Stephanie was in the back seat of Luke’s car as they traveled from his condo in Richmond to his parents’ home. In addition to the house in Northern Virginia, the man had a condo about the size of her house in Richmond. There was no way she was not going to get her piece of this pie. She smiled smugly to herself, thinking her plan was falling into place. Since the day at the bridal shop, she had talked with Tracy several times. The seeds of need had been planted. Being able to live at the same level as the rest of the family would go a long way toward easing her fears of losing her daughter. She almost shed tears her damn self from the sob story she gave Tracy about not having any kind of marketable skills to get a decent job. When Tracy asked what she would like to do, Stephanie remembered literally jumping for joy. It was the exact lead-in she needed to discuss finances. Not wanting to seem anxious, she played the “I never seriously thought about it before” card. She left the last conversation with an “I’ll think about it. I don’t want to start at something and it not be the right fit for me.” Stephanie smirked, thinking how gullible the First Lady was. By the time she finished, her plan was to have a new house in Miami, cash on hand, and a monthly deposit into her bank accounts.
“We’re here,” Luke interrupted her thoughts as he pulled in front of his parents’ house.
Stephanie frowned as she stepped out of the car. “Who lives here?”
“My parents,” Luke replied.
“Why haven’t you moved your parents out of this neighborhood?”
“Mother, don’t start,” Sasha stated. “There is more love in that house than money could ever buy. We’ve been doing good the last few weeks. Let’s keep it that way.”
“I’m not saying anything is wrong with their home,” Stephanie explained. “After being in your houses, I expected something different, that’s all.”
“This is the house we all grew up in.” Luke walked around to the driver’s side of the vehicle and took Sasha’s hand. “When we first met at my house do you remember what you said about my mother having so many children and not thinking about how she was going to feed them? Well, she fed us. Not only food for our bodies, but nourishment for our souls and heaps of love for our hearts. Probably something you wouldn’t understand.” Luke walked up the steps to the front porch, then opened the door. “Joe, Sally, we’re here.”
Stephanie rolled her eyes. She was going to have to watch her facial expressions and words for the rest of the night. They were a week away from the wedding. For a month, she had been the sweet, caring mother figure, and frankly, she was getting tired of it.
“Hello,” Sally and Joe appeared in the hallway. Sally hugged Sasha. “It’s good to see you.” She then reached out to shake Stephanie’s hand. “Hello again Stephanie. Welcome to our home.”
“Thank you,” Stephanie said as she followed Sally.
“Hey son,” Joe shook Luke’s hand. “Bad taste in your mouth?”
“Something like that,” Luke replied.
“Well, I have a menu that will erase any bad taste or blood that’s in the air.” Sally smiled as she guided them to the family room.
“It smells good in here,” Stephanie said, trying to play the role.
“Better than it looks, isn’t it?” Sasha said to her mother as she walked further into the room.
“Nice and cozy,” Stephanie smiled.
“Well, thank you,” Sally beamed. “We love our home.”
“And all of our children,” Joe added.
“Right,” Stephanie said then looked around, but kept her mouth closed. The place really was nice. She would have never thought the house looked like this on the inside. The neighborhood was not bad, but it wasn’t as upscale as the ones where Luke’s houses were located.
“Please, have a seat. We are happy you were able to come to dinner. I think it is a good opportunity to get to know each other before the kids get married,” Sally stated.
“Thank you for the invitation,” Stephanie said as she sat on the sofa.
“I’m going to grab Luke for a minute,” Joe smiled at Sasha. “You ladies have a good talk.”
Stephanie watched as the two men left the room. She breathed a little easier, then turned to smile at Sally.
“My husband doesn’t trust you,” Sally said with the sweetish smile on her face. “He’s a pretty good judge of character, and he does not like you. I don’t like you either, but I adore your daughter. I’m saying this in front of her to eliminate any opportunities for you to manipulate the situation between us.”
Stephanie glared at her daughter. “You’re just going to sit there and say nothing?”
“Yep,” Sasha nodded her head. “You created this animosity the day you showed up at Luke’s house and literally showed your ass. I can fight my battles with you; I can’t fight your battles, too.”
Stephanie disliked this Sasha more than she did pre-Luke Sasha. She was about to say the hell with the long game. Trying to do all of this family shit was working her last nerve.
Luke and Joe walked to the workshop in the backyard. What was once a play area for the children was now more of an extra family room. It was mainly used for the security teams for Pearl and now Blake when they came for visits. Sally hated the idea of those people protecting her loved ones having to stand outside, sometimes in cold weather. Sally had Joe and Zack make it into a comfortable holding area with a sofa, chairs, a kitchen table set and a television. Since this conversation with Luke was one he did not want overheard, Joe thought that would be the best place for them all to meet.
Walking into the workshop, they met all of Luke’s brothers. Samuel, Joshua, Timothy, Matt and Adam were watching a basketball game. The table was stacked with food and drinks, which indicated the brothers had been there for a while.
“What’s up, little brother,” Matt called out over his shoulder when Luke entered.
“Brothers,” Luke bumped fists with each of them before taking a seat.
“Your brothers thought it would be a good idea to have a conversation about your mother-in-law to-be before we leave for the cruise,” Joe grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and took a seat at the table. The brothers were sitting on the sofas. His role here was only as an advisor. He believed there was enough wisdom in the room for the brothers to give Luke all the guidance he would need.
Samuel turned off the television at his father’s words. “We know you have people waiting inside for you. We’re going to say our piece and leave.”
“You are about to step into the world of matrimony,” Joshua advised. “Loving your wife is going to be the cornerstone of everything you do.”
“Unfortunately, some of us have to deal with in-laws,” Adam expressed.
“Whew, that’s the truth.” Samuel nodded.
“I’m open to any advice that will keep me from taking the woman out,” Luke exhaled.
“Adam can always hypnotize her, like he did with Mrs. Prentiss,” Matthew suggested.
“Pearl hasn’t had any issues from the woman since,” Timothy added.
“I’m willing to do it,” Adam sat forward. “However, I think you need something a little more permanent.”
“Adam,” Joe looked at his youngest.
“Hear me out,” Adam explained. “It seems to me Sasha’s mother is vain.”
“I know where you are going,” Joshua smiled.
“Joshua seems a little too excited. Are we blowing her up in some way?” Timothy laughed.
“No, not this time. I was thinking more of what you guys did with LT’s friend Mint.”
“OH … yeah,” Matthew sat up, “I still don’t how, but it worked.”
“Had the man washing his hands five times a day trying to get rid of something that wasn’t even there.” Timothy joined in with the laughter. “Adam, you did that thing. It was funny as hell.”
Adam smiled. “Hey, we had to teach him to keep his hands off our sister.”
“Which sister?” Joe asked.
The boys all glanced at each other.
“It was a while ago, Dad,” Samuel stated, then glared at Matt to keep him quiet. “Listen, out of all of us, I am the one with the mother-in-law from hell.”
“True,” Joshua nodded. “Not to mention you are the one who has been married the longest.”
“How did you keep from killing Sofia?” Luke asked.
“By loving my wife,” Samuel smiled. “My concentration stayed on her. Not the shenanigans Sofia kept pulling. Like Sasha, Cynthia knows her mother is not a nice person. The problem you and I have is that our women love their mothers. They may not like them very much, but they do love them, and they want their mother’s love in return.”
“The sad part is that they will never have it,” Adam realized. “Their mothers do not love themselves. There is no way they can, in their current mental state, love any other human being.”
“So, where does that leave us?” Luke asked. “There is no way I’m going to let Stephanie continue to have this negative hold on Sasha.”
“The First Lady believes if we give Stephanie enough rope, she will eventually hang herself,” Joshua stated.
“You discussed Sasha’s situation with the First Lady?” Luke asked.
“No,” Joshua replied. “She has a situation going on with Stephanie, too.”
“She wants money,” Luke nodded.
“She only thinks that will make her happy. It won’t.” Timothy added.
“Until she addresses her issues, her path in life is to make everyone around her miserable,” Matt added. “Her number one target is Sasha.”
“Which is where we come in,” Samuel interceded. “We had a family council without you or the girls. You because you are too close to the situation, and the girls because they are too confrontational.”
“We decided to follow the First Lady’s lead on Stephanie. We are going to give her enough rope to hang herself,” Joshua stated.
“But you are going to give it a push,” Joe said as he stood. “You will have to have a one-on-one conversation with Stephanie. You’re going to have to get to the bottom of what is motivating her right now.”
They boys all looked up at him.
“All men and women want to be loved. From what I understand, Stephanie has not experienced that in her life the way she wants. You can’t figure her out without her opening a door to her way of thinking. She is not going to open that door voluntarily, so you are going to have to force it open.” Joe exhaled. “The only way I know to do that is to come straight out and ask her what it is that she wants. She is going to skate around the answer. It’s going to be up to you how hard you will push her to get the answer you need. Keep in mind, you are doing this to secure your future wife’s happiness. You don’t want to be like Sammy, twelve years down the road, still dealing with a vindictive mother-in-law.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Samuel chuckled.
“Anytime, son.” Joe smiled as he glanced at Samuel. “Sofia isn’t finished yet. And Matt, you better be taking notes. Your situation with Leah’s father is worse than these mothers.”
“Yes, but we can whip his ass and keep it moving,” Matt replied.
“With the mothers, it’s not that simple,” Timothy stated.
“No, it is not,” Joe agreed. “The only way any of my sons puts a hand on a woman is to caress them.”
“Just know we have a backup plan ready for you, Luke,” Adam offered as they all stood.
“What is that?” Luke asked.
“The girls,” Joshua patted Luke on the back as he walked out, followed by the other brothers.
“I sure hope the boys’ plan works,” Joe said as he and Luke walked back. “My girls are not as gentle as my boys.”
“I say, let the girls in and call it a day,” Luke huffed.
“Son, if there is a way to keep your family intact, take it. I took the easy way out. It took thirty years, a gunshot and your mother’s love to bring me and my family back together. Learn from my mistakes. Take the time now to do all within your power to help Sasha and her mother.”