by Lisa Bilbrey
He was a man of few words, which was both reassuring and unnerving. Where Felicia had been more than welcoming when Elle and Sadie introduced their parents to her and Carlos the day before, Carlos had merely nodded and grunted out a strangled, “Nice to meet you,” before settling on the sofa with the newspaper and remote control in his hand. Elle wondered if he was the quiet type, or if he’d been just as tense about their parents because they hadn’t accepted them without question, like he and Felicia had.
“Can’t we just go now?” Lucia whined, her fingers toying with the red and silver ribbons on the gift Elle had bought her. She’d been pestering them for two days to open presents, and though Derek grumbled and called her a ‘sissy-baby,’ Elle thought it was sweet that Lucia was so excited.
“No, mija, we have to wait,” Felicia scolded her daughter. “Patience is a virtue.”
“Yeah, well, whatever,” Lucia mumbled. “If you ask me, they shouldn’t be here in the first place.”
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing nobody asked you, huh?” Derek snarled, sliding his arm around Sadie and pulling her over onto his lap. She smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder.
“Probably,” Lucia smarted-off.
Elle sighed and stood up, walking over to the front door and pulling it open, staring done the long driveway leading to their house. Because they were off the main highway, they didn’t get a lot of through traffic. It was just one of the many parts of the property that she loved. When they were at home, they didn’t have to worry about someone watching them, someone judging them. It was there small piece of heaven, their safe haven.
“Anything?” Derek asked, coming up behind her and placing her hand on her hip.
“No,” she murmured. “They’ve probably changed their minds. Realized they weren’t able to get past their moral objections or whatever.”
“Or they could be stuck in traffic,” he offered, and Elle snorted. “What?”
Angling her body toward him, she smiled. “You’re such an optimist. Always looking at the cup as half-full, and not half-empty.”
“And that’s wrong?”
Elle shook her head. “No, but it’s not realistic, either. I love that you can look at everything and see the good, but I just don’t think they’re coming.”
Derek shifted his eyes past her, a wide smile spreading over her lips. “Want to bet on it?”
Turning, Elle looked at the end of the driveway, watching as a slick, black SUV slowly made its way to the front of the house. The engine shut off and the doors opened, and Helina and Claudia climbed out of the backseat, while Bruce and James slid out of the front.
“See. Told ya,” Derek whispered in her ear before leaning back and turning his attention to those inside the house. “We can go now. They’re here.”
“About damn time,” Lucia grumbled, pushing her way past Derek and Elle and storming outside with her arms full of her gifts. “Don’t bother getting out. The sooner we get to the in-laws, the sooner I can find out what they got me.”
“Oh, um, okay,” Helina stammered, shifting her eyes from Lucia, who was waiting at the edge of the yard for everyone, to Elle. “Sorry we’re late. We got a little lost.”
“It’s okay,” she lied. “We really should go, though. Told Samuel and Lydia that we’d be there at eleven, and it’s almost a half-hour drive to their house. And traffic will be … intense this morning.”
“All right,” she murmured. “Should we just follow you? Or do you want to, maybe, drive us?”
“Um,” Elle paused and looked back at Derek, Callum, and Sadie, “I don’t … I don’t know.”
“How about Carlos, Felicia, and Lucia go with Derek and Callum, and you and I drive our parents in … in their car?” Sadie suggested. “Ivy and Nick are meeting us there, right?”
Elle nodded. “Yeah, okay, that’s … that’s fine, I guess. I’ll just …” Turning, she headed back into the kitchen, stopping and placing her hands on the counter next to the oven.
“Do you need help?”
Turning, Elle looked at her mother.
“Sadie said …” Helina bit her lip, something Elle had never noticed her mother did until recently. “She said you’d baked a few goodies for today. I hope you made your chocolate cake. You know how much Daddy likes it.”
“I didn’t,” Elle admitted. “I made a pecan pie, and, um, a coconut crème pie, and Samuel likes banana nut bread, so I made some for him.”
“And Samuel is your boss?” Helina asked.
Elle nodded. “And Callum’s father.”
Helina’s jaw tightened.
“I know you don’t approve.”
“No, it’s your life, your decision,” her mother muttered, unconvincingly. “Can I help you get everything?”
“I guess.” Elle turned back to the counter and picked up the pecan pie and the coconut crème pie, turning to her mother. “You can take these, and I will get the bread and the wine.”
Helina nodded and walked over to her, sliding her hands over Elle’s so that she could hold the pies. “They smell delicious.”
“I used Grammy’s recipes,” she told her.
Helina smiled. “Elle, can I ask you something?”
“I guess,” she murmured.
“You and … you and Sadie have been together for ten years, right?”
“Yes,” she replied, slowly.
“This is not a judgment, I swear, but if you’ve loved her for so long, how can you love Derek and Callum, too?”
“Mom,” she muttered, shaking her head.
“I’m curious,” she insisted. “I promise, I’m just curious.”
“I love Sadie with all my heart, and she will always be my first love, but she’s not enough for me. I didn’t — No, we didn’t — realize that we needed more until we met Derek and Callum. They gave me a reason to smile again, to trust that men can love me without hurting me.”
Helina’s eyes flew opened. “Who hurt you?”
Instantly regretting her choice of words, Elle hesitated before saying, “Leo.”
“What? When?” her mother asked, sliding the pies back onto the counter and reaching for Elle, who immediately took a step backward.
“It’s a long story, one I don’t particularly want to discuss right now, but let’s just say Leo’s an asshole. It took me a long time to get over what he did to me, to let go of my anger. Derek and Callum, Mom, they tell me I’m beautiful every day, they tell me that I’m perfect, and I need to hear that. I need to hear it because I don’t feel beautiful or perfect or anything close to those.”
“Because of me?” Helina asked and there was a sadness in her tone that pulled at her heart, but she had to be honest. Lying hadn’t made anything better.
“A little,” Elle admitted, and when her mother’s face crumbled on pain, she added, “I don’t say that to hurt you, but it’s the truth. You’ve never made me feel like I was good enough to be your daughter, Mom.”
“I know, and I’m sorry,” she whimpered, wrapping her arms around Elle before she could stop her. “I wish I could go back and be the mother you deserve.”
“But you can’t,” Elle whispered, gently nudging her mother away from her. “We should go.”
“Elle,” Helina started.
“It’s getting late, and we … we should go,” she muttered, grabbing the two loaves of banana bread from the counter and walking over to the wine rack, pulling off the two bottles she’d bought just for today.
Turning back to face her mother, who was still watching her with a sad expression on her face, Elle tried to cover the hurt she still felt in her heart and led Helina through the house and out into the porch, where everyone was waiting for them.
“We have all the gifts, right?” Elle asked, looking from Sadie and Derek to Callum.
“Yes, beautiful, just waiting for you.” Derek smirked as he pulled away from Sadie and Callum and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her.
Helin
a cleared her throat and brushed past them, stopping when she reached the rental car. Elle sighed and took a step backward, her eyes flittering up to Derek’s. “We’ll meet you there.”
“Be safe,” he whispered, kissing her again. Only this time, his lips were hard and the kiss left her breathless, and Elle suspected he was making a point: she belonged to him, to Callum, and to Sadie, and none of them were letting her go without a fight.
“We will,” she laughed, softly. His need to stake his claim over her was sexy, and it made her want to do naughty, naughty things to him.
—FA—
Forty-five minutes later, and a few curse words directed toward the insane traffic, Elle parked her parents’ rental car in Samuel and Lydia’s driveway, noticing that Nick and Ivy’s car was parked next to the curb.
Elle had been touched when Samuel and Lydia insisted on having Nick and Ivy over for dinner two weeks after they returned from their honeymoon, saying they wanted a chance to get to know her sister and brother-in-law. She knew Ivy had been nervous, knowing that her new uncle-in-law had almost cost Samuel’s company a huge account, but as they always were, Samuel and Lydia reassured her that they hadn’t held her or Nick to blame for anything. They had welcomed them into their lives, and gave them both a family who accepted and cared about them just as they were.
But now, with Helina, James, Claudia, and Bruce tagging along for Christmas, Elle wondered just how far their gratitude would extend. After all, Helina’s reaction to Sadie and Elle’s relationship had been the catalyst to what had almost cost the company millions.
Lydia had the front door open and was halfway to their cars before Elle had even unbuckled her seatbelt or had her door opened. “I was getting worried.”
“Sorry, Mom,” Callum grumbled, the tips of his ears turning red as she threw herself in his arms and kissed his cheek.
“It’s okay.” She laughed as she wiped away the lipstick marks. “But you could have called. You do know how to work a cell phone, don’t you?”
“Yes, Mom,” he mumbled, and Elle saw him roll his eyes. “It wasn’t my fault, though.”
“Never is, is it?” Lydia lifted an eyebrow as she looked around him and over to Helina, James, Bruce, and Claudia. “Though, you might be right this time.” She cleared her throat and dropped her hands to her hips. “Before you come into my house, let me be clear: these children have suffered enough because of you. You will not disrespect them today, or you will be told to leave. Told, not asked. Am I clear?”
“Um,” Claudia shifted her eyes to Sadie, “yes?”
“You don’t sound certain,” Lydia chirped. “It went against my better judgment to have you here, but the kids feel this need to give you another chance. Personally, I would have told each of you to fuck off.”
“Mom!” Callum seethed. “Stop being rude.”
“We’ve made mistakes,” Claudia said. “We can’t change the way we’ve behaved. We wish more than anything that we could take back every word we said four months ago, but we can’t. All we can do is try to move forward, and the kids have been gracious enough to give us that. We won’t let them go again.”
“Hmm,” Lydia hummed. Elle could tell by the flabbergasted expression on Helina’s face that she was a bit perturbed by Lydia’s attitude toward them, but could she blame Callum’s mother for being upset? Lydia and Samuel had been the ones to pick up the pieces after the wedding, had been the first to give their approval of their unconventional relationship, and had insisted that Sadie and Elle didn’t let the hiccup with Gabriel Alvarez ruin their careers.
Lydia reached for Elle and Sadie’s hands. “Let’s go inside.”
“I’ve got to grab the deserts.” The words barely left her mouth when Lydia, threw her head back and laughed.
“Oh, no, darling girl, the boys can grab the food, which I told you that you didn’t need to bring, by the way. Now, come on. Samuel has been nearly vibrating with excitement. I swear, he turns into a toddler on Christmas morning. Had me up at six this morning. He begged and begged to open presents. It took some …” Lydia paused and smirked. “Shall we say persuading, to get him to calm down?”
“Ew,” Callum grumbled, and Elle had to bite her lip to keep herself from laughing. Leave it to Lydia to even hint toward the active sex life she and her husband had. Neither Samuel nor Lydia were shy when it came to the passion they felt for each other.
Samuel was standing in front of the fireplace, a cup of coffee in his hands and a smirk on his lips. Clearly he’d heard his wife’s rant. He, too, hadn’t hidden his displeasure when Callum called the day before to ask if Elle and Sadie could bring their parents along.
“Elle, Sadie,” he cheered, placing his cup on the mantle and rushing over to them, nestling the women in his fatherly embrace. “Merry Christmas!”
Elle laughed and leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Merry Christmas to you, too.”
“Boys, into the kitchen with those pies,” Lydia instructed, and once everyone was inside, she shut the door and turned her attention back to Elle and Sadie’s parent. “Well, suppose I should introduce myself. I’m Lydia Davis, and this is my husband, and Callum’s father, Samuel.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” Bruce said, placing his hand on Claudia’s lower back. “I’m —”
“Oh, we know who you are,” Samuel said, interrupting him. “Though, we don’t understand why you’re here.”
“Dad.” Callum sighed. “Stop.”
“I’m not doing anything — anything at all. I’m certainly not making snide comments and telling my daughters that they aren’t perfect just the way they are. I would never do anything like that,” Samuel said, and there was an undertone lacing his words that had Elle both swelling with pride and feeling sorry for her parents, who looked ashamed.
“Dad,” Callum said again.
“What?” he asked, giving his son a look.
Callum shook his head and rolled his eyes before looking around the living room. “Where are Nick and Ivy?”
“They’re —”
But before Samuel could finish his thought, Nick and Ivy’s laughter trickled down the stairs and when Elle looked toward the staircase, she was surprised to see them coming from the second story. However, before she could ask why they were up there, Ivy tilted her head up and froze two steps from the bottom. Elle didn’t need to be a mind reader to know that their mother and father’s presence was just as shocking as it had been to her.
Ivy tore her attention away from their parents and looked over at Elle, her face crumbling as she leapt off the stairs and rushed over to her. Placing her hands on Elle’s shoulders, she said, “Are you okay?”
“Yes. Why wouldn’t I be?” Elle asked.
Ivy scoffed and tilted her head toward Helina and James.
“Oh,” Elle muttered. “Yeah, I’m … here. Not great, not wonderful, but here.”
“Speaking of people being here, why are they here?”
“Ivy, honey, we tried to call you,” Helina said, but when Ivy glared at her, she flinched back into James’ embrace.
“And I ignored your call, like I have done every time you’ve called over the last four months,” she snapped. “Why are you here? It wasn’t bad enough that you ruined my wedding, now you’ve come to ruin Christmas, too?”
“We don’t want to ruin anything,” James insisted. “And we’ve tried to apologize for what happened at the wedding, but you refuse to listen to us.”
“Hmm, must be a trait I learned from you and Mom,” she chirped, and Helina and James frowned.
“Ivy, stop,” Elle murmured, causing her sister to look over at her. “They’re trying, okay? Just stop. Please.”
“Why should I?” she asked. “They didn’t when I asked them to leave you alone? To stop giving you shit all the time.”
Elle frowned. “Maybe not, but it’s Christmas, and I really don’t want to fight today. Let’s just … let’s just try to put everything behind us and move on. Please? For me?�
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Ivy sighed and shook her head. “Fine, if that’s what you want, then I will try to be nice. But one snide comment, and I’m done with them.”
“Thanks, sis,” Elle whispered.
“Ivy,” Helina called, causing the woman to Elle’s side to sigh and look at their mother. “I’m sorry for ruining your wedding.”
“Me, too,” Ivy replied. “Just don’t give me a reason to hate you again.”
“I won’t,” Helina promised with a smile.
“Can we open presents now?” Samuel and Lucia asked at the same time, causing everyone to laugh.
“I knew you were a cool dude,” Lucia snickered, plopping down on one of the sofas with her stack of presents perched on her lap. She looked around at everyone. “Well, come on. I’ve been tolerant!”
“Oh, yeah, Luc, you’re the poster child for tolerance,” Derek scoffed, sitting on the sofa next to her.
Sadie and Callum snorted, but didn’t say anything as they sat next to him. Sadie shifted her eyes to Elle, a devilish smirk tugging at her lips as she reached out for her, her fingers beckoning for Elle to go to her. Like she could resist. She never could, and she knew she would never be able to, either.
Feeling her cheeks warm, Elle walked over to her lovers, laughing when all three of them grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto their laps.
“Ew,” Lucia grumbled before sliding off the couch and sitting on the floor.
“The other night you were all, ‘got any friends?’ and today it’s ew?” Derek laughed. “You’re a freak, lil sis.”
“Yeah, yeah; whatever,” she muttered. “I just want to open my presents!”
“Lucia, you’re acting like a child,” Felicia snickered.
“Yeah, and?” she countered.
“Oy, you’re going to give me gray hair, mija,” her mother grumbled under her breath.
“So you’ve been saying since I got my navel pierced when I was fifteen,” Lucia quipped.
“And I’ve plucked more than a few with your name on them,” Felicia countered, lifting an eyebrow.
Lucia opened her mouth to smart-off once more, but Carlos cleared his throat and said, “Enough, ladies. Let’s pretend that we’re not a bunch of lunatics, please.”