embrace. “We will be glad to add you to our family.” She releases me and hugs her son. I am so over this hugging thing. A nice handshake will do just fine.
He returns the hug and kisses her cheek. “Thanks, Mom.” She lets him go and they join the rest of the family.
Going over the number of immediate family members Nathan had informed me of, all of them are out of the way. This is the longest meet and greet of the century. At least everyone is nice.
I meet Nathan’s cousin, George, and his mate Caitlin. They look perfect together. Everything about them matches, even the way they speak.
Then there is his cousin Mary and her mate Marlin. They are a little weird with their talk about ending worlds and new worlds. Amongst other things, I couldn’t keep up with them.
Nathan’s grandparents are sitting on the couch, and we go to meet them. They are really old and I wonder how long they’ve been alive. I think they are definitely hitting bible age.
“Hi, Gram and Grandpa. This is Tracey,” Nathan speaks low and soft. His grandmother reaches her hand out slightly.
Touch her hand so she can see you. I look at him curiously, not knowing the meaning behind this. I’m really over touching people. She sees through touch, not her eyes.
I touch her hand as he had stated, and she smiles. “You are just perfect for my grandson, Tracey. Thank you for choosing him.”
“You are welcome,” I say, as quietly as I had heard Nathan speak.
“Don’t hog her, Beth. Let me see her,” Nathan’s grandpa fusses.
“Oh, hold your horses, Roseland.” Another Roseland. This family loves their names. She reaches over to touch his hand.
“She is really pretty. Young lady, you did wise by choosing my grandson. You’re a smart girl.” He points to his head. “I know these things.”
“Oh, hush up. You know what Nathan has told you,” Nathan’s grandmother retorts.
He shoos her away. “Very good, son.” They speak without looking at us.
Nathan smiles, taking his grandfather’s hand. “Thank you, Gramp. I love you both,” he tells them. As we walk away, they start to bicker. It reminds me of Glen and Scott.
My aunt is out and I’ll introduce you to her when she returns. You actually already know her.
I look at him. And who would that be?
Your school nurse.
What! Mrs. Waturstrom. She’s one of you? That would explain the teardrop under her eye. That looks like Glen’s snowflake, now that I think about it. And that weird conversation between you two.
Yes.
“Are you all going to stay for dinner?” it sounds like Natalia, asks.
“No mom, not tonight. I have to get Tracey home. She’s been gone for too long.”
There are a lot of ‘aawws’ and a few ‘boos.’ “Come back, Tracey, and let us know when you’re here, instead of letting Nathan hog you and keep you all to himself,” someone says. I smile.
“There’s a reason things were done that way. I did want to keep her all to myself.” Nathan wraps his arms around me and kisses the back of my head.
“Yeah, and we know exactly what the reason was, bro.” A voice I have not heard yet says with a laugh. I turn red. A head lifts from the other side of the couch. “Hi, I’m Nathan, by the way. Come back soon. I know you had fun.”
My mouth falls open. I know I’m the color of a strawberry Twizzler.
Rose moves over to him, quicker than I can blink, and punches him in the chest. “Shut up, dork. You don’t know anything.”
The other Nathan jumps up from the couch, ready to attack his sister.
“And that would be our queue to leave. Bye.” He turns us towards the door and everyone follows with their ‘goodbyes’ and ‘nice to meet yous.’
We walk out of the great room, and Roseland’s behind us. “Tracey, I’m sorry we have to take Nathan from you tonight. But the girls will be here if you need anything.”
I look at Nathan, and he nods. “Thank you,” I respond halfheartedly, not sure why I needed to check with Nathan first.
He smiles and walks back inside the room.
“It’s the bond. I told you, you are going to start feeling obligated to me. Once you notice it, you can control it more.”
“Okay.” I don’t know what else to say, still stunned by my actions. I didn’t have to do it during the meet and greet.
“Yeah, I know,” he says, looking at me with the same questionable look that I’m giving him.
We take his truck to drop me off. I’m tired and craving a nap and some food. I haven’t eaten all day.
“We can stop and eat if you want.”
“Yes. Your pick.” I’m not ready for him to leave me yet, knowing he is going to go when we make it to my house.
He takes us to a restaurant called ‘Eddie’s Best.’ It is a BBQ joint with cows and pigs all over the place. They have country music playing, and everyone is wearing cow print cowboy hats. I find it amusing.
We seat ourselves and the waitress comes over with waters and menus. We thank her and she says she will be back soon.
“So, what do you have a taste for?” Nathan asks, looking over his menu.
“Everything.” I am so hungry. They have everything I can think of: burgers, ribs, chops, roasts—anything you can make out of a pig, cow, or chicken. I look over the menu a little longer. “I’ll have a burger with fries and a Coke.”
“Me too. How do you like it—well-done?”
“Yes.” I yawn. “Hold the pink.”
“You look really tire—”
The waitress walks up, cutting him off. “So you two ready to order?” She has a southern accent; it doesn’t sound real.
I let Nathan order for us both as I drink my no-iced water. She writes everything down and walks away.
“Yeah, I am tired.”
“When you were sleeping earlier, you were having a nightmare, which is probably why you didn’t get enough rest. You want to tell me what you were dreaming about?” It’s not meant as a question, and his tone is mellow.
No, not really. I’m not sure how he will respond to my dream. “Not really.” He looks at me hard. “Don’t, Nathan.”
“Tell me. It was bad? I had to send Taylor to check on you.”
“Yeah, I know. She came and we talked.” Thanks for reminding me.
He is interested. “What did you two talk about?” I don’t know how to tell him what she had said. “It doesn’t matter how you tell me, just tell me.” He’s a little aggressive.
In conversation, or when he is not trying to convince me of something, he is always calm and stern. He has a direct attitude and a ‘don’t bullshit me’ swag. It’s attractive when it’s not directed towards me. And in this conversation it is.
I don’t say anything, not knowing how to address it.
“Would you prefer I find out for myself?”
I shake my head. “She—”
The waitress cuts me off, bringing us our food. “Here you go. Do you need anything else?” she asks, placing extra napkins on the table.
He doesn’t look at her as he says, “No, good for now, thank you.” She walks away. “Okay?” he probes, not touching his food.
“She told me something about not helping you, not trying to help you when you spaz out, how it wouldn’t end well for us if I did. And not to underestimate you. Although you have gotten better at controlling yourself, I shouldn’t put anything past you.” I pause. “In so many words.” I pick up a fry. “But she is happy I chose you.” I shrug slowly, still trying to make sense of it.
He stares at me for a moment. Then he reaches over, cutting my burger in two pieces. Going back to his plate, he starts to eat. I do the same, thinking how hard he is to read.
The food is great. I don’t know why I’d never been here before.
I look at Nathan, waiting for him to look back at me. He finally does. “What makes you ‘number one’ to your family?”
“She told you that too, I assume?”
“Yes,” I say slowly. Mr. BeatAroundTheBush is getting ready to make an appearance.
“That’s what you think of me?” he asks suspiciousl
y, still stern.
“No, that’s what you do.”
He shakes his head. “As I told you, I am capable of doing a lot of things. And I am stronger than the rest of my family, and I have more abilities, as well as unique abilities. That is where she would get that from. I wouldn’t say ‘number one.’ I would just say they always like to have me around when things happen.”
“So you all fight as a family when things happen?”
“Sometimes, but we try to keep the women out of it.” I can understand that.
“Like, whatever is going on tonight?”
“Right.” He pauses. “I am not as bad as my sister made me seem. Yes, I used to be, and we’ve discussed that. But that is not me anymore.”
“I know, Nathan. You don’t have to explain that to me. You, or anyone else, can’t keep me away from you—sane or insane. I’ll never not be in the way,” I say, biting into a fry.
He calls the waitress and she brings the bill, and we leave.
“How can you just accept me like that?” he asks, helping me into the truck.
I wait for him to get in before I answer. “What else am I supposed to do? I want you, and I love you. No matter how you’re wrapped up, I’ll still take what’s inside.”
He nods and says, “Thank you,” as he starts the car.
“For what?”
“For choosing me.”
“Anytime.” I smile, leaning my head against the headrest. The food hit just the right spot for putting me to sleep.
“Don’t go to sleep yet. Wait until you get in the house. You’re not going to like the way you feel when you wake up.”
“Is this going to be bad?”
“Yes.” He follows quickly, “But only because you won’t be with me while it’s happening.”
“So what am I supposed to do, if not cry out for you?” I’m now dreading being alone and this pain he promises.
“Just try to relax, Tracey. I won’t be gone long. If you stay asleep, you’ll barely feel it.”
I remain quiet for the rest of the ride, trying to keep my eyes open. The sway of the truck and the comfort from Nathan rubbing my hand is making it hard.
“So you’re not going to come in?” I ask him, walking around to him standing by his truck.