Part 30 (1/2)
”Do you remember that first night that we made love, and you asked me if I had any dreams or goals unfulfilled?”
”Mmm, I certainly do. You diverted our attention with your hot and s.e.xy body in the hot tub,” Connor said.
”We haven't forgotten that little look in your eyes just before you did, either, young lady,” Mel said.
”We decided to wait until you felt ready to share whatever it was with us.”
Was she ready? Oh, she had no doubt whatsoever that she could open her heart and show them everything. She could say anything, anything at all to these men. Even if they didn't agree with everything she said, she knew they would never ridicule her. They loved her, but more, they liked her and respected her.
”The only dream I've ever had, is a house on a piece of land with trees and maybe a brook, with a pretty lawn, and a couple nice gardens.” She closed her eyes then opened them again. ”How I have imagined my dream through the years. I can see a swing set and a sandbox, and a small pool for when the summer days get too hot.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. ”Until I met you two, that dream never really gelled in my mind, you know? But now, when I envision it, the picture is so real, so complete, and it's so beautiful. Two handsome men coming home at the end of the day, ready to laugh and love and play. Maybe later on, as the years grow, to help with homework or give driving lessons.
”Everywhere you look these days, there are images of women doing everything under the sun, and I think that is wonderful. I want my daughter, if I'm lucky enough to have one, to believe with all her heart that no matter what it is she wants to do in life, if she works for it, she can achieve it.” She inhaled deeply and dared to look into the eyes of the men she loved.
The tenderness she found there brought tears to her own.
”But being a wife, and a mother? That's been my dream since as far back as I can remember. Not very twenty-first century of me, I'm afraid.”
”It's your dream, angel eyes, and that is all that matters.”
”How many children are we going to have, precious?”
She swallowed around the lump in her throat. They hadn't even hesitated. She whispered, ”As many as G.o.d gives us, I guess.”
”Sounds like a wonderful future.” Connor leaned down and placed a kiss on her lips. When he straightened up he looked over at Mel. ”You're going to have to show me how to be a dad, my friend. I don't remember mine. And while Gordon Talbot was what I needed at sixteen, I don't think his methods would work very well with a small baby.”
”Having a dad doesn't guarantee you know how to be a dad,” Mel said. ”We'll learn, Connor. Together.”
”Together,” Connor said.
Emily Anne looked from one to the other of her big, strong, wonderful alpha men. ”I surely do love the sound of that word when you say it like that. I don't think I'm ever going stop smiling. I'm going to live the rest of my life in love under two private d.i.c.ks. I can't think of a better future than that.”
And Emily Anne made a promise to herself then and there that she was going to give thanks every day for the two men who, together, had already begun to make her dreams come true.
Chapter 29.
Emily Anne had helped out at several of these casual engagement parties in the time that she'd worked at l.u.s.ty Appet.i.tes. She just never imagined that the good people of l.u.s.ty, Texas would want to hold such a party for her.
Kelsey had told her a week ago that this particular Thursday in the second-to-last week of July had been designated as the Emily Anne, Mel, and Connor celebration day. She turned her head so she could look at the pretty banner that Kelsey, Carrie and Ginny had seen hung in their honor.
They'd been asked if there was any family they wanted invited to the celebration. Invitations had been sent to her parents and to Mel's. Connor didn't have any family, and the only close friends he had already lived in town.
They'd driven up to Abilene to meet Raymond and Brenda Richardson the week before. Mel had called ahead and spoken to his mother, to explain to her the kind of family that the three of them were forming. Mrs. Richardson had heard about l.u.s.ty, Texas, over the years. Mel told Emily Anne and Connor, on their way to meet his parents that it was his mother he'd confided in when he'd first met Caleb Benedict and learned about the alternative lifestyle that he and his family lived. Mel shared with them the words his mother had told him, words he'd never forgotten. ”You can't control who you fall in love with, or how your heart tells you to show that love. You only control whether to act on your feelings or walk away from them.”
Emily Anne had found Mel's parents to be exceptionally warm and welcoming.
”It's a shame your parents couldn't make it,” Connor said to Mel in between greeting guests. Emily Anne knew she hadn't been the only one impressed with the older Richardsons.
The restaurant was beginning to fill up, and they'd just finished chatting with Terence Jessop, on leave from the U.S. Air Force, who'd arrived with Carmichael Jones. Emily Anne was pleased to finally meet Tracy's older brother and one of his best friends, the semireclusive furniture maker.
”Mom protested her cold wasn't all that bad, but Dad insisted she stay home, in bed, and rest.” Mel grinned. ”They're both cautious like that, if the other is under the weather. You'd think Mom would be used to it by now.”
”I think the way they dote on each other is sweet,” Emily Anne said. The relations.h.i.+p she'd witnessed between Mel's folks was a whole lot different than the one her own parents had. But then, everyone was different, and ent.i.tled to live and love in the way that suited them.
Wasn't that what l.u.s.ty was all about?
Harold and Irene Bancroft had declined the invitation. Her mother had made it clear that she wasn't pleased with the choice Emily Anne had made. Her father, of course, usually did whatever his wife wanted him to do. Emily Anne loved her daddy something fierce, but an alpha male he was not.
Connor seemed to sense where her thoughts had gone. ”Give them time,” he said. He ran his hand down her back and it constantly amazed her that he could read her so well.
”I know we told you that we'd show your family no mercy if they said anything negative to you,” Mel said. ”But we do want you to have a good relations.h.i.+p with them.”
”Mom will come around,” Emily Anne said. ”Or she won't. That's not something that's in my control.” She wouldn't let her heart hurt too much at the prospect of her mother's extended intransigence. She wanted, very much, for her mother to be happy for her and to approve of the men she'd fallen in love with.
She very much wanted that, but she didn't need that.
Connor ran his hand down her back again, and his tone was softer when he said, ”No, it's not.”
Matt and Steven Benedict arrived with little Amanda Rose. The baby girl set her eyes on Connor, and as she usually did whenever she saw him, she squealed, and practically lunged for him.
Laughing, Connor scooped the little sweetheart out of her daddy's arms and put her on his hip. ”Well h.e.l.lo, beautiful. Look at you all dressed up with a pretty pink bow in your hair.”
At eight months of age, Amanda wasn't talking yet. But she could coo and flirt just like a real pro.
Mel shook Steven's hand, and then Matt's. He said, ”We appreciate the sacrifice, your wife working so late tonight on our behalf.”
Matt waved that off. ”Kelsey was so d.a.m.n happy that Emily Anne and you guys are staying right here in l.u.s.ty she absolutely insisted on throwing this party.”
”We're glad we're staying, too,” Mel said.
Just then Kelsey came out of the kitchen wheeling a tray of sandwiches, small salads, and pastries. Amanda Rose bounced in Connor's arms, and gave another one of her patented excited squeals.
Carrie took over unloading the tray so Kelsey could come and scoop up her baby.
”My, my, baby girl, what a pretty bow! Good job, Daddies!”
Matt nodded. ”It took the both of us. I have to hold her and keep her attention on me while Steven does the brush and pin maneuver.” Then he looked at Connor and Mel. ”Don't ask me how it is Kelsey can do that all on her own every time. I am in awe.”
”Probably a mother thing,” Connor said.
Emily Anne met Kelsey's gaze and they both laughed. ”I think it's heroic that they're willing to attempt coiffeur,” Emily Anne said.
”Yeah,” Kelsey all but purred. ”I think so, too.”
Those Benedicts chatted for a bit, before taking themselves off to a large table. Kelsey kissed her men and her baby and headed back into the kitchen.
The door to the restaurant opened and Tracy, Jordan and Peter Alvarez-Kendall came in. Peter was carrying their son, six-month-old Cameron. The two tiny cousins spotted each other and immediately began to babble in language that only babies could understand.