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It doesn’t matter that I only got about four hours last night, my internal body clock won’t let me sleep. I give up and roll over to see it’s a little after nine in the morning. Holly is still in my arms, then again, it’s only been a few hours since I finally let her fall asleep. I’m an ass, but I needed her last night. Again, and again, I took her and she gave herself with a smile and whispers of love. Best night of my life. Now’s the time to not be an ass. I slip from bed, only allowing myself a light kiss on her cheek.
I shower in the spare room, and when I come back she’s still sleeping. I dress quickly then grab my cell from my pants. Going into the living room, I’m not surprised to see I’ve missed what my phone tells me is forty-seven calls. There are twelve texts from Amelia, as I read them I swear. Fuck, she hadn’t been exaggerating. Someone had recorded everything then posted it to the internet. Holly and I are trending on pretty much every single social media site I’ve heard of, and ones I’ve never heard of. Most of the articles are actually positive, calling out the asshole for fat-shaming Holly and making me out to be some idiot hero in the scenario for standing up for my woman. There are a few articles calling for me to be charged and disbarred, I shrug. Public opinion doesn’t matter to me. I just hope all of this doesn’t upset Holly.
There’s only one voicemail I care about. Two words from Karen, call me. I call.
The moment she answers, she ignores pleasantries. “I talked to the Trib and the reporter. They’ll keep him from pressing charges, but they want something from you, quid pro quo.”
“They can have the announcement of our engagement. We can do a picture if they want. When we get married they can be the only paper to have a picture of our wedding when it happens sometime in September.”
She’s quiet for a long minute. “I think that will work. Congratulations. You did still want to keep your job, right?”
“For now. I’ll be cutting back to leave at six, and no weekends. When the kids come, we’ll reevaluate. I’m not dumping all the responsibility on her. Either I do manageable hours, or I quit, teaching sounds good.”
“We’ll talk. The firm can do manageable, tell us when and what you need.”
“Thanks, good to know.”
I’m about to call Amelia when the front door shakes as if it’s coming off its hinges. Fuck, I look down the hall and move fast to keep the asshole from waking up Holly. I check the peephole. I’m pretty sure it’s Holly’s family. Opening the door before they can pound again, I catch them by surprise.
“Hello?”
The tall, hard as concrete man in Marine fatigues scowls. The tiny woman with Holly’s eyes standing at his side, clutches his arm. There’s a tall thin man with his father’s jaw behind him, I’m guessing he’s Fletcher.
Fletcher speaks up. “We’re here for Holly.”
I don’t like the way that sounds. “Holly is sleeping. When she wakes up I’ll give her the message.” Fuck, that wasn’t the way this was supposed to go. I’m supposed to be smiling and charming. Screw the plan, that was before they look like they hate my guts and want to take Holly away from me.
“Mom, Dad, Fletcher? What in the world are you guys doing here?” Holly is holding onto the wall, she’s so surprised. She dressed quickly in one of my shirts that’s drowning her, and a pair of my sweat shorts I’m worried will come off.
Resentfully, I open the door. “Come in.”
Gruff, with a voice like a dirt road, her father speaks up. “Go get dressed and get your things, Holly. We’re taking you home.”
Before I can even open my mouth Holly’s bitter laughter stops me. She leans into me, my arm goes around her. “I’m not going anywhere with you. It’s a little late for acting like you care. This is my home now.”
Her family looks as though she slapped them in the face. Fletcher’s face crumples. Fuck, I have family now. Tears running down his face, he reaches out a hand to Holly. She takes it. “Holly, I know what you think, but it wasn’t like that I swear. Dad told me before I was even a hundred percent sure, or willing to admit it, that I was his son and he loved me. He didn’t care if I was gay. Think about it, me, gay, on a Marine base. It would have been hell on earth. I didn’t ask her, but mom giving me the money to go to New York was the best thing she ever did for me.”
Now Holly looks stunned. Fletcher catches her in a bear hug I fight every instinct to stop. He’s her brother, it’s also the first time I’ve seen her in someone else’s arms. Her tears put me even more on edge. “Why would you keep it from me all these years?”
“I asked him to.” The small woman answers for him. “I didn’t think you would understand your father and me letting him go away when we wanted so badly for you to stay home with us for school. Then it just became habit. I’m sorry you thought it meant we didn’t love Fletcher. We love all of you, how could you think we didn’t?”
I hand Holly and Fletcher tissues they use to clean up. She opens her mouth then looks at me. Shaking her head, she shrugs. “You know what I think? I got a lot of things wrong. Maybe now is the time just to let them go. I want you to meet Ethan. We’re getting married. I love him, I’ve never been this happy before, so please, sit down and get to know him, and then maybe explain why you would think I would leave him.”
Taking advantage of Fletcher finally letting her go, I take her hand and lead her over to one of the chairs. She’s in my lap the moment I sit down. Her father still looks like he’s a little light on his feet as he sits on the sofa. Arms around her, I hold her tight. “Probably because we made the front page of everywhere this morning. Someone got video of what went down last night. Everyone has an opinion, of course.”
Holly gasps, turning all her attention to me. A hand goes to my cheek, I fight the urge to nestle into her touch. “Ethan, what’s going to happen? Are you okay?”
“I told you, it’s fine. He’s not going to press charges. In exchange, the Trib gets to publish our engagement announcement and a wedding photo.”
“Oh, Holly, what a beautiful ring. You’re going to take care of her, right?” Her mother looks at me intensely.
“Mrs. Messina, I’ll always take of her. I won’t ever forget how lucky I am to have her.” My answer has both her parents nodding, allowing me to breathe easily for the moment.
Then the pounding starts again, followed by Amelia’s pleading voice. “Holly! Ethan! Come on you guys! What’s going on?”
****
The day flies by. Holly is insistent on making breakfast for everyone. Amelia cozies up with Fletcher, hounding him about his career, curious about the models and stars with whom he’s worked. While her father comes out of deep freeze, we both respect each other’s space. Lunch is a pick-up from Gorgios that Amelia is kind enough to go out and get. Right now, I think it’s best to keep to the condo and let the storm in a teacup blow over. I’m sure by Monday it will all be over, Holly agrees.
Careful to be casual, I offer to host them at the closest hotel, only a block away, for a few days. Even though her father stiffens with pride, they give in as I explain it’s only right considering I want them close and the hotel is pricey. I call to the hotel to make the reservations.
Dinner is pizza delivery, deep dish for her parents to try, and thin crust for everyone else. By the end of the evening, the condo actually feels alive with the laughter and chattering of everyone. With Holly pressed against me, having family doesn’t seem so bad after all.
As we lie in bed still fighting for breath, I can’t let her go, needing to feel her against me. “Thank you for loving me, for being stronger than I was. You opened your heart to me, and let me in, while I was still fighting it. I thought it would make me weak. Only it didn’t, it made me stronger than I’ve ever been. Remember how I took you up to the tower and showed you the view? I feel like that every time you look at me with love in your eyes. Now I have you, a brother-in-law who can put up with Amelia, and grandparents for our babies. Do you think your parents would be open to moving to the suburbs here? They seemed really sad at the idea of going back. Maybe, if they lived closer, we could help them get into a better financial position.”
“Ethan, you can be the sweetest man, ever. You don’t have to say thank you because me without you wasn’t ever an option, from the moment I saw you. I never doubted you, or me. But I don’t want you to take on my parents, they aren’t your responsibility. It would be unfair and I don’t want you under the stress their financial problems could cause.”
“Holly, making you happy and taking care of you isn’t a stress. It’s the right thing for me. They made you, I figure I owe them. You made the right choice today letting go of the past, now let’s maybe look at making the future everything it can be.”
“Yes, lord and master Bishop, as you wish.”