Color of Forgiveness

by Madeleine Beckett

  He pulls her closer, putting his lips near in her ear. “Thanks, but you know I don’t give two shits about how I look. But I know for a fact that you are seriously fucking beautiful.”

  Looking up at him, she can see the truth of his words reflected in his eyes. She blinks quickly, trying to keep the tears back. “Thank you,” she says, resting her head back against his shoulder.

  She can feel his lips in her hair. He sighs loudly. “We’re here,” he announces in a not so thrilled voice. Myra sits up and her eye catches sight of a work truck with Lawson & Sons Contracting on the side of it parked in front of a gorgeous two-story newly constructed home with sea foam green siding and rustic cream and tan colored stonework. Dylan parks next to the truck and tells her to stay put. He gets out and stretches for a moment before he walks around to her side and grabs their bags from the back before offering his hand to help her out of the truck.

  “How’s your back?” she asks.

  “Sore.”

  “Maybe I can massage it for you later.”

  “Mm… I like that idea.”

  After he shuts the door, he reaches down and grabs her hand, squeezing it gently. “You ready for this?” he asks, quirking an eyebrow at her.

  “I’m ready.”

  “If it gets too awful, we’ll just make up some lame excuse that we have to go and get the hell out, all right?”

  “Stop it,” she says with a grin as she pushes on his arm. “Your parents were wonderful. I’m sure the rest of your family is just as great.”

  Dylan smirks at her. “Just remember later that I tried to warn you.”

  They walk towards the porch and before they even get to the front door, Sherri flings it open and comes rushing at them. “Myra!” she sings as she grabs her in a huge hug. “It’s so wonderful to see you again. You look just absolutely lovely.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Mom…” Dylan groans. “Let her breathe, all right?”

  “Oh, hush,” Sherri says with a laugh as she lets go of Myra and throws her arms around Dylan. She hugs him tight, and Myra loves the way she looks up at him adoringly. “I’m just so happy you came. Now you know you don’t have to stay here tonight if you don’t want to. You can stay with your dad and me instead.”

  “Don’t even try it, you wicked mother-in-law,” a woman’s voice calls out from the doorway. Myra looks up to see Natalie standing there, smiling broadly at her, looking just as beautiful as she did the day Myra saw her at the grocery store with Dylan.

  “Get back on the couch, you disobedient daughter-in-law,” Sherri shouts back at her with a wide grin on her face.

  “I’ll have you know that I am allowed to get up for restroom breaks,” Natalie says in a loud voice. She grins as she holds the door open, and they all step into the house.

  Dylan gives Natalie a hug. “You doing all right?” he asks, his eyes moving to her stomach.

  “I’m doing as well as can be expected with all of these people hovering over me like I’m an invalid,” she says, causing Dylan to chuckle. “So, introduce me,” she says, her eyes on Myra before nudging Dylan with her elbow. “I’m dying to meet this gal that I’ve heard so much about.”

  Dylan steps back and wraps his arm around Myra’s waist. “Natalie, this is Myra,” he says, looking down at her with pride. “Myra, Natalie.”

  “It’s so great to meet you,” Natalie says.

  “You too,” Myra responds warmly.

  “Can I give you a hug?” Natalie asks. “I feel like I know you already.”

  “Of course,” Myra says with a smile as she leans in and kind of half hugs her since her stomach is in the way.

  “All right,” Sherri interrupts, “back on the couch, invalid.” She points towards the couch with a mischievous grin on her face. Natalie gives her a steely glare before sticking her tongue out at her, causing everyone to break out into laughter.

  Sherri loops her arm with Myra’s. “I hope you’re hungry. I’m a little bit ashamed at how much food I made…”

  “Trust me, Ma, I won’t let one bite of your delicious food go to waste,” a man’s voice bellows. Myra looks up and recognizes Chad from the photo album. “I’m still a growing boy,” he says, rubbing his stomach.

  Sherri sighs as she pats Myra’s arm. “Now I remember why I made so much food,” she mumbles. “Myra, this is Dylan’s big - actually extra-large considering he was ten pounds two ounces at birth - brother, Chad. Chad, this is Myra.”

  Myra starts to reach out her hand towards him, but instead, Chad lunges at her, pulling her into a hug and almost lifting her off the ground. “Welcome to the family, Myra.”

  “Chad...” Dylan snarls. “For god’s sake…”

  “Shut up, bro,” Chad retorts. “I was just givin’ your baby girl here a proper Lawson welcome.”

  “I swear to god…” Dylan says in a low voice.

  Myra’s eyes widen and she giggles when Chad tackles Dylan and puts him in a headlock. “You know I love ya, bro,” Chad shouts. He makes eye contact with Myra. “I love messin’ with him,” he says with a wink. In a flash, Dylan manages to somehow punch Chad in the stomach and escape his chokehold. Dylan looks like he’s about ready to punch Chad in the face when there’s a flurry of activity as three boys come running into the living room yelling, “Uncle Dylan!”

  The two older boys run up and give Dylan hugs. Myra’s heart melts a little as she watches Dylan hug the boys and ruffle their hair. The younger boy, Joseph, stays back, seeming to be shy.

  “Hey, Joseph… How are you?” Dylan asks quietly.

  Joseph stares at the floor. “Good.”

  “Myra, these are my boys,” Chad says proudly. “This is Jackson, Jay, and Joseph,” he says as he scoops Joseph up into his arms. “Boys, this is Dylan’s girlfriend, Myra. Can you tell her ‘Hi’?”

  Jay steps up first and holds out his hand. “Hi,” he says politely.

  Myra smiles warmly at him and shakes his hand. “Hi, it’s very nice to meet you.”

  She turns to Jackson, expecting him to do the same as his brother, but he just stares at her with his arms crossed and an angry scowl on his face.

  She tries to not let it hurt her feelings and looks over at Joseph, who’s still in Chad’s arms. He holds up his hand up and gives her a small wave. “Hi,” she says, waving back at him.

  “Aunt Sabrina is Uncle Dylan’s girlfriend!” Jackson shouts. Myra gasps, a sharp pain shooting through her chest.

  “Jackson,” Natalie says sharply in an angry mom voice from her prone position on the couch. “We’ve already discussed this. Now go to your room.”

  “Fine!” Jackson shouts as he takes off running up the stairs.

  Myra feels Dylan’s hand on her back. “Sorry. You okay?” he whispers in her ear.

  “Yeah…”

  “Myra, I am so sorry about that,” Natalie says. “Come over and sit by me for a minute.” She waves to the loveseat before she directs her conversation to Jay and Joseph. “Boys, you can go to the basement and play your videogames, okay?” They happily chase each other out of the room.

  Dylan laces his fingers with Myra’s and tugs her over to the loveseat.

  “I’m gonna go talk to Jackson,” Chad says as he walks towards the stairs.

  Dennis, who’s been standing quietly in the background steps up and holds his hand out to Myra. “It’s wonderful to see you again.”

  Myra quickly shakes his hand. “You too,” she says.

  Sherri sits in a chair across from Dylan and Myra; Dennis walks around to stand behind her.

  “Myra,” Natalie begins, “please don’t let what he said upset you. I talked to the boys before you came here. Joseph doesn’t remember much because he was so young. But Jackson and Jay; they’re both older and they remember. It’s hard for them to have had an aunt for so long and then suddenly that aunt is no longer their aunt. Jay seems okay with it all, but Jackson’s confused and angry.”

  “I totally understand, and I’m s
o sorry to have upset him,” Myra says.

  “It’s not your fault,” Natalie says. “He’ll warm up to you once he gets to know you a little more. Just give him some time, okay?”

  Myra nods.

  Sherri stands. “Why don’t you two go upstairs and get settled in, and I’ll set the table for lunch?”

  Myra looks at Dylan. He nods at her and picks up their bags. He holds Myra’s hand tightly and doesn’t let go of it not even once as they make their way upstairs to the spare bedroom.

  * * *

  Dylan drops their bags on the floor next to the bed and sits down, pulling Myra down next to him. He keeps her hand in his as his other hand reaches up and rubs the back of his neck. “Look, I’m really damn sorry about my family. Mainly Chad, that asshole,” he says with a groan. He still wants to beat his ass for calling her “baby girl” and for putting him in a damn headlock. “Don’t let that shit with Jackson bother you, okay?”

  “I won’t.”

  “You better not,” he says as his eyes lower to her lips. “I don’t want you upset, ever.” He reaches his hand up and runs his thumb over her lower lip, causing her to shiver. Leaning down, he kisses her lips softly. His hand pushes into her soft hair as his tongue tastes her bottom lip. Her hands snake up his chest between them, and he feels her pushing him back.

  He very reluctantly pulls his lips away from hers and frowns down at her. “What?” he asks.

  She kicks off her shoes and moves behind him on the bed. “You look really tense,” she says as her fingers touch the muscles in the back of his neck. “Try to relax,” she murmurs as she starts massaging his neck.

  He drops his head and relaxes his shoulders as her fingers massage and loosen his tight muscles.

  “Fuck that feels good…” he groans in a raspy voice.

  “Here,” Myra says as she tugs on his shoulders. “Lay on your stomach, and I’ll do your back too.”

  She doesn’t have to tell him twice. He lies on his stomach, his arms stretched out over his head flat against the bed. His cock grows hard when he feels her straddling his legs and feels her warm hands moving up underneath his shirt. “Mm…” he moans. He can’t believe how amazing her hands feel. She tries to push his shirt up higher, but he doesn’t want anything in the way of her talented fingers.

  “Move for a sec,” he says. He quickly yanks off flannel shirt and T and tosses them to the floor.

  “Hop back on.”

  He can hear Myra giggle as she straddles his legs again. His eyes close in fucking ecstasy when her hands begin kneading and massaging the muscles of his back and neck. His cock presses uncomfortably into the mattress, but his back feels so good that he doesn’t really care.

  “Damn, Myra, your fingers are like fucking magic or some shit,” he mumbles.

  Myra’s soft laughter makes him grin. All of his muscles relax, giving in to her touch.

  * * *

  Later that evening, as they sit around the dining room table eating, Myra can’t stop smiling as she listens intently to the beautiful noises of “family” that this incredible group of people surrounding her. She hangs onto each word, every laugh and every glance. She savors each story told, every heated argument, as well as each teasing word uttered. It’s all lovely music to her ears, and puts a longing deep in her heart to be part of a family again.

  Her eyes trail over to Natalie lying on the couch, her plate perched on the coffee table pushed up next to it. Earlier, the men dragged Natalie’s huge dining room table into the living room next to the couch so Natalie wouldn’t be left out of any of the dinner festivities. For some reason, that really touched Myra. They all seem to care so much about each other.

  She feels like she practically knows them already. Dylan isn’t big on conversation, but boy his family sure is. They talk non-stop and sometimes at the same time, and she loves every second of it.

  “Wait,” Chad shouts. “Remember when Dylan had a mullet?”

  Myra can’t stop the giggles that burst out of her when she looks at Dylan’s face and pink cheeks. “It wasn’t a mullet,” he mumbles.

  “It was so a mullet. Myra, he was like in first grade or something like that. Ma, you’re gonna have to dig out those pictures later and show her.” He looks at Dylan, his brows pulling together. “You wanted to be some rocker…”

  “It wasn’t a mullet,” Dylan repeats, frowning. “I wanted to be Jon Bon Jovi.”

  “That’s it!” Chad shouts as he laughs loudly.

  Myra can’t get over how much she loves Dylan’s brother; a physically intimidating man with a soft heart who lives with a smile on his face and a joke on his lips. He has a constant mischievous twinkle in his eye, and you can’t help but giggle over everything he does and says.

  “Myra,” Sherri says. “I’ll definitely show you the mullet pictures and more. You have to see his baby pictures. Dylan was the cutest baby you’ve ever seen. He was born with a head full of hair, but he had this terrible cowlick in the back that stuck straight up for years. I tried everything to get it to lay down, but it just wouldn’t cooperate. He looked like Alfalfa from The Little Rascals, just without the freckles.”

  Dylan groans next to her and leans his head against her shoulder. “Kill me now,” he whispers.

  Myra giggles. “I’m going to start calling you Alfalfa,” she whispers back to him.

  He growls and pinches her lightly on the thigh.

  She smiles as she looks over at Sherri again. She’s completely blown away by Dylan’s mother. She doesn’t work outside of the home so she’s at Chad and Natalie’s every single day cooking, cleaning, and running the boys to all of their various activities. Her family is her life. She’s the most amazing mother and grandmother Myra has ever seen; so completely selfless and so giving and full of love. She just radiates warmth, and has made Myra feel like she belongs here with them.

  “So, Myra, I heard you’re a writer?” Natalie says from the couch.

  “I’m trying to be a writer,” Myra says, smiling. “I was a copy editor when I lived out in Philly, but it’s always been my dream to write.”

  “That’s amazing,” Natalie says. “I could never do anything like that. I wouldn’t have a clue even where to begin.”

  “She’s really good,” Dylan says, looking proudly at Myra. “It’s a western with cowboys in it.”

  “Oh, man, I wish I’d been born back in those days. I’d have made an awesome cowboy,” Chad says as he pretends to pull out a fake gun from his belt and makes “pow-pow” noises as his thumb shoots bullets into the air, causing everyone to laugh. “And I could totally see my Nat wearing one of those dresses with a corset, looking all hot and gorgeous.” He winks at her and blows her a kiss.

  “Chad, stop it,” Natalie says, grinning. Myra can just see the love the two of them have for each other. Myra really likes Natalie. She finds her to be feisty and fiery yet incredibly caring and loving. She has a real connection with Dylan that most in-laws don’t have, especially ones of the opposite sex. Myra was completely unprepared for the tenderness Dylan has shown Natalie since they arrived. Her eyes even welled up once when she saw Dylan touching Natalie’s stomach and smiling when the baby kicked.

  “Do you have a baby name picked out yet?” Dylan asks Natalie. “I know it’s going to start with a J,” he says with a half-grin.

  “Yes. We’re going to name her Jillian Alexandra Lawson.”

  “That’s beautiful,” Myra says.

  Dylan nods. “I like it.”

  “We’re going to call her Jilly,” Natalie says.

  “Nat thinks we’re going to call her Jilly,” Chad shouts, “but that ain’t gonna happen. Can you imagine the names she’d get called by other kids? No way, ain’t doing it. It’s Jillian… Jillian Lawson.”

  “Jilly is adorable,” Natalie argues back. “I might want to call her Jilly Pop or Jilly Bean.”

  Myra giggles when Chad’s eyes widen and his mouth drops open. He quickly recovers and starts shouting again
. She smiles as another heated debate breaks out between the two of them. While they have at it, Myra looks over at Dylan’s nephews for a moment. The boys are amazing. Myra learned that Jay is very studious; a straight A student in school. Jackson is musical and plays the trumpet as well as the piano, and thankfully, he seems to be over his anger towards Myra. He now just ignores her. And Joseph comes across as quiet and shy and bashful, and apparently, he loves dinosaurs and Power Rangers. Myra’s heart aches every time she catches Dylan staring at him.

  Dylan’s dad, Dennis, seems to be the quietest one of the group, but it could be only because he can’t get a word in edgewise with everyone else dominating the conversation. The little time he was able to speak, he told Myra he’s been in the contracting business for over thirty years. He beamed with pride over the fact that Chad and Dylan followed in his footsteps, and when he talked about Nick, his soon-to-be-a-doctor son, his face practically glowed.

  Myra also learned that Dylan’s sister, Trish, and her husband, Doug, live in Florida. Trish works in a veterinary office, and Doug is a professor at a university.

  “Is everyone ready for dessert?” Sherri asks.

  Myra smiles as everyone shouts out in excitement at the same time.

  “Dinner was really delicious,” she tells Sherri.

  “Why, thank you,” Sherri says, smiling.

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Myra’s an awesome cook,” Dylan pipes in, giving her thigh a squeeze. “She’d give you a run for your money, mom.”

  “Myra can cook?” Chad asks, his eyes lighting up. “I love a woman who can cook.”

  Dylan growls at him.

  “Do you need some help with dessert?” Myra asks Sherri.

  “Sure.”

  Myra follows Sherri into the kitchen. “I made Peach Cream Pie. Chad’s favorite. I actually made a whole pie just for him,” Sherri says with a snicker. “That boy and his appetite...”

  Sherri sets the pies on the counter and stops, staring at Myra for a few seconds. “I hope you don’t think I’m being rude by mentioning this, but… Dylan tells me that you don’t have any family?”